Infiniti will replace its QX80 flagship SUV for the 2025 model year. Nissan’s luxury arm will reveal the new car in full on March 20 but is slowly passing out details to whet shoppers’ appetites in the run-up to the big reveal.
Last week, we saw the first hints of the design – an almost perfect reproduction of the well-received QX Monograph concept car.
This week, we get a peek under the hood. In a video posted to YouTube, Infiniti opens the engine bay. As with most modern luxury cars, that doesn’t give you a good look at the engine. A black plastic engine cover hides the powerplant. But the engine cover gives away the game. It reads “twin-turbo V6.”
The current QX80 comes exclusively with a V8.
But the drop in engine size doesn’t foretell a drop in power. Infiniti says, “The all-new QX80’s heart is a refined and efficient VR35DDT 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged engine, rated for 450 horsepower and 515 pound-feet of torque – increases of 50 horsepower and 102 pound-feet versus the current generation.” Power goes through a 9-speed automatic transmission.
Infiniti hasn’t yet said whether that power goes to two or four wheels. Today’s QX80 is available in rear- or all-wheel-drive (RWD or AWD). The company says the “newly available Electronic Air Suspension and Dynamic Digital Suspension technologies work in tandem to adapt the all-new QX80 to the exact driving situation.”
We’ll know more in about two weeks.
