2016 QX50 Announced

[JohnD]

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suv ... irst_look/

Major change seems to be a 3.5" increase in wheelbase.

[ggalloro]

Here is a good site with some detail photos https://www.cars.com/articles/2016-infi ... 680198914/

[CDNicecube]

Nice and elegant. It looks pretty much like the current generation. This is a mild midcycle update, at best. Perhaps Infiniti did not have a budget for a more important restyling (after 8 years?!), or felt the styling was still "current"?

The fact it is longer will help sales. The interior is the same as current MY. Good news for current owners, our car won't devalue as fast with this introduction.

I was expecting a quite different styling, a la QX30, i.e. bolder, different. I am looking forward to the QX30 as it looks sharp!

Ice

[dreamingat30fps]

Maybe the QX30 is going to replace the QX50 all together. I mean from the concept pics I've seen it seems like it could very well be a new QX50 as I don't really see where else it would fit in the lineup.

The update to the QX50 is a joke IMO they really didn't do anything, especially in the interior.

[jsk11ex]

Luv the QX30, but going to a 4cyl is a downgrade. Guess my infinity was my first and last.

[meanie]

This is the car they should have made in the first place. By lopping inches off the G37 platform they doomed it to niche status, and taking so long to upgrade to the 3.7 engine and 7 AT showed a lack of investment in the car. And why did it not have signals on the mirrors in 08? While it should now be more competitive in what is universally referred to as the "hot" luxury CUV market, I fear it is too little too late. I still like the styling and agree it is good news for us current owners, but I think there should be a hybrid option, and at this point to make it truly competitive they need more than a mild refresh. Just adding 3 inches will not create a lot of buzz, and unless they advertise the heck out of it (which seems unlikely) I don't see it breaking out of the niche box.

[dreamingat30fps]

Luv the QX30, but going to a 4cyl is a downgrade. Guess my infinity was my first and last.

I didn't even read that part, just looked at the purtty pics lol! Yeah that's a total buzz kill for me.

[NJGuy]

This is the car they should have made in the first place. By lopping inches off the G37 platform they doomed it to niche status, and taking so long to upgrade to the 3.7 engine and 7 AT showed a lack of investment in the car. And why did it not have signals on the mirrors in 08? While it should now be more competitive in what is universally referred to as the "hot" luxury CUV market, I fear it is too little too late. I still like the styling and agree it is good news for us current owners, but I think there should be a hybrid option, and at this point to make it truly competitive they need more than a mild refresh. Just adding 3 inches will not create a lot of buzz, and unless they advertise the heck out of it (which seems unlikely) I don't see it breaking out of the niche box.

Well said!

If the car had originally come with this extended wheelbase (accompanied by a more spacious rear seating area), I think it would have been much more competitive with, and perhaps may have surpassed, the RDX's, Q5's, X3's, etc. Instead, with the non-existent marketing and slow addition of features, the EX seems to just have been pushed aside to be a niche product.

meanie, have you ever thought of quitting your day job and considered heading Infiniti's product planning division? I honestly think you have much better feel for what the market is calling for than whoever is in charge there now; and I think you'd help Infiniti make much more money . The product I really give them credit for is the JX35/QX60. While it is not an exciting vehicle, I think they hit a home run in the market they were shooting for. I see tons of them on the road.

[XIS]

hmm... I am interested. If it is a turbo 4 with some torque and city mileage in the mid-high 20's, I would definitely be interested.

My RDX 4 banger turbo with the hondata chip would give my RWD EX35 a run for its money... it would be close. I am not opposed to a 4 cyl turbo at all... My pops has the mercedes CL45 AMG (and I know this isn't an AMG) but that thing would eat most all 8 cyls alive. Don't be so anti-4cyl. you could be very surprised

[jsk11ex]

hmm... I am interested. If it is a turbo 4 with some torque and city mileage in the mid-high 20's, I would definitely be interested.

My RDX 4 banger turbo with the hondata chip would give my RWD EX35 a run for its money... it would be close. I am not opposed to a 4 cyl turbo at all... My pops has the mercedes CL45 AMG (and I know this isn't an AMG) but that thing would eat most all 8 cyls alive. Don't be so anti-4cyl. you could be very surprised

Already have a turbo 4cyl in my genesis coupe, lag lag lag.... nothing like all the power without waiting for the turbo to spool up. It's fast in a quarter mile, but make a turn at an intersection and its a 120hp pig until the turbo spools up. That's the problem with a turbo, the motor has no hp or torque until the rpms are up, and with an auto you have little control over that, even in sport mode. Sure I can drop the gear with the paddles, and do, but then the power hits bang, nothing like the smooth power curve of the 6cyl in the EX. I certainly don't want a turbo as a daily driver, UNLESS, they do a bi-turbo. That gets rid of most of the problems, with one smaller turbo kicking in much sooner. Never seen a set-up like that on a 4cyl though.

[AWGD8]

Thanks for posting OP!

Regarding turbo 4 cylinder vs V6 engines, most manufacturers follows the major consumers demand , fuel economy first before performance. What did they come up with? A direct port 4banger with turbo.
lighter 4 cylinder engine vs a heavy V6. It is not all about power, a lighter car does not need a higher HP, but adding a turbo on a 4 cylinder is like hitting 2 birds with one stone. Power and economy, thus evn a mustang has a 4 banger turbo nowadays.

It is funny when I as looking at some BMW turbos and looking at their specs. max torque from 1,500 RPM- 4,500RPM. That is freakin amazing to have that 300 foot pounds of torque at 1,500 RPM! But I believe what they meant is it starts spooling at 1,500rpm and Max torque is somewhere higher than that.

I test drove an STI 4 banger turbo and it feels like a V6, but i believe also bec. of the gearing ratio in the transmission are very close. I do not think the new QX50 will sell well. C'mon now? what 20 MPG mixed drivng? who would buy it ? There are better option out there for 40 grand! Hybrid is their only option or a turbo 4.

[XIS]

That RDX had no real lag... Hondata and the dual spooling turbo... Same with the cl45…... This won't be a Mazda.

[AWGD8]

That RDX had no real lag... Hondata and the dual spooling turbo... Same with the cl45…... This won't be a Mazda.

How do you like the RDX? I had been an Honda Fan since 1995. I had a 2000 TypeR with Jackson Racing supercharger etc... I love the manual gear shifter , very precise and smooth. The only thing why I gave up on Hondas is their transmission. Not sure about the quality now, but I believe Infiniti has a better build transmission than Honda. The EX35 has a solid body build than the RDX. My Ex is already almost 7 years old and the body is tight (less clunky) and the doors still have this solid sound when closed. Granted, our Ex35 is more expensive, but it is well thought out built car that inherits the perfromance DNA from twin intake system to a solid internal engine support and transmission. There were lots of Honda forum bashers back then. High HP cars with no Torque... The reason they are now fast is the body is thin and lightweight etc...

I also had a chance to loan the basic Q50 and the interior is alot better than our EX35. I thought I hate the G's interior after driving my EX35. The Ex35 is so smooth like a butter until I drove the Q50. Infinti is in the right direction for classy smooth ride like a BMW or Mercedes. The body is solid unlike the thin body of Upscale Honda or Toyota. I was shock to see a Lexus IS350 selling for close to 50 grand! WT....!!! Their IS250 which has what 101 HP is the same price as the mid price Q50? Yet, people buy it...

[XIS]

I loved my RDX... I have also been a honda/acura fan for several years...starting with my 90 Integra. I have also had a MDX, a couple CRVs, civics, my RDX and I bought my boys a RSX manual and an accord coupe...

I followed the RDX from concept to release. I got on the list and when they came out, the price wasn't negotiable and I had a hard time getting black leather here in Phx... I can't believe I waited about 6 months to get the carbon bronze/black leather combo. It was fun and fast. The BEST thing about it it was the SHAWD... silly name but super handling all wheel drive is exactly what it was. The way it shifted power front to back and side to side was amazing. When I got the Hondata chip, it was fast as hell and screamed! I surprised many 'muscle' cars when I left them in my dust... The downsides were you had to drive it like a grandma to get over 17 MPG. If you drove it like it was meant to be driven, you would get 13-14 mpg. seriously. That and the suspension was so stiff, the smallest bumps were jarring to your passengers. My wife whined about it so much that I traded it in on the EX... I actually think my EX and RDX were very close in power/speed. The EX has more on the top end and is obviously much much smoother. It would not compare in the slalom, but who drives in those daily? The EX is smaller in the back, but I like that about it... Tech-package stereo in RDX is a bit better than the Bose in the infiniti - but not by much.
MPG - I can get 19 in the city driving pretty spirited. 20+ if I drive the same way I drove the RDX to get 17. On my trips to Cal, I could barely get 20 in the RDX and the best I got in the EX was 26+

When they changed the RDX to a 6 cyl, they killed it. Might get a bunch more moms to buy it, but it lost all looks and fun... they even took away the SHAWD and gave it a 4wheel drive system like the CRV instead. Ugh.

Oh - and my EX is damn sexier than the RDX.

[AWGD8]

XIS, the last time I drove an SH-AWD was on a late 90's Honda Prelude. That thing sticks to the ground like pancake! Then I bought the Acura Type R with stock Summer tires , Its like Spiderman on wheels!

Yes, Honda needs a Turbo to compensate for the lack of Torque on small displacement car like the 1.8 Liters 4 Bangers. i cannot believe that the new Civic Si has the same size engine as my old Honda CRV 2.4L 4 banger!
If my typeR with a 1.8L does 6.1 secs 0-60 before, I cant imagine how the new Civic Si does it? From my Type R experienced, It is not a good idea to have a 300HP front wheel drive car. I can't recall if the new Civic Type R that is due next year is frontwheel? It is the hardest to launch off the line since the front wheel bounces! it needs a lot of practice to launch high HP front wheel drive cars specially with Turbo.

I had a Rav4 sports V6 that I traded it in for the Ex35. The Rav4 bec. of being lighter in weight, feels quicker off the line than our EX35. I would say quicker 0-50MPH. it just does nit have the manumatic transmission like ours.

I believe you that your RDX might feel a lot quicker off the line than our EX35.
When I test drove the Ex before I bought it, I was not really impressed with the off the line performance. I still prefer the Rav4 V6 sports. If you had a chance to test drive those 2008 Rav4 V6 the base model is even quicker! Sadly, Toyota only offers 4 bangers nowaday with identity crisis body styling.

Turbo cars are the cheapest to tune and give the best HP/torque result than an NA engines...

[NJGuy]

The only thing why I gave up on Hondas is their transmission. Not sure about the quality now, but I believe Infiniti has a better build transmission than Honda.

Honda's/Acura's run of bad transmissions was from '98-'04 I believe, and they were mostly the automatics mated with their V6 engines. The ATs tied to the 4-cyl models were no worse than average. After that, the transmissions were fine. And their MTs are among the best in the business. I don't believe that Honda/Acura had any issues with the 6 speed auto that came out a few years ago. They just debuted a new 8 speed auto, in which time will tell it's reliability. They also have a ZF sourced 9 speed in their new Acura models, which has experienced some issues so far. The jury is still out on the new CVTs in the Civic, Accord, and CRV; but I have a feeling they won't be too problematic as Honda has experience building CVTs.

The JATCO built 5 and 7 speed ATs in these Infiniti's appear to be reliable units. But the CVT in the JX35/QX60 would make me quite nervous if I were to own that car out of the warranty period. I believe that Nissan has been using JATCO CVTs for quite a while and the reliability of these transmissions has probably improved, but for some reason I keep thinking about the horror stories of premature failure and expensive replacements.

[AWGD8]

NJGuy, thanks for the very informative Honda Transmission info!
I remember when I had my leased CRV 2002 model. The 4th year on the lease term it gave me a flashing Transmission light warning in the dash. The only way to reset it was to unhook the battery cable and restart again. It would take about a few miles before the warning light comes back again. Being a lease car and out if warranty, and a few months left for the lease term, I decided to lease another Honda. ( Pilot)

I searched online and read the dreaded Honda AT flashing light and my CRV might had the same issue. Though, I did not feel any unusual Transmission driveability issue i heard that the transmission is about to kaput! So I had no choice ,but to disconnect the battery and reconnect before trading it in. The Pilot that replaced it was great except when I was returning it from the end lease term. Some weird mechanical humming sound which follows the rotation of the flywheel. It only started to hum after driving it for more than 10 miles. Went to dealer and said it was a waterpump. Pilot was out of warranty for a few months and Honda did not wAnt to give me a break. They want $700 for the repair. I went to a different Honda dealership and just returned my lease. I did not mention the issue and never heard anything from them eversince. Sometimes, you have to play their games. That time I switched to Toyota.

You are right about Hondas Stick shift , smooth and precise!

I heard the Subaru has a nice CVT. Still too early to tell it's reliability.

Infiniti was my worse car buying experienced, but the best service experience.
My finance lady lied to us.

1) She sold me an extended service contract for 48 months and told me it was the top of the line with Synthetic oil change, but it was not.

2) She told me that the clear 3M hood guard includes the front hood, the two side mirror and the Full front bumper for $500.

-Found out the next day that they only cover the Hood and the side mirrors. I fought them and succeeded with the front full bumper covered.

- I was so tired that I did not care to fight for the synthetic oil she promised. Since they will replace the oil at 3000 miles interval anyway...



Very bad lady!

[NJGuy]

When they changed the RDX to a 6 cyl, they killed it. Might get a bunch more moms to buy it, but it lost all looks and fun... they even took away the SHAWD and gave it a 4wheel drive system like the CRV instead. Ugh.

I know that you don't like the route that Acura took with the 2nd gen RDX, but I think it was a smart move by them. While their "aesthetically challenged" TL, uninspiring TSX, and dollied-up Civic models languished on dealer lots, the MDX and RDX sales kept Acura afloat. I had barely seen any of the old RDX models out there, but I know I see at least 2-3 times as many of the newer model on the road. Sure, the RDX has been downgraded performance wise, but I would think that Acura now has a much larger profit margin per vehicle on the newer model.

Like it or not, I think the shift away from 'sport' to 'mom-mobile', while disappointing, seems like a trend that many of the larger automakers are going to continue following. We'll see what the future holds, but it looks like the female car buying demographic continues to grow and seems to have the money to go along with it. If not that, then the other cars in the future will provide an experience that rivals playing games on an XBox. And that's only until the cars will start to drive themselves . Keep you fingers crossed that someone will make a car you'll want to buy when you're done with your EX .

[XIS]

NJ - I completely agree. It is selling for them. It just isn't 'cool' anymore!

AW - My wife wants my EX... If I let her have it, I would get either the new civic SI or the civic type R,...whenever it gets here! That new Lexus RC350 is pretty hot too. (I had an IS300 that I traded in on my RDX and loved it too)

[AWGD8]

That Civic R turbo will be a blast to drive for DD!

[jrmotorsports55]

The Mercedes GLA45 AMG is the same chassis as the QX30 and runs 12s with a turbo 4. Not too shabby.

[AWGD8]

The Mercedes GLA45 AMG is the same chassis as the QX30 and runs 12s with a turbo 4. Not too shabby.

Wow!

BTW, it's great to see you here!

[jrmotorsports55]

Thanks, I'm still here. Definitely watching the GLA/QX30 twins as I really like the size and styling. Which one I go with will all come down to powertrain options. The GLA45 AMG really has my attention.

[CDNicecube]

I agree the GLA /QX30 interest me, but for me, I would add "reliability" and MB are not always very reliable. Well executed but reliable? Not to sure....I am also quite worried about DI turbo engines and the carbon deposit (CD) that still plague German engines. I know now of 3 acquittances who had problems with CD and paid a pretty penny to get it fix. This is what is turning me off BMWs (Electrical gremlins and HPFP) and Audis (Carbon deposit). Give me a good old FI V6 any day.

Ice

(Now I am writing all of this about the Germans, but I am the guy who is now on its third Fuel Pump on its 2010 EX35!)

[jrmotorsports55]

I have DI turbo now in my Veloster, so I've definitely done a lot of reading on that topic.

Jason

[XIS]

Back to the Civic SI... just bought an 08 SI sedan for my son and that thing is a BLAST to drive. Quick, agile, electric power steering (I like) and a high-revving 200HP 4 banger that gets good MPG. What's not to like?!

Oh - seeing a few GLK45AMGs and the not as powerful but still nice GLA250. I do like those a lot... similar sexiness to our EX35/EX37s