FX won't be pigeonholed

Long before BMW had its sport activity coupe X6 or Acura introduced its four-door sports coupe ZDX, Infiniti unleashed its “Bionic Cheetah” FX to prowl North American roads.

The Infiniti was a stunning vehicle, able to capture attention mostly for what it looked like and then able to blow people away with the way it performed. It was the fuse that ignited a staid sport utility market, blowing it open for companies to start thinking beyond the box (literally!).

The FX came into being in 2003, replacing half the Pathfinder-clone QX4 (the other, larger half was replaced by the Armada-clone QX56). Its performance potential (and I wonder if Nissan engineers even surprised themselves with its prowess) comes from links to the Nissan 350Z (370Z, for this latest generation), on which it's based.

And now in its second generation, it is every bit as stunning and unique, even in light of competitors who have tried (with varying degrees of success) to follow suit, and is still able to leave its driver breathless with its sports-car manners.

The looks are those of a Gran Turismo, with a long hood pulling a bulbous cabin. The stance is remarkably balanced thanks to big wheels that seem to fit proportionately to the body. In pictures without perspective, it could pass for the size of a compact hatchback. In person, it's gigantic compared to say a Mazda3.

Under the long hood of our test FX35 sits Nissan's renowned 3.5-litre V6 (specially tuned to this vehicle's power requirements, of course), which offers up above average power while retaining some semblance of economy (compromised financially by the fact it requires premium fuel). Europe gets the 3.7 V6 in its base FX37. Hopefully, we will too, but for now you can choose to move up to the FX50, with its 5.0L V8, which can bring damping control and rear-wheel steering to the handling table.

Inside, the look is luxurious as any premium deluxe automobile should be, with a wrap-around cockpit furthering the notion that you're not really piloting an SUV, but a GT. Materials are high-grade and the array is such that controls are generally easy to find and operate. A single control centre high on the middle of the dash takes some getting used to (as such systems are want to be), but it works well once you figure it out.

At the other end, the trunk area is wide enough to house two golf bags (four, if you take out the hard cover and stack them), or you can expand it by pushing one of the 60/40 split rear seatbacks forward (they go down nearly flat); they're also reclinable, for back comfort on longer trips.

Seats are well defined and supportive for a variety of driving activities, whether you're leisurely transporting the children to school or trying to qualify for the weekend's race at the local road-race track. The rear seat is built for three, but don't even try to squeeze in a centre passenger; you'll hurt them.

And you're going to want everybody secured and comfortable when you start tossing the FX35 through a maze of twisty roads. When was the last time you “tossed” a nearly two-tonne vehicle through anything, let alone an SUV? Yet, the FX can handle it with aplomb and spit your disbelief back in your face.

A fully independent front double wishbone and rear multi-link suspension keeps things supple when you're streaking a straight line and nice and stable when you're sawing through a switchback – where's the catastrophic 1950-kg weight shift? How come there's none of that massive SUV top-heaviness?

Why am I grinning so much?