Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by hybrid 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 (4 x 4 for the Infiniti and rear in the case of the Lexus). The first one has a Nissan-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 364hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 223hp engine designed by Toyota.

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Q50 offers a marginal difference of 8% more metal.

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Lexus does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Infiniti with an average rating of 4.6, and models under the Lexus badge with 4.9 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Q50 as average reliability-wise, and IS is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Q50 rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

Infiniti is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.9 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 50km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Lexus IS, averaging around 4.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (66 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 58% difference compared to Q50!

Lexus is apparently more reliable, not too much, but just enough. 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. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say Lexus. 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. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.