A product of a six-year collaboration between Nissan and Daimler, the QX30 shares a platform with the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class — another hatchback that masquerades as an SUV. (Daimler runs Mercedes-Benz; Infiniti is Nissan’s luxury brand.) When the QX30 goes on sale early this fall, its starting price of around $31,000 with destination will make it Infiniti’s least expensive model.
Exterior and Styling
At a media preview in Seattle, where I drove two versions of the QX30, officials emphasized the car’s myriad differences from the GLA, but that lineage is clear in the Infiniti’s profile. The two cars share the same tapering lines and wheelbase, with nearly identical length and height.
Still, the QX30 is chock-full of Infiniti styling cues. The headlights and taillights follow Infiniti’s sinewy themes, the C-pillars kink forward and the grille has pinched sides. Contour lines wander all over the place and they’re either sleek or half-melting, depending on your take.
Note that a front-drive QX30 replaces the originally planned Q30, a name that car will still carry in markets abroad. With front-wheel drive, the QX30 comes in regular or Sport variants, the latter with a lowered sport suspension, unique bumpers and larger standard wheels (19-inch alloys versus the others’ 18s). The all-wheel-drive QX30, meanwhile, has a 1.2-inch-higher ride height and beefier styling cues.
How It Drives
Infiniti says it tuned the accelerator, transmission and suspension uniquely, and the differences are obvious. Versus the GLA250’s unresponsive automatic, the QX30 upshifts smoothly and downshifts swiftly. Accelerator response is immediate and the engine — a turbo four-cylinder co-developed by Nissan and Daimler that’s good for 208 horsepower and 258 pounds-feet of torque — has broad enough output to tack on speed, even uphill.
More important, the QX30 improves a lot on the GLA250’s choppy ride. Over expansion joints and tar patches, the Infiniti exhibits a healthy degree of softness, even with the QX30 Sport trim level’s firmer tuning. Too many entry-level hatchbacks and SUVs drop the ball on ride comfort; it’s nice to see the QX30 play up the soft side. I suspect shoppers will find this approach more agreeable.
Driving enthusiasts should look elsewhere, though. The QX30’s steering feedback is acceptable, but the wheel responds to quick directional changes with a touch of initial slop and the chassis allows too much body roll to really tear through corners. Even the QX30 Sport’s reflexes seem too blunted for enthusiast appeal. The car’s racy styling, it seems, is the raciest thing about it.
Interior
Like its Mercedes cousin, the QX30 is cramped up front, short on storage and hard to see out of. Its low driving position and limited front headroom will be deal-breakers for larger folks, and the narrow cabin inhibits knee and hip space. The backseat is improbably adult-friendly once you’re in it, but the short rear doors make entry and exit a bear. Visibility is a mess, with a tiny rear window, a low windshield and A-pillars that sit in your field of view. Infiniti offers a 360-degree camera system to show your immediate surroundings, but that helps only in parking situations.
The cabin mixes old and new, with an expanse of genuine leather across the dashboard in most versions. Various surfaces sweep into each other in a thematic repeat of the QX30’s exterior. It’s attractive overall, with enough premium materials to distract from the cheaper textures below eye level. Mercedes bits abound, from the window switches and climate controls to the key fob, which is a Mercedes remote with Infiniti’s logo instead.
Ergonomics and Electronics
None of the Benz parts really detract, except perhaps the Mercedes-issue display between the gauges, whose fonts don’t align with the QX30’s dashboard screen. The latter is an Infiniti-designed 7-inch touchscreen that’s also workable via a knob controller near the center console. It uses Infiniti’s multimedia format, complete with menu structures and graphics. HD and satellite radio, a backup camera and Bluetooth are standard, but Apple CarPlay and Android Auto aren’t available.
Cargo and Storage
In-cabin storage is minimal, and the QX30’s cargo area is deep but not very tall. Cargo space behind the backseat measures 19.2 cubic feet. Infiniti didn’t furnish a spec for maximum cargo room with the seats folded, but it’s 43.6 cubic feet in the GLA250. Most trim levels in the QX30 have a 60/40-split folding rear seat with a center pass-through.
Safety
As of this writing, the QX30 had yet to be crash-tested. Blind spot and lane departure warning systems are optional, as is forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking.
Value in Its Class
The QX30 is a credible alternative to the GLA-Class or even the Lexus CT hybrid hatchback if you’re just looking for a semiluxury hatchback. And the QX30’s price — ranging from about $31,000 up to the mid-$40,000s with all options — gives Infiniti a shot at younger, more value-conscious shoppers. But the QX30 is a world apart from a BMW X1 or Audi Q3, which, though small, are both legitimate SUVs in terms of driving height, visibility and utility.
Such is the nature of subcompact SUVs. Luxury or not, some are miniature SUVs while others are glorified hatchbacks. Both types seem to have found their place and GLA-Class sales indicate strong interest in Mercedes’ approach. That bodes well for Infiniti.
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