The covers have been pulled off the Infinti G50 (G37 replacement if you’re struggling to keep up with the new naming convention) before we get to take a look at its fellow Japanese compact premium rival, the Lexus IS.
First impressions are that it’s a big step forward over its predecessor. Its proportions are more ‘premium’, its surfacing more expressive. But both of these pose problems. Firstly it’s now larger than the norm for its class – longer than the BMW 3–Series, Caddy ATS and Lexus IS. Conventional wisdom is that offering ‘more car for your money’ actually detracts from premiumness and it’s difficult to pinpoint in which segment the Q50 sits. At 4,782mm long it’s 82mm longer than the next longest in the segment, the Audi A4.
And its surfacing, while reminiscent of the exuberant body cross-sections of the Essence and Etherea, are executed with less conviction and rely on visual tricks that add fussiness. The crescent-shaped C-pillar is intended to look concave but is an optical illusion created by the change of suface along the crease that runs awkwardly into the rear deck, for example.
Its DRG is more distinctive and is impressively low-set as is becoming the norm in this class, although the question of whether Infiniti or Lexus own the pinched grille graphic remains unanswered.
Inside it’s a similar story – nice themes carried over from the concept cars (particularly the ‘double wave’ wrap-around architecture that gives a real sense of security) but executed in a manner that fails to convince against its peers.
Its HMI for example feels confused thanks to the two central screens that apparently work together (we say apparently as neither was functional in the show car) yet are totally different to each other in terms of technology and integration. The push-button HVAC controls and half-hearted Audi MMI-cribbed controller add to the lack of sparkle.
The G50 is by no means bad but in a market this fierce anything less than brilliant may not be enough.
Owen Ready