2013 Infiniti JX35 - Eastbound and Down

It's unusual for Automobile Magazine's New York contingent -- Jamie Kitman and me -- to get first crack at a long-term car, but that's exactly what happened with our new, Four Seasons 2013 Infiniti JX35. It paused in Ann Arbor just long enough for art director Matt Tierney to snap a few pictures before road test editor Chris Nelson hopped in to rendezvous with me, exchanging the JX for the Four Seasons Mazda CX-5. Most of the staff in Ann Arbor didn't even get a look at it before it left.

At the agreed-upon location in western Pennsylvania, we did the hand-off. Coming out of the Mazda, my first impression was that the JX felt much bigger behind the wheel than I expected. It almost seems to belong to the Chevy Tahoe/Ford Expedition class of vehicles rather than the Chevy Traverse/Ford Explorer family of big utes. It has the same sense of solidity (door close, gear shift action, steering weight) as the QX56. In fact, the JX overall seems very much a sibling of the QX, which I suppose is what Infiniti was trying for.

Given this vehicle's size, the impossibility of seeing much of anything out the back, and the difficulty in locating the edges of the wavy bodywork, the overhead-view camera is a real helper in judging the faraway edges of the body. It's a necessary supplement to the back-up camera. In fact, it would be preferable if it continued to work once you shift into Drive, at least until 5 mph or so.

This JX is equipped with the full phalanx of electronic helpers, which we tried out on the five-hour interstate drive back to New York. Some proved more useful than others. I was happy with the performance of the adaptive cruise control, which I was able to use on the busy but fast-moving interstates in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. With the spacing set to the shortest distance, the JX was able to maintain a reasonable space. The system isn't too aggressive when slowing for the cars ahead, and it is quick to resume the set speed when traffic clears. The pre-collision braking, on the other hand, can't cope with crawling along in traffic on suburban boulevards. It wants to slam on the brakes even as you slowly creep up to the car ahead. I had to switch it off. The lane departure warning also got switched off after a while. Its beeping proved to be a lot more annoying than the vibrating steering wheel or vibrating seat that other automakers use.

This is the first-ever Infiniti to use a CVT, and I can't say that this is a watershed moment for the brand. At least it doesn't call much attention to itself except when accelerating, and those moments are usually pretty brief. However, at one point on the drive home I was on a hilly secondary road, and the CVT had a hard time choosing a ratio in moderate, low-speed acceleration up a gentle grade. It kept switching back and forth, like an indecisive automatic. Strange. So far, I haven't seen that behavior again in the hilly terrain where I live. Granted, the shiftless transmission probably helps fuel economy, which is pretty OK. I got an indicated 23 mpg on my drive home from Pennsylvania. A couple days of trundling around town dragged the average down only slightly, to 22 mpg. The EPA estimates are 18 mpg city and 23 mpg highway.

After a couple of weeks, my family and I took the JX on another road trip, this time to the Adirondacks. In a mix of highway and rural two-lanes, it got an indicated 24 mpg overall. Most of the time, Nissan's ubiquitous 3.5-liter V-6, here making 265 hp, feels perfectly adequate lugging the JX's 4419 pounds. But in the short passing zones on the two-lane roads in the mountains, it labored, and I did wish for more power. We also had another moment when the CVT exhibited the same indecisiveness; once again, we were gently accelerating up a grade, but at a slightly higher speed, of 55 to 60 mph. It will be interesting to see whether other drivers encounter this behavior.

Speaking of other drivers, I turned over the big Infiniti to Jamie Kitman. Soon, we'll take it back to Ann Arbor, where it's sure to be eagerly awaited.

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Infiniti LE, from Concept to EV

Ever since the first hybrid -- the spacey, two-seat Honda Insight -- arrived in the U.S., most green cars have featured love-it-or-hate-it styling. Some of that has been by design, with the goal of making them instantly recognizable as different from a normal, gas-powered car. Indeed, nothing says hybrid quite like the wedge shape of a Toyota Prius. Nissan has been seeking that same type of recognition in the all-electric arena with its Leaf. But as green becomes more mainstream, that strategy is starting to change. 

Recently, several gas-powered cars, including the Ford Focus and Hyundai Sonata, were fitted with alternative powertrains, with more on the way. And automakers that are developing green halo cars are striving to produce designs that are recognizable but not as potentially off-putting. This issue is becoming increasingly important in the burgeoning "sustainable luxury" car segment. One only need look at the Fisker Karma or Tesla Model S to know that expressive, dynamic exterior designs and alternative power can coexist. 

While they all had slightly different takes on what has been the most difficult hurdle to overcome, the assembled Infiniti designers and product planners agreed on one thing: the Infiniti LE Concept was a very challenging project. Early on, the team was completely open to what the final product would look like, and there was no directive from above saying it should be a sedan, hatchback, or even a crossover. But because the slate was clean and everybody had their own ideas about what kind of vehicle a luxury electric car should be, things got ugly at times.

 "Ultimately all of our market research indicated that a sedan is the car that most consumers want in a luxury EV," said Denise Barfuss, a senior manager for Infiniti marketing. "If you look at the market for green vehicles, nearly all of our competition has a hatchback because of the favorable aerodynamics and space in a compact footprint. Even our sister car, the Leaf, is a hatchback. But as a luxury marque, our choice of a sedan platform was more purposeful." "We didn't want to make the LE too unique," said Hirohisa Ono, a Nissan/Infiniti design manager. "It's an Infiniti first and an EV second. 

A car like the Leaf is an EV first. Although the LE doesn't look like any other Infiniti, it still maintains our DNA with the emotive lines, the crescent cut on the C-pillar, the 'bird of prey' headlights, and its distinctive grille." When the roomy sedan shape and modern, swoopy design are coupled with other innovations on the LE Concept such as wireless charging and a cabin inspired by the collar of a Japanese kimono, the result is an electric car that doesn't scream "green" or "compromise." It delivers on Infiniti's goal of creating a unique halo car that is luxury first and electric second, yet capitalizes on both. We're eagerly awaiting our chance to drive it, which Infiniti says will be early next year. 

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2013 Infiniti JX35

After a highly satisfactory experience with a Four Seasons Infiniti QX56, our collective antennae were up at the debut of Infiniti's newest SUV, the JX35. One rung down size-wise from the big-boy QX, the JX is also built differently, being of unibody construction rather than body-on-frame. Additionally, the JX is based on Nissan's front-wheel-drive, mid-size D-platform (which also underpins the Altima and the Maxima), and it's therefore the first Infiniti in a long time that doesn't use a rear-wheel-drive architecture.

Will the front-wheel-drive platform -- not to mention the CVT automatic -- compromise the new model's Infinti-ness? Or can Infiniti successfully imbue its more popularly priced three-row offering with the expected levels of refinement? And how will this new entry stack up in the burgeoning field of three-row crossovers? The answers to these questions are particularly important because the JX is expected to be the brand's second-biggest-volume model (behind the G).

Another Four Seasons test was in order, and Infiniti gamely signed on. We ordered an all-wheel-drive JX35, in trendy brown with brown leather (make that midnight garnet and java). The very reasonable base price of $42,500 includes such essentials as leather, a backup camera, a sunroof, power seats, a power tailgate, a power-adjustable steering column, and HID headlamps. Adding $12,300 worth of options took us somewhere beyond "reasonable" -- but still short of "absurd" -- and brought such niceties as an extra-huge moonroof that covers all three rows, heated and cooled front seats and heated second-row seats, a heated steering wheel, twenty-inch wheels, a Bose thirteen-speaker premium audio system, and more.

Between the technology package, the deluxe touring package, and the premium package, this JX has enough electronics to stock a Best Buy. There is the expected navigation system, with an eight-inch touch screen, voice recognition, traffic and weather, and a Zagat restaurant guide. Add to that Infiniti's Around View Monitor with moving object detection; front and rear audible park assist; and dual, headrest-mounted rear-seat entertainment screens. Finally, this JX also comes equipped with a slew of features that recall the Greyhound tagline, "Leave the driving to us:" intelligent brake assist with forward-collision warning, blind-spot warning and intervention, lane-departure warning and prevention, intelligent cruise control, and distance control assist.

That's a lot of technology to digest, but we'll have a full year to do it. The staff at the home office, however, will have to wait to get started, because the New York contingent is getting the first crack at this one. No sooner did the JX arrive at our office than it shipped off to the East Coast to spend its first few weeks with New York bureau chief Jamie Kitman and senior editor Joe Lorio. They'll be the first to weigh in on how well the JX tackles its big role.

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