2006 Infiniti QX56
Friday, October 20th, 2006
The QX56 comes with one of the most powerful V8s in the class. It’s an excellent choice among full-size SUVs for towing a heavy trailer while hauling seven passengers in luxurious comfort. And it offers serious off-road capability, an area where Nissan has a lot of experience. The QX56 is based on the full-size Nissan Titan pickup and Armada SUV.
The Infiniti QX56 offers seating for seven or eight and is rated to tow 8,900-9,000 pounds. Nissan’s 5.6-liter 32-valve engine generates more torque than the V8s in the 2006 Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator.
Infiniti QX56 comes as one fully loaded model. You need only choose between two-wheel drive ($49,950) and four-wheel drive ($52,550). The 5.6-liter V8 is rated at a 315 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque, and the transmission is a five-speed automatic. The four-wheel-drive system includes a low range.
Leather-trimmed upholstery and the navigation system are standard. Also standard: xenon high-intensity discharge headlights, a power liftgate, a park-assist system, and a rearview video camera. Standard wheels are 18-inch chromium aluminum alloy, with 20-inch wheels optional. The QX56 comes with a full-size spare tire.
Squared off, clearly defined, barrel-like fender blisters add heft to the quarter panels. The arched roof over the passenger compartment pushes the D-pillar rearward, shrinking and reshaping the rear quarter windows in conflict with the somewhat organic outline of the front and rear door windows. Nissan’s signature rear door handle is placed awkwardly on the C-pillar.
The running boards seem more cosmetic than functional, but manage to pull bodywork down below the midline of the wheels, again adding to the impression of mass. As with the Nissan Armada, it looks almost like a cartoon caricature from the rear three-quarter view. The Armada makes up for this with an attractive front end.
From the rear, the QX56 succeeds in presenting a strong stance. Big tires widely spaced beneath a body that starts out broad at the lower reaches and then gradually tapers in toward the top suggests solidity and road-hugging stability. The QX56 comes with LED taillights and brake lights that light up quicker and brighter than traditional bulbs.
The Infiniti QX56 is big and roomy. It offers comparable interior space as the 2006 Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, its most direct competition. The Infiniti’s second row is particularly roomy, beating the Cadillac and Lincoln by more than three inches in second-row legroom. Indeed, the second row of the QX56 feels like sitting in first class. Expansive window glass adds to the feeling of spaciousness in the QX56.
Leather is used just as expansively throughout the cabin. The leather-trimmed front seats are almost plush, nicely bolstered with adjustable inboard armrests, and heated. Second-row bucket seats are less plush, but still adequately bolstered with adjustable inboard armrests, and heated. The shift knob is gloved and the steering wheel is wrapped in leather accented with wood inserts.
Infiniti’s full-size SUV handles quite well for such a big vehicle. There’s a modicum of body lean in corners. The steering feels precise, with good variable assist. The combination of comfortable ride and responsive handling comes from the four-wheel independent double-wishbone suspension with front and rear stabilizer bars. The independent rear suspension improves ride and handling on rough roads. It especially helps smooth the ride for those seated in the second and third rows.
An advanced rear auto-leveling air suspension (which comes standard) improves stability and ride comfort when towing or hauling cargo. The air suspension maintains a uniform ground clearance and departure angle by automatically adjusting the air pressure in the suspension’s air bladders. The QX56 is rated to tow up to 9,000 pounds with 2WD or 8,900 pounds with all-wheel drive, more than the 2006 Cadillac Escalade (8,100 pounds) or Lincoln Navigator (8,600) or Toyota Sequoia (6,500).
Nissan’s 5.6-liter, 32-valve, double overhead-cam V8 offers impressive output, rated in the QX56 at 315 horsepower at 4900 rpm and 390 pound-feet of torque at 3600 rpm. That easily trumps the Sequoia’s 282 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque. The Lincoln Navigator, impressively revised for 2005, offers 300 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque. The 2006 Cadillac Escalade has a 6.0-liter overhead-valve V8 that boasts 345 horsepower at 5200 rpm and 380 pound-feet of torque at 4000 rpm, but note the higher rpm. (An all-new Escalade is being introduced for 2007.) Towing demands high torque at low rpm and that’s where the Infiniti’s power is concentrated.
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