Designing the flagship vehicle for a luxury automaker must be a stressful challenge. Every luxury car is meant to be an extraordinary experience that coddles the driver and passengers. Now, you’re asked to make one that is definitely more impressive than all the others.
In 2026, nearly every luxury automaker fills that role with a full-size 3-row SUV. They’re towering vehicles with a distinct sense of presence, almost more impressive than beautiful. They must be huge but quick, light on their feet but able to tow like pickups, and sumptuous whether you’re driving or riding in the third row.
Nissan’s Infiniti brand does the job with the QX80. I’m already on record as liking its latest design, which debuted for the 2025 model year. It strikes a fine balance of bulky and silky, with a bruiser’s proportions but surprisingly sinuous lines, and some thoughtful interior touches that its also-excellent competitors don’t yet have.
For 2026, Infiniti gives us a new trim level called Sport. A step down in price from the top-of-the-line Autograph edition, it’s stylish, with dark chrome trim and trim-exclusive 22-inch wheels. An interior with dusky blue semi-aniline leather gives it sophistication.
I spent a week driving the QX80 Sport around Washington, D.C., and its suburbs in the aftermath of a winter snowstorm that left the streets in rough shape, and came away deeply impressed. There are probably a few of you who should spring for the Autograph edition, but, for most, I suspect the Sport is a better choice.
Which Trim Level
Infiniti builds the QX80 in four trim levels this year. Pure and Luxe are offered in rear- or 4-wheel drive (RWD or 4WD), and are plenty luxurious but lack a few creature comforts. Stepping up to Sport or Autograph, for instance, gets you an excellent 24-speaker Klipsch audio system instead of a pretty good 14-speaker setup. My Sport 4WD tester added softer semi-aniline leather. Autograph editions pamper second-row passengers a bit more, with massaging seats.
Favorite Feature
Longtime automotive journalists enjoy arguing over which automaker has the most comfortable seats. We never settle on a single answer, likely because we come in many shapes and sizes. But Nissan’s Zero Gravity seats are always in the running, and the QX80 features the most elegant version of the chairs.
Designed based on NASA studies, they’re intended to keep the body in a near-neutral position to minimize fatigue. The versions in the QX80 Sport come wrapped in soft semi-aniline leather in a shade Infiniti calls Dusk Blue. They have a firm massage function you can feel (mechanical kneading pads beat the inflatable bladders some brands rely on) and come heated and ventilated.
They make the QX80 an exceptional road trip machine.
What It’s Like to Drive
My tester was called the QX80 Sport 4WD, but don’t let that mislead you. Every 2026 QX80 gets the same 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6, making 450 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque.
The “sport” in QX80 Sport refers to style, not added performance. It includes no sporty enhancements to suspension or power.
But 450 hp is plenty. The big SUV passes easily on the highway and never feels strained.
The weather during my test week gave me a unique opportunity to test its 4WD grip. Washington, D.C., was covered in a hard, frozen snow so dense the media took to calling it “snowcrete,” and local governments sent out construction equipment to break it up and haul it away in dump trucks. Most of my neighbors’ cars were frozen in place behind mounds of snowcrete created by plows and near-zero temperatures.
Me? I gave friends rides to work. I navigated the icy streets like they were dry and clear. The QX80 is hardly unique in being a very heavy SUV with power to all four wheels, but Infiniti’s 4WD system made it sure-footed and confident in some of the worst driving conditions I’ve ever seen.
That kept me from any dramatic handling tests, but is probably a better real-world example of what the car can do than any track testing would be. This is a supremely capable machine in terrible weather.
I averaged 17.4 mpg in mostly city driving.
Interior Comfort and Technology
Every luxury full-size SUV is a pleasant place to spend time, but the QX80 has a few standout technologies that rivals lack.
One I found exceptionally pleasant – the 24-speaker Klipsch audio system includes headrest speakers for front-seat occupants. That gives them well-balanced sound – speakers next to your ears make most music sound great. But it also lets the QX80 play turn-by-turn directions only to the driver, so they don’t interrupt the music for passengers.
Another works, but feels a bit less useful. Sensors track each rider’s body temperature and adjust the 3-zone climate control to help keep each comfortable. It works, but my passengers tended to report that they liked setting the controls themselves more than having the car do it for them.
Seating is comfortable in all three rows, with unusually strong massage settings up front. The third row fit me comfortably, but I’m only 5 feet 6 inches. Third-row passengers get their own charging ports and vents.
The Sport model comes upholstered in a Dusk Blue and black scheme, which felt unique compared to the usual black or gray choices most automakers offer. Blue suede material in the doors added style and is likely out of the splash zone enough to still look like suede in five years.
Limitations
Though large, the QX80 still offers less luggage space than most domestic full-size SUVs. If you’ll be carrying a lot of clients with luggage, you still might be better off with an Escalade or Navigator.
Key Considerations
The QX80 is one of the better choices in its class for those with accessibility concerns. A piano-key-style pushbutton transmission means no twisting motions for your hands. Wide running boards provide confident ingress even in a tall vehicle. Infiniti places grab handles at every position, even the driver’s door, so you’re never pulling yourself in on an unstable steering wheel.
The lower-priced Nissan Armada, with which it shares a platform, offers many of the same features. But power-folding second-row seats make the third row of the QX80 easier to access without a heavy seat to push out of the way.
