Land of Giants: When It Comes to the INFINITI QX80, Bigger Is Better
There are giants out there. We drive among them. In fact, the vehicles on the road in Canada are, on average, the largest in the world, according to the people who track these sorts of things. We’ve got a world-class predilection for SUVs and pickup trucks, which together make up more than 80 percent of all new vehicles sold in this country in a given year. It makes sense, of course, because Canada is an unusually vast country covered in snow and ice and slush for at least three or four months of every year.
You might be thinking, “Ah yes, but I don’t need a big car.” And you’re right, if you don’t have three kids and/or three dogs, and you live in or around a major city, you really don’t need a full-size pickup or SUV. They’re best used in rural and suburban areas, places where the sky looks infinite, and you can see the horizon. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t nice to have; it’s a lesson the all-new INFINITI QX80 taught me.
At first, living with INFINITI’s luxurious flagship SUV — a truly palatial full-size machine — felt like overkill. It looks as if it could go on safari, but I had none planned. It would be quite at home on the soft sand dunes of Saudi Arabia, but I live in a city. The QX80 towers above smaller machinery on my street. Climbing aboard feels like climbing up into the upper deck of a yacht. Its V6 engine sounds as if it’s off in the distance somewhere.
But then, slowly and almost without me realizing it, the QX80 becomes familiar. I volunteer to drive friends up to the cottage knowing we’ll fit inside with all of our gear and groceries. I don’t think twice about tossing a bike in the trunk. (There was acres of space.) The extra space itself is a luxury, one beyond the Infiniti’s quilted leather and metal-inlaid wood veneer, warm lighting, and other obvious trappings of luxury. The extra space — which made it feel like a home away from home — is the luxury I miss most of all now that the QX80 has departed from SHARP Magazine’s garage. It was abundant for me and my family, but the QX80 taught me I like abundance. There are giants out there, and the QX80 is one of them.
