Special FX attracts and repels

Infiniti sure can make a statement - the 2009 FX35 is one of those vehicles that people are going to love or hate.

It’s not until you get behind the wheel that your perception changes. The people that love it will just think it’s better and people that hate it may find they don’t hate it after all.

The exterior design is something that takes some getting used to - especially the front grille - which I found organic and quite appealing, but others didn’t find that nice. The FX profile can throw people as well, with its long nose and sweeping roof line. Some people with whom I spoke said it was “ugly as sin”. Ouch!

But regardless of what people say about the package, the feeling is all good when you get strapped in.

The FX35 is a stunning vehicle inside with beautiful black leather, piano black inserts and touches of silver and chrome.

Amenities include power heated and cooled front seats, Bluetooth phone integration, iPod connectivity, and an 11 speaker Bose premium audio system.

With the Navi & Mobile entertainment system package you get a handful of useful technology including the navigation system with touch screen and voice recognition, front and rear sonar and the best feature ever - the Around View Monitor.

This awesome little system relies on four cameras mounted on all four sides of the FX and gives the driver a perfect view of the surroundings as if you were looking down on it from above. How accurate is it? By simply watching the nav screen, I managed to get within inches of the edge of my driveway without slipping into the muck … my wife was not happy that she had to step into it, but hey … at least the FX35 remained clean.

The entertainment package includes a rear DVD entertainment system, complete with cordless headphones. My one quibble with the system is that it’s not intuitive enough to know that the headphones are on; and even though the headphones worked decently, we could still hear the sound in the cabin. Even after scrolling through the numerous on-screen settings and even consulting the handbook I couldn’t get it to change.

Oh, well. The kids didn’t mind.

Cargo room is pretty good, although the hard privacy screen can get in the way of taller items.

Getting things moving is a 3.5-litre V6 that puts up 303 horsepower. While the 262 lb.-ft. of torque doesn’t sound very ... um ... torquey, the FX35 still moves up to speed fast. Mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission, complete with a manual shift mode and paddle shifters, power is available at a moment’s notice. And putting the hammer down leaves little concern of not being able to pass slower vehicles.

The exhaust tone has a beautiful pitch and emits a racing quality note.

Steering and handling are excellent and thanks to the intelligent all-wheel drive, traction control and vehicle dynamic control, everything stays pointed in the right direction.

I have very little to be upset with in the FX35. As a matter of fact, it was one of my best driving weeks behind the wheel of a tester.

Some may not like the look, but with your foot on the gas, they won’t see it for long.