Infiniti FX37 review: the sports-SUV blueprint everyone copied later
3.4/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The FX37 remains one of the best-handling tall cars Infiniti has built, and the used market has not caught up to how good it is to drive. Inspect the VQ37's timing chain guides and the all-wheel-drive system before buying, budget for tyres sized more like a sports sedan's than an SUV's, and accept a tight rear seat and modest boot as the price of the silhouette.
Pros
- Genuinely sharp, sedan-like handling for a tall car
- VQ37VHR V6 (FX37) is strong and shared with proven G37/370Z mechanicals
- Bold styling that still looks distinctive on Bahrain's roads today
- Fifteen-plus years of depreciation make it a cheap way into serious performance
Cons
- Sloping roofline seriously compresses rear headroom and cargo space
- Ride is firmer than a typical SUV and not for comfort-first buyers
- Timing chain guides and AWD transfer case need pre-purchase inspection
- Factory low-profile tyre sizing makes replacement costs sedan-sporty, not SUV-cheap
When the first FX launched in 2003, sports SUV was not yet a category; it became one largely because rivals spent the following decade copying this car's low roofline, wide track and steering weighted more like a sports sedan's than a family hauler's. The second-generation S51 (2009-2013) sharpened all of that with the VQ37VHR V6 shared with the G37, in either FX37 or the larger FX50 V8 form.
Driving it like Infiniti intended
The steering is heavier than anything in a modern crossover, deliberately so, and the body control through a fast corner is genuinely closer to the G37 sedan it shares an engine with than to a conventional SUV of its era. It is not comfortable in the way a Lexus RX is comfortable; it trades some ride quality for handling most owners never fully explore.
That silhouette costs real practicality. The sloping roofline eats into rear headroom and cargo space compared to a boxier rival, and second-row passengers over about 175 cm will notice. This was always a car bought for how it looks and drives, not for what it carries.
At fifteen-plus years old, the pre-purchase checklist matters more than the spec sheet: confirm the VQ37's timing chain guides have been inspected or replaced, check the all-wheel-drive transfer case for the noise and wear that shows up on high-mileage examples, and expect tyre costs closer to a performance sedan's than a standard SUV's given the low-profile factory sizing.