At first, the Japanese motor industry began copying the British way of making cars after the Second World War, only to discover that while the models themselves they were using as inspiration were well thought out and well designed, the production methods could be improved. Thus, Japan grew into a car-building powerhouse, but it didn’t stick to the same model of manufacturing cars, and had to look elsewhere for fresh ideas.
Lexus and Infiniti were born out of the sheer desire to compete with the German luxury sedans and SUVs, and over the years, their products have been getting more and more interesting, but frankly, they have been one step behind the Teutonic competition.
The year 2013 was very important for both brands, though, because it was the year chosen to launch their BMW 3-Series rivals, and now, finally, somebody has put them head to head, in their sportiest of guises.
MotorTrend took on the challenge of deciding which is better, the Lexus IS350 F-Sport, or the slightly newer Infiniti Q50S. On paper, the two cars are evenly matched, though the Infiniti gets a bit more power, and handling-wise, whereas the Lexus tends to push wide and understeer during fast cornering, the Infiniti kicks out the tail and is very happy to drift around.
However, the Lexus gets a much nicer interior, reminiscent of that found inside the LFA supercar, and on the road it proves to be a more engaging and easy car to drive fast, whereas the Infiniti just feels a bit disconnected. Of course, that’s only according to reviewer Jonny Lieberman, and since these cars seem to be very close in so many areas, the best thing to do is, as always, try them out for yourself – the video posted below gives you a rough idea of what to expect.
By Andrei Nedelea
VIDEO