The 'will it, won't it?' saga of Infiniti's arrival into the UK has been going on longer than the 'is he, isn't he?' saga of David Walliams' sexuality. But, thankfully, one of them has finally emerged from the closet.
Infiniti's entire five-strong range will go on sale in September, but the maker is evidently drawing out the process by giving us the details one car at a time. This is the EX - actually one of two SUVs coming to market at the same time, though this is the smaller of them, making this one the crossover, of course.
There'll be two EX models to choose from - a standard version and a GT, though in the spirit of its Japanese premium rival (and very against the grain of the Germans), it comes loaded with kit. Both are powered by a 316bhp 3.7-litre V6 - which you may already have figured out is virtually the same block as that in the
Nissan 370Z - and both come with a seven-speed auto 'box linked to four-wheel drive.
And the spec sheet is positively Brobdingnagian (yes, that's right.) All cars come with, among many more things, Xenon adaptive lights, electric seats, electric folding rear seat backs, 18-inch alloys, cruise control, automatic lights and wipers, voice recognition, front and rear parking sensors, Bluetooth and - weirdly - self-repairing paint. That's the stuff that fills in scratches itself by way of a witchcraft-like coating.
And all that for £35,200. An extra £1,300 bags GT spec, which adds leather, heated, powered seats and - even more weirdly than the paint - a headrest/coat hanger combo for the driver. Options include satnav (£1,700) and the ingenious Around View Monitor (£850 on top of the nav) that gives you a 360-degree bird's eye view of the car for easier parking.
Mark Nichol - 15 Jun 2009