According to one self-stated attendee of an Infiniti focus group, posting on GM Inside News, Nissan's luxe brand has been busy on its upgrade path for the FX crossover. Although the current design's freshness date isn't quite up (at the moment), the company apparently has a more powerful, svelte and athletic FX in the works.
Whereas the current FX has a tall front grill, the front of this car appeared much thinner. It was almost like the front of a sports car had been stuck onto the FX. The front was the biggest change and I'm not sold on it yet ... The FX37 gets bumped up to 300 horsepower. The FX50 comes with 390 horsepower and 369 lb.ft of torque. This sold me more than anything. I would guess that if the weight doesn't change that much, this thing must be quick.
Other presentations at the group reportedly included smart cruise control and mirrors that adjust automatically based on seating position. But more important, the group-goer says Nissan also gave a demo of its Around View blind-spot abatement system that will debut on its EX concept crossover at the New York auto show.
There were cameras in front of the car and behind it. On your Nav screen, it would show an outline of the car (as if looking down from the sky) and would paste the images around the car, so you'd have an almost 360 degree view of what was around you.
That's fairly rad. We still don't get how that'll work on a flat nav screen (we're picturing an optional set of 3D goggles), but we'll know more in New York next week.
2009 Infiniti FX37 & FX50 coming... [GM Inside News, also The Mags Report]
Related:
New York Auto Show Preview: Infiniti EX Concept [internal]