Earlier this year, the 2026 Nissan Armada Nismo showed the automaker was willing to take its full-size three-row SUV into new territory. Nissan’s upscale sibling brand Infiniti followed suit, showing off the Track Spec and Terrain Spec concept versions of its new QX80 at The Quail during Monterey Car Week. It’s not done showing how versatile the QX80 can be. If you attend the 2025 SEMA Show, you’ll see the Infiniti QX80 R-Spec concept, which has a Nissan GT-R Nismo engine capable of delivering 1,000 horsepower.
Tiago Castro, vice president of Infiniti Americas said, “QX80 R-Spec is extreme, aggressive and a showcase of what INFINITI can do when our engineering and design teams take off all the guardrails. With the QX80 R-Spec build, we challenged ourselves to explore an even more extreme direction for QX80 as we look to a future with high-performance variants that offer a broader breadth of adrenaline-pumping capabilities for our clients.”
The all-new 2025 Infiniti QX80 already has a twin-turbo V6, but it isn’t the 3.8-liter VR38DETT that helped make the R35 Nissan GT-R Nismo into such a rocket. To get up to 1,000 horsepower out of the QX80 R-Spec’s transplanted GT-R engine, Infiniti added ETS exhaust manifolds with Garrett G-series turbos, JE Pistons, a flex-fuel system with 2,600cc injectors, a custom intake with dual front-mounted intercoolers, and other upgrades.
Infiniti combined that colossal output with GT-R-inspired 24 x 12-inch bronze wheels wrapped in 315/35 Yokohama PARADA Spec-X tires, GT-R carbon ceramic brakes, and MCS three-way coilovers with external reservoirs.
Visually, the QX80 R-Spec was inspired by a different GT-R. Designers had the T-Spec Takumi Edition in mind when they designed the body kit, exhaust finishers, diffuser, fog lights, badges, and other parts. The body is covered in a color-shifting wrap – a nod to the Midnight Purple used on the R34 and R35 GT-R models.
If you can’t make it out to SEMA this year to see the Infiniti QX80 R-Spec concept, don’t worry—The ClassicCars.com Journal will be there to bring you coverage of the big show.
