Overview

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 5-door suv body style within the same 'SUV' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the DS and 4 x 4 in the case of the Infiniti). The first one has a Peugeot-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 3-cylinder, 12-valves 155hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 211hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the Infiniti being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very 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, the Japanese car offers a considerable difference of 28% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that DS does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of DS with an average rating of 4.0, and models under the Infiniti badge with 4.6 out of 5. Unfortunatelly, I don't have enough insight that would allow me to comment in more details on the specific models level. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the French car rank it on average as 3.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Infiniti is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.9 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 230 kilometers per hour, 22km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the French car, averaging around 5.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (51 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 22% difference compared to the Japanese car.

Verdict

DS 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, the Japanese car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with Infiniti outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Infiniti. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.