Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Big cats with a kitten in the tank
PABALLO THEKISO
WHAT do you get when you cross a Lexus E350 with a BMW 5 Series? Their progeny has an outline you may mistake for a Nissan Infiniti Hybrid Q50S. From the front, you could confuse the Infiniti with a Lexus, especially with its almost identical emblem, and from the back, with the BMW 5 Series.
I found the Q50 sexy, attractive and sporty, but it is in a segment of the market where there are other sexy, attractive and sporty cars that make the competition tough.
One is the E300 Mercedes-Benz Hybrid, which I also had the chance to test-drive.
Although you have to dig a bit deeper in the pocket for a hybrid – the E300, for example, is priced at just under R634 000 and the Q50 at R585 000 – for me, it is worth paying the heavier price to have peace of mind when stuck in traffic.
Like many of the hybrid cars around, the Q50 comes with a petrol engine.
The E300, however, has taken the saving of fuel to another level as the first diesel-electric hybrid. The E300 averaged about 5.2 litres to 100km on a long road and about 6.5l/100km with city driving.
The Q50 was slightly thirstier, with an average consumption of 7.5l/100km on the highway and 8.4l/100km in city driving.
Even so, considering the size of the Q50, I was impressed by its fuel consumption figures.
The two cars can travel on electric power alone at up to 20km/h for the Infiniti Q50 and up to 35km/h for the E300, as long as the battery is well charged.
Carbon dioxide emissions come in at 110g/km for the E300 and 159g/km for the Q50.
The E300 wins in terms of comfort, but by a small margin.
The two brands know their target market well. Mounting a signature analogue clock on the dashboards is a great way to add an executive touch of elegance.
Even if the Q50 is a Lexus lookalike, you cannot fault it on power. Under the bonnet, the 261kW 3.5-litre V6 engine is helped by an electric motor that is rated at 50kW.
The seven-speed automatic transmission shoots the car from 0-100km/h in just 5.1 seconds, according to the manufacturer.
The Mercedes-Benz’s 2-litre four- cylinder turbo-diesel engine pushes out 150kW and can call on the electric motor for an extra 20kW.
I found the E300 more friendly to use, with fewer buttons and everything carefully arranged on the dashboard.
By comparison, the Q50 had buttons everywhere and was more complex to figure out.
But don’t get me wrong: technology-wise, the Q50 takes the crown.
It might have taken me three days to figure it out, but I eventually was connected to the internet, communication and entertainment system.
I found the Infiniti system complicated to understand.
I first had to download the Infiniti InTouch app on my smartphone and register the vehicle using the VIN number, yes the VIN number, on a form presented on the app. I waited for the registration to be approved and only then could I enjoy all that the hi-tech car had to offer. But once the registration was done and my phone connected, I enjoyed the interaction between phone and car.
I could Google by typing or using voice search (my accent was too African, so the car struggled to understand my commands), I could view my Twitter and Facebook feeds directly from the car screen and receive e-mails and access my calendar with meeting reminders.
Comfort features that the two cars share are heated seats, dual air- conditioning, and driver seat memory. They also have a camera parking system, shift paddles, Bluetooth connectivity, a stop-start system, day-time LED headlamps and many other features. So which would I choose to buy? I would choose the Infiniti over German brands (besides an Audi), but then I don’t follow the crowd (my dream car is the 2.5 AWD Subaru Legacy GT).
The Japanese are on a mission to grab their share of the luxury vehicle segment.