On the list of automakers you’d expect to roll up to SEMA, Infiniti isn’t particularly high. Oh sure, in the G35’s heyday, you wouldn’t be surprised; back then, Infiniti had the panache to battle the BMW 3 Series, but the car was also a Skyline, so it played in tuner spheres, too. Modern Infiniti is a different kind of brand, though, which is why I certainly didn’t see this QX80 with a GT-R badge coming. We’ll get a full look at it on October 27, and the company’s teaser release doesn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination.
“Infiniti returns to SEMA with a bold blend of muscle and elegance—stronger, sharper, and ready to turn heads,” it reads. “The brand’s flagship SUV is redefining luxury performance from the ground up. Let’s just say: the legend lives under the hood.”
A legend under the hood, huh? Coupled with the iconic “R” on the tailgate and the “Spec” part mimicking the V-Spec font, I think we can safely predict a QX80 powered by the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 out of a GT-R, naturally following in the footsteps of the great Juke R.
The thing about the Juke R, though, was that the Juke was the size of a backpack, so all that power between a small wheelbase, with the arches flared out to the moon, was amusing. The QX80, on the other hand, is already a rather imposing vehicle. Going to go out on a limb here and say that most production engines could probably fit in its bay.
So, yeah—the QX80 R-spec won’t have the size incongruency thing working in its favor. But it could look cool, with its Midnight Purple paint job, something else the teaser gives away.
Now, if Infiniti wanted to put this into production—which it likely isn’t, because the release very clearly defines this as a “build”—then we’d be a little more excited. But the Nissan Armada Nismo kind of gives away the blueprint for the spiciest SUV the company is willing to sell at the moment. Bummer. At least the QX80 R-Spec will give tuners a template to follow. Look out for it this coming Monday, ahead of SEMA, which kicks off on November 4.