Vehicle: 2009 Infiniti FX50 with Navi & Mobile Entertainment System Pkg, Technology Pkg and Sport Pkg
Price as tested: CDN$70650
Performance: While the standard FX is powered by Nissan’s proven VQ35DE, its the uplevel V8 FX that has got the delightful upgrade. 390hp is what the new 5.0 liter V8 serves under the hood of this uplevel FX50. The 5.0 liter V8 hosted lots of advanced engineering right from the CVTCS variable valve timing to VVEL, which stands for Variable Valve Event and Lift. Combined all of these with its DOHC 32-valve V8. Its a welcome upgrade from the potent 4.5 liter resided in its forebear. This 390 horses and, equally impressive, 369 lb/ft of torque have moved this heavy beast pretty well. With close to 4600 lb of leather-lined luxury, this FX remains a potent and responsive vehicle to drive. The throttle response is quick. While the bottom end has been doing aplentry with maximum torque arrives above 4 grand, its the mid-range that is most impressive. The 7-speed manumatic has managed to provide decent gear ratios for both low-end acceleration and highway cruising. Although its got 7th gear as overdrive, FX50 is definitely not the kind of SUV to consider if you are after fuel economy. Our test average of 18 liters per 100km is horrordous even with its performance prowess. FX35, with its 303hp has more than enough grunt in today’s world. Plus a much better fuel economy. On the other hand, this 7-speed has smooth up and downshifts. The shifts are crisp and refined. The addition of a manumatic mode would make this FX an even better car to drive. The downshift rev matching has created a bit of a sequential gearbox feel, although when it comes to speed, far from it.
Handling: One of FX’s biggest highlights has to be its CDC, or what Nissan called Continuous Damping Control. This system automatically adjust the suspension damping under different driving conditions. Driver can control CDC with both comfort and sport mode on the center console. We found CDC really has done a good job on softening FX’s infamous rough-riding characteristics on comfort mode. Even with its huge 20 and 21 inches in our FX35 and FX50 testers, this system managed to create a decent enough ride comfort in sport mode. This is a system that Nissan should made it optional in the outgoing FX. The previous car’s ride quality is simply punishing under all road conditions. The intelligent AWD system has worked hand-in-hand with the chassis to provide a secure driving dynamics. This is a rear-bias system that has worked decently with its Rear Active Steer, which allows a bit of an oversteer when pushed through corners without sacificing the AWD security. On the other hand, FX’s steering feel is decent while manage to engineered enough precision and responsivness. Its stability control is good enough to step out most of the time, while secure enough for those who usually treat FX as a fashionable item. The amount of body rolls is better than average while understeer tends to surface without pushing really hard.
Brakes: FX’s braking system is a surprise one. Consider its porky 4300 lb in base FX35 trim to our tester’s near 4600 lb, it managed to produce a commandable braking distance. The braking feel is solid and linear. Surprisingly lack of brake fade after couple of hard stops. Thankfully, ABS steps out of the picture until absolutely necessary.
Interior: FX has never known for its versatility. Swallow cargo cut-off with high liftover have created limited versatility in the outgoing model, its pretty much remain intact in the latest iteration. 62 cubin feet of cargo space with rear seats fold down is decent if not outstanding. Consider FX’s price, we expect the rear window to open seperately. Sadly, it doesn’t.
The leather seats are comfortable and well-foamed. Infiniti has got one of the most user-friendly navigation system in the business, one in our FX is no exception. The instrumentation gauges are clear and analog. Infiniti interior has never known for good quality. The original FX and G’s use of materials are simply disasterous. The new FX has improved although still far from class-leading. It remains as a good effort from Nissan beancounters, nonetheless. There are too many buttons control the auto climate control, stereo and navigational system in the center console. If you love buttons, you would love this FX.
Due to the sloppy C-pillars, FX has only acceptable rear headroom and legroom is average. The C-pillars is another reason why FX got dismal cargo space with the seats up.
Conclusion: The FX has always been a mixbag when it comes to crossover world. Its styling is debatable enough to be controversial. I personally think its ugly. After looked at the new one, the old one starts to look decent if aged poorly. Interior is comfortable if cramped. There are many compact premium sportswagons, which are even more capable than FX, offered more cargo space. It got good performance. But Infiniti can hardly convince those who are shopping an X5 and Cayenne to drop by their showroom. With its horrordous fuel economy, its definitely a wrong car introduced at a wrong time. That’s simply because there are many sportswagons offer as much performance prowess for better economy.
OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2009 Infiniti FX50
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Performance: 4/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 4/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 3.5/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 3.5/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 2/5
Value-for-money: 3/5
Overall rating: 3.5/5