Infiniti EX35

By golly, I thought I was seeing things until I decided to sit in the second row myself. The body silhouette hints at a coupe-like style, but then why four doors? This trendy fashion—neither hatchbacks nor coupes—doesn't suit everyone. And you can't say the EX35 is ugly or ridiculous, but you simply can't get into the rear seats! If the car were three-door, it could be forgiven, but as it is—minus points to you, gentlemen! On that note, the drawbacks seem to end. Although no, we can also mention the price of this beautiful car: from $54,028 (432,216 UAH) for the "base" version to $57,457 (459,649 UAH) for the trim we got for the test—with leather, navigation, and Bluetooth. For some, that's also a minus... BEHIND THE AXLE At the heart of the Infiniti EX35 lies the proprietary FR-L platform. It's thanks to this that the crossover boasts such impressive handling. The main feature of the design is the longitudinal placement of the engine behind the front axle. This provides excellent weight distribution, spreading the wheels to the corners of the body, which together ensures good directional and trajectory stability. In fact, the 3.5-liter V-shaped "six" isn't exactly "behind" the front axle, rather "above," but the offset is still noticeable. The transmission is actually located in the area of the front seats, which, by the way, explains the high center console. Such a design scheme is now rare, as it greatly limits cabin length, but in this case, it's justified by the very concept of a sporty cross-coupe with a distinctly long "muscular" hood. The EX35's interior makes you want to call it a cockpit and recall the aesthetics of neo-futurism, like the recently popular "World of tomorrow." The engine is the well-known V6 VQ35HR fourth-generation 3.5-liter unit from other company models. It features a new optimized intake manifold, dual exhaust with equal-length "pants," pistons with asymmetric skirts, "lifetime" iridium spark plugs, and an electronic variable valve timing system. The engine is moderately tuned and produces 302 hp at 6,800 rpm and 341 Nm of torque at 4,800 rpm. The figures are decent and fully match the car's temperament—fast but without hysterical notes in its character. However, the engine is quite thirsty. If we trust the onboard computer, and we have no reason not to, the average fuel consumption over the three-day test never dropped below 18.8 liters per 100 km. That's despite resetting the "counter" every morning and refueling the car anew. Maybe it's a matter of driving style, but honestly, it's very hard to stay within the bounds of decency and the permitted speed limit... Practically impossible! AWAY WITH DECENCY Dmitry Leontiev, after taking a quick lap around the Krylatsky Hills in the EX35, called the new crossover a "vicious car." Breaking the rules, which I in no way advocate, comes so naturally in it that driving according to traffic laws becomes impossible. Moreover, if in the case of, say, the BMW X5 4.8i, the thirst for speed is somewhat vampiric, impudent, unrestrained, and crude, here it's entirely different. Driving on the edge, with screeching tires and a roaring engine, seems so natural and appropriate that you don't have to stir the dark corners of your subconscious to find a beastly essence. The vice of the EX35 is on the surface; it's charming and effortless, it's nature itself... BEAUTY AND THE BRAIN The long wheelbase and wide track, excellent weight distribution, and properly selected suspension characteristics make the Infiniti very stable when traversing both longitudinal and transverse road irregularities. It doesn't get tossed around on rutted asphalt worn by trucks, nor does it bounce over speed bumps, even if you don't slow down. The suspension is energy-intensive, both rear and front, which is especially noteworthy given the engine's heavy weight. We didn't feel like jumping, but in standard situations, including on dirt roads, no contact with bump stops was observed. The suspension is fully independent—double wishbone at the front and multi-link at the rear. The arms are mostly forged from light alloys. At the rear, the shock absorber and spring are mounted separately, with the shock absorber positioned coaxially with the wheel center. Overall, at high speeds in critical maneuvers, the EX35 demonstrates very, if you will, neat neutral handling. Of course, you can provoke both understeer and oversteer, but firstly, any tendency to lose trajectory will be immediately suppressed by the stability control system, which cannot be fully disabled, and secondly, navigating corners in controlled slides is easier and more confident. WOE FROM WIT The Infiniti's transmission is a five-speed automatic with a "true" manual mode and adaptive shift algorithm. Its adaptability is so broad that, after a good sprint on the MKAD, when stuck in traffic, you have to jerk with every lightest press of the gas pedal for a while, because the "automatic," having switched to an internal "rally-like" program, starts off with a lurch. I got out of the situation by engaging winter mode and smoothly pulling away in second gear until the gearbox's brains came to their senses—that happened after about five minutes. The EX35 has a traditional Infiniti all-wheel-drive scheme with the beautiful name ATTESA E-TS. Its essence is permanent rear-wheel drive and the connection of the front axle via an electromagnetic clutch. The system operates quickly, and its actuators are linked, as is now customary, to various body position sensors, accelerometers, and others, so the clutch works, so to speak, proactively, transferring part of the torque forward when entering, for example, a sharp turn. There are no forced drive locks. This, along with a careful inspection of the car from underneath, led our test team to conclude that off-road use of the crossover is undesirable. The lack of protection and the low placement of the beautiful streamlined body kit convinced us to omit the off-road part of the test. Or at least limit it to driving on a country road. So, there, in the dust and mud, the EX35 didn't look good...

SPECS: Infiniti EX35

ORIGINS OF LUXURY The crossover clearly lacks obvious gender traits, and that works in everyone's favor. If an adult man doesn't want to buy a boring Land Cruiser or a brutish X5, but wants something lively and bright, while fearing not to be perceived as you know who... Likewise, if an unexpectedly smart daughter of wealthy parents understands that on an ML or Cayenne she would look too ostentatious... In short, if you're always "off-format," it's worth trying the EX35. It's just important to drive it at least once. The crossover's appearance doesn't please everyone's eye right away, and the interior might even alarm with deliberate philistinism. Our photographer noted that the Infiniti interior trim evokes thoughts of old British cars. Indeed, in this quilted leather with folds, noble "wood," smooth lines, and deep seats, there is something from the golden age of English automobile manufacturing. In general, upon closer inspection of the interior design, many analogies arise. Someone might see an interplanetary boat, someone a neoclassical office, someone even the boudoir of a famous marquis... All these can probably agree that the designers used ergonomics as a science and were familiar with design as an art. The seats are narrow, sporty, but not too much—in the spirit of gran turismo. The instrument panel is readable with insanely beautiful backlighting a la Betelgeuse eclipse. The driver's and navigator's seats are surrounded by a high belt, creating an atmosphere of security. The clear division into two "cockpits," like on an ocean racing catamaran, unambiguously hints at the car's belonging to the corresponding class. And so on in superlatives. Special attention in the Infiniti EX35 deserves two systems—the navigation and the external view cameras. With the first, everything is clear: it pleases with speed of response and accuracy, nothing to add here. But the second one truly captivated me, I'll tell you more about it. Today, rear-view cameras surprise no one—they are even installed on mid-class cars, and owners of right-hand drive cars have long been familiar with front lenses. But Infiniti's trick is that the view here is circular. The picture is divided into four zones and displayed on the screen either as a top view or fragmentarily—depending on where you steer and which mode you've selected. To be fair, with regular parking sensors you can maneuver just as well, especially since the image on the display is quite small and details are hard to discern. But how great it is to watch the car's shadow crawl across the screen along with the car! And how precisely you can park with the bumper against a parapet. The system, of course, is duplicated by an audible signal, but the camera is still much more interesting. The rear row of seats also received an interesting option. The seats fold and rise automatically. True, you can fold them only from the trunk, but you can raise them also with buttons on the console between the front seats. This helps when a passenger has already taken their belongings, and you don't want to feel like a truck driver. It's only a pity that the fifth door didn't get a servo drive—such an option would be appropriate here. The trunk itself is small, only 309 liters, and the loading height is considerable, but hardly anyone plans to carry washing machines in such a car... NOT TOO CROWDED ON OLYMPUS The Infiniti EX35 would have plenty of competitors if not for its sporty character, high price, and modest dimensions. As it is, only the BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLK come to mind. Perhaps also the season's newbies—Audi Q5 or Volvo XC60, but they need to be tested in action first: will they reach this level.