Check out the February issue of Automobile Magazine for this review as well as the Caterham Super Seven SV, BMW X5 4.4i, Volkswagen Phaeton, Kia Amanti, and Infiniti G35x!
Hana, Hawaii—
Americans must have a recessive bad-taste gene that comes into play when their annual incomes exceed $200,000. How else to explain why the nouveaux riches who participated in Infiniti's consumer clinics "absolutely love" the QX56's huge cartoon grille and, according to senior marketing manager Ed Baldwin, "really love" the way the windows in the front and rear doors sweep rearward, only to encounter the fixed glass beyond the C-pillar that appears to be a stylistic afterthought. The QX56 and the Nissan Titan-derived Pathfinder Armada on which it is based are as unsightly and ill proportioned as the McMansions in which many members of Infiniti's target audience live.
But, like those outsize dwellings, the QX56 is a pretty nice place once you're inside. The roomy, lavishly equipped cabin's leather is softer and richer than the Armada's, the wood trim truly is from a tree, and real aluminum accents the instrument panel.... Read full article