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You might not notice the Infiniti FX's swoopy body at first because your eyes will be immediately drawn to its enormous wheels. BMW's hottest X5 also comes with 20-inch wheels, but on the curvy FX they look disproportionately larger. The FX35 comes standard with 18-inch wheels, which are larger than what you'll find on most SUVs. Once you get used to the monster wheels, Infiniti's "bionic cheetah" styling begins to sink in.

The Infiniti design team wanted "cool fusion," or "the blending of a substantial, SUV lower body with a sleek, elegant upper body more reminiscent of a classic sports car or GT.'' In other words, the FX is supposed to look like a sports car from the beltline up. It does, sort of.

Its proportions are certainly striking, starting with a wide stance and long hood under the tucked-tight roof. The overhangs are short, exaggerating the distance between its front and rear wheels. An oversized grille greets oncoming traffic, and the bulging hood looks high. A peek underneath the hood shows it doesn't need to be, as the engine is tucked well below.

Aside from its appearance, the design gives the Infiniti FX45 a near optimal weight balance of 54 percent front, 46 percent rear, which in turn improves overall handling balance and reinforces the FX's road-burning feel. Even the protruding, stylized taillights have function beyond their looks. The lip of the lights that extends past the rear hatch adds aerodynamic downforce on the rear end, like a spoiler. Order the polished chrome wheels and you will, undoubtedly, have one of the most attention-grabbing SUVs on your block.

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When you climb into the FX's driver's seat, you're coddled by the console and instrument panel. It's more sporting and more intimate than you might expect, but it also feels like a tighter fit than you'll find in most other SUVs. The overall feel is of a great luxury sport wagon.

The front seats are comfortably firm, like those in a good European sedan, but the adjustments may require quite a bit of fiddling before you're set (that's why they invented seat memory). The driver's seat allows three inches of vertical travel, so you can perch up high to keep tabs on the rest of the tall SUV commuters around you, or drop your hind end toward the floor for serious driving on challenging roads.

The view over the Infiniti FX's hood reminds us of that in a Jaguar, with the metal sloped and contoured over the headlights and grille. It's the opposite of the squared-off hood of a BMW X5 or Range Rover, as if the FX is trying to tell you you're in a car rather than a truck. The view in the mirrors is not hindered by the fat, sloping rear pillars, although Infiniti covers its bases with its optional rear-view camera. The image displays on the seven-inch dashboard monitor, with two virtual lines that correspond to the width of the FX. We didn't fully trust it when parallel parking, but it's a great aid when backing out of a driveway or shopping center parking space to help ensure there aren't any little ones in the path.

Infiniti's designers wanted three separate interior "zones" intended to meet the needs of various FX occupants. The cockpit-style driver zone is supposed to "maximize driving excitement." The steering wheel and gauges remind us of those in Nissan's 350Z sports car, with a thick, squeezey rim and big gauges that move when the column tilts to optimize viewing angle. Given this sports car climate, we half expected to grip a six-speed manual shifter in the Infiniti FX. For now, you'll have to settle for a five-speed automatic. The climate, stereo and navigation controls are densely arrayed in the center stack. They look cool, but you have to literally look at them to operate them. It requires a little more attention than we prefer to devote to adjusting a switch and it's our primary issue with the FX interior.

The FX's "comfort zone" is reserved for the front passenger, who gets the same range of seat adjustments as the driver, a separate adjustable center armrest and individual climate controls.

The "play zone" (the rear seat) has personal reading lamps, a center armrest with tray and storage, seatback pockets for storing DVDs and magazines, reclining seats and chest-level air-conditioning vents. The optional DVD player has a seven-inch screen, a remote and two sets of wireless headphones. The play zone is surprisingly comfortable. Three adults fit comfortably in the split rear seats, and the recline feature makes it much more accommodating for taller folk than the rear-sloping roof might suggest.

The Infiniti FX has plenty of clever storage spots, including a lockable storage box in the center console with enough room for larger items like a purse. The door pockets flip out, and there are three hidden bins under the rear cargo floor. The rear seats fold flat easily with simple levers that are accessible from the side doors and the rear. The sculpted rear hatch pops with an electro-magnetic release.

Total cargo capacity (64.5 cubic feet with the rear seat folded) is less than many square-shaped SUVs, but larger than some others, including the class-trailing BMW X5. Infiniti says it placed a higher priority on floor space than sheer volume, and the FX has a larger load floor than the X5 or Lexus RX330. Of course, that means its floor-to-ceiling measurement is shorter, as is the size of the opening under the sculpted hatch. At 30.6 inches, the load height is higher than that in some other SUVs.

The optional 300-watt, 11-speaker Bose stereo was tuned for the middle-aged mid-life crisis male, and it seems to sound best blaring classic rock at high decibels. Infiniti says it worked with Bose specifically to emphasize bass and treble for rock and roll. Yet for the ease of those aging rockers, the Infiniti FX can be operated without the key. With the Intelligent Key option, as long as the driver has the remote key fob in purse or pocket (with the corresponding correct transponder code), he or she can unlock and start the FX with buttons on the doors and dash.