The Morning Call and Mcall.com's view

If most children were as obedient as Infiniti’s new Q-ship, the Q45, life would be a lot easier.

Certainly every child should take out the trash or clean their room as easily as the Infiniti Q45 powers down the road.

But it hasn’t been easy for Infiniti to find the Q45’s voice. When it debuted in the early ’90s, the car lacked a grille and the commercials lacked pictures of the car, but showed a healthy dose of trees and rocks.

Infiniti tried adding a grille up front, but it wasn’t enough. For the second generation, Nissan went for baroque, with conservative styling that did little to help the model’s depressed sales. A cramped interior was another drawback.

This time, Nissan has thrown off the chains and gone for a bland, if modern Asian style that should please fans of Japanese cars. While Lexus tries to cloak its large LS430 sedan in Mercedes-wannabe lines, Infiniti has sculpted clean, modern lines for its Q-ship that lend it a fresh personality.

Some of the difference in design is thanks to a longer wheelbase, which is now 113 inches, longer than the previous model’s 111.4 inches. It’s also slightly wider.

Large high-intensity discharge headlamps dominate the front end, and resemble weapons of war more than illumination. These may look cool right now, but 10 years from now, they’ll be very outdated.

The rear has little of the distinction of the front, while the side profile has a rounded modern look that’s handsome, but with little of the character, baroque or otherwise, of the previous edition.

But step on the throttle and you’ll hear the Q’s vocabulary loud and clear.

A 4.5-liter V-8 cranks out a very entertaining 340 horsepower through a five-speed automatic with manual shift mode. Coupled with an electronic powertrain control system to ensure smooth take-offs, this rear-drive Q-ship goes like stink. Most competitors in this price range do not have this much horsepower. (Just for the record, they include the Lexus LS430, Mercedes E430, BMW 540 and 740 among other imports.)

The vehicle’s drivetrain has the usual alphabet soup’s worth of electronics, including:

EBD, electronic brake distribution, which ensures proper braking by measuring vehicle load and works with Brake Assist to ensure you are braking hard enough when measured against vehicle speed.

VDC, vehicle dynamic control, which uses the braking system and throttle control to help keep you on the road in dangerous situations.

TCS, traction control, which helps prevent loss of traction in slippery situations.

In addition, Adaptive Cruise Control is available, which uses lasers to measure the distance of the vehicle in front of you and slow your vehicle accordingly. If you find this feature useful, and appreciate surrendering this much driver control, take a bus instead.

With all this wiring, you’d expect obedient handling. Handling is quite good, but like your kid, who is smart enough to pull an “A” and only manages a “C,” the Q45 doesn’t live up to the expectations that the engine promises.

The suspension is all-independent, with struts and a stabilizer bar up front and a multi-link design in back. A driver-selectable suspension is available as part of a $1,500 Sport Package. (The package also includes 18-inch chrome wheels, P245/45ZR-18 tires, smoke-toned wood trim and blue backup tail lamp lenses.)

Even with the suspension in sport mode, there was more than enough body lean to discourage enthusiastic driving. Thus, the suspension discourages you from taking full advantage of the creamy smooth drivetrain.

But electronics do make this car an easy place to spend some time, and Infiniti is loaded enough to do battle in the luxe-car wars.

The front seats adjust in a multitude of ways and have a memory system for different drivers. There’s dul automatic climate ontrol, tire pressure monitor, vehicle information system, Homelink Universal Transmitter, a DVD-based navigation system, automatic dimming mirrors, rear sunshades and vents, and an awesome 300-watt Bose audio system with a glovebox-mounted 6-CD changer. Most of this is controlled by buttons scattered higgity piggity around a 5.8-inch LCD screen. It is very distracting and not very driver friendly or intuitive.

Maybe that’s why Infiniti includes Visteon’s (aka Ford’s) voice recognition system. You can change a radio station, switch to a CD, or change the climate control simply by shouting some simple commands. And it works. Your teen should be so helpful.

Seat comfort is better than the Infiniti norm. Trunk space is still somewhat small for the class. The car is very quiet at all speeds, with the exception of rough surfaces, where road and tire noise filter through.

Mileage is EPA rated at 17 city, 25 highway. Premium fuel is required and the test vehicle went through it at a rate of 18 mpg.

While the new Q45 is a big improvement over the old car, with a stellar engine and comfortable driving environment, its handling and ergonomics need more thought.

But for the Infiniti faithful, and those searching for obedience, the Q45’s charms will conquer their hearts.