Long-term update: 2011 Infiniti QX56 tech review

It is confounding that Infiniti and Lexus are the only Japanese brands that are attempting to take on the German luxury marques. Who wouldn’t want a reliable luxury car? However, while Lexus is content with outdated models, Infiniti has been going from strength to strength, launching various all-new models in the past few years, with a bias towards capable performance, unique styling and original technology. We will now take a look at the technology found in our Infiniti QX56, and how well they actually work in real life.

The engine

The standard 400 hp 5.6-litre V8 sounds awesome at full throttle, but that isn’t the impressive part. The interesting bit is we managed to coax under 16 litres/100 km out of this direct-injected bad boy in daily driving, simply by figuring out how best to use that throttle pedal. That’s less than my Jeep Grand Cherokee ever got, and I’ve had that for four years!

Around-view parking camera

This is by far the best parking-camera system ever. BMW’s and Lexus’s attempts at this one are nowhere near as impressive, even if they all use four cameras. Infiniti’s system uses a camera on each side to show a faux “satellite” view of the car from top, as well as a rear view with guiding lines and obstacle detection, both in a split-screen format. Hitting the “camera” button when driving forward also brings up a front view with guiding lines as well, making it insanely easy to manoeuvre in tight spaces. Of course, the QX56 does not magically shrink to fit in any space, but managing its size becomes about 854% easier.

Adaptive cruise control

This maintains the safe distance between cars while in cruise control, and the safe distance is even adjustable at the press of a button. Suppose we’re doing 120 kph, and a car doing 80 kph is in front of us, the QX56 detects it and smoothly brakes to slow down. However, when the slow car moves away, the QX accelerates a bit aggressively to get back up to 120 kph, thereby breaking the serenity if all you wanted was to smoothly cruise along. Still, it works well, and doesn’t brake hard when a car cuts across the front, say from left to right, unless car lingers in front. All settings are displayed in a simple monochrome screen between the gauges.

Highway nannies

Infiniti’s implementation of blind-spot monitoring is good, with a light on the A-pillar near each of the mirrors lighting up when a car is in your blind-spots, or blinking with an audible warning if you indicate a lane change with that car still there. Only a couple of times did it give a wrong warning, when driving along a barrier. Also present is lane-departure warning, which gives a mild audible beep if you are crossing lanes without signalling. It’s not intrusive really, and can be turned off, but good if you plan to sleep while driving. There is also a lane-departure prevention system that will supposedly nudge the car back into lane, but we never could make it do that. Other things, like turning HID auto headlights and rain-sensing wipers, all worked perfectly.

In-house entertainment

The central touchscreen computer is cool in that it also has a rotary dial as well as clearly-marked buttons to control it. The navigation system is easy to play with, and most other options are easy to find. The 13-speaker Bose stereo rocks, by our feebles standards anyway, as we were simply happy it could play MP3 songs off USB sticks. You can even view JPEG images off your USB drive on the touchscreen. And then there’s the two perfectly-integrated DVD screens in the headrests that don’t scream “aftermarket” like the ones in any Mercedes-Benz. You can use the built-in DVD changer to show movies on these screens or use the audio/video input jacks with the 12V power outlet to somehow connect a PlayStation. The Bluetooth phone also works without issues, and there is a Bluetooth music streaming feature too.

Everything else

All the other expected “Bentley-level” stuff is there, including keyless entry, starter button, powered 3rd-row seat, rear a/c controls, power seats, powered tailgate and ventilated front seats. A button on the door handle needs to pressed to unlock the door, instead of automatically unlocking simply by detecting your hand like in some other cars, but that’s being lazy. There’s also a cooler box between the front seats that opens from the front and the back for easy accessibility.

So what’s missing?

If this was the only luxury car you’ve ever driven, then you’d feel nothing is missing. It has everything that matters. But we have a similarly-priced 2010 BMW 535i GT in the stable right now, and the Germans go that extra mile in their features, with a panoramic glass roof, button-free door entry, automatic handbrake and even power-adjustable headrests! Of course, our BMW is also a lot smaller, so value is debatable. BMW has nothing in their line-up as big as the Infiniti QX56.

Original Mileage When Borrowed: 10,415 km
Latest Mileage To Date: 14,980 km
Latest Average Fuel Economy: 15.9 litres/100 km
Cost of Latest Problems: Dhs 0
Cost of Latest Maintenance: Dhs 0

Total Non-Fuel Running Cost Since Borrowed: Dhs 0

Read all 2011 Infiniti QX56 long-term updates