The 2026 Infiniti QX80 Sport Doesn't Try To Be The Fastest Luxury SUV, And That's Exactly Why It Works

Luxury barges sometimes get looked at askance due to their seemingly excessive size - and sometimes, luxury. The 2026 Infiniti QX80 is no exception.

The QX80 May Be A Nissan Underneath, But It’s A Different Beast

As noted, the QX80 shares its bones with the Nissan Armada. The biggest differences involve the exterior and interior styling. And, of course, the feature and content mix.

Oh, and it costs a lot more than the already not-cheap Armada.

Let’s start with that.

My test vehicle arrived with a base price of $101,950. Yes, you read that correctly. Infiniti is obviously a luxury brand but even I raised my eyebrows at that price - and I am used to high sticker prices due to testing high-end trim levels and observing an industry where the average transaction price suddenly shot into what was once considered luxury territory.

But I digress. What kind of standard features mix helps put an Infiniti QX80 Sport’s base price into six-figure territory?

The list includes a special front bumper and grille for the Sport trim, black roof rails, welcome lighting, illuminated kick plates, interior ambient lighting with 64 colors, ash wood trim, a power panoramic moonroof, dash cam, power rear liftgate, heated steering wheel, power tilt/telescope steering column, head-up display, biometric cooling, leather first- and second-row seats, heated and cooled first- and second-row seats, massaging first-round seats, second-row captain’s chairs with power slide and recline, and power-folding reclining and sliding third-row seats.

That’s not all. There are dual 14.3-inch digital screens for gauges and infotainment, a lower-front touch screen, haptic-touch controls, navigation, wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto, wireless cell-phone charging, satellite radio, Wi-Fi hotspot, Klipsch premium audio, and headrest speakers.

Standard mechanical features included 22-inch wheels, air suspension, digital suspension, and a tow hitch (towing capacity is 8,500). Standard advanced driver-aid systems included ProPilot Assist, traffic-sign recognition, a camera that sees through the hood, front and rear parking sensors, trailer-sway control, hill-start assist, predictive forward-collision warning, forward emergency braking with pedestrian detection, rear automatic braking, rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot warning, blind-spot intervention, trailer blind-spot warning, lane-departure warning, lane-departure prevention, and 360-degree camera with moving object detection.

Options included the Sport Exterior package, two-tone paint, and an interior lighting package.

With destination and delivery fees, the as-tested price came to $107,965.

Taking A Road Trip In The 2026 Infiniti QX80 Sport

Back during the depths of a Midwestern winter, I got sent to the 2026 Detroit Auto Show. My steed for the drive over from Chicago? You guessed it, the QX80 Sport that I am reviewing. By the way, the drive was a little bit snowy, as it sometimes is during the heart of an Upper Midwestern winter.

Infiniti has a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 underhood, making 450 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. It mates to a nine-speed automatic transmission, and there are paddle shifters for those so inclined.

As with the Armada, all that power helps get you moving, but the over 6,000-pound curb weight is felt. There’s torque on hand, but the size and weight limit acceleration. Physics is physics.

That also means that like the with the Armada, there’s also some body roll and ponderous handling, with slightly numb steering. But the digital air suspension improves things somewhat, and the highway ride was nice and cushy with only rare ventures into being overly soft.

You might not think a beast of this size will be dynamically strong on a long road trip, but the highway ride is acceptable, and the Infiniti handled the snows of Michigan with aplomb.

Cabin space and storage is also great for road tripping. Head- and legroom are good through out - even the third row has just enough space to give adults short rides across town.

Engine noise does leak in to the cabin when the RPMs escalate, but wind/tire/road noise is generally muted. Generally, anyway - you do get a bit of background noise at higher speeds on the freeway.

I liked the interior control setup even better than the one in the Armada, and the lower screen actually worked fairly well, despite the reservations we all have about making more controls change from knobs and buttons to touch screen. The haptic-touch controls worked well enough.

Interior materials look and feel pretty nice, as they should for the price, though sometimes the “lesser” Nissan roots show through.

Fuel economy is predictably dismal at 16 mpg city/19 mpg highway/17 mpg combined.

Since the QX80 is a gussied-up Armada, the decision to plunk down the extra scratch will come down to wanting more content/more standard content, more of a luxury feel, and access to the upscale service presumably provided by Infiniti dealers. Mechanically, there’s not much different, and the Armada is nice enough in terms of design, creature comforts, and noise/vibration/harshness that it gets a lot of the way there.

Still, if you do lay out the spend for the Infiniti, you’ll get a slightly more attractive cabin and a long features list. That, for some, will be more than enough.

Images: Tim Healey

About The Author

Tim Healey is an experienced automotive writer and editor from Chicago. He has covered automotive news at Consumer Guide Automotive, Web2Carz, AutoGuide, and was the managing editor at The Truth About Cars. Tim is a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association. You can find him on Facebook, X/Twitter, and on LinkedIn.