2011 Infiniti Fx35 Base Sport Utility 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Race Recap: 2015 US Grand Prix was wet, wild, and historic

Hurricane Patricia made landfall in Mexico this weekend, and made her presence known throughout the South. For two of the three days of the grand prix weekend it rained non-stop in Austin, so badly on Saturday that qualifying had to be postponed until Sunday morning, and then it only stayed dry enough to conduct the first two sessions. At the end of a tricky, slippery Q2 Nico Rosberg had put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on the front row, one tenth ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. The German had done the best he could to keep his hair-thin chances of a World Championship fight alive. Daniel Ricciardo lined his Infiniti Red Bull Racing chassis in third ahead of teammate Daniil Kvyat, both drivers having moved up a place because Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel took a ten-spot grid penalty for using a fifth engine and dropped to 13th. Continuing the two-up theme, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were fifth and sixth for Force India. After that came variety: Felipe Massa in seventh for Williams, Max Verstappen for Toro Rosso in eighth, Fernando Alonso looking good in the rain for McLaren in ninth, and Romain Grosjean for Lotus in tenth. When the lights went out, Turn 1 set the tone. Pole position is on the outside line at Circuit of the Americas, and Hamilton had got himself far enough under Rosberg by the time the two got up the hill that Rosberg had to stick to the outside through the corner. At the corner exit Hamilton used the entire track, pushing Rosberg wide, their cars touching. As Rosberg left the track and dropped back to fourth, Hamilton radioed to the team to say the contact was unintentional. The two Mercedes' and two Red Bulls animated the front. Rosberg passed Ricciardo at the end of a Virtual Safety Car period employed to let the marshals clean the debris at Turn 1. Kvyat started chasing down Hamilton until the Russian ran wide and let Rosberg and Ricciardo through, then Rosberg ran wide on the next lap to let Ricciardo through. On Lap 15, Ricciardo passed Hamilton through the esses to take the lead. After the first round of pit stops the Aussie still had the lead, followed by Rosberg, Kvyat, Hamilton, and Vettel. Then Rosberg got around to take the lead and Vettel closed in on Hamilton as the Brit duked it out with the Russian. Rosberg showed excellent speed, building up a nine-second gap on Ricciardo, but a Safety Car period erased that when Marcus Ericsson had to park his dead Sauber on the inside of the track after Turn 10.

2016 Infiniti QX60 Quick Spin

UPDATE: The original version of this story called Mazda's range-topping CX-9 the Platinum. This is incorrect. The top-of-the-line model will be called the CX-9 Signature. The story has been edited accordingly. When it comes to selling cars, getting customers into showrooms is half the battle. For Infiniti, one of its biggest draws is the QX60 – the three-row CUV originally known as the JX35, based on parent company Nissan's Pathfinder. QX60 buyers are young, female, and – most importantly – nine out of ten are new to the brand. The facelifted QX60, which was originally introduced in December, is here to maintain those stats. That's important, especially now, as increasingly premium mainstream offerings are proliferating throughout the market. This isn't a new trend – GMC's Acadia Denali predates the JX35, for example – but now the QX60 has to contend with things like the Ford Explorer Platinum, Honda Pilot Elite, Dodge Durango Citadel, and the upcoming Mazda CX-9 Signature. These vehicles are similarly priced, and offer similar capabilities and accoutrements to the QX60. Infiniti timed its QX60 update well, then, with a focus on aesthetics and maintaining the same driving dynamics. In the end, Infiniti offers a freshened CUV that should have no trouble keeping foot traffic flowing into the brand's showrooms. Driving Notes This might not be the popular opinion, but to our eyes, the QX60 is the best-looking product Infiniti currently makes (of course, the Q60 Coupe will trump that when it enters production). This thing has presence – we caught ourselves staring a number of times. But our lingering glances make sense when you look at the QX60 alongside the original JX35. The former lacked real hard edges or sharp details. Look at this comparison gallery to see the difference. What's remarkable is that Infiniti made this big visual improvement as part of a mid-cycle refresh. Yes, the front and rear fascias, headlights, and taillights were swapped out, but the cumulative effect is a dramatically more premium and refined aesthetic. We dig the way the dark grille integrates more neatly with the lower intake, and the LED running lights give the sharper, more aggressive headlamps a piercing effect. Out back, a revised rear bumper and a wider chrome strip produce a more substantial, upright appearance. These are little changes, to be clear, but taken as a whole they feel far more sweeping. The same can't be said of the cabin.

Vettel and Coulthard drive Russia's very unfinished Sochi Circuit

The next Winter Olympics will happen in Sochi, Russia from February 7-23, 2014. Sometime after that, barring any delays, a portion of the Sochi Olympic Park will be turned into the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit, a 3.65-mile track for the first Russian Grand Prix in 100 years (the last of two Formula One grands prix were held in St. Petersburg).
As we've come to expect from the Infiniti Red Bull team, it recently sent Sebastian Vettel and brand ambassador David Coulthard to the unfinished venue to run the route in Infiniti M sedans and offer some impressions. With average cornering speeds above 62 miles an hour, Coulthard called it a fast street circuit in the Monaco vein. You can watch them try it out - yes, that's Vettel gone airborne above - and avoid a "White Van Man" in the video below.