LUX COMPARO: INFINITI VS LEXUS

HAVE MONEY TO SPEND ON A PRESTIGE 4X4 AND DON’T WANT A RANGE ROVER? HOW ABOUT ONE OF THESE?

WHAT’S IN a name? Well everything, if you are Lexus or Infiniti and wishing to stand apart from your respective parents to compete in a prestige market led by the likes of Mercedes-benz and BMW.

Well-heeled buyers interested in flash German cars aren’t likely to be tempted by middle-market brands like Toyota or Nissan, so Toyota and Nissan created their respective Lexus and Infiniti identities in 1989 following a lead by Honda, which created its own prestige brand – Acura – in 1986. Well before that, the Range Rover was created as an upmarket Land Rover, so none of this is new.

What this doesn’t mean is that the two Lexus LX models (one petrol, one diesel) and the Infiniti we have here are just two Toyotas and a Nissan with different badges. Far from it. What’s more, the degree of separation from the respective Land Cruiser 200 and Patrol Y62 donor vehicles is in fact the devil in the detail, or the sauce on the pudding, in this threeway contest.

Of the three the Lexus LX570 is most removed from its donor vehicle with its bespoke 5.7-litre petrol V8/eight-speed powertrain not found in the LC200. Both Lexus models also get unique suspension not found on the 200, and all three have tonnes of added equipment.

The least changed from its donor vehicle, the Infiniti QX80, is the least expensive of these three, while the most changed, the LX570, is the most expensive, which helps even out the playing field.

Let the games begin…