It can compete with them up to some point. It wont be as fast and sporty as the Macan, nor would its interior be as nice as the one on the Maserati. It will sort of meet in the middle. I have a feeling a lot of reviewers will say it's the best bang for your buck SUV.

it will, the Levante and Macan renderings don't show anything too impressive. Both seem to follow both brands current design languages, which means the QX70 shouldn't look out of place before it's refresh.

those are both high end luxury, I dont think if your shopping for a Maserati you're cross shopping with Infinti. I dont think Infinti has that type of pulling power yet.

Even Porsche. If you can get into a Macan for the entry 52,000 i think it beats out the QX70 everyday just based on brand pedigree.

isnt the levante a full sized SUV? and the macan a crossover sized car?

Just heard of a BMW X4 coming out which will likely rival the QX70, it's M model will make things even more interesting

it has a inline 6 turbo?

Im not sure to be honest.

THE COMPETITIVE BREAKDOWN BY PERFORMANCE - AUSTRALIA

The BMW X4 XDRIVE 35i has an in line 6 and makes the dash to 100KPH in 5.5 Seconds. Priced slightly higher than the V8 QX70S at $104,431.05. The V8 QX70S is still the better buy and the better performer yet in the 2015 the Infiniti won't have the V8 anymore so it'll be dropping out of the high end SUV segment all together. The existing Nissan V6 will be the only engine on the line-up and it won't be able to contend with it's rivals. The QX's saving grace is the V8 as far as I'm concerned.

It's sad really. With regards to performance, the QX70S is currently best compared to the leaders of the pack. The Mercedes AMG 6.3, the BMW X5M, Range Rover Sport and Audi Q5 TDI. But after they drop the V8 engine the QX will no longer find itself compared to these cars. Shame really. I think they should drop in the 5.6L donk from the QX56 or the GTR engine that's entering the Eau Rouge. They really need to keep their performance SUV alive.

that's amazing, I would have never thought that infiniti would do that well, good for them. considering this is how they're doing now with an outgoing model that's coming to the end of it's set production cycle, it makes you wonder how much better the next generation version will be.