2002 Infiniti Q45 in Santa Ana

Such a beautiful interior! Such a fine engine! And yet so many things about the 2002 Q45 disappointed us in the course of its year here in Ann Arbor. This seems to be the continuing conundrum of Infiniti's lovely Q-ship, a car with great promise and personality, a car that from its inception has been plagued with nagging quality glitches and character flaws that just plain take the lux out of luxury.

We decided to include the Q45 in our Four Seasons fleet after an impressive initial outing in Italy. This third-generation Q seemed to hark back to the original car, itself flawed in luxury attributes but spunky as hell under the hood. It was roundly referred to back then as the Japanese BMW to Lexus's Mercedes-Benz of an LS400. The reality was that the Infiniti was not a BMW contender but rather a direct shot at the Lexus, with serious sporting BMW pretensions. The squooshy second-gen Q45 moved away from both those marques to our dismay, as Lexus continued to refine its deeply staid, deeply luxurious mother ship.

We were pleased to see Infiniti back on track and loved this third Q's redesign, especially the cabin, which we placed in the pantheon of great interiors. And its engine was a rocket, with 50 horsepower more than the Lexus LS430's V-8. We ordered up a Q with all the trimmings, neatly combined in the $8000 premium package, which includes, among other things, eighteen-inch wheels, an active-damping suspension, a "Birdview" 3-D navigation system, and our favorite techno trick, a rear-view monitor.... Read full article