The Infiniti Q50 has just been launched to the South African market. The brand has high hopes for a car that faces up against German favourites like the Audi A4, BMW 3-Series and Merc’s C-Class. Throw in a Lexus Is to the mix and it’s a full to the brim segment, so what’s the Infiniti got to attract buyers?

Diesel and Hybrid motors forInfiniti Q50

The range opener is the 2.2-litre turbodiesel which, in base price is good value – R399000. Obviously there are extras and other things you’ll want to add so that’s it’s comfier inside or a bit sportier. The diesel motor puts out 124 kW and 400 Nm and will apparently use 4.9-litres to every 100 km.

The second variant is called the performance hybrid, fitted with a Nissan sourced 3.5-litre V6 and can be ordered in all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive. It’s definitely got some grunt though at 263 kW and 546 Nm, and that’ll do the job of shunting the Q50 to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds. The hybrid part does the job of making sure the consumption figure stays relatively low at 6.8l/100km.

Steer by Wire

Infiniti calls it Direct Adaptive Steering but steer by wire works too and it allows you to adjust how responsive your steering feels, you can also adjust the weighting as well. The system works together with Active lane Control which, reduces the amount of driver adjustments needed to stay in your lane on freeways.

Two touch screens

Infiniti is now up to two touch screens in the cabin. They call it InTouchT which features two LCD VGA touch screens that allow you to fully customise any setting in the car possible. It comes standard with a CD player, Bluetooth, USB and voice operated controls. If the standard 6-speaker sound system isn’t up to scratch there’s an optional Bose system that can be chose from the option packs.

Packs of options

Multimedia pack – R30,800:Navigation system, Advanced Bose audio with 14 speakers.

Welcome Pack (Standard on Sport and Hybrid models) – R21 800:Tyre pressure monitoring with individual display, power and heated door mirrors with folding and reversing synchronisation, intelligent key with smart access and advanced features, welcome lighting, powered adjustment for rake and reach on the steering column, powered front seat adjustment with memory and powered lumbar support for the driver.

Visibility pack – R20 310:Adaptive front lighting, smart beam to help prevent high beam blindness to oncoming traffic and around view monitor for clear and safe parking

Steering Pack (Standard on Hybrid Sport models) – R12 000:Direct Adaptive Steering and Active Lane control to give a more customised and precise feel to the steering whilst maintaining a more central path within a lane without the need for minor steering adjustments.

Safety Shield Pack – R27 000:Intelligent cruise control, lane departure warning and lane departure prevention, blind spot warning and blind spot intervention, forward emergency braking, predictive forward collision warning and automatics also get distance control assist and back up collision intervention.

Infiniti Q50 Pricing for SA

Q50 diesel: Standard – from R399000 Premium – from R429 000 Sport – from R474000

Q50 Hybrid: S Hybrid – from R559 000