Our 2009 Infiniti FX50 cruised from Golden, Colorado, up to Boulder today for a family gathering. My brother was greatly impressed by the power he felt rumbling up through the rigid body and loved the leather seats and high tech interior. Most engines get pretty wheezy at 6,000-plus feet elevation, but the FX's 390 hp V8 barely broke a sweat.
On the trip from Los Angeles out here to the Denver area -- some 1,000 mountainous miles -- I kept it just shy of 80 mph and watched the fuel economy meter closely. It never broke 20 mpg. Of course, it all seems pretty irrelevant now that premium (required in the FX) is only about $1.79.
One thing I did really like was the 23.8 gallon gas tank. It meant we could drive and drive without a lot of stopping. As you can see from this photo, we logged 414 miles on one tank. The only time I've gone farther was when I drove 500 miles on one tank of diesel in our long term 2005 Volkwagen Jetta TDI
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orangutan says:
10:24 PM, 12/26/08
Go to Sherpa's and Mountain Sun. And Mustard's Last Stand if you can squeeze in another meal.
eclogite says:
05:46 AM, 12/27/08
I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I think the FX-series of machines are just beautiful. I love the way they look. If only they were affordable to those of us less well-heeled...
estreka says:
08:19 AM, 12/27/08
Yeah, Infiniti has an almost TVR look to them.
jm1212 says:
08:24 AM, 12/27/08
isnt the Jettas tank like 13 gallons though?
MS3lvr92 says:
08:52 AM, 12/27/08
I love the way this big Infiniti looks. It's styling is so menacing. You wouldn't want to be tailgated by one of those, that's for sure.
pat1usmc says:
09:01 AM, 12/27/08
Why? How is that car tailgating you any worse than another car.
DLu says:
09:07 AM, 12/27/08
my '04 Mazda6i auto has an 18-gal tank; highway driving nets me about 500 miles with more than a gallon left. that's one of the main reason i am still keeping it.
what's the range for the CTSAWD DI vs G35/g37 AWD?
zcalvert says:
10:44 AM, 12/27/08
Wow, my GTI can go about 420 miles with a 14gal tank provided I stay out of the boost on the highway... not sure I'd be too happy having to pay for 10 extra gallons of dead dinosaurs to go the same distance. Different cars work for different people, I guess.
Anyone else remember the Top Gear segment where Clarkson put over 800 miles on an A8 with the diesel V8? Now that was impressive range...
cah11705 says:
01:34 PM, 12/27/08
@zcalvert
clarkson got even more out of an xj more recently with a diesel v8 and he wasnt even trying most of it
i dont know if that all really happened, but it is pretty impressive if clarkson really did that
greenpony says:
04:14 PM, 12/27/08
All vehicles should have a 400+ mile highway driving range.
dougtheeng says:
06:02 AM, 12/29/08
"All vehicles should have a 400+ mile highway driving range."
Agreed. It would drive me nuts to have a small range. My MINI does upwards of 800km per tank.
langjie says:
10:21 AM, 12/29/08
400 is long range? I hated only getting 300 or so miles in my 02 specV, I love my altima hybrid in the summer time, 700 mile range!
redliner says:
01:24 PM, 12/29/08
cah11705
The XJ diesel is a v6.
estreka says:
06:02 AM, 01/ 3/09
You guys suck. I get a meagre 230 mile range in town (10gal). I do get a whopping 300+ on the highway, though (380 on 93 octane).