– By Mike Ridley-Smith –
If you follow F1 you’ve seen Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull car roar around the world’s race tracks with the Infiniti branding on his car and uniform. If not, then you may be wondering what, or who, is Infiniti? Infiniti is the luxury brand of Nissan and was recently launched in Australia.
Walking through the central Sydney Infiniti showroom and nearby service department they appear very serious, with a range of good looking vehicles suited to current Australian tastes. However, will the Infiniti Q50 stack up against the formidable opposition from BMW, Mercedes, Audi and their Japanese rivals at Lexus that are now the default novated lease for aspiring executives?
The vehicle tested was a Q50 2.0t S Premium and first impressions are of a good looking car with modern lines and a strong on road presence. In my week with the car I received many admiring glances (or maybe they were straining to see the badge of this unknown vehicle) and the exterior design makes it stand out in a car park against the conservative European rivals.
After the service advisor settled me in and turned on all manner of safety wizardry, we merged into Sydney peak hour traffic and it was not long before Q50 was taking steps to keep me out of harms way.
The S premium option pack delivers up an impressive list of safety features – blind spot warning, blind spot intervention, distance control assist, forward emergency braking, predictive forward collision warning, lane departure warning and lane departure prevention.
In full metal jacket mode in heavy traffic you will sometimes wonder if you are ‘driving’ an autonomous vehicle as you are subject to regular warning and/or brake and steering interventions. Once set up to suit your preferences I have no doubt that these devices will reduce incidents but they are an acquired taste – no ‘boy racer’ lane changing allowed.
The 2.0 litre 4 cylinder turbo petrol engine delivers adequate performance for the class and provides smooth delivery when driven conservatively. With the now ubiquitous stop start technology, fuel economy is 7.3l/100km on the combined cycle.
In cruise around town mode this engine specification ensures you will have a smile on your face as you enjoy the absence of outside noise and concentrate on the exceptional quality of the Bose sound system. Whilst there are several driving modes, and the drivetrain is the purists’ preferred layout of front engine rear wheel drive, this is not a car asking to be hustled off the lights or threaded through a mountain pass.
The engine note when pushed is a little harsh, and the step down in gears is a long time coming. The handling is a bit stiff and I was surprised with how poorly it thumped over suburban speed bumps – perhaps not helped by run flats on the (admittedly good looking) 19” wheels.
Besides the active and passive safety features, the other party piece of this vehicle is the onboard electronics with two large touch screens – the top screen showing navigation and the lower screen enabling access to a host of settings, apps, entertainment and diagnostics.
There is connectivity by Bluetooth or dual USBs, voice recognition for audio, SMS text and Bluetooth systems. I even found two different G-Force meter displays. With endless hours of fun accessing every menu level and option perhaps you will need the forward emergency braking after all.
The interior is highly specified with electronic everything, nice lighting and very comfortable seating. To match this with the German brands you will be delving deep into a very expensive option list.
There is a lot to like about the Q50 and provided you are not a brand snob, or if you like to stand out from the pack, it is well worth considering for a novated lease.
Australia is a tough market for prestige car brands but based on this experience, I expect we’ll be seeing the Infiniti logo on the roads as well as F1 race cars.
