The underground car park in my apartment block is pretty unremarkable. Getting in and out in most manner of civilian transport isn’t exactly daunting. I’ve effortlessly traversed this stretch in many hunkered down and large automotive exotica and SUVs.
However, this week I faced a big challenge when trying to make my way out of the very car park. A five-metre long, two-metre wide challenge, to be precise. Yup, the Infiniti QX is enormous. It’s nearly half a metre longer than the Range Rover Vogue. And that’s a fairly massive car to begin with.
I dread the day when some extremity of the QX will meet an unyielding concrete structure with unpretty results. On the upside it’s got enough room for seven adults with all their limbs intact, and like any great premium family hauler, the seats fold electrically in a variety of ways to liberate a positively cavernous cargo space of 2,693 litres.
Now, you would probably imagine that with its scale-destroying heft, the 2,655-kilogram QX would gather itself off the line with the elegance of a sumo wrestler trying to get out of a Lazy Boy. But with a naturally aspirated 5.6-litre, 400 horsepower V8 channelling motivation to all four wheels, it’s hilariously rapid for something this big.
The ride’s predictably super soft, which coupled with the lofty height means the QX feels like an oil rig in corners. But that’s missing the point, you don’t fling something this gargantuan in corners like you would a sportscar. Plus, you need give in the suspension to be able to conquer daunting off-road terrain.
The fact that underneath the QX’s vast expanses of sheet metal, it is in fact a Nissan Patrol, means its prodigious dune-bashing talents are not in question. You can throw any challenge that the UAE’s great wide open can serve up its way and the QX 56 will emerge victorious. I’m confident. It’s getting out of the car park in the first place that I’m more worried about.
