2008 Infiniti EX35

Is there still room to fit more crossover SUVs in the market? Sure there is! This month, Infiniti wedges the EX35 into the segment between sporty crossovers such as the Acura RDX and the BMW X3 and sporty sedans such as the Acura TL, the BMW 3 Series and Infiniti's own G35. This ain't no Pathfinder.

Like seemingly everything created by Nissan and Infiniti, the EX35 is based on the FM platform, the one that famously rides under the 350Z. That's a strong starting point. Like the Nissan Z, the EX gets a very good engine. This version of the Z's award-winning 3.5-liter VQ35 V6 makes 297 hp and 253 lb-ft of torque. A fairly direct-feeling five-speed automatic delivers torque to either the rear wheels or all four wheels, depending on drivetrain choice.The interior is artsy enough, but you may find more room in more ungainly competitors.

The EX has plenty of available high-tech features, though. Our favorite was a set of four wide-angle cameras that combine on the NAV screen to produce a unique bird's-eye view of your surroundings as you park. Intelligent cruise control, real-time traffic, a 9.3-gigabyte Music Box hard drive and voice recognition for a number of controls are also handy.

But some "high-tech" features were simply irritating, such as the next generation of the already-irritating, king-of-the-false-alarm lane-departure-warning system. Now while it dings, it uses brake pressure to "steer" the EX back into the lane it decides you should be in. If we are all this inattentive, we probably should be on a bus with a paid attendant to empty our drool buckets and tell us when our next stop is coming.

Fortunately, the good tech outweighs the bad here, and the EX is more responsive to drive than the majority of crossovers on the market. Its power-to-weight ratio is better than those of the RDX and the X3, for instance, which is a convincing statistic. With a front double-wishbone suspension from the G35 and a rear multilink from the FX, the EX quickly goes where you point it.

© Source: seriouswheels
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