Review: Infiniti EX

This road test might well be about a car you've never heard of . . . all £42,000 worth of it writes Ian Donaldson.

But before you vault to the next story it's worth reeling in a fact or two; after all BMW and Mercedes were once unknowns too, and look at them now.

Indeed, once BMW was best known for building cheap as chips bubblecars, while even today every second taxi in Germany seems to be a Mercedes.

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That hasn't stopped either marque carving out a reputation for quality and style that rivals would sell their grannies to achieve.

And so to Infiniti, the posh car brand you've never heard of. Or seen on the road, for that matter.

With total UK sales in the very low hundreds, you're much more likely to see a Ferrari than one of the six sorts of Infiniti available from a mere four dealerships open at the moment, with a further seven due sometime this year.

If you're a reader of the car magazines you'll know Infiniti has been producing upwardly mobile cars for two decades, built in Japan and sold mostly in the United States.

That latter fact is certainly the reason why all the Infiniti models that went on sale when UK deliveries began late in 2009 had gas guzzling petrol engines.

A diesel alternative was very badly needed if UK (and European) sales were ever to rise a above the merest blip on the graph.

Well, now it's here and the same 3.0 diesel powerplant is available in several flavours of Infiniti, and ought to see many more visitors to the identically plush showrooms dotted around Europe.

Infiniti is to Nissan what the upmarket Lexus brand is to Toyota; boardroom brothers in arms but otherwise only distant relatives. So, while every Infiniti shares the same slightly in-your-face styling, they have nothing at all in common with the looks of a Nissan.

Under the skin, where there are painless savings to be made by sharing, you'll find a powerful diesel engine much like the one in some larger Nissans and a body platform that's based on the one supporting Nissan's potent 370 Z sport scar.

And the Infiniti's four-wheel drive system is derived from that found in the ultra potent Nissan GT-R.

None of which matters much. More important is how the mix works; has Infiniti produced something a well off Brit might want on the drive?

I'd say a big, bold yes if the potential owner wanted a car that stands out in a crowd of BMW X3s and Audi Q5s, comes so loaded there are hardly an options, goes well and is backed by a service team with an honest passion to outdo the opposition.

And the diesel powered EX really does fly, with 238 horsepower it will hit 137mph and power to 62mph in 7.9 seconds. That's an impressive turn of speed for such a largish car and feels more than spritely at the wheel.

The diesel's economy will depend on your right foot; the Euro average of 33.2mpg will need lots of restraint, but the petrol powered EX manages only 25mpg, so no wonder most sales are now diesels.

It sounds punchy when provoked (a deliberate move by the Infiniti engineers) but sends a shiver through the pedals when the car is stopped at the lights (where the US-style foot operated parking brake is a pain).

There's enough room, but no more, in the cabin and boot. Again, that's deliberate; the EX is not meant to be a go-anywhere, shed-sized off-roader. It's more a 4x4 coupe.

You can have one for £36,741 but most buyers take the poshest GT Premium at £42,547 and wallow in its standard fittings, from cameras that give you a view round the whole car to a lane departure system that gently brakes the car to pull you back from the wrong side of the white lines.

And when you've taken delivery and learned all your car's new tricks, the dealership in Birmingham will collect your new baby when it needs a service and deliver it back, with more fuel in the tank than it had when you handed it over.