2001 Infiniti QX4 - Page 1 Review

Shopping for a 2001 Infiniti QX4? MSRP: $34,150 - $35,550

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LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — This is what everyone has in mind when they buy a sport-ute: comfortable and secure navigation of snow-covered back roads, while on the way to fun and frolic.

However, most of us — and most sport-utes — spend most of their time in suburban commuting, and there, most of their gripes and shortcomings surface.

I personally have always liked Nissan's sport-utes better than most of the competition. When the Pathfinder was introduced I was immediately taken with the smooth and powerful engine and stable suspension. Just looking at it inspires confidence: note how many sport utes look tall and tipsy, while the low wide profile and generous track makes the Pathfinder, and now its luxury cousin the QX4, look solid, which they are.

Credit Nissan for being the first Japanese automaker to recognize the importance of designing products tailored to the American market's unique taste. The Pathfinder's original model, a three-door sport-utility vehicle built atop the chassis of Nissan's pickup truck, became one of the first concepts from the company's design facility in La Jolla,Calif.

Despite early sales success for Pathfinder, the U.S. preference in 4x4 wagons eventually shifted to five-door versions. To that end Nissan produced a five-door Pathfinder, which cleverly seats its door handles amid trim of the roof pillar so it still looked like a sportier three-door wagon. This ploy has been maintained, and gives the vehicle the illusion of being smaller than it is.

Infiniti got their own version, and the QX4 that has all the upscale components, plus quite a few more. Now, in its first major redesign, the QX4 receives a bolder and crisper exterior appearance, a restyled interior package including a new instrument panel and center console, a new optional navigation system and an increase of 70 horsepower from an all-new 3.5-liter DOHC V-6 engine.