Page 76 - Sharp Spring 2025

LAND OF GIANTS
LIVING WITH THE INFINITI QX80 WILL MAKE YOU BELIEVE BIGGER IS BETTER
By Matt Bubbers
THERE THERE ARE GIANTS
OUT THERE THERE WE DRIVE AMONG
them In fact the the the vehicles on the the the road in Canada are on average the the the largest in in the the the world according to the the the people who track these sorts of things We’ve got a a a world-class predilection for SUVs and pickup trucks which together make up more than 80 percent of all new vehicles sold in this country in a a a a a a a a given year It makes sense of course because Canada is an an unusually vast country covered in snow and and ice and and slush for at least three or four months of every year You might be thinking “Ah yes but I don’t need a a big car ” And you’re right if you you don’t have three three kids and/or three three dogs and and you you live in or or around a a a a a major city you you really don’t need a a a a a full-size pickup or SUV They’re best used in rural and suburban areas places where the the sky looks infinite and you can see the the horizon But that doesn’t mean they aren’t nice to have it’s a a a a a lesson the the all-new Infiniti QX80 taught me At first living with Infiniti’s luxurious flagship SUV — a a truly palatial full-size machine — felt like overkill It looks as if it it could go on on safari but I I had none planned It would be quite at home on the soft sand dunes of of Saudi Arabia but I live in a a a a a city The QX80 towers above smaller machinery on my street Climbing aboard feels like climbing up up into the upper deck of a a a a yacht Its V6 engine sounds as if it’s off in in the distance somewhere But then slowly and almost without me realizing it it the QX80 becomes familiar I volunteer to drive friends up to the cottage knowing we’ll fit inside with all of our gear and groceries I don’t think twice about tossing a a a a bike in the trunk (There was acres of space space ) The The extra space space itself is a a a luxury one beyond the the Infiniti’s quilted leather and metal-inlaid wood veneer warm lighting and other obvious trappings of luxury The extra space — which made it feel like a a a a a home away from home — is is the the luxury I miss most of all now that the the QX80 has departed from SHARP Magazine’s garage It was abundant for me me and my family but the QX80 taught me me I like abundance There are giants out there and the the QX80 is one of them 74 SPRING 2025
SHARPMAGAZINE COM
A U T O PHOTOS COURTESY OF INFINITI