Infiniti has Germans in its sights

A classy package.

When it comes to looks, styling, classy living quarters, on-board fancies, occupant protection, driving pleasure and performance this Infiniti waves good-bye to the days of ho-hum Japanese sedans. Make no mistake, this is a classy package.

When I drove some of the models in the new range at the Media introduction a while back, the message from the suits at Infiniti was quite clear - they are on a "premium challenger" mission, sharply focussed on the blue propeller, four rings and three-pointed star brands.

Quick off the mark

While spending a few days in the company of the 2.0-litre Q50 Sport recently I was particularly impressed by its eagerness to get out of the starting stalls. A quick stab at the fun pedal and the turbo spins into force-feeding action, which converts into 155kW and 355Nm -- enough muscle to blast from zero to three-figures in just 7.2 seconds.

The stylishly handsome sedan swallows the corners in its stride and it has to be pushed really hard before it starts losing composure in the twisties. Driven sedately, the sporty Q50 oozes comfort and class.

The cabin is well insulated, spacious and airy with acres of head room and leg-stretching space. The boot is equally generous as we discovered to our delight when we went on an acquisition expedition through the multi-vineyard Stellenbosch region (We ran out of budget long before the boot was at capacity).

The boot is generous - wine anyone?

The steering is better suited to gentlemanly rather than hooligan treatment but there is enough feedback for the times when a dose of naughty is dialled up. The suspension of the Q50 is well-balanced between comfort and performance (although thumpy in Sport mode when the road becomes even slightly uneven), as is the slick-and-quick seven-speed transmission which is quite content to be left to its own devices (in Standard, Snow or Personal setting) or to jump into action for some rapid cog-swopping when the driver chooses Sport mode and either tap-taps the gear selector or flicks the flappies on the steering wheel.

Sporty

This is a sedan made for comfortable long-distance cruising, but in Sport mode it does adopt a pleasantly spirited personality.

The cabin is well insulated, spacious and airy with acres of head room and leg-stretching space.

True to the dictates of modern fancy motoring the Infiniti is also fully stocked with glitzy wizardry, including an irritating beep-beep every time a wheel touches the white line... I must have pushed every button in the book until eventually I smacked the top of the dash with the palm of my hand in frustration, filled the air with a string of curses and gave up trying to locate the magic button to turn it off.

However, in its favour, this was the only component in the Q50's make-up I didn't like. For the rest, this classy sedan is not totally outclassed by the Lexus IS, Audi A4, BMW 3-Series and the Mercedes-Benz C Class and it certainly presents a viable alternative at a very competitive price.

The price tags on the Infiniti Q50 range from R410,000 and R611,000 (for the range-topping Hybrid AWD) and like the rest of the Infiniti range the R477,000 price-tag of the 2-litre Sport we drove includes a five-year/100,000km maintenance plan.

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