I spent a week and more than 750 miles with the 2025 Infiniti QX80 full-size luxury SUV, and I had time for some deep thoughts.
Choosing one from a group of extraordinary things is a singular challenge. You’re fortunate if you have to make the choice. That good fortune doesn’t make selecting just one extraordinary thing easy.
Almost every luxury automaker builds a 3-row, 6-figure SUV as a showpiece. These full-size haulers are, arguably, the most exceptional cars ever built.
They have the acceleration of sports coupes but comfortable seating for six or seven. They are as bulky as heavy-duty trucks, but some handle almost as light as sport sedans. And they offer the best example of each automotive feature that an automaker knows how to build.
The strongest engine. The best audio system. The largest screen. The most well-balanced suspension. Technologies so new you may never have encountered them before. It’s all here. It’s all in every last one of them.
And yet, the shopper must choose. The Cadillac Escalade or the BMW X7? The Lincoln Navigator or the Lexus LX? Quite likely, you’d be happy with any of them. But there are reasons to choose one or another.
Until recently, many shoppers could disregard the Infiniti QX80. The 2024 edition of Infiniti’s full-size hauler was the oldest design in the class, largely unchanged since 2010.
That’s no longer true. Nissan’s luxury division has introduced an all-new QX80 for 2025, with a stunning design and technologies new to the most high-tech car class.
During my time with the QX80, I traveled from my Washington, D.C.-area home to Cleveland, Ohio, and back on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. I’m happy to report that if you’re shopping for the ultimate in automotive luxury, Infiniti has complicated your decision.
The 2025 QX80 makes a powerful argument for itself and does it with subtle artistry.
My test model was the top-of-the-line Autograph 4WD edition. It had just one option – a premium two-tone paint scheme of Dynamic Metal with an Obsidian Black roof. It retails for $112,590, including $1,995 for delivery.
Bamboo Forests and Piano Keys
When car designers set out to create a new compact sedan, they study other compact sedans. They’re working within the limits of a budget, and benchmarking the competition is vital. Their task is car design as comparison. They know many shoppers will make their decisions with a spreadsheet.
When Infiniti designers set out to create their newest flagship, they studied bamboo forests and grand pianos. Automakers put few limits on a car that will likely carry a 6-figure price tag (though you can order a QX80 for less than $85,000).
Their task was art. They knew many shoppers would make their decision with emotional conviction.
So, the big SUV is bulky, and Infiniti makes no attempt to hide that. But subtle details make it lovely.
The exterior lighting, for instance, was inspired by piano keys. Vertical bars of light in a gradient call to mind the ivories of a baby grand.
Diagonal strakes in the immense grille, Infiniti says, mimic the shadows in a bamboo forest. In person, the effect is striking.
These elegant details break up the chiseled look and suggest something as much art as machine.
A Sanctuary From Traffic
Through hours of crowded highway driving, the QX80 proved a relaxing place to be.
Infiniti’s seats borrow from the Zero Gravity seating of parent company Nissan – arguably the most comfortable seats found in any mainstream car. But they add heating, ventilation, and massage settings. Even second-row passengers get those in the Autograph edition, controlled by an iPad-like tablet between the two captain’s chairs.
I didn’t need the third row, but was delighted to learn that second-row seats can fold forward to give access to it even with a child safety seat installed.
When I got where I was going, my host asked the inevitable, “How was traffic?” It had been the East Coast on Labor Day Weekend. Traffic was probably awful, but I had to think about it.
Why? Because I’d had help with the driving.
The ProPILOT Assist 2.1 system can accelerate, brake, and steer to keep pace with traffic as long as the driver keeps their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. Slip in either of those responsibilities, and it will gently chide you to take over as it shuts down. But stay engaged, and it relieves a lot of the fatigue of a long journey.
The 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V6 offers 450 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque — enough to close holes in traffic without seeming to exert any effort.
Others Do Some Things Better, but This Does Everything Well
Every full-size luxury SUV does everything well, but rivals can best the QX80 in small ways.
The 24-speaker Klipsch Reference Premier audio system is lovely but perhaps not the best in its class. It was strangely reluctant to send much sound through headrest-mounted speakers, which seemed reserved to give turn-by-turn directions even though they’re in the perfect spot to lend new depth to music.
While refreshing, Infiniti’s massage seats are less dexterous than those found in Mercedes’ and Lincoln’s highest-end products.
But the QX80 does those things fairly well. And it has one technology none of them have. “Biometric cooling” uses an infrared sensor in the headliner to measure the body temperature of each passenger and adjust airflow accordingly. I barely felt it — most of us are accustomed to making the adjustments our bodies need — but it’s one-of-a-kind in the automotive market today.
At This Price, You Fall in Love
Is the QX80 a remarkable improvement on, say, the Euro-cool of the Mercedes-Benz GLS or the updated timeless feel of a Range Rover?
No, only because, at this level, all the competitors are exemplary.
So why choose this one? Among cars that do everything well, how do you pick a favorite?
I’ve never had the budget to know. But, having driven a few, I think the answer is that you let yourself fall in love. Designers pour all their craft into these things, and you know that, whichever one you pick, you’re getting everything you wanted.
So, you choose the subtle touches that speak to you. With the 2025 QX80, a glance at it might remind you of the gentle susurrus of a breeze through bamboo. Its self-adjusting climate control might feel like someone noticing your needs. These are, of course, silly things to expect from steel and leather. But they happen all the same, sometimes on a long, overcrowded highway.
I can’t promise you this car is the best in its class because there isn’t such a thing. I can tell you that, with its redesign, it deserves new consideration among the finest SUVs.
