The Q45 cleaves hard and fast to the traditional approach. What isn't covered

in leather is covered in woodgrain. The leather is some of the best in

the business: buttery soft and perfectly stitched. It comes in but three

colors--beige, stone beige and black--but who could (tastefully) ask for

more?

The instrument layout is well considered with everything within sight

and/or reach. The occupants intentionally sit low in the car--not dramatically

so, however--so there is an added sense of security, of being surrounded

by body structure. The power front seats adjust in 10 directions and have

power lumbar supports.

There is a two-position memory for driver entry and exit, an eight-speaker

Bose sound system and Homelink, a transmitter system for opening gates

and garage doors and separate air conditioning for the rear seats. That

$48,890 base price (including destination) also brings with it the usual

vast array of comfort and convenience features that are essential in this

class: power tilt/telescope steering, cruise control, speed-sensitive wi-pers,

timed rear window defroster, dual vanity mirrors, power windows, locks,

and trunk and fuel door.

Regarding safety of the crash kind, the Q45 has dual front airbags and

front seat belt pre-tensioners. However, the new Q45 still lags its direct

competitors from BMW, Mercedes and Lexus in terms of side airbags, the

next horizon in side impact protection.

Regarding safety of the perpetrator kind, there are pick-resistant door

locks. If, somehow, the castle has been breached, the perpetrator will

run up against the Infiniti Personalized Protection Sys-tem that combines

60,000 possible key codes with a new, numerically random "rolling

code" generated by the engine's computer each time the ignition is

turned off.

A nice touch we liked is the Interior Light Logic feature. It turns

the interior lights on very brightly in the open door for easy entry and

exit without blasting the rest of the cabin with intense light. We also

liked the pin light that bathes the center console and front door panels

with soft light that makes finding and operating controls a bit easier.