Cars.com's Joe Bruzek takes a look at the 2011 Infiniti QX56. It competes with the Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GL-Class.
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(rock music) Announcer] Cars.com Auto Review. Hi, this is Joe Bruzek from cars.com. We're here with the 2011 Infiniti QX 56.
Now while the front may have a face only a beluga whales mother could love the best part of the Infiniti QX 56 is how it drives. Now, if you want to see more about the seating arrangements and interior quality, be sure to check out Kelsey Mays' video. Let's hop in. The QX 56 is a massive SUV, but it never feels underpowered. Thanks to the 400 horsepower V8. We've been using it as a support vehicle for multimedia, chasing cars, running up and down the road with them and it handled everything perfectly while carrying a full load of multimedia gear and people and coolers, and basically, anything that we needed. Yes, it's big, and it's powerful, but it handles surprisingly sporty for such a massive SUV. Part of that can be thanks to an optional equipment called the hydraulic body motion control. Now, as part of the deluxe package, and does its best to control body roll in corners. And as far as I can tell, it does an excellent job. There is no doubt that this is made for families. It's three rows. It can hold eight people and to protect your family there's an optional technology package for $2,800. That includes numerous safety features among them are adaptive cruise control, which infinity calls their intelligent cruise control system. It automatically keeps the distance between the vehicle ahead of you and your car at a set speed, which you determine. Now it'll automatically slow down or speed up depending on how much space. We've got it right now, and it's keeping a perfect distance in front of the car ahead of us. Lane departure warning system will alert you when you reach the limits of the markers on the road. So there's a camera that monitors where the dotted lines are. And if you veer one way or the other, an alert will pop up, and if you proceed to keep going, it'll apply the brakes and send you in the opposite direction. Forward collision warning will alert you when you're coming up too fast on a car. And if you continue, it also apply the brakes. And a safety feature becoming more common is a blind spot detection system. Now it will aluminate a little light here when it senses the vehicle is in your blind spot. Well, the QX 56 is sporty, powerful, and fun to drive. That comes at a price, and that's at the pump. This all-wheel drive model is rated at 14 miles per gallon in the city and 20 miles per gallon on the highway, we've been averaging about 15 miles per gallon on our testing. Unlike Mercedes and Audi competitors there's no high mileage diesel option available, but if you're looking for a luxury SUV loaded with safety features and also stands out from the crowd, the QX 56 is definitely worth a look. <v Announcer>For more car-related news, go to cars.com or our blog kicking tires.net.
