Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 4-door sedan body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Toyota and rear in the case of the Infiniti). The first one has a Toyota-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 152hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 211hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Q50 offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Toyota does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Toyota, as well as Infiniti, with the same average rating of 4.6 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Avensis as average reliability-wise, and Q50 is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Avensis rank it on average as 4.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

Infiniti is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 230 kilometers per hour, 25km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Q50, averaging around 4.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (59 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 29% difference compared to Avensis.

Infiniti appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Q50 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Infiniti outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Infiniti. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.