Infiniti Q50: la guida tecnologica non azzera il piacere

Anche io ho sempre definito la nuova IS come un'occasione persa, sono d'accordo, doveva essere chissà cosa in termini di piacere di guida, ma sotto quell'aspetto ha deluso... Prometteva bene e hanno fatto molto parlare di se, insomma, ci hanno tenuti un po' sulle spine e la hanno anticipata come se fosse la migliore del mondo. Invece, è un'occasione persa per infastidire BMW, dato che alla guida non è molto piacevole, ha molte qualità, ma non il piacere di guida. E credo che la disponibilità di sole motorizzazioni ibride, unita allo strano design che non tutti apprezzeranno e alla guida non piacevole quanto le rivali tedesche prese come punto di riferimento, ne decreteranno l'insuccesso in Europa. La Infiniti invece ha i motori adatti, è meno strana, più piacevole da guidare, più ordinaria, più europea. Per questo mi sembra più con i piedi per terra, più normale e piacevole, fa sul serio. E io la preferisco alla Lexus, perchè a differenza della IS, questa Q50 fa sul serio e ha le carte in regola per farcela. Almeno, io la vedo così. Anche a me interessa molto questo segmento, sta diventando interessante: ci sono molte concorrenti, S60, ATS, Classe C, Serie 3, A4, Jaguar(arriverà a breve la segmento D), Q50, IS eccetera, sono molto interessanti e sarebbe bello vedere quale è la migliore. E, perchè no, magari in futuro un confronto tra S60 Polestar, ATS-V, C63 AMG, M3, RS4, Jaguar R-S, Q50 IPL e IS-F... Ciao!

Se poi flavio e matteo non sapete l'inglese usate il traduttore Dalla comparativa di Car & Driver con BMW 335i M-Sport,Cadillac ATS 3.6 e Lexus IS350: Habemus Papem! Like the installation of Francis, the world’s first Latin American pontiff, the crowning of a Lexus as the high priest of the sports-sedan world is something few saw coming—until we dove into the twisting, climbing, kinking, plunging roads around Leakey, Texas. We didn’t see it coming because, on any other type of road, the IS clearly exhibits Lexus’s traditional top priority: serenity. On typical highway surfaces, minute twitches in the steering wheel and nearly imperceptible shifts of the body offer only the slightest hint of what lurks within. But charge into a series of quick bends and the IS completely changes its character. Turn-in is crisper in the Lexus than in either the BMW or the Cadillac, a fact borne out by its first-place slalom finish in spite of a mediocre skidpad performance. More important, the Lexus is utterly imperturbable. Bumps that send other cars skittering off-line or scrambling to maintain their course are absorbed and dispatched, but not kept completely hidden from the driver. It used to be that, in this class, there was a clear divide in terms of refinement between the BMW inline-six and the engines offered by competitors. That gap is rapidly shrinking. Both the Cadillac’s and the Lexus’s Vs are surprisingly close to the BMW straight-six, but the IS’s is smoother than the ATS’s. And its eight-speed automatic is quicker and more seamless than the Caddy’s six-speed though basically on par with BMW’s transmission. Additionally, the Lexus is lavishly, indulgently comfortable. Its front seats are an ergonomic feat, perfectly cupped and padded with no tangible break between back and bottom cushions, just one immaculate sweep of support from shoulders to thighs. Our drivers, trapped within a wide array of body types, unanimously swooned. Yes, the BMW is slightly more spacious in the rear, but nobody anywhere in that car is as comfortable as the people in the front of the Lexus. It’s a good thing we have so few other complaints about the IS, though, because its mouse-operated infotainment system burns through our good will in short order and turns us into sputtering, apoplectic maniacs. “Distracted driving” is a rallying cry for safety advocates everywhere; this device is infotainment’s nadir, a deserving flashpoint for a revolution against its kind. Every other negative gets turned around when you wake the IS up, though. Its variable-ratio steering, seemingly overboosted and a touch slow in highway travel, comes alive on coursing two-lanes, quickening and taking on a pleasing heft. The brake pedal feels a tad touchy when commuting, but reacts more predictably under duress, better coordinating pressure to stopping power. The IS manages to be both typically Lexus-civil and delightfully capable (its stops are still the longest, though). Roman Catholicism preaches transubstantiation, the belief that consecrated bread and wine become flesh and blood. The manner in which the Lexus transforms from innocuous to vivid is nearly as miraculous.