When you’ve been in a field long enough, you start making assumptions you probably shouldn’t make. Having evaluated hundreds of cars, I struggle to enter each one with an open mind. But I’ll admit it – I was surprised to find myself liking the 2026 Infiniti QX60 a little more with each mile I drove it.
Is it the best 3-row midsize luxury SUV? I wouldn’t go that far – but it’s an attractive alternative at a reasonable price. Yet I opened its door for the first time not knowing I’d even consider the thought.
The QX60 isn’t all-new for 2026. It has, however, received a facelift and technology refresh that make it competitive with the best the segment has to offer. If you’re looking for a family-friendly 3-row SUV that emphasizes interior comfort more than performance, give it a test drive.
Which Trim Level
Infiniti offers the QX60 in four grades: Pure, Luxe, Sport, and Autograph. They all get the same engine and transmission. The lower two are available in front- or all-wheel drive (FWD or AWD), while the upper pair are AWD-only.
My tester was the Autograph edition with the Technology Package and a two-tone Emerald Green and black paint job. It felt ultra-luxurious, but was nearly $20,000 more expensive than the base model.
Favorite Feature
A weird secret of the automotive industry: There are many brand names in the car audio space, but most of them are under just one company. JBL? That’s a brand of Harman International, a Samsung company. Bang & Olufsen? Harman. Harman Kardon? You guessed that one.
Infiniti recently engaged a new sound system supplier, Klipsch, which is famous among connoisseurs of home audio but new to the automotive space. It is not part of Harman International.
Klipsch is doing some of the best work in car sound this year. The 20-speaker Klipsch Reference Premiere system in the QX60 Autograph is stunning. I know of a few that beat it, but they’re mostly found on even more expensive cars.
Best of all, it gives front seat passengers headrest speakers, and plays navigation and other information only the driver needs to the driver alone, not interrupting the song for others.
What It’s Like to Drive
Some automakers try to make even 3-row family SUVs into performance machines. Infiniti does not.
That’s not a complaint. It’s just helpful to know as you decide what features are worth your money.
The 268-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged inline 4-cylinder engine and 9-speed transmission in the QX60 give you all the power you need to pass on the highway and climb mountains with ease. But it gets up to highway speed more casually than a rival BMW or Mercedes product.
Buying the Sport grade doesn’t get you any added sportiness.
However, every QX60 is easy to drive, with light steering effort, effective yet unobtrusive brakes, and a refined, gentle ride that is just the right side of too soft.
Drive modes don’t seem to significantly alter the performance.
Interior Comfort and Technology
The cabin is where the QX60 Autograph shines.
Partly that’s about material choices. Infiniti gives you quilted semi-aniline leather on the first two rows (the third row is the same material but unquilted). Even the dash gets a patch of quilted leather, which means high-quality, soft materials are constantly in your sight, reminding you that this space is nice.
Partly it’s about a flair for design. My tester had an interior color scheme Infiniti calls Stone Gray, which had five well-balanced colors and no black – all light shades that will likely wear well over the years. Walnut grain is straked with silver cords like pinstripes.
And partly it’s about ergonomics. Infiniti wisely avoided the trend of one huge screen partly blocked by the steering wheel, giving you instead widely separated screens you can easily see at all times. Even the heated steering wheel is well-planned, warmer than most, and heated all the way around instead of just at the 3- and 9-o’clock positions.
My tester had second-row captain’s chairs that were nearly as comfortable as the front seats, although only the front seats had a massage function. The third row, as is often the case with midsize 3-row SUVs, is rather tight for adults. If you need three fully functional rows, you should probably be shopping for the QX80.
Limitations
My tester had a strange electronic quirk that, I suspect, Infiniti will iron out with time. The head-up (HUD) display and the navigation screen each display the current speed limit, and often disagree on what it is. At one point, the HUD told me I could legally go 90 mph while the center touchscreen said 25.
The center screen was correct.
Beyond that, I found little to complain about but matters of taste. If performance is a significant concern for you, there may be better options. In the 3-row luxury SUV segment, it’s probably not.
Key Considerations
The QX60 shares many of its parts with the Nissan Pathfinder. If you’re not too concerned with the badge, a well-equipped Pathfinder would save you money over this car. Those looking for more on-ramp speed might consider the Genesis GV80 or more powerful trim levels of the Lexus TX. But higher trim levels of those are pricier than the Autograph trim of the QX60.
