2024 Infiniti QX55 Review: Design But No Drama

Style sells, but the 2024 Infiniti QX55 is counting on more than just sleek design to carve out a spot in the lucrative compact luxury SUV category. With a trick turbocharged engine claiming to deliver on both performance and frugality, Infiniti's swooping four-door promises the best of both worlds.

Pricing kicks off at $50,150 for the QX55 Luxe, rising to $55,100 for the Essential trim, and then $58,650 for the top-spec Sensory (all plus $1,195 destination). That's a simplified trim walk compared to the QX50 that this crossover is based on — and which starts from $41,000 plus destination) — plus Infiniti makes things like AWD standard.

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LED lights, a power tailgate, and leather seats also come as standard across the board for this style-focused model, then, along with 20-inch wheels. On paper, the QX55 checks off plenty of boxes. The big question is whether Infiniti's overall package lives up to the ambitious billing.

Shaving off the rear roofline to make crossovers more curvaceous is not a new strategy these days, but the QX55 still looks swell. What once seemed like an outsized grille now feels far more proportional, given the gaping maws some rivals sport, and Infiniti's reasonably tasteful application of chrome and black contrast cladding skirt a careful line between premium and rugged.

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Launched in the 2019 QX50 — the QX55's more traditionally SUV-shaped sibling — Infiniti's VC-Turbo engine is a fiendishly clever piece of mechanics. The 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four can dynamically adjust its compression ratio, unlike typical engines which operate at a single, fixed compression. In contrast, Infiniti's powerplant can go from an 8:1 ratio if more power is required, to 14:1 if engine efficiency is the goal.

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It's all done automatically, in the background and with no manual control by the driver, and Infiniti says the upshot is the economy of a smaller engine but with the performance of a larger one. Certainly, 268 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque are reasonable numbers for an SUV in this segment.

Unfortunately, Infiniti's handiwork is undermined by its choice of transmission. A continuously variable transmission (CVT) no longer instantly means disappointment, but the example in the QX55 does the VC-Turbo a disservice. It grumbles and swoops, lacking the confidence of that 286 horsepower conviction, and though there's a Sport mode, the QX55 never feels like it has the full urgency that its engine might otherwise supply.

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Switch to Standard mode, and things are placid and acceptable. There are no fancy adaptive dampers here, but Infiniti's chassis tuning errs on the comfortable side. There's ProPilot Assist — effectively hands-on adaptive cruise control with lane-keeping assistance — but nothing like the ProPilot Assist 2.0 hands-free tech which could nudge the QX55 into being quite the sweet road-trip ride.

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Sadly, Infiniti's big boasts of great economy from the VC-Turbo don't quite hold up to the crossover status-quo. Its 22 mpg city, 28 mpg highway, and 25 mpg combined EPA ratings fall behind what a similarly priced Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATIC can deliver: the German SUV may not have trick compression ratios, but mild hybridization helps it achieve 24 mpg city, 32 mpg highway, and 27 mpg combined. My own, mixed driving with the QX55 clocked in at just over 26 mpg.

In the cabin, Infiniti's decent selection of materials can't keep the QX55 from feeling dated. The dual-tone leather and contrast stitching look good, while a spacious front row and less impact from the sloping roofline on the rear bench than you might expect, means four adults won't complain. Side by side with luxury rivals, though, the Infiniti is showing its age.

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The dual touchscreen infotainment — with maps up top and multimedia and settings below — looks tired, and the dim upper screen (which also handles smartphone projection) can only be navigated via the clunky scroll dial in the center console. 

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The hefty sprinkling of physical buttons for climate control and multimedia are welcome, though. In the gauge cluster, the smaller display sandwiched by analog gauges will leave you jealous of the fully-digital instrumentation in other cars. Even just shifting to reverse brings up woefully low-resolution cameras, a crunchy reminder of how far things have moved on since this platform's debut five years ago.

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This Sensory trim certainly has plenty of toys — heated and ventilated seats, a head-up display, a 16-speaker Bose audio system, wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto, wireless charging, and rear heated seats — but the Nissan switchgear pulls its luxury punches. Meanwhile, some elements are just plain annoying, like the tetchy lane-departure warning which sounds just like a cellphone's Amber alert. Being reminded of abducted kids whenever you inadvertently stray too close to the white lines grates after a while.

Compared to the QX50, the QX55 unsurprisingly sees a dip in cargo space: 26.9 cu-ft, versus 31.1 cu-ft in the traditionally-proportioned SUV. To be fair, most of that is lost above the shoulder line, and the QX55 remains decently capacious when it comes to grocery bags and the like. With the rear seats dropped down, it merrily swallowed a wheelbarrow with room to spare.

Sadly, while you can get a 3,000 pound tow rating on select QX50 trims, the QX55 is devoid of such. An Audi Q5 Sportback is rated for 4,400 pounds, in contrast, while the Mercedes GLC 300 4MATIC can manage 3,500 pounds.

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I doubt anyone will test the QX55's 8.6 inches of ground clearance off-road, meanwhile, and there's no dedicated mud-plugging drive mode or specific controls for the standard all-wheel drive. At least Infiniti's warranty is healthy: 4 years / 60,000 miles of limited coverage, 6 years / 70,000 miles of powertrain coverage, and the first three years of scheduled maintenance.

Infiniti clearly knows how to do modern luxury well: the 2025 QX80 demonstrates that in spades. That full-size, three-row SUV pairs monumental design with a spacious, lavish cabin, interspersed with clever, usable technology. Perhaps most significantly, it no longer feels like the questionable cousin of its Nissan counterpart.

In contrast, the QX55 struggles to justify its spot among the style-first SUV set. While the exterior certainly looks the part, the dated technology in the cabin, merely-average fuel economy, and sacrifices in crossover capability let it down. The nail in the coffin, though, is that while it looks sporty and its VC-Turbo engine isn't lacking power, it's hobbled by the underwhelming transmission.

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The good news is that Infiniti has a solid blueprint for how to redeem itself. The bad news is that we may have to wait a while for it to be applied to the QX55, what with the larger QX65 (and some EVs) apparently taking priority on the automaker's to-do list. Here's hoping by the time a new QX55 is top of the pile there's some electrification going spare, too.