How to tell if the QX60 is AWD?

This should have been something that you decided on when you first bought the car. Have you checked the owner's manual? You also should be able to feel lit when you are driving as well.

When you got your insurance, the VIN number would have showed whether or not it is AWD. Other than the VIN, the only way to tell is if you're near snow/ice and can test it out lol. There should be an emblem somewhere I would think for AWD.

Also, your purchase documents will show it.

He could also mean how can you tell by just looking at the vehicle. If that's the case, my guess would be looking underneath the vehicle, maybe there might be some way to tell by looking at the drivetrain, i wouldn't know.

Just bend down and look at drivetrain in rear of car. AWD has drive shaft going to the rear axle I believe.

if theres a gaping hole where the rear diff should be, you dont have AWD most modern systems you wont actually feel the AWD unless you find yourself needing it, and even then you wont feel it kick in...

Thanks for the replies. According to the VIN it is an AWD. I didn't bother to look when I got the vehicle because it doesn't snow here and I have no real use for AWD. I was just wondering if there was a way to tell as there are no badges on the 2014 QX60 indicating. I will check for the pumpkin when I get home later today.

Good to know to look out for that. Finally I will know what to look for haha.

When it comes to QX60's it should be easy to tell if they are AWD, most QX60 owners aren't the type to debadge their vehicles

I've brought this question up before in another jx forum. Essentially I was concerned that if the tow truck came in, I wasn't sure if the car would be towed correctly and I felt that Infiniti should've at least put a badge there before the drive train is ruined. I ended up making a window sticker to give a little warning.

Thorin78 said:

I've brought this question up before in another jx forum. Essentially I was concerned that if the tow truck came in, I wasn't sure if the car would be towed correctly and I felt that Infiniti should've at least put a badge there before the drive train is ruined. I ended up making a window sticker to give a little warning.

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Thorin,

In reference to your towing comment, I'm assuming a FWD gets towed from the front (drive wheels off the ground), however does an AWD get pulled onto a flatbed so the wheels aren't dragged?

yeller said:

Thorin,

In reference to your towing comment, I'm assuming a FWD gets towed from the front (drive wheels off the ground), however does an AWD get pulled onto a flatbed so the wheels aren't dragged?

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flatbed truck or one set of wheels off ground and second set on dolleys with regular tow truck

I got my 2016 QX60 today. It was fully loaded MSRP 59, 290. I hope it is AWD which is what the receipt says. But, when I gave the VIN to my Farmers agent he says that it comes as 4WD. Does that make sense. I believe none of the QX60's are 4WD.

Very few vehicles today are legit 4WD (mainly some trucks, Jeep Wranglers, etc.). As a result folk sometimes refer to AWDs as 4WDs. The QX60 is definitely AWD and not 4WD. As such, it is not the vehicle that I would offroad.

The insurance company was just using the term generically. 4WD and AWD is practically the same thing and there are so many variations today that IMHO the terms are almost irrelevant. That being said, there are still major differences in the systems.

The QX60 uses an AWD system that is biased towards gas mileage (like many of the newest SUV's) which only engages the rear wheels when needed.

My AWD Cadillac CTS starts at a 25/75 bias towards the rear and varies as needed.

4WD usually denotes a heavy duty system that is engaged (manually or with a button) by the driver when needed. This is because the gas mileage would be horrible if left on all the time. This is better for serious off-roading, but not as practical for on-road use since it usually must be "turned on" when needed.

Actually, Pathfinders have a 4WD mode where all four are locked together. But in practical application, like purposely trying to get it stuck, there wasn't any real difference between its 4WD and AWD modes as far as tractive force. And, in 4WD, with the wheels all locked together, the magic stability control features didn't work (they require being able to brake and power individual wheels). And it would switch off about 20mph (as I recall) anyway.

4WD was one of our factors way back when when choosing PF or JX. But after having had 4WD, I don't miss it on the QX.

tonyHTX said:

Probably a dumb question, but how do I tell if my QX60 is AWD? I probably should have RTFM..

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As an owner of a non-AWD JX-35, and now an owner (by virtue of a trade in) of an AWD QX-60 I can assure you that the difference between a front wheel drive and an AWD is dramatic. Turning (making turns) on front wheel drive cars is not nuanced, and at high speeds lane changes must be subtle, over turning could cause loss of control. Not so with AWD. Handling is much smoother and not radical when over turning. It's a smoother ride because the car handles much nicer. I waited 6 months to get my used QX60 with AWD as there were lots of features I required to match my JX-35. The reason I ended up on this site is I want to put an AWD emblem on my 2019 because it's a feature worth bragging about.

As an owner of a non-AWD JX-35, and now an owner (by virtue of a trade in) of a 2019 QX-60 AWD I can assure you that the difference between a front wheel drive and an AWD is dramatic. Turning (making turns) on front wheel drive cars is not nuanced, and at high speeds lane changes must be subtle, over turning could cause loss of control. Not so with AWD. Handling is much smoother and not radical when over turning. It's a smoother ride. I waited 6 months to get my used QX60 with AWD, there were lots of features I required to match my JX-35. The reason I ended up on this site is I want to put an AWD emblem on my 2019 because it's a feature worth bragging about.