2013 Infiniti JX35

Room for more?  The Inifiniti JX35 is a slimmed down 7-seater brother of the QX56 with more refined and conscious styling.  Rather than waiting for other competitors such as Ford, Acura and Buick to step in line with their 7-seater lineup, Infiniti has decided to take matters into their own hands with the JX35 offering elegant styling, comfort and versatility.

The JX35 space is very generous – easily seating 7-passengers with adjustable front sliding rails in the 2nd row seats for additional legroom.  Folding the 3rd row seats make the trunk space appear unlimited.  The interior material used is of top quality.  The Infiniti JX35 also features many advanced safety features such as blind-spot detection, lane departure, a rear-view camera and front distance sensors.

In a respectable attempt to improve fuel efficiency, The JX35 is equipped with a 3.5 liter 6-speed automatic transmission.  Power is nothing amazing, but is more than adequate for providing plenty of comfort for the daily commute.

The styling of the JX35 is elegant and pleasing.  Exterior features that come standard on the Infiniti JX35 include, LED taillights,18″ alloy rims,  automatic bi-xenon headlights, fog lights, sunroof, heated side mirrors, powered sunroof,  keyless entry/ignition. As for standard interior, features include leather upholstery, an eight-way power driver seat, a six-way power passenger seat, heated front seats, a power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel,  tri-zone automatic climate control, a central front LCD display screen, Bluetooth, a rear-view camera and a six-speaker sound system with AM/FM, CD/MP3, satellite radio and iPod/USB interface.

The drivetrain of the Infinit JX35 is powered by Nissan’s 3.5 liter six cylinder engine delivering 265 horsepower and 248 foot-pounds of torque.  The engine is mated to a continuous-variable-transmission (CVT).  The powertrain can be switched into “Sport mode” which replicates a 6-speed transmission, but serves very little purpose and minimal performance gain.  The power performance numbers are not great, especially when comparing to other 7-seater SUV’s such as the similarly priced Ford Flex Titanium capable of delivering 365 horsepower with its renowned ecoboost engine.  The Infiniti JX35’s fuel efficiency is adequate for its size and weight with 18 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway.

The Infiniti JX35 is a departure from Infiniti’s well known trend of power and performance.  The power and handling is not great, especially when trying to throw the JX35 into a corner, Results in mush steering and excessive body roll

The 2013 Infiniti JX35 safety features comes standard with antilock disc brakes, front seat-mounted side airbags, full-length side curtain airbags, and traction control and stability control. A lane-departure warning and prevention system, blind spot detection, a 360-degree camera view and intelligent brake assist can be purchased as options.

The 360 panoramic camera is helpful for parking the JX35 in tighter areas as it gives the driver a top view of the entire wheel as well as the directions of the wheels turned to avoid colliding with the sidewalk curb.

Although the JX35 comes with great safety features, they are not the best in execution.  The rear blind spot indicators are located inside the door cabin wall rather than on the side mirrors and creates a dim tangent glow light when illuminated, making it easy to visually miss, but the audio alert does kick in when the system is active.  The rear view camera is also not of great video quality and the video is skewed due to the fish eye lens used without software auto-skew correction.

The interior of the Infiniti JX35 offers a space of tranquility and comfort.  The interior is wrapped around soft quilted leather accented with soft aluminum and polished wooden trims.  The 2nd row rear seats have the unique ability to slide forward for allowing easy access to additional 3rd row passengers, or creating extra cargo space.  The interior passenger seats are very roomy and comfortable.  The driver’s seat is especially comfortable and offer a plethora of adjustability with 2- memory position settings.

Instead of sacrificing fashion over function like the Infiniti FX35, the JX35 is simply comfortable and versatile.  The interior and exterior styling is both minimalistic and elegant.  The enhanced safety features on the JX35 gives more confidence to the driver with the blind spot detection, panoramic camera and intelligent brake assist.  Although lacking in acceleration and handling, the comfort and functional aspects of the JX35 makes it an excellent addition into the 7-seater SUV arena.