Road Test
In truth, we’re still a little befuddled by the whole SUV-as-sports-car notion, and we have been since the dawn of the breed, which we trace back to the GMC Typhoon. If you want a sports car, well, why not start with a car instead of a truck?
Still, this genre has flourished since the BMW X5 proved the mass-market appeal of these high-powered beasts, and the specter of $4 gas seems to be the only thing working against them in the future. In the meantime, the 2009 Infiniti FX50 is here to make its case as one of the sportiest of sport-utility vehicles.
The FX line first entered the world as a concept car in 2001, with a design brief from Infiniti that described it as a “Bionic Cheetah.” That’s not a phrase that immediately came to mind when we saw the production version in 2003, but the zoomy FX had style to spare compared with most of its competitors.
At first glance the new FX looks a lot like its predecessor, but upon closer inspection the first-generation version comes across as positively staid compared with the new car. The grille is bigger, with wavelike curvy bars inside its gaping maw. The headlights rake back into the bodywork more steeply, the front fender flares are more aggressive, and when’s the last time you saw any vehicle with taillights protruding outside the bodywork? Granted, the vents behind the front wheels are downright tacky, but Infiniti claims they’re functional, reducing front-end lift by five percent.
Underneath the skin, the new version borrows heavily from the original. The unibody is still a derivative of Nissan’s FM (front midship) platform—the same one that underpins the 350Z and every Infiniti except the QX56 land yacht—with structural improvements that yield claimed increases of 60 percent in torsional stiffness and 240 percent in bending stiffness. At 4648 pounds, the new FX is about 150 pounds heavier, an increase mitigated by the use of aluminum for the doors and the suspension components. The wheelbase has been stretched 1.4 inches, to 113.6 inches. At 191.1 inches long, two inches more than the old vehicle, the FX fits between the G and M models, but it’s more than six, and five, inches wider, respectively, than those sedan siblings.
The interior of the FX follows the same basic design as the G and the EX, which is a reminder that Infiniti pretty much offers five variations on the same theme. The extra width makes for a much roomier cabin. Rear-seat legroom is decent, and the seatbacks recline, but entry and exit are hampered by the small opening of the door down near the feet. The specs say cargo space behind the rear seats has dropped two cubic feet from that of the old FX, but the area underneath the cargo cover looks bigger to our eyes. Our practical-cargo-room test backs that perception: The new FX holds two more beer cases with the rear seats up than before and four more with the seats folded.
In spite of the common dashboard layout with other models, the FX50 now appears positioned as Infiniti’s new flagship, especially because it has the most powerful engine in the lineup. The new and improved V-8 engine, known as VK50VE, is based on the 4.5-liter found in the old FX45 and the current M45, though Infiniti claims 80 percent of the parts are new. Variable lift has been added to the intake valves, and the output is bumped up 75 horsepower to 390. The 369 pound-feet of torque represents an increase of 40, peaking 400 rpm higher at 4400. The base FX35 V-6 comes with the familiar VQ engine making 303 horsepower in that application. Europeans get the 3.7-liter V-6 from the G37. All FX models come with a new seven-speed automatic gearbox, a first for Infiniti. Power is routed through all four wheels in the FX50, but there is a rear-wheel-drive version of the FX35. From a standing start, the torque split is 50/50, but once the vehicle is moving, the torque goes to the rear wheels unless slip is detected at the front.
