I was planning to tell you how fun the 2013 Infiniti FX37 was to drive, but question how useful it is as a sport-utility vehicle — until we rumbled along the Maine Turnpike during a recent nor’easter.
Now, I have to tell you what a great machine this all-wheel-drive cruiser is for the way it handles New England weather.
This may be the most fun, sexiest luxury SUV around, but it also delivered sure handling during the white-knuckle driving conditions caused by the storm. A flip of the snow toggle on the console and we were happily digging even deeper into the piling snow with extra traction.
The sweeping exterior lines create a flowing car that will remind you of early ’30s roadsters. Infiniti has really branded the curves, creating fins with the tail lights and even adding a small spoiler to complete the roof line. Chrome vent details behind the front wheels complete the retro look.
The curving roofline creates a tiny deck and small cargo area, but I’ll take this big touring machine any day for weekend getaways or long highway drives.
The 3.7-liter, 325-horsepower, V6 coupled with a seven-speed automatic transmission also carves through city streets.
The 37 designation — for the engine size — replaces the FX35, but you can get the optional FX50 if you want the 5-liter engine. Elegant and sporty, the special order 21-inch low-profile wheels add to the aggressive feline look.
Performance is excellent, but gas mileage isn’t.
It ranks in the same class as the Acura MDX, Mercedes M and BMW X3 with a middling 16 mpg in the city and only about 22-plus on the highway, although we squeezed close to 25 mpg on dry highway and averaged just over 20 mpg.
The technology package, a standard feature, includes the Around View Monitor using front and rear sonar to slip the big cat into parking spaces and detect moving objects nearby.
Oddly, the FX37 doesn’t have blind-spot monitoring and there are nasty ones in both rear corners of the car. The parking assist uses the bird’s-eye camera view feature.
Here’s something novel: $52,750 is the price, period.
The biggest drawback to the FX37 is that road noise seeps into the vehicle.
Why can’t Infiniti quiet down the ride of any of its cars?
Trimmed with leather seats and shifter, most components are of a mix of hard and soft plastics and all have clean minimalist features.
The gauge display is large and clean and the menus have deep drill-downs and provide a myriad of information including weather conditions and maps.
A nice Bose surround sound system, satellite radio, heated seats and sunroof make passengers comfortable and the rear seat offers reasonable leg room.
