Video: 2018 Infiniti QX80 Review

This SUV remains a value option among big luxury SUVs, and thanks to these updates, it's a little easier, now, on the eyes. So about that styling. A lot of important, small changes here. Infiniti actually says everything ahead of the A pillars is new, with styling cues from the Monograph concept SUV that came out recently. The headlights, they sit up higher here. They kinda stretch out over the front fenders a little bit more. The grill doesn't fan out as much as it used to at the top, and the bottom, overall, doesn't quite look like it's melting so much. Kind of an issue we always had with the styling of previous model years on the QX80. You come down here, the bumpers still have a lot going on, but it looks less busy than before, and you go around back, the LED taillights are thinner. There's some chrome that goes across the entire-- (voice is drowned out by music) Overall, a more cohesive design. Now, less has changed on the inside, and this is where the QX80 is starting to show some of the current generation's age. Materials are lush, as you'd expect in this sort of class, but the center controls here in the multimedia system really kinda hearken back to an earlier era of Infiniti. There's an eight-inch screen here. Graphics are merely so-so, and it doesn't respond very fast to simple things like turning the tuning knob. Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, both of those unavailable in the QX80, as well. Now, your passengers might have a few bones to pick, too. Those in the third row will find conditions pretty cramped overall, and they're not gonna be able to negotiate any more room out of their fellow passengers in the second row, 'cause the second row doesn't have a sliding function. Get into big competitors like the Lincoln Navigator, and it's clear this doesn't have to be the case, but in the QX80, it is. But redemption comes in the driving experience, where the QX80 has snappy accelerator response and smooth revving from it's 5.6-liter 400-horsepower V8. This thing also has value in spades. Starting price in the mid-$60,000 range. It tops out with options, but not accessories, in the mid-80s. Now, you go to town on that Navigator, or for that matter a Cadillac Escalade, Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class, you can top 100 large in any of those big luxury SUVs. That said, the biggest strike against the QX80 might also come in the value category, from parent company, Nissan's, sister SUV, called the Armada. The armada recently came out on the market. It's a very similar SUV to this. Doesn't seem quite as nice on the inside and lacks a few of the options at the top-end, but costs a significant amount less. So if you're shopping the QX80, certainly cross-shop the Armada against it. That might give you a reason not to get the Infiniti.