Author: James Baggott

What is it?

You’d be forgiven for not knowing much about Infiniti. Launched in the UK less than 10 years ago, the Japanese luxury brand is still attempting to establish itself as an alternative to the German trio and struggling to top 3,500 sales a year.

This is the firm’s latest attempt to change that – a mid-size SUV that aims to tempt buyers away from the likes of a BMW X3 or Audi Q5. With the QX50’s host of smart technology, a distinctive design and a bafflingly clever new engine, Infiniti is hoping it will rapidly become the brand’s best-selling car worldwide.

What’s new?

Built on a brand-new platform – one not currently shared with any other model in the Renault Nissan Alliance – the QX50 debuts a number of world-first gadgets. These include dynamic noise-cancelling technology in the engine, seats designed in conjunction with Nasa and a petrol engine that promises to offer sports levels of performance, but with the economy of a diesel.

What’s under the bonnet?

That clever new VC-Turbo engine is a world-first variable compression ratio engine. For the non-technically minded, that means it offers the power of a 2.0-litre turbo petrol with the torque and efficiency of a four-cylinder diesel. Currently there are no plans to offer a diesel engine.

On our early pre-production drive in America, Infiniti wouldn’t reveal how efficient its new engine is. No UK fuel economy figures or emissions details were released as it has yet to be type-approved for Europe. So with this in mind, we’ll have to take the brand’s claims with a pinch of salt.

What we do know is the 2.0-litre engine produces 268bhp and 380Nm of torque. For comparison, a petrol BMW X3 20i offers 184bhp and 290Nm. It seems, then, the QX50 has quite the upper hand.

What’s it like to drive?

On the road, this clever new engine generates impressive, usable performance. It’ll hit 60mph in 6.3 seconds – a whole two seconds faster than the equivalent BMW – and will go on to a top speed of 143mph.

The noise it makes while doing so is an acquired taste. Much of it is synthetically generated and it precariously teeters on the edge of deeply satisfying and incredibly annoying. There’s also a CVT automatic gearbox, which is fine at sedate speeds but becomes noticeably and irritatingly audible in the higher rev ranges.

Sadly, Infiniti is persisting with its drive-by-wire steering, which came in for much criticism on its Q50 saloon and is little better here. Although it allows the car to do clever things – such as independently steer individual wheels hundreds of time a second – it lacks feel and at slow speeds feels like an arcade game. Whether that’ll bother the average SUV buyer remains to be seen.

The QX50’s new chassis and ground-up design has certainly resulted in a quiet and comfortable ride. It soaked up the worst that America’s crevice-like roads threw at it, and thanks to a dynamic noise-cancelling engine mount – which actively works to stop noise entering the cabin – it’s calm inside too.

What’s more, it can even drive itself – up to a point. Hit the car’s ProPilot button and it’ll steer for you (but you’ll need to keep a hand on the wheel), speeding up and slowing down with traffic. And there’s a clever Forward Collision Warning system, which bounces radar around and under cars in front to spot traffic slowing down before you do. Infiniti says it can even detect a slowing motorbike hidden in front of an HGV.

How does it look?

Looks-wise, it’s certainly a break from the status quo. While BMW’s X3 has been labelled ‘boring’ and Audi’s Q5 ‘generic’, the QX50 has a welcome and genuinely different design. What’s also pleasing is the fact that the frankly quite hard-on-the-eye look of Infiniti SUVs of the past has been toned down.

What’s it like inside?

Inside is where the QX50 really shines. Hand-stitched leather panels, alcantara and a swooping dash give it a luxury feel, and although some of the switchgear is obviously borrowed from the alliance it’s far better packaged than early Infiniti models.

What’s the spec like?

The QX50 is a while off arriving on our shores so, as such, Infiniti is remaining tight-lipped about specification and pricing. Executives did tell us that it would undercut BMW and Audi rivals, and it’s likely much of the new technology will be included as standard. The QX50 is slated to arrive either late this year or very early in 2019.

Verdict

Infiniti believes the QX50 is the best car it’s ever made – and we’d find it hard to argue with that. The clever new VC-Turbo engine is impressive, the ride quality and interior finish excellent and we even like the looks. Quite how Brits will react to a petrol-powered SUV with no diesel option remains to be seen, though, and its success will hinge on just how much it undercuts established rivals from the German brands.

The Knowledge

Model: Infiniti QX50
Base price: £35,000 (est)
Price: £35,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.0-litre VC-Turbo petrol
Power: 268bhp
Torque: 380Nm
Max speed: 143mph
0-60mph: 6.3 seconds
MPG: TBC
Emissions: TBC
Rivals: BMW X3, Audi Q5, Volvo XC60

Traffic cops believe changes to the law that hand drivers six points and a £200 fine for using their phone are starting to have an effect.

We joined officers on Operation Tramline which uses an unmarked HGV to catch drivers on their phones.

Officers revealed they’d caught nearly half as many drivers this year than when the same operation was run 12 months ago.

Offences dropping

PC Dave Blake, a Hampshire Constabulary policeman who specialises in commercial vehicles and has a licence to drive an HGV, said: “The new fine and increased points is definitely working.

“Previously when we have run this operation we would catch around 40 to 60 drivers a day – around 250 in a week.

“This time we are catching around 15-20 a day. That’s a big drop and I think it’s definitely to do with the change in law and larger penalties.”

Figures released by Hampshire Police back this up. During the 2018 week-long Operation Tramline, 141 mobile phone users were caught – down from 220 in 2017, and 285 in 2015.

Unmarked HGV

Officers in Hampshire used a special HGV – loaned to police forces around the UK by Highways England – in a week when forces across the country launched a crackdown on mobile phone use behind the wheel.

We joined the Operation Tramline team of three unmarked police cars, a marked police bike and the special truck as it patrolled the M27, M3, A34 and M4.

Trucker’s eye view

Sitting high above the traffic, PC Blake and special inspector Dan Bell have a useful vantage point that allows them to look down into the surrounding cars.

“In slow moving traffic like this we like to drive in the middle lane so we can look down on either side of the truck,” explained PC Blake.

And it works. Within a matter of minutes the team are calling for back-up from the following officers that are swarming around the HGV like worker bees.

Knock knock

PC Phil Robertson, riding a marked police bike, shoots past us and closes in on the driver spotted holding their phone in their left hand.

He pulls right up alongside the offender and has time to tap on the window while the driver is still busy texting, oblivious to the policeman peering in. He’s quickly pulled over and handed a fixed penalty notice.

Sneaky users

“People are more sneaky when they use their phone behind the wheel these days – often holding it out of sight, but we can still tell they’re using it,” says PC Robertson.

“I used to catch one driver a day using their phones, but now it’s dropped to one a week – the six points are working in my opinion.”

Unmarked cars

Behind the truck, in an unmarked BMW 3 Series, is PC Rob Lewis who is using the cover of his generic German saloon to peer into cars as he passes.

Creeping along slowly in lane one, he looks across the lanes of slow moving traffic and it’s easy to see those distracted by a mobile.

Tell tale signs

“When you’re concentrating on driving, typically your view is around the windscreen and your hands are on the wheel,” explains PC Lewis.

“When a driver is using their phone their head dips, they look down frequently and they often struggle to keep their car in the lane.”

He’s at it

He soon spots an offender displaying those tell tale signs in a Volkswagen in lane three.

He’s clearly doing something, but until PC Lewis sees him touching his phone, he can’t pull him over. A moment later the driver raises an iPhone onto the steering wheel – and PC Lewis pounces.
Lights, camera, action

The shock of the unmarked car illuminating its hidden lights and deafening siren shock the VW Fox driver and he soon pulls over.

“He said he was just changing the music on his phone,” says PC Lewis, as he clambers back into the BMW after issuing the ticket. “But that’s no excuse – it’s against the law.”

Truck to truck

Back in the £70,000 truck, PC Blake is keeping a sharp eye out for other drivers breaking the law. Not only does the truck give the team a great view down into cars, it also allows them to look directly into the cabs of other HGVs they pass.

“Generally, truck drivers are well behaved as most firms now instantly dismiss for mobile phone offences and often have dash cams pointing at their drivers to keep an eye on them,” he explained.

Foreign fines

But as he’s saying that we pass a Romanian-registered car transporter and the driver has his mobile phone clamped to his left ear.

PC Robertson is called in again on his bike to deal with the issue – and this time the foreign driver will have to cough up the fine on a credit card before he’s allowed on his way.

Dramatic drop

After a day on the road the Operation Tramline team have caught 16 drivers – a dramatic drop on the numbers they caught a year ago.

A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said it believed it was too early to tell conclusively whether the higher penalties were working, but added it was working closely with partners to evaluate if it was.

However, in Hampshire at least, the evidence from this year’s Operation Tramline is certainly pointing towards the fact it is.

PC Lewis added: “Using your phone behind the wheel is dangerous and against the law – thankfully it seems the message is finally starting to get through.”

If I’ve learned one thing about travelling to America, it’s this: Don’t ever get a connecting flight anywhere. Ever.

Ok, so there’s plenty of other things I’ve learned along the way too. Like the fact you can turn right on a red light, that you have to pay for fuel before using any and they like to put cheese on everything. Even fruit.

But when I write my memoirs of life on the road as a motoring journalist (which will be never), that key connecting flight point will ride high in the chapter list.

Journey from hell

Why? Well, I write this after 46 hours of travelling to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. It should have been a simple journey, but turned into one from hell – but thankfully was made a little sweeter by a car.

Let’s rewind a few, painful hours to where it all went horribly wrong. I’d got off a BA flight from Heathrow to Dallas. I’d enjoyed free wine, watched a not altogether terrible film and slept soundly for a good few hours. Life was good.

Immigration woe

But then Dallas took all that away. Thousands of people stood in the queue for immigration and despite some high viz, queue jumping ticket thrust into my hand, entering the promised land was tough.

Quite why America still has a ridiculous problem processing visitors is beyond me. This is the home of Google, of Apple, of some of greatest business brains in the world. Why one of them can’t put some of their cranial activity to one side for a week and solve the issue of getting humans through its immigration halls is beyond me.

Two-headed chickens

To be fair, the orange fast pass helped, but still the process took too long. Time was ticking away for the connecting flight to Vegas. And then all hope of catching it evaporated with the sight of thousands more people trying to get out of the baggage hall.

American borders are cruel, you see. Once you’ve escaped the hell of immigration they make you stand for hours in another line to get out of the baggage hall. A man has to stamp a piece of paper that says you’re not bringing two-headed chickens into the country.

I felt like moaning, but then realised he’d only call me ‘sir’ a lot and had a gun. And if we know one anything about Americans, it’s that they like to use guns.

Missed flight

I ran for the flight, but missed it by minutes. And so began a chain of events that would see me eventually crossing states on an epic road trip to Nevada.

A man behind a counter frowned a lot at me, but said he’d ‘done me a favour’ by getting me on a flight to Phoenix and then on to Vegas.

I made that flight, took a seat next to a huffing man, but it took off two hours late, ruining any chance of me making my next connection in time. There was only one thing for it, I joined the man next to me in the huffing.

New hope

A woman behind a counter at Phoenix told me I was stuck, very cheerfully she did too. How Americans can keep their happy faces on when delivering bad news is another mystery. I can only imagine the same falseness is used on death row. ‘Ok, sir, here’s your needle, have a nice day!’

She booked me on to a flight the next morning, but couldn’t guarantee I’d get a seat. I took the ticket from her, smiled, and threw it in the nearest bin.

Google Maps told me a road trip to Vegas would take about six hours, so the hunt for a car began. Avis came up trumps with a Ford Mustang – sadly not a V8, but a decent V6 – and within half an hour I was driving it to the cheap motel the airline had booked for me.

Flew to Dallas. Immigration misery and baggage cock up meant missed connecting flight. Got another to Phoenix. That was delayed too so missed connection to Vegas. Now stuck in Phoenix so done the only sensible thing… screw you planes pic.twitter.com/A3bdTLGbcW

— James Baggott (@CarDealerEd) January 8, 2018

Hire car win

It’s incredibly easy to book a car in the States – a driving licence and credit card is all you need – and they didn’t even sniff at the fact I’d be driving it 300 miles away from where I picked it up.
The next morning I hit the road. Driving past Phoenix airport I rose a salute to the planes reaching skyward – this Mustang a way of improving a rather desperate few days.

With some soft rock on the radio, I was on my way, heading north towards Kingman on I93. The dual carriageway bumps and grinds its way through huge landscapes, a forest of Joshua Trees at the roadside swaying gently as huge articulated trucks thunder past.

Interstate cruising

My Mustang settles into a cruise, the comfortable seats worn cosy by the hundreds of borrowers who’ve already added 19,000 miles to the Ford. It’s not until you take to the road, that you realise quite how big America is. It’s not just the portions, or the soft drinks that are super-sized – the roads, the skyline and scenery are all of epic proportions too.

I watch countless RVs rumbling down the road – these don’t tow Fiat 500s or Smart cars behind them, like in the UK, I spot one towing a Volvo S80 saloon and another a Range Rover.

Lunch of champions

On the Arizona radio station I’m tuned to, a dust storm warning is issued. When it strikes, it says, stop the car, wind up the windows, turn on your lights and sit it out. All I see ahead, though, is rain sweeping its way across the plains like a shower curtain.

I stop in Kingman for some reward lunch. The famous In N Out burger illuminated sign rises high above the freeway, showing me the way. American motorways are brilliantly signposted for food (funny that), with huge signs telling you what delights can be found off each junction.

I’d been holding on for an In N Out. Their simple menu – burgers with or without cheese, and fries – is something even the country’s floppy haired leader can understand. It’s delivered in baskets and is deliciously dripping in calories. Needless to say, the burger joint is rammed with happy clientele.

Sightseeing gold

As I leave Kingman, still heading north on the I93, I start to see signs for the Hoover Dam. I’m late for the CES show in Las Vegas now and have missed most of the action, so decide to stop. Let’s face it, how often do you happen to be passing a landmark as iconic as this?

I pull off the freeway and roll up to a security post. There the guard tells me I can drive across the dam and park for free on the Arizona side.

Creeping over the huge structure, built in 1931 during the Great Depression, in this modern Mustang, feels surreal. I park up, jump out and marvel at the sheer scale of it. Pictures do not do the enormity of it justice.

Trump towers

An hour later I’m pulling up at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas at rental car returns. The 300-mile journey has taken me around eight hours and has been far less stressful – and a lot more memorable – than a few more awful hours in a tin can in the sky.

I rescue my bag from the airport – it made it to Vegas long before I did – and find an Uber to take me to the bright lights of the city. It’s pouring with rain as I arrive at Trump International hotel, the gold and chintz of the place as tacky as the rest of Vegas.

It’s nearly two days since I left home, I’m still wearing the same clothes, but I’m smiling. Coming to America shouldn’t be this tough, but when it is, a Mustang and the open road can make things feel a whole lot better. Maybe, missing those connecting flights isn’t such a bad thing after all.

I’m sure, like most motorists, I haven’t been alone in wondering what it’s like to legally hurtle along a motorway at more than 150mph.

Now, after unintentionally riding shotgun in an unmarked police car to catch a driver who’d failed to stop, I know.

Pursuit

Traffic cop PC Rob Lewis and I are taking a break from an evening pounding the streets of Hampshire, when a voice over the radio reveals an unfolding pursuit.

On the far reaches of the Eastern Roads Policing Unit’s patch – some 32 miles away from where we’re enjoying a much-needed fast food supper – an Audi A3 driver has refused to pull over for a police car.

Scrambled

Traffic cops from across the area have been scrambled to assist with the chase – and that includes us in an unmarked BMW 330d.

The young driver is leading cops on a merry tour of the back roads around Winchester, and he is currently heading south towards the coast, showing no signs of giving up.

Blues and twos

It’s just gone 10pm on a Friday night, so traffic is light as we leave the Eastern RPU base at Havant, Hampshire, and join the usually-heaving M27.

With blues and twos flashing, PC Lewis picks up the pace and we’re soon in the higher rev ranges of the 3 Series. The unmarked car is packed with heavy kit, not to mention myself and a photographer, but yet still quickly tops three figures.

Unmarked car

Traffic melts away in front of us. The unmarked car may by disguised in plain sight when its lights aren’t flashing, but now it’s obvious a police vehicle is fast approaching.

Blue and white LEDs are hidden in the grille, on the dash, in the wing mirrors and behind the numberplate and at night, users wouldn’t even know it was unmarked as it approaches in the fast lane.

Fast approaching

PC Lewis has the radio turned up in the car and we can hear his colleagues reporting the Audi’s latest whereabouts. There are several units involved in the chase now and despite the distance we’ve had to cover, at speeds mostly topping 140mph, we’ve managed to get very close to helping out.

We pull off the M3 near Winchester and PC Lewis informs the police control room he’ll wait in a layby to see if the chase comes his way.

Wrong turn

It soon becomes clear it isn’t. The radio commentary explains the errant Audi has taken a turn off road and is heading towards a small village.

PC Lewis asks us to punch it into Google Maps – we’re a long way out of his usual patch – and we make a series of turns until we’re on the same road as the runaway, heading towards each other.

Crash site

Police control asks us to deploy a Stinger – a device which rapidly deflates all four tyres when thrown in front of the wheels.

PC Lewis says he’ll find a suitable location, but seconds later we hear “he’s crashed, he’s crashed” on the radio.

Just a mile down the road, we find the just-crashed Audi, penned in by another unmarked police car.

Stopped dead

The Audi has mounted a verge, taken out two signs and attempted to get back on the road. In doing so it’s been caught behind a telegraph pole and cops have decided to use their BMW X5 to stop the chase dead.

When we arrive the driver has been arrested. We’re the third car to arrive – after the other unmarked BMW and a dog unit. Four other police cars soon arrive, a sea of flashing blue lights illuminate the crash scene.

Team work

“This was a typical example of team work, county-wide, coordinated by our control room,” explained PC Lewis. “A car that fails to stop can be a serious danger to other road users and needs to be stopped safely.

“We came very close to this coming directly into our path and luckily it ended with no serious injuries.”

Pincer movement

Rushing to the scene, experiencing the immense skill and concentration these officers utilise in their work every day, was quite an experience.

We may not have come into direct contact with the runaway vehicle until the very end, but throughout the 45-minute chase we were engaged in the action on the radio, and by playing our part in a huge pincer movement.

I still can’t quite believe we were lucky enough to be taken a long for the ride.

The wheels are spinning, but the BMW isn’t going anywhere. Every revolution of the static alloys fails to be converted into forward momentum and instead acts as a spade, shovelling sand and sinking the new X3 deeper into the huge blood orange dunes.

Usually this wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but this isn’t a seaside resort, this is 25 miles from civilisation, in the Saharan desert.
We’ve spent the last hour tackling one of the toughest off-road routes I’ve ever experienced – from deep, rolling dunes to sharp, rocky trails – and the fact that only now, just a few feet from our final destination, one of my colleagues has managed to half bury a BMW is a testament to the X3’s abilities.

Nestled in a lunar landscape, beneath a carpet of stars so bright they look superimposed on the sky, is our camp. A series of Bedouin tents have popped up between the dunes, rugs laid out across the sand and a sweet smell of mint tea is wafting through the rapidly cooling air.

Over a lamb tagine and chicken kebab dinner, we chat under canvas about a day of adventure. It started off in luxury in the incredible Mandarin Oriental in Marrakesh. Outside the site’s gates, roads swarmed with the shrill of hundreds of scooters, darting in and out of battered cars and rammed-full buses. Inside, the complex is a retreat fit for a king. Huge marble arches, rich gardens and luscious lakes surround a myriad of huge villas – each with their own pools, steam rooms and Jacuzzis and bigger than most London flats.

Pampered and relaxed, we set off on our epic drive towards the Atlas Mountains, thrown head first into the madness of Marrakesh. It’s an assault on the senses, and tests defensive driving skills to the limits.

It subsides as quickly as it erupted, the roads opening up into out-of-this-world landscapes. Soon we’re crossing the Tizi n Tichka mountain pass, one mighty hairpin after another. Our X30d – with a new 260bhp, 620Nm engine – is by far the pick of the range, and on roads like this, it’s swift and enjoyable.

Morocco might only be a stone’s throw from Gibraltar and the European mainland, but it still feels a long way from home. The scenery is breathtaking, the people fascinating and the temperature testing. The roads, meanwhile, are far from ruined – fresh asphalt and comforting Armco line the Atlas Mountain passes, and the reassurance they give are welcoming.

At midday we arrive in Ouarzazate, and the famous Atlas Film Studios. It’s here where Hollywood brings flicks like Gladiator and Cleopatra to life, building huge towns and cities out of wood and plaster of Paris. We drive around the sandy site in our BMWs, entering the gates of Game of Thrones, a huge city set brought to life by thousands of extras that are bussed in from the surrounding villages when they’re needed.

By dusk we’ve covered nearly 300 miles, and have taken in the stunning Anti Atlas Mountains. We filter our way through M’Hamid, the last conurbation before the desert, in a dusty convoy. To the locals we look like aliens, 15 brand new BMWs disappearing off into the darkness.
Our camp, not far from the Algerian border, is an hour of off-roading away. We play follow the leader as our X3 drifts and slips its way like a rally car across the challenging terrain. It would be great fun, if only we could see where we’re going. Just the lights of the cars in front illuminate the impenetrable darkness.

It’s this swamp of blackness that unbalances the rhythm of one of our colleagues when approaching the camp. They fail to give a sand dune the run up it deserves, beaching the BMW in a position that takes seven men and shovels to retrieve it from.

After a night listening to the chorus of exhausted snoring upsetting the local wildlife, we wake before sunrise to experience the twilight of the pre-dawn hour. Out here, far from anywhere, it’s a magical hue that gently illuminates the ripples of satsuma sand as far as the eye can see.

Over a breakfast of sickly coffee you could erect a spoon in and spicy egg omelette, we’re told today will be tougher than yesterday. Five hours of harsh off roading will be followed by a dash back across the mountains to the airport – and even leaving at dawn is pushing check-in for our 6pm flight.

Warning soon forgotten, we’re quickly back in the off-road groove, drifting the off-roader around sandy corners, and clattering over sharp rocks. As the desert eases, we experience the barren, flat, dry river beds of the Ouef Draa, Iriki Lane and Erg Chigaga, all stages of the famous Dakar Rally. Huge plumes of dust billow out of the back of the convoy, spreading rooster tails of dust high into the sky, as we chuckle at the spectacle.

As we approach Foum Zguid, on the edge of the desert, our BMW calmly tells us our nearside rear wheel has lost pressure. The X3 wasn’t lying, the rubber is well and truly past its sell by date. BMW chaperones soon arrive out of the dust and whip the ruined wheel off, and we once again make our way back on to Tarmac – after five hours of bumping and crashing, the X3 feels like it’s riding on a cloud.

Back in the Anti-Atlas Mountains, we start to make good progress, giving us time to enjoy the X3’s comfy new interior and smart multimedia system. But 100 miles in, we hear a popping and a hiss, and the now all-too familiar warning chime caused by another tyre losing pressure.
This time team BMW isn’t close, and with no phone reception we’re left waiting in the searing heat for help to arrive.

An hour later, the support car pulls up – but out jump some very worried looking PR personnel. It’s not the tyre that’s causing the frowns, but the time. We’ve got 130 miles to go, back across the challenging Atlas Mountains, and even without hold ups it looks like we’ll miss the only flight out of Marrakesh that day. What’s more, we’re not the only ones to have lost a tyre – two of our colleagues are stranded further down the road, and will need collecting en route.

And so begins a rush to the airport, quite unlike any I’ve experienced before. In a village at the foot of the mountains we find the national newspaper scribe and his snapper, marooned by a tyre that’s seemingly disintegrated. We throw their kit in the X3 and head off on a three-hour rally stage. From screeching hairpin bends to blink-and-you’ll-miss-them overtakes, the BMW takes it all in its stride.

Through sweat, tears and clenched body parts we hurtle into the Marrakesh airport car park with just minutes to spare. I throw the keys into the hands of the waiting BMW team, and we run to the check-in desk. The flight is closing, but we manage to get our boarding passes and dash to the gate.

Sat, perspiring, exhausted but elated on the plane, I look across to the newspaper hacks who’ve endured the pan-Moroccan mad dash with me, and we smile. While at times it was close, often mad, and quite frequently very scary, we made it. The BMW X3 may have two new tyres, but it’s been returned unscathed and we’re taxiing down the runway just 25 minutes after we barrelled into the airport car.

All credit to BMW. There aren’t many firms who’d put their cars, or a bunch of journalists, through what we experienced, but I’ve got more respect than ever for the X3 and the company for doing it. It’s proven it’s a truly capable car, able to transport you and your family on any adventure – and I for one am certainly looking forward to the next one.

What is it?

Some might say the Levante has been the saviour of Maserati – and they’d be right. In a market that’s moving swiftly away from saloons in favour of high riding off-roaders, even Italian sports car manufacturers need a 4×4 in their line-up if they’re to balance the books.

That’s why Lamborghini is putting the finishing touches to its soon-to-arrive Urus, Ferrari is secretly squirrelling away on a rumoured 4×4, and why Maserati launched the Levante a year or so ago.

Sadly, Maserati went off half cocked – launching its SUV in the UK with only a diesel. Now, the car that accounts for more than half of the Italian firm’s sales worldwide, has been given the powerful petrol unit buyers wanted from the start, plus some tech tweaks to keep it fresh.

What’s new?

Don’t expect any radical styling changes from the 2018 model year Levante – they’re as hard to spot as an SUV mule from sister firm Ferrari. Squint and you might just see the new badging on the doors, but we’d forgive you if you missed them.

Aside from the petrol powerplant, which we’ll get onto in a minute, Maserati has added a few new safety features to the Levante. There’s electric steering, which means active lane assist is now a possibility, as well as blind spot detection with ‘haptic’ feedback via the steering wheel.

There’s revised trim options to choose from too – a base model, a GranSport and GranLusso. The differences are minimal between the top two and centre mostly around the colour of the grille and interior trim. As such, they cost exactly the same amount of money.

What’s under the bonnet?

The biggest change is nestled up front. The petrol unit is the one the Levante should have been launched with and brings the SUV alive.

It’s been available in Europe for a while, but is now coming to the UK in right hand drive guise and serves up 424bhp and 580Nm of torque from a Ferrari-developed 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbo. While the engine might not appear in any Ferraris, it does sound typically Italian on start up – throaty and over the top – and is good for 60mph in five seconds and a top speed of 164mph.

It emits 253g/km and returns 25.9mpg on the combined cycle too.

What’s it like to drive?

While an SUV is never going to be as dynamic as its low-riding saloon rivals, the Levante does a good job of pretending to be sporty. It’s certainly got an impressive turn of speed and, in the bends (of which our test course had very few) it felt taut and dynamic, compared to some rivals.

It’s helped by a number of driver assistance modes which lower the adaptive air suspension in sport, and increase it when off-road.

Maserati subjected our test cars to some soft, sandy dunes, but was forced to lower the tyre pressures before we were allowed to tackle them. The clever electronically-controlled differential certainly coped admirably with the conditions, though, and in the hands of a professional driver (we weren’t deemed capable), it managed to scale Dubai’s Fossil Rock at impressive pace. That said, one did get stuck in the deeper dunes and a Toyota was forced to rescue it…

We didn’t get on particularly well with the new steering. Although light at parking speeds and now able to offer lane keeping assistance, it’s lost some of the feel the hydraulic system that went before it had.

How does it look?

Maserati hopes the unique looks of the Levante will win it buyers. It won’t be to everyone’s tastes, though, with a huge gulping grille, and shark-like proportions to its body. It’s been described as having an air of an Infiniti QX about it, and side by side you can certainly see a resemblance, but just don’t let the Italians hear you say it. It’s got a unique look on the road, with the eyebrow-like daytime running lights and quad tailpipes making a bold statement.

What’s it like inside?

Inside, the Maserati has some luxurious touches and the materials feel premium. Sadly, we found the leather seats incredibly uncomfortable with the back rest particularly pew-like. The steering wheel is too chunky and has too many pointless buttons and the infotainment system is hard to fathom. Compared to intuitive units, like that found in Volvo’s XC90, the Maserati system looks out dated. There’s plenty of room in the back though, a decent sized boot and new soft-close doors add an extra luxurious touch.

What’s the spec like?

Maserati has added a host of new tech – most of which buyers will already be accustomed to from other premium brands. That electronic steering gives rise to active lane control, and highway assistance takes care of steering, braking and acceleration at speeds up to 70mph. Blind spot assistance, traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning and active braking are also on offer. A 360-degree parking camera, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are welcome additions.

What do the press say?

Auto Express wasn’t particularly taken with the new Levante, awarding it just three stars. Autocar was somewhat kinder, handing out four, and adding: ‘Praise be, what’s shaping up to be the most important Maserati in decades seems to have negotiated its awkward early years and blossomed into the car many probably hoped it might be from the off.’

Verdict

Maserati is probably kicking itself that it didn’t introduce the Levante with this petrol powerplant from the off. Buyers really couldn’t have cared less about the added expense a petrol unit carried over a diesel – they simply wanted the fastest, most expensive model there is. Those buyers will be satisfied with these results, then, as the Levante now comes with the characterful engine it always deserved. It’s a shame the steering doesn’t live up the hype, but most owners will soon see past that – and instead enjoy all the benefits of an Italian sports car in SUV clothing.

The Knowledge

Model as tested: Maserati Levante S GranSport
Price: £76,995
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 twin turbo
Power: 424bhp
Torque: 580Nm
Max speed: 164mph
0-60mph: 5.0s
MPG: 25.9mpg
Emissions: 253g/km
Rivals: Porsche Cayenne S, BMW X5, Mercedes GLC