Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Infiniti FX

It is official. The all-new 2009 FX50 will not share the showroom floor with a rumored "FX37." Instead, Infiniti has chosen to keep the less-powerful sibling designated as the "FX35." That means the engine is the award-winning VQ35HR right out of the Infiniti G35 sedan -- not the sweet 3.7-liter 330-hp gem from the G37 Coupe. Under the hood of the FX, the slightly smaller six-cylinder is rated at 303 hp (down just a few horses from the sedan's rating of 306 hp). The 3.5-liter 24-valve DOHC V6 will be mated to a standard 7-speed automatic with Nissan's Adaptive Shift Control (those trick magnesium paddle shifters are optional).

Like the outgoing FX35 it replaces, the 2009 model will be available in two versions: FX35 and FX35 AWD. The all-wheel-drive model is equipped with Nissan's ATTESA E-TS (Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All Electronic Torque Split) AWD system, which is standard on the FX50. According to Infiniti, the new 2009 FX goes on sale at Infiniti dealers in the United States and Canada beginning in June 2008. Thanks for the heads-up Brad!

[Source: Nissan North America]

A certain sales manager from a certain dealership in Long Island was kind enough to take a little bit of the wind out of Infiniti's sails ahead of its unveiling of the redesigned FX CUV. The detailed headlamp shot above was posted on an Infiniti FX forum (who knew?), and pretty much confirms the styling tweaks the new fascia will get, particularly when you imagine it on the set of spy shots we've seen already. The only thing that's left to the imagination is the reconfigured rear end, which will likely sport some new tail lamps and a redesigned bumper. We'd be remiss not to point out that it's not in the dealer's best interest to include his name and contact information in his forum signature, lest Infiniti's corporate communications folks come calling.

Thanks for the tip Jonathan.


[Source: InfinitiFX.org]

One of the knocks against hybrids is that they're best around town, but once you get on the highway, it's back to full-time fossil fuels. Nissan is developing its own hybrid tech that it plans to launch in the Infiniti FX, in which the electric component will assist the engine at highway speeds as well, not just around town.

We don't know how close, if at all, it will be to the hybrid system in the Porsche Cayenne -- that (as-yet-untested) one can run the vehicle entirely on electric power at 75 MPH. Nissan's offering is slated to arrive some time in the next decade, presumably in the next generation FX. When it does, that will put at least four different types of major manufacturer hybrids on the roads, making their way through streets also littered with clean diesels. When we get that kind of concentration, the shakeout will really begin to decide who'll win the altpower war.

[Source: Channel 4]