Mother Proof's view

The Infiniti QX56 is a full-size SUV that earns the title “awesome,” because well, it is. This thing was awesomely huge, awesomely powerful, awesomely luxurious and awesome in its awesomeness. The QX was so awesome that my own awesomeness was in awe of the QX’s awesome awesomeness – until, naturally, I found something to complain about. Then I felt better – awesome, in fact.

Driving the QX56 was just as awesome as looking at it. A huge 5.6-liter V-8 engine not only sucked up the gas, it moved this ride with awe-thority. The ride was smooth and quiet, and the turns were easy to make with very little of that roly-poly sensation that’s common in tall vehicles like this one. I was surprised, actually, by how agile the QX was. Even in tight quarters like parking lots or narrow neighborhood streets, the QX was quick on its toes and considerably less cumbersome than I’d expected.

What’s not awesome about the QX56? The mileage. I averaged just less than 12 mpg during my week in the Infiniti. I live in a hilly area, and that mileage was about average for an SUV of this size, but that doesn’t make it eco-friendly. If I had more kids or a boat to tow, I might be willing to overlook that. But for my family of four (plus dogs), the QX56 is just more awesomeness than we need.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT Storage compartments (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Galore Cargo/trunk space (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Galore

SENSE AND STYLE Family friendly (Not Really, Fair, Great, Excellent): Great Fun factor (None, Some, Good Times, Groove on): Good Times

Part of what makes the QX56 so awesome is that it doesn’t look like all the rest of those big, square SUVs that are out on the road. Instead, distinctive lines and curves give this Infiniti a bold look of its own. The passenger cabin looks rounded off, while the cargo area is still squarish. It sounds weird, I know, but it looked like it was leaning forward, about to leap into action. Adding to the awesomeness is the chrome trim on the side panels, side-view mirrors and the roof rack. I’m tellin’ you, this truck had some bling. And the rims aren’t the least of it; these puppies are 20-inch chrome finished alloy that actually reflect onto the road. I have to say it: they’re awesome.

The body-colored running boards were another great feature that made climbing up into this monster no problem for little legs. More of a problem was the door handle, which sits vertically, high up along the side of the doorframe. While my second-grader could reach the handle most of the time, it gave my 5-year-old a major case of the whinys – as in, “Moooommyyyy!!!! I CAN’T DO IT!!!!” And in this situation, he was right. He couldn’t reach that high, so door duty was all mine, which was not awesome.

One feature that never gets old for me is a power liftgate. Push a button, the door opens and the dog jumps in; push the button again and the door closes. I don’t have to put down my armload of stuff to stand on my tiptoes and pull down the dirty liftgate. I like pushing buttons for stuff; buttons are awesome.

After climbing into the QX56, I pressed the ignition button (the intelligent key stayed in my purse) and the steering wheel moved into position while the seat moved forward automatically. You see, the QX56 remembered the last seat and steering-wheel position; it moved the steering wheel and seat out of the way when the ignition was turned off, which made getting in and out of the SUV awesomely easy.

There were so many places to store my stuff in the QX that I started creatively naming them. First off, there was the Black Hole Abyss, a deep center console that not only houses the DVD player but also swallowed my purse with room to spare. There was the Snack Containment Sector, where I fit a full pound of grapes, or I could use the swing-out cupholder to contain even the largest of coffee tumblers. There was also the Actually-Fits-My-Sunglasses Holder and the Ginormous-Holds-Books-and-Huge-Bottles-of-Water Door Bin.

Of course, the front seats were heated, but in another bit of awesome luxury the second-row seats were heated as well. Those second-row seats are captain’s chairs, and they have a huge center console between them, which provided not only extra cupholders (there are four in the second row and two more in the third), but an enormous bin to store the wireless headphones for the DVD system and anything else you care to bring along. But, since the QX56 is awesome, that isn’t the end of storage options for the backseat folks. There was a fold-down bin in the ceiling, which sat behind the fold-down video screen, for DVDs or books or whatever you like. The second row had so many features it was almost like being in a second set of front seats. Even the seat belts were height-adjustable, just like in the front seats.

In back, the third row folded at the touch of a button. I couldn’t get enough of those 60/40-split power-folding seats; I love stuff like that. Because the second-row console could be removed (or in our case, stepped upon), getting to the third row was easy, even if I didn’t feel like folding and rolling the second-row seats out of the way. That’s a serious bonus for folks who want to use the third row but have child-safety seats secured in the second-row seats. Ideally, though, only smaller people will want to sit in that third row. When I climbed back there, I wasn’t comfortable because I was wedged into place. Of course, I took pictures of that (see the photo gallery).

Sadly, upon closer inspection and further use, some of the QX’s awesomeness faded. The QX is so wide (78.8 inches) that the touch-screen and other controls, which sit in the center stack, are difficult to reach or awkwardly placed behind the shifter. The entertainment system ceased to be awesome when I couldn’t figure out how to play a DVD for the kids in the back and listen to my music up front at the same time. As far as I’m concerned, the whole value of the DVD system tanks because of that.

The QX56 has some awesome safety features. There’s airbag protection for all three rows, including roof-mounted side curtain airbags with rollover sensors to protect passengers in a rollover. Also, the front seats have active head restraints to protect against whiplash and other neck injuries. There are all sorts of computerized systems to monitor traction and the four-wheel-disc antilock brakes to help avoid a collision. A very cool sonar system helps the cruise control maintain a safe distance to cars in front of you, and it pre-pressurizes the brakes in the case of an unavoidable collision.

One truly awesome safety feature is the backup camera. Lots of cars and SUVs have these, but the one in the QX56 has guidelines on the screen to show where the car is heading and how far it is from obstacles. It also starts beeping as you get closer to that car behind you; this made parallel parking a breeze, which is awesome in a car this big.