Infiniti QX60 vs Acura MDX

The MDX starts at $51,800 — the lowest starting MSRP in this dataset — and tops out at $75,850 for the Type S Advance, both excluding a $1,450 destination charge. The QX60 runs $57,290 (LUXE FWD) to $67,585 (AUTOGRAPH AWD); Infiniti lists a $1,545 destination charge, but whether the printed prices include it is footnote-dependent and unresolved in our verification.

Read at face value, the Acura's floor is $5,490 lower and its ceiling $8,265 higher — the MDX ladder simply spans more.

Neither third row is an adult proposition. The QX60 publishes 28 inches of legroom — the integer is Infiniti's own precision, and it is the smallest third-row legroom figure in this dataset. The MDX publishes 29.1. Headroom: 35.7 vs 36.2 inches.

For child seats, the QX60 has the better hardware: one third-row LATCH lower-anchor set (driver's side) and two top tethers per the owner's manual. The MDX's third row has no lower anchors — tether-only installs across its two tether positions.

The MDX prints 18.1 cu ft behind the third row and 95 maximum; the QX60 prints 14.5 and 75.4. But Acura's figures are the SAE "Max" basis that includes the underfloor storage bin — measured without the bin, the behind-third-row figure is 16.3.

Even on the conservative basis the MDX carries more everywhere: 16.3 vs 14.5 behind row 3, and a maximum 19.6 cu ft beyond the Infiniti's on the published headline figures.

The QX60 tows 6,000 lb on every trim, front- or all-wheel drive. The MDX's 5,000 lb rating requires SH-AWD; front-wheel-drive builds are rated at 3,500.

That makes the gap configuration-dependent: 1,000 lb against an SH-AWD MDX, 2,500 against a front-drive one. If a trailer is in the picture, the QX60 is the only one of the two that doesn't make you buy a drivetrain to earn its rating.

The QX60's LUXE trims seat 7 with a second-row bench; SPORT and AUTOGRAPH seat 6 with captain chairs. The MDX seats 7 on every trim — Acura offers no captain's-chair configuration, instead folding the bench's center seat into an armrest.

The two footprints are nearly identical — 198 vs 198.4 inches long, 78 vs 78.7 wide — so the layout choice, not the body, is the differentiator.

Infiniti QX60: The 6,000 lb tow rating on any trim carries the case, captain chairs matter for the second row, and the third row is strictly for children on short hops — at 28 inches of legroom, the smallest in this dataset, it can't be anything else.

Acura MDX: The budget rules — $51,800 is the cheapest entry into this dataset — and cargo beats third-row hardware on the priority list. Its value scoring leads this pairing on price-to-utility math; just spec SH-AWD if the 5,000 lb tow rating is part of the plan.