Last week, Infiniti Lebanon hooked us up with one of their crossovers: the Infiniti QX30. We took it for a spin in Mount Lebanon and put it through its paces on the Zaarour road. Here’s our verdict on the luxury crossover.
Exterior
The Infiniti QX30 made a powerful first impression; what first caught our eyes were the dramatic curves on this vehicle. It had the Infiniti signature style and this made its presence known. Infiniti offers 6 QX30 models with the option to build your own ride. We got to drive the Essential AWD trim. The Essential trim is basically the premium model. It is one step up from the Luxe trim which adds LED foglights, rain-sensing windshield wipers, roof rails, and a panoramic sunroof. In addition to that, the ride height on AWD models, both Luxe and Essential, is raised 1.2 inches versus that of the front-wheel-drive models. From the outside, the QX30 looks great. Only a few crossovers have styling as distinctive as the QX30’s.
Interior
The Infiniti QX30’s sweeping roofline and a high beltline make the cabin feel small, but then again: it is a compact luxury crossover. The design is purposeful; most will be fine up front and it includes up to 34 cubic feet of cargo volume. Our ride had the Café Teak theme package which features:
- Graphite contrast stitching on brown leather/leatherette areas
- Suede-like headliner and A-pillars
- Leatherette console, door trim and dash insert
- Genuine dark wood center stack and door handle trim
- Satin silver-colored outside mirrors
And as unique as the interior is, Infiniti can refine it even further to reflect your personal taste. The leather-appointed seats felt great thanks to their exceptional softness. The headliner and front pillars were also covered in a suede-like material. Infiniti did a really good job at picking a texture that is pleasing to the fingertip.
Performance and Features
Performance
All 6 QX30 models run a turbocharged 2.0L engine that pumps out 208 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. The acceleration on this thing is crazy, especially when you are driving in Sports mode. A 7-speed, dual-clutch transmission efficiently handles all that power by intelligently pre-selecting lower or higher gears before a shift even needs to be made; yes that’s right: no more shift delays.
There are three driving modes: Eco, Manual, and Sport. Eco Mode helps increase fuel economy, Manual Mode gives you a more hands-on experience as you manually select your own gears with the paddle shifters, and Sport mode gives you increased responsiveness for quicker acceleration.
Features
The Infiniti QX30 comes with a lot of features that help improve safety,awareness, and the overall driving experience. Available Intelligent Park Assist automatically maneuvers your vehicle into a space by utilizing parallel and perpendicular parking capabilities, and available Intelligent Cruise Control manages your speed and distance relative to traffic. The QX30 can even park itself smoothly in parallel or reverse-in parking spots.
Another super useful feature was the optional Around View Monitor with Moving Object Detection and Front and Rear Sonar Systems. Four cameras build a virtual 360° bird’s eye view on your center display to help you see what’s around you and Moving Object Detection alerts you to detected objects moving in the display image. This does not only make parking easier, it also helps when you are stuck in typical Lebanese traffic and two lanes become four lanes. And it can be helpful when manoeuvering in streets like the oh so large roads of Achrafieh.
Other features include the Lane Departure Warning, the Infiniti InTouch, and the incredible – optional – 10-speaker Bose Premium audio system will transform your vehicle into a mobile sound studio. We really loved the latter.
The Verdict
We really enjoyed driving the Infiniti QX30. Its compact nature makes it a convenient car for the city and the power it packs makes going for a mountains getaway a breeze. Anyone can enjoy the car and the diversity in the trims makes for a wider owner spectrum. Finally, if you’re stuck between two models, Infiniti makes it easy for you to build your own QX30.
More information on the Infiniti QX30 can be found here.