Test Drive: The 2022 Infiniti QX55, a stylish new nameplate from Nissan

With automobiles, actresses and actors, initial impressions usually focus on looks, which is why manufacturers produce vehicles like the 2022 Infiniti QX55, a stylish new nameplate from the luxury division of Japan’s Nissan.

It’s a fastback version of the existing QX50 compact crossover sport utility vehicle. The QX55 presents a prominent, attractive bustle and an attention-getting grille that contrasts with the QX50’s customary crossover profile. The two vehicles share a platform and power train.

Sometimes reshaping an SUV into a fastback can get the proportions out of whack, as witness the original BMW X6. But the QX55 manages tasteful lines without looking ungainly. It competes in the luxury crossover category against the BMW X4 and the Mercedes-Benz GLC four-door coupe.

Complementing its road presence, the top-line QX55 Sensory AWD came with a classy interior featuring two-tone black and white perforated leather seats, wood grain surfaces and soft touch materials on the dash and doors. There’s comfortable seating for four with good bolstering on the front seats.

Out back, despite the sloping roof line which cuts into interior space compared to the QX50, there’s plenty of head and knee room for two. But the center-rear position suffers from a hard cushion and intrusion of a floor hump, though there’s still head and knee space.

The QX55 has 127 cubic feet of interior space, divided into 100 cubic feet for passengers and 27 for cargo. The passenger space is about what you’d find in a midsize sedan, though the cargo space is about double the sedan’s trunk.

With the second-row seats folded — though they don’t fold flat — the QX55’s maximum cargo volume is 54 cubic feet. That’s about 10 cubic feet less than the QX50’s’s maximum cargo volume.

Access to the carpeted cargo area is through a motion activated power tail gate. Handy levers on both sides flip the rear seatbacks forward to double the cargo area, though pushing them back up for passengers takes a mighty shove.

Like its sibling, the QX55 gets its power from Nissan’s innovative variable-compression four-cylinder engine. First used in the 2019 Infiniti QX50, the engine was developed in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz.

Engineering wizardry automatically varies the piston travel and cylinder volume by a small amount to enable the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine to operate at compression ratios ranging from 8:1 for high performance to 14.1 for efficiency. The latter contributes to an EPA city/highway/combined fuel economy rating of 22/28/25 miles to the gallon.

At the VC-Turbo’s introduction, this column commented that “looking at cutaway demonstration model, you get the feeling that you’re witnessing a contraption by famed cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who dreamed up impossibly complicated gadgets to perform simple operations.”

Also called the VC-T, the engine is turbocharged. In the 2022 QX55, it makes 268 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque on premium gasoline, enough to propel the streamlined two-ton crossover to 60 miles an hour in the six-second range. The transmission is a continuously variable automatic with a manual-shift mode and downshift rev matching. All-wheel drive is standard.

The Sensory QX55 comes with 20-inch painted and machine finished aluminum alloy wheels and run-flat tires. Despite the run-flats, the ride is decent on all but the roughest surfaces. Overall, the suspension system feels biased toward improved handling over a cushy ride.

Underway, the ambiance is that of a smooth and quiet touring machine with comfort and plenty of amenities for long hours behind the wheel. Standard on the Sensory model are adaptive cruise control with stop and hold, tri-zone automatic climate control, heated and cooled front seats, acoustic front glass, motorized glass sunroof, active noise cancellation, in-dash navigation system, Apple Car Play and Android Auto, Wi-Fi hotspot, 16-speaker Bose audio, power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, and hill start and steering assist.

Full safety equipment includes forward and rear automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot warning and intervention, head-up display, 360-degree surround camera display, and lane departure warning and prevention.

None of this comes without a commensurate price tag. The QX55 Sensory starts at $58,075, including the destination charge. Attractive custom red paint added $900 and a few other minor options brought the as-tested price to $60,700.

There are two other versions, called trim levels in the industry. The base model, called the Luxe, starts at $47,525 and the mid-level Essential is priced at $52,625.

Specifications

Model: 2022 Infiniti QX55 Sensory AWD four-door crossover sport utility vehicle

Engine: 2.0-liter four-cylinder; variable-compression, turbocharged; 268 hp, 280 lb-ft torque

Transmission: Continuously variable automatic with manual shift mode, downshift rev matching and all-wheel drive

Overall length: 15 feet 6 inches

Height: 5 feet 4 inches

EPA/SAE passenger/cargo volume: 100/27 cubic feet

Weight: 4,065 pounds

EPA city/highway/combined fuel consumption: 22/28/25 mpg. Premium fuel recommended

Base price, including destination charge: $58,075

Price as tested: $60,700

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Review: The 2022 Infiniti QX55, a stylish new nameplate from Nissan