Infiniti’s FX midsize SUV Crossover has been kicking around now for five years and has garnered plenty of following for its cool look and sporty performance. This year’s redesign was much anticipated with promises of a completely new and innovative look and performance boost for the FX. But rather than drawing “oohhhhs” and “aaahhhhs” from the punters, it has brought into serious question the sanity of the designers at Infiniti. What the hell is it? Opinions range from it looking like an angry boot, to Ronald McDonald’s runabout and the home of the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. The headlights are supposed to be angry, but look more like a charging hippo in heat. And what are those squiggles on the grille about?
OK - so we don’t much dig the way it looks … But how does it go? Well thankfully a lot better than it looks. Performance is up by a bit but not a lot, however the overall handling is vastly improved with softer suspension and a new seven-speed transmission. If you can overlook the questionable exterior (no doubt there are some out there who like it?) the new FX in both the FX35 and FX50 models is still a cool little crossover and will most certainly stand out in the crowd – even if it is for all the wrong reasons.
2009 Infiniti FX Performance
This year the FX35 gets the same 3.5-liter V6 but has tweaked the engine to give an extra 28hp to make 303hp. The FX50 has the 5.0-liter V8 with 390hp – up 70hp on last year. The five-speed automatic transmission of previous years has been upgraded to a seven-speed automatic, and although this should theoretically give an outlet to the greater power, it actually hinders it somewhat by constantly changing years upward too quickly and leaving it without enough revs to accelerate. The manual shift capability is there for when you feel the need to override the automatic transmission, which we did frequently.
Front-wheel drive is standard on the FX35 with all-wheel drive optional, while the all-wheel drive is standard on the FX50 with an emphasis on the rear wheels to keep it sporty. The previous bane of the FXs existence was the hard-as-rock suspension that was responsible for more spine damage through crashing over bumps that any other car since the rubber tire was invented. Thankfully this has received some serious attention this year, adding a double-wishbone suspension system in the front and multi-link in the rear. The big 18-inch and 21-inch wheels stay, but their jarring effect has been softened by the Continuous Damping control where drivers can choose between Auto and Sport settings – and as with most of these systems, the Auto is infinitely better.
Steering is firm and responsive, and handles cornering with ease and minimal body lean. Tow rating is pretty much average for this sized SUV at 3500lb, and fuel economy is a little improved over last year at 16/21mpg city/highway in the FX35 and 14/20mpg in the FX50. The FX features a complete range of gadgets and gizmos to keep drivers entertained for hours. The Intelligent Cruise Control system is the closest thing to a car that drives itself and a cool feature. Set the speed, and the car will automatically adjust itself to drive three seconds behind the car in front, no matter what speed it is going. Plus the Around View Monitor uses four cameras around the vehicle to watch the complete surroundings at all times.
2009 Infiniti FX Interior and Features
The interior of the Infiniti FX has been variously described as being designed by Playschool and being really cool. Our opinion is that it is somewhere in between the two, and thankfully seems to have understood this year that a “premium SUV” needs a premium interior. The seats are comfortably cushioned and there is plenty of leg and head room in both the front and back seats although if it is space you are after, most other SUVs offer more. Leather surfaces abound throughout the cabin and although the wood trim looks a bit out of place in such a modern car, it is executed tastefully.
Standard features on the FX35 include leather upholstery, power liftgate, 11-speaker Bose surround sound system with 6-disc changer, steering wheel mounted controls for cruise control, and full power accessories. To that can be added heated and cooled front seats, Bluetooth and iPod connection as well as a touchscreen navigation system with voice recognition, the Around View Monitor and parking assist. Infiniti have laid it on thick with the technology, offering rain-sensing windscreen wipers, adaptive cruise control, intelligent brake assist, lane departure warning and correction system and rear-seat DVD entertainment. The FX50 adds most of those optional features as standard.
2009 Infiniti FX Safety
Awarded the perfect five stars in government crash tests for front and side impacts, the Infiniti FX stacks in the safety features including the lane departure warning that can actually activate the appropriate brake to send the car back into its lane. The Intelligent Brake assist warns if the FX is approaching the car in front too fast and can be set to automatically brake for you. Apart from these, the standard and now somewhat boring stability control, traction control and ABS are available plus full airbags for front, side and side curtain protection.
Safety features:
- Intelligent Brake Assist
- Lane Departure and Prevention
- Around View Mirrors
- Stability control, ABS, traction control
- Front, front side and side curtain airbags