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2019 Infiniti QX50 gets fancy-pants Autograph interior

The 2019 Infiniti QX50 has primarily garnered attention around car enthusiast circles for its variable compression engine. It's a marvel of engineering that uniquely changes its compression ratio to maximize power and fuel efficiency. It can also switch between Atkinson and regular combustion cycles, utilize multi-point or direct injection, it's turbocharged, and even features an electric motor that controls the variable compression ratio. Nifty stuff, but it seems likely that all that technobabble will make the average buyer of Infiniti's new compact SUV go crosseyed. It may not even be mentioned. "It has an engine? Great, let me see the inside." Well, dear car shopper who doesn't give a hoot about the greasy bits, have we got a bit of QX50 news for you. Infiniti has announced the QX50 Autograph package, a special $2,000 option with a seriously upgraded interior. Fancier materials and unique color schemes were selected, drawing inspiration from luxury beach resorts and being awfully similar to those found in the latest Pantone Fashion Color Trend Report. It's probably best to turn things over to the press release at this point. "Starting with warmer color tones, the rich chocolate brown replicates wood applications in the (beach) resort and the surrounding trees, followed by a creamy off-white representing the sand on a beach. The highlights of a cooler dark navy blue on the center console, reminiscent of ocean water, strike the proper balance between warm and cool, creating a comfortable, yet invigorating environment." Have you gone crosseyed? Well, now you know how it feels when describing the greasy bits to a non car person. Those cream, brown and blue bits are the Pantone colors, which, respectively, are known as "Coconut Milk," "Emperador" and "Sailor Blue." In the QX50, the Sailor Blue-esque blue is applied to the center console, dash and doors in Ultrasuede. The Emperadorish brown is on the steering wheel, leather-wrapped dash top and doors, outer portions of the seats and the lower door portions. Coconut Milk is indicative of the creamy dash color and the seat leather, which is diamond-quilted and contrast-stitched. There's also open-pore wood trim. Though I made light of this, the QX50 Autograph interior is actually quite striking. As Infiniti points out, consumers are starting to embrace color, which is worth celebrating. Give me Coconut Milk, Emperador and Sailor Blue over beige, grey and black any day.

2024 Infiniti QX80 gets Dark Chrome Appearance package, higher price

The body-on-frame Infiniti QX80 is entering the 2024 model year with a new appearance package offered on the most expensive trim level. It's otherwise unchanged compared to the 2023 model, which received Amazon Alexa compatibility, but every trim becomes more expensive. While the QX80's overall design doesn't change, the range-topping Sensory trim level gets an optional Dark Chrome Appearance package that includes black-painted door mirror caps as well as Dark Chrome trim on the front end, the fenders, and the hatch. The bundle gives the SUV a more subtle look, as models not equipped with the Dark Chrome Appearance package ship with flashier bright exterior trim pieces. The list of standard features includes a 12.3-inch touchscreen plus Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Amazon Alexa compatibility. Driving aids? It's got them: a surround-view camera, forward emergency braking with pedestrian detection, and back-up collision intervention come standard. The QX80 isn't the newest or best-selling model in its segment, but it's not as outdated as the age of its platform suggests. Infiniti positions the QX80 as its most expensive model, and it's increasing pricing across the board for 2024. Pricing is as follows: QX80 Luxe rear-wheel-drive: $76,045 ($1,650 more than in 2023) QX80 Luxe four-wheel-drive: $79,195 ($1,700 more than in 2023) QX80 Premium Select rear-wheel-drive: $80,680 ($1,685 more than in 2023) QX80 Premium Select four-wheel-drive: $83,780 ($1,685 more than in 2023) QX80 Sensory rear-wheel-drive: $87,730 ($1,685 more than in 2023) QX80 Sensory four-wheel-drive: $90,830 ($1,685 more than in 2023) Note that these figures include an $1,895 destination charge. The brand collected a $1,395 destination charge in 2023. Infiniti hasn't made any mechanical changes to the QX80. Power comes from a tried-and-true 5.6-liter V8 rated at 400 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque. It's bolted to a seven-speed automatic transmission, and it gives the big SUV a towing capacity of up to 8,500 pounds. Dealers across the nation will begin receiving the 2024 QX80 in the coming weeks. Infiniti hasn't commented on what's next for the model, but weaving together various tidbits of information released earlier in 2023 nudges us in the right direction.

Infiniti's variable compression engine in the 2019 QX50 is the first of its kind

The world's first variable compression ratio engine is here, in a production car. That car is the 2019 Infiniti QX50, debuting this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The midsize crossover has seen a refresh that has brought it an all-new platform together with new driver assist features, but it's the engine that's the centerpiece here. Nearly everything is continuously variable under the hood of the QX50 – not only the new shift-by-wire XTRONIC CVT. The new VC-Turbo gasoline engine is able to change its compression ratio from 8:1 to 14:1, or anything in between depending of the driving situation; whether there is need for top-end power or turbodiesel-like torque from low revs, or optimized fuel economy. The pistons' reach is continuously adjusted by an electric "Harmonic Drive" motor, which controls a multi-link system, affecting the top-dead-center of the pistons and changing the compression. The engine can also switch between efficiency-maximizing Atkinson cycle and regular combustion cycle, on the go – and there's both multipoint injection and gasoline direct injection employed. The result is 268 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 280 pound-feet of torque at 4,400 rpm; good figures for a 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with a single-scroll turbocharger. Infiniti says that the FWD version's fuel economy of 27 miles per gallon combined is 35-percent better than the previous-generation V6 engine; in AWD guise, it reaches 26 mpg, which is a 30-percent improvement. The new engine is pretty much all-aluminum, but the vaguely magical-sounding "transformative multi-link components" behind the variable compression system are made from high-carbon steel alloy. The engine's multi-link system also enables it to do away with any balancing shafts, and Infiniti compares its smoothness to a V6 rather than a regular four-cylinder. In addition to the aforementioned tech, the VC-Turbo engine has the world's first active engine mount vibration damping system to smoothen its operation even further. Related Video: