Infiniti Q30 2.2d Premium Tech AWD DCT: review

As tested here, the Q30 has a 168bhp, 258lb ft diesel engine driving all four wheels through a dual-clutch auto box. It’s priced against the higher-spec versions of its German rivals, and comes with leather, climate, two USB plugs and a parking camera. Impressively, all models have city braking, but even here at mid-range level sat-nav costs an extra £1400.

It’s not the best of systems, either, which can also be said about the standard ICE gear. Its 7” screen is well enough defined, but responses are less than instant. It all just feels a little off the pace, even though all the right features are there.

Much better is the space you get in the front seats – but the rears are cramped, claustrophobic and best left to children. So long as that’s not an issue, though, the size and layout of the boot makes this a bit of a practicality sleeper.

Is it a street sleeper too? Not in terms of performance, hardly surprisingly, though the 2.1-litre diesel has plenty of grunt and the seven-speed box does its job well.

Look to the car’s ride quality, however, and it does very nicely. The shocks are tuned to the weight of the engine and work well with the tyres’ profile to deal well with most of the rubbish a poor surface puts your way.

Suspension noise is intrusive, however, as are tyre roar and wind buffeting, and the engine adds its share of gruffness and vibration into the mix too. You don’t get the most exciting handling, either – it grips well enough, but rather than finding much to praise by and large the best we can say is that it doesn’t have any great vices.

That doesn’t sound promising, but for your average premium hatch buyer the Q30 does tick a good few boxes. It rides satisfactorily, there’s enough kit there to keep you happy (sat-nav apart) and, importantly in this market, the cabin trim and materials are convincingly high-quality.

What you have to ask yourself, however, is how badly you want to show the world you’re different to everybody else. When you can spend two and a half grand less on an Audi A3 that’s all-round better to drive and has an even greater feeling of cabin quality, you might feel that you’re needing to suffer for your art.

Stellar competition aside, however, this is no bad car.

Infiniti Q30 2.2d Premium Tech AWD DCT

On sale: Jan 2016

Price: £31,180

Engine: 4 cyls, 2143cc, diesel

Power: 168bhp at 3400-4000rpm

Torque: 258lb ft at 1400-3400rpm

0-60mph: 8.5sec

Top speed: 134mph

Kerb weight: 1598kg

Gearbox: 7-spd dual-clutch automatic

Economy: 57.7mpg (combined)

CO2/tax band: 127g/km, 23%