The twin turbo V6 in the QX80 is very intriguing. In a small 4 door it would probably be great.

 

Is the motor a clean sheet design or a derivative of the hg prone q60RS?

 

Even the outgoing model had largely physical controls:



The only substantive differences between that and the 4Runner is that they're tilted up rather than on a single vertical plane:



And that the fan speed and AC off controls that most people rarely fiddle with in cars with auto climate are permanent haptics rather than mechanical buttons. Both are well below line of sight to the road. Just like in pretty much every other car.

But I guess while we're addressing things that are "terrible" because they're well below the driver's line of sight, should probably call out that the entirety of the 4Runner's infotainment is significantly below the dash line.

 

My 21 4Runner the HVAC is terrible in how low it is. But I am glad they are not embedded in screen. I have AUTO HVAC but I don't use so it is ever worse. Screen does't matter to me as much as most of the radio controls are imbedded in the centre gauge cluster. TBH, I wish I didn't have a screen in 21 as my 04 is much more rewarding with no screen.

 

I think Infiniti just upped the displacement of the VR30DDTT to 3.5 by increasing stroke length a lot.

 

Assuming Honda and Nissan do go through and merge, what happens to this car and Acura/Infiniti in general? Seems redundant to have both Acura and Infiniti, but this car is the lone exception to the redundancy.

 

Nothing will change with any of the brands, at least not for a long while

 

I assume this is because of prior contracts / agreements with franchise owners.

 

Just because they are merging doesn't mean they're going to consolidate brands. Nissan and Honda and Infiniti and Acura can coexist together.

 

Amen. That is an EXCELLENT question....something I had not thought of. Neither brand is a really sales-powerhouses right now, although, if I had to bet on it, I'd probably say Acura is more likely to survive the merger....the MDX and RDX seem more popular than their Infiniti equvilents.

 

While true, this seems to run counter to the outcomes of many mergers, where it seems consolidation is a strategy many leaders employ to keep shareholders happy.

 

What auto mergers have resulted in the death of a huge recognized brand like that? I can't think of any

 

Just the first one off of the top of my head is Plymouth a few years post Daimler Chrysler merger. I think Daimler Chrysler happened in 1998 and Plymouth’s last year was 2001. But my comment was more about all M&A in general.

With Infiniti and Acura having a few overlapping products and similar market placement, it seems like a low hanging fruit for a CEO to cut costs. But what do I know.

 

I agree, it seems to me that the core products between the two brands have some overlap. So it seems they’ll be competing with each other, similar to what GM was doing when they still had Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Cheverolet. Except in this case the products would cost more to produce because they are completely different platforms, whereas GM’s products shared platforms.

 

The loss of Plymouth was just about reducing costs, Daimler didn’t have a competing lineup, and every Plymouth was a Chrysler with a different badge.

Just having overlapping products doesn’t mean canceling one will mean the other will capture the buyers. Nissan products are pretty different than Honda products, a buyer that likes them may seriously not like the comparable Honda.