"Wow - they have cars here, too!"
Infiniti, says Wayne Bruce, the genial Global Communications Director of Nissan’s premium brand, wants you to think of its new UK dealership as more like a luxury hotel than a car showroom.
As a result, you are greeted in a ‘lobby’ area by a receptionist, before being ushered into a room that really does look like the lounge of an upmarket European business hotel. To the point that finding cars nestled among the frosted glass, elegant sofas and wooden coffee tables is actually a bit of a surprise.
Wayne has kindly invited us along to the glamorous UK flagship Infiniti centre that we reported on a few weeks ago, situated in not-quite-so-glamorous Reading, for a shufti at the showroom and (most importantly) a quick steer of the cars.
Always time for an impromptu 'Timewarp'
Reading is the first of what will eventually be an eight-strong UK dealer network, with two more next year and the final five in 2011. But Infiniti’s move into the UK isn’t about a massive assault on the luxury car market.
“We have such a slim-line business model that we don’t need to chase volume,” Wayne explains. “Reading is the 15th European outlet that we’ve opened since we arrived on the continent in October 2008, and we’ve sold around 2000 cars.”
But who’s going to buy an Infiniti? And which one will they go for? “The FX crossover has actually been the surprise hit across Europe so far – and people are often swapping into them from Porsche Cayennes.”
So it seems that the ‘right’ people are buying them. Question is: are they any good? Time for a few quick test drives…
This is the closest Infiniti comes to an entry-level car. Even so, it still gets a similar engine to the one found beneath the bonnet of a Nissan 370Z. The 3.7-litre V6 is 10bhp down on the Zed at 316bhp, but that's still more than enough to propel the M to 62mph in 5.9secs.
The M comes with a comprehensive kit list that includes electric seat and steering wheel adjustment on every model, and leather as standard on all but the base models. Even our specced-to-the-gills G37 S, with its adaptive cruise control, cracking Bose stereo, sat-nav and reversing camera, only came in at a whisker under £39k. Specify a 335i to that level and you'll be heading for £44k
The driving experience provides an interesting comparison with a 3-series, too. Its 316bhp gives it a slight power advantage, but 265lb ft of torque plays the BMW's 295lb ft, so the result is a 0-62mph sprint separated by a tenth of a second (the Infiniti takes 5.9secs, the BMW 5.8secs).
Dynamically the G saloon is also a pretty sharp operator. The steering is well weighted and responsive, but not hyperactive, while the seven-speed auto does a fine job of keeping the V6 on song. The steering column-mounted gearshift paddles are also reminiscent of those found In the GT-R, which is most definitely a 'good thing'.
If you're looking for a left-field sports saloon with decent dynamics, and with more space than you'd expect of a 3-series rival (Infiniti privately calls it a '4-series') you could do a lot worse than the G37 saloon.
Imagine an upmarket Nissan Qashqai and you'll be getting somewhere close to the philosophy behind the EX37. That's probably doing the EX all sorts of disservices, mind you, because it's much more sophisticated than that.
The EX is Infiniti's 'comfort-oriented' model and, while it looks sort of like an SUV, in the flesh EX fits in to no genre. To call it a mixture of an A5 Sportback, a 3-series Touring and a Volvo XC60 is inaccurate, but about as close as I can get to how it looks.
The EX37 shares its V6 with the rest of the Infiniti range, but adds four-wheel drive, squishier leather upholstery, a natty headrest-mounted jacket holder and electrically folding and raising rear seats. It also removes some of the firmness in the suspension, meaning a smoother ride, but less control over vertical body movements. The GT-R-esque gear paddles also disappear.
In short, the EX37 probably has the most mainstream appeal, but doesn't really get the PH seal of approval. Except for PR boss Wayne's own example, that is, which has a set of alloys painted in the touch-up paint from a Lamborghini Reventon (Infiniti Geneva and Lamborghini Geneva share the same body shop, apparently). That, we really like.
The FX ought to be a bit of a pig. It looks fabulously cartoonish, with its swooping lines and huge bonnet. It weighs a whisker over two tons. And it gets a naturally aspirated V6, while its large SUV chums get superchargers, turbochargers or whacking V8s to play with.
Thing is, the FX37 somehow works rather well. It doesn't really feel like a proper SUV, seeming instead like a really big coupe, but that isn't actually a bad thing. True, it doesn't enjoy a commanding driving position, but the curvy edges to the bonnet make the driver feel suitably powerful. And though the swoopy, leathery cabin doesn't offer copious amounts of space, it gives you enough to be comfy. Most incredible of all, the naturally aspirated V6 feels well up to the job of hauling the big FX along at a decent lick (think 0-62mph in less than seven seconds).
But what the FX37 does really well is handle. This car honestly out-Porsches a Cayenne. If you want an SUV that outpoints an X6, there is now an option. And you'll look like less of an *expletive deleted* into the bargain!
We also got a good long run in the G37 S coupe. Like the rest of the Infiniti range, it's based on Nissan's FM platform, but as a 'proper' rear-drive sports coupe we reckoned it merited a rather more 'proper' review. Look out for it on PH very soon...