Infiniti Q50 - A Comfy And Nicely Car (Part 2)

Exhibit B in Infiniti’s quest to be different: the info, entertainment and online package involves two touchscreens and a rotary controller. It gives you access to a spectacularly configurable car plus a growing suite of apps. I like having two screens, as it means the top one can always show maps and arrows, while you can use the bottom one for entertainment and apps. That way, you don’t miss a vital junction while your passenger is switching tracks. But, astoundingly, although both screens are standard, the two of them have entirely different graphic styles and fonts. The cabin is otherwise designed and finished with some considerable love, but this mismatch looks like it’s still in beta.

The cabin is otherwise designed and finished with some considerable love, but this mismatch looks like it’s still in beta

Exhibit C: the styling. Not just inside but out. While it’s still a basic three-box, four-door saloon, it is more pillowy and creased and chromey than the opposition. Note the characteristic wavy bone line along the shoulders and bonnet, and the reverse curve in the C-pillar.

But there has to be a limit to being different. That other Japanese contender, the Lexus IS300h, competes against the near-ubiquitous 4cyl diesels with a CVT hybrid. Although you can buy the top-spec Q50 with a combo of V6 electric motor and eight-speed auto, the mainstream model is motivated by about as regular an apparatus as you can imagine. A 2.1-liter diesel, with 170bhp and the choice of six-speed manual or seven-speed auto. In that sense, Infiniti isn’t going an inch off-piste.

Most versions of the Q50 don’t get paddles, so you have to use the plus/minus gate on the lever

Who makes 2.1-liter, 170bhp diesels and seven-speed autos? Mercedes-Benz. Quite. Those specs alert us to the fact that Infiniti-Nissan is leveraging its technical tie-in with Mercedes to borrow that powertrain. So it feels like the Mercedes engine, gamely delivering its power across the low-to-mid ranges, is falling away when the needle is near the big 4,000rpm. Rather last generation in its noise and harshness, but decently economical.

The auto ’box too is standard-procedure Benz: smooth when you let it do its own thing but infuriating to override. Most versions of the Q50 don’t get paddles, so you have to use the plus/minus gate on the lever, which is set up back to front and always interposes a half-second delay before shifting. Seems like a no-brainer to save yourself 10g/km in CO₂ (down to 114) and go for the manual instead.

Comfy company car, nicely made, high-end, distinctive if a bit operatic-looking

Obviously, the Q50 will sell more than the G37 it replaces, but when did you see one of those? It’s a tricky thing to be alternative without being invisible – and given that there are only eight dealers in the entire country, you can see how Infiniti’s scarcity won’t end any time soon.

Verdict

·         Comfy company car, nicely made, high-end, distinctive if a bit operatic-looking

·         Not the sports car they pretend