long-term update

This is the final hurrah for our 2011 Infiniti QX56 long-termer, which has already gone back to Nissan Middle East. The QX has some special features and details that can only be discovered in person. So what better way to highlight them than a walkaround video. Be sure to check out the cooler box that opens both from the front and the back, the numerous storage compartments, the abundance of clear buttons, the generous overhead a/c vents and the ease of access to the third-row seat.

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With familiarity comes fondness. When we first asked BMW for a long-term tester, we requested the new 5-Series. When we found out we’ll be given the 5-Series Gran Turismo instead, we weren’t thrilled but we were ready to take any BMW we got. While we still haven’t seen head or tail of the 5-Series sedan, we now believe the 5-Series GT is actually the better luxury car, considering it is more expensive. And that means it gets every option that we saw in the last 7-Series we tested.

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It is confounding that Infiniti and Lexus are the only Japanese brands that are attempting to take on the German luxury marques. Who wouldn’t want a reliable luxury car? However, while Lexus is content with outdated models, Infiniti has been going from strength to strength, launching various all-new models in the past few years, with a bias towards capable performance, unique styling and original technology. We will now take a look at the technology found in our Infiniti QX56, and how well they actually work in real life.

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So Car Middle East got the BMW M3, the BMW 7-Series and the BMW Z4 as long-term cars. And Wheels got the BMW X5 M. We got the BMW 535i Gran Turismo. While the hierarchy of publications is obvious here, we don’t mind. In our experience, every modern BMW drives like a sports car. Every BMW.

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We’ve been using the 2011 Infiniti QX56 long-termer as our daily driver for the past two months. But if you’re wondering whatever happened to our 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee, it’s still around. Late last summer, we took a trip down to Sharjah and bought parts worth Dhs 1300 or so to make it look new again.

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If you’re wondering why we haven’t posted an update on our borrowed 2011 Infiniti QX56 for a while, it’s because it had gone back via tow-truck to Nissan on a working vacation a week ago, namely for test-drives by other magazines. It is due to be back with us today hopefully.

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There is absolutely nothing to report on this car. Absolutely nothing. It is running fine, just as it has been since we bought it last Ramadan. And that is exactly how we like it.

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As we experienced on our trip to Hatta, the 2011 Infiniti QX56 comes standard with a built-in living-room, complete with leather sofas and LCD televisions. The cabin is nothing like the one in the older Armada-based model that we tested a couple of years ago.

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Our long-term 2011 Infiniti QX56 is getting easier to manage every day. It takes a while to get comfortable with a vehicle this size. It is, of course, made easier by a myriad of cameras and sensors making sure you don’t hit anything. We took the truck to Hatta this weekend, not for off-roading, but to use it as it was intended — as an all-terrain luxury picnic bus.

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First things first, the 2011 Infiniti QX56 makes a big first impression. It is so big, in fact, that it makes us feel a bit embarrassed to be standing next to it, us appearing to be relative midgets. Of course, that bigness is generally regarded to be part of its appeal.

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