We have entered the era of 1990s nostalgia—Kurt Cobain documentaries, the return of Jerry Seinfeld (in Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee), and the reemergence of opulent, gas-guzzling, full-size SUVs. It’s true that sales of compact crossovers—and even subcompact crossovers—are booming, but the big-SUV market is still rich. When the Infiniti QX56 debuted in 2004, it found its place (albeit a small one) among the American entries in the segment. Redesigned for 2011, and now badged the Infiniti QX80, it’s the full-size mother of SUVs at the top of the Infiniti product line. There’s a reason the QX80 feels like a heavyweight: It uses a body-on-frame chassis and weighs roughly three tons. The sheer size and mass of this eight-passenger vehicle requires some muscle to move around, and that comes in the form of a 400-hp 5.6-liter V-8 mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission. The QX80 is offered in both rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations. In this segment, customers clamor for features, and Infiniti delivers a long list of standard technologies to compete with the likes of the Cadillac Escalade but at a lower starting price. READ MORE ››
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from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1Ke5UVz
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