In our road test, we describe of the 2009 Infiniti FX50 as a "personalized coupe, only with cargo capacity." Considering the mediocre amount of room in the back seat, that's an apt description.
First, entry and exit for the rear seat is hampered by the narrow door opening at the bottom -- the rear wheel arches are sizeable. The rear doors open close to 90 degrees, but they seem kind of thick, again hampering easy access.
Once you're in, the FX50 pretty comfortable, but only if you're not tall. With the front seats positioned comfortably for me (I'm 5-foot 10-inches), I had about 2 inches of spare headroom and legroom when I sat in back. Some of the lankier folks on our staff would probably complain about being in back. Toe room under the front seats is tight as well.
Meanwhile, there's not much special going on in back in terms of features or materials. Everything looks rather dour, and the back of the center console is notably low in quality for a luxury-brand vehicle -- it's made of hard plastic with a couple of dinky air vents.
When you're seated up front, our FX50S is great. In back, not so much.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 5,750 miles
carguy622 says:
11:14 AM, 01/21/09
Again... the point of this vehicle gets more difficult to say. What's the point of a top heavy couple-sized interior SUV? Sure it's fun to drive but so are plenty of real coupes, and they have much more compact exterior dimensions.
prndlol says:
11:32 AM, 01/21/09
That wood accent looks downright stupid.
cx7lover says:
11:40 AM, 01/21/09
That wood accent looks downright stupid.
SERIOUSLY. The carpet looks cheap, and that plastic on the back of the center console looks cheaper than the stuff I have in my CX-7.
1487 says:
11:49 AM, 01/21/09
not surprising at all consdiering the limitations of this SUV. I notice there arent even storage pockets in the rear doors. Those rear vents look like they came out of a 300 or something.
lime679 says:
12:40 PM, 01/21/09
I really love this ride but the backseat is dinky. I can't justify the price on this thing though so we're picking up a FX45 soon.
dougtheeng says:
01:16 PM, 01/21/09
A useless, arrogant vehicle. The back seat room and access is just another reason I'm not a fan.
carfreak8394 says:
01:45 PM, 01/21/09
Awesome exterior, and awesome interior in the back. It's too bad there's such little space in the back/cargo area. I really like this car, but I can't defend its deficiencies in this area..
sgude says:
02:36 PM, 01/21/09
That console is hard plastic to defend against scuffs and scrapes. I'm all for soft-touch, nice quality plastics, but there, it kind of makes sense.
altimadude00 says:
02:40 PM, 01/21/09
Less things for your kid to kick off when they're in the back seat.
cx7lover says:
03:11 PM, 01/21/09
It can be hard but it doesn't have to be so cheap. Even the vent design is very uninspired, you can tell they didn't put much thought or money into the rear passenger compartment.
estreka says:
03:37 PM, 01/21/09
The only thing this vehicle has going for it is the exterior.
Oh yeah, and the engine.
billt9 says:
04:42 PM, 01/21/09
Wow not enough effort in the rear seating compartment.
MS3lvr92 says:
05:07 PM, 01/21/09
Haha what a useless car. I would still like one though. I think they're "cool."
hondacura4 says:
06:49 PM, 01/21/09
Ive never been an FX fan and the new one isnt an exception as its catfish styling leaves a lot to be desired. The FX wasnt designed it was decorated.
Id buy a SRX (current one), MDX Sport, BMW X5 3.0, Audi Q7, VW Toureg 2, Porsche Cayenne S or just about anything in this segment before the FX.
carfreak8394 says:
07:07 PM, 01/21/09
"Id buy a SRX (current one), MDX Sport, BMW X5 3.0, Audi Q7, VW Toureg 2, Porsche Cayenne S or just about anything in this segment before the FX."
Hmm. Well they are all good choices, but I'm pretty sure there's no way I'd buy the X5 or the Touraeg over this. The BMW would cost wayyyy too much with options (even more than this Infiniti) and the Touraeg, is just, there. Ha ha. The MDX, Audi Q7, and Porsche Cayenne are all nice, but I would have to test drive all of them to pick the best; they're all pretty nice.
jaeger1 says:
04:56 AM, 01/22/09
A big, cramped hot-rod SUV makes no sense to me at all.
sgude says:
07:40 AM, 01/22/09
I'm a bit stumped. That part of the car is going to get kicked by shoes, be scuffed by cargo and possibly have stuff spilled on it -- it needs to be utilitarian. And why do the vents have to have "inspired" design? No one sitting in the rear is going to look at the vents and think "This car sucks." Besides, they have that big slab of weird-looking wood on the doors to ogle.
And with that lack of legroom and footroom in the rear, they'll also have a nice view of their knees.
cx7lover says:
09:59 AM, 01/22/09
"No one sitting in the rear is going to look at the vents and think "This car sucks."
For how much this thing costs it's unacceptable. Everything should be nice, you know like it is in German cars?
http://www.egmcartech.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/audi_q7_4_2_tdi_official_7.jpg