2018 Infiniti QX80: We’re Driving it This Week!

The QX80 full-size luxury SUV has been around for quite a while now. It was actually introduced back in 2004 as the QX56, and the second generation appeared for the 2011 model year. It’s been called the QX80 since 2014, when the brand’s nameplate strategy was revised.

From a sales standpoint, the QX80 isn’t doing too badly, with 705 units moving out in Canada during the first 10 months of 2017. However, it can’t keep the same pace as its segment’s leaders, the Mercedes-Benz GLS (2542 units sold) and Cadillac Escalade (2407 units sold).

Largely unchanged for the last few years, the 2018 Infiniti QX80 is getting some styling and technological updates, as highlighted during its unveiling at the Dubai Auto Show, followed by its presentation the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The Car Guide will be travelling to South Carolina in order to check out the latest version of the Japanese brand’s mammoth SUV which, strangely enough, is no longer built in the United States—the battleground of this type of vehicle—but in Japan.

A new front-end design, new paint colours and alloy wheel designs are part of the exterior changes. New higher-quality materials dress up the cabin as well, and Infiniti claims improved sound insulation as well as a more modern rear-seat entertainment system. We’ll get to spin its 400-horsepower V8 and test the capabilities of its four-wheel drive system, which are unchanged for 2018.

Stay tuned for our full report on the new and improved QX80.

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