INFINITI may have had a slow start since it launched in Australia in September 2012, but now it has a car bound to get it up-and-running.

The Q50 mid-sized sedan is aimed right at the Lexus IS, BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class – it even uses the latter’s diesel engine under licence – and sports a much less US-centric design than the rest of Infiniti’s local range.

Packed with a long features list for its $52K starting price, and replete with some interesting technology higher up the range, the Q50 shapes up as an intriguing proposition.

It is also a sharp tool on a twisting road: a ‘must’ for such a hard-fought part of the market, although the market-first trick steer-by-wire system is an acquired taste.

The Q50 is the car the company must wish it had launched from the start, not only because it competes in the highest-volume end of the premium market, but because it is excellent on most measures.

Click here for the full review...