Waching daily Dec 13 2017

2017 Infiniti QX30: Badge Engineering Is Still Alive And It Still Sucks part 3

4Matic is competent enough to help this crossover crawl its way out of shin-deep snow, and since it can transfer up to 65 percent of the available power to the rear, this baby Infiniti will happily wiggle its tail upon throttle inputs, making it a blast to fling around in the white stuff.

On the road the QX30 feels rock solid and quiet, the way a German car should.

Handling is buttoned down and compliant, but Infiniti has recalibrated the suspension towards comfort, so the QX30 may not feel instantly sporty like its German brethren, though it still comes through as an agile and dynamic vehicle that will carry speed effortlessly in the twisties.

In other words, it's fun enough to drive.

Step inside the 2017 Infiniti QX30 and everything instantly feels very cramped, especially for a full-size BAMF like me.

I'm not sure what's more unsettling, the high seating position that makes your head rub the ceiling, or that the entire car's narrowness that leads to elbow rubbing when a fellow full-size frame is sitting in the passenger seat.

The QX30's interior is also all over the place in terms of styling and ergonomics.

The door inserts were parted out directly from the GLA, and even the classic Mercedes-Benz seat adjustments remain, just to make sure the consumer knows he's being played while cross-shopping these two competing crossovers.

To Infiniti's credit, material quality and build assembly is excellent.

Infiniti has added a curvy design element, complete with a spongy leatherlike material that spans the dashboard to stay in tune with the QX30's swooping exterior styling.

The switchgear on the centre stack is all GLA, especially the HVAC dials located at the very bottom.

So is the gauge cluster.

Curiously—and unlike another famous badge job, the Fiat 124 Spider—QX30 doesn't inherit its donor car's COMAND infotainment system.

Instead, Infiniti has incorporated its own InTouch interface by positioning the screen within the dashboard instead of the GLA's pop-up tablet-style layout.

The bad news is InTouch doesn't come close to COMAND's ease of operation, graphic quality, and speed of operation.

The system in the QX30 is confusing, unintuitive, and slow to respond.

What's more, everything is controlled by a tiny dial located on the centre console, which is infuriatingly hard to get your head around and downright unpleasant to manipulate.

Once you've found your ideal seating position, the QX30's leather seats are comfortable and supportive.

Visibility all around is somewhat compromised by the way this thing is shaped, with very thick, and aggressively raked A-pillars that obstruct lateral visibility at an intersection.

And that panoramic moonroof doesn't open, it's simply there for decoration.

Being Mercedes-based also means the QX30 inherits an over-engineered and uselessly complex wiper stalk.

The headlight controls are equally complicated to operate with up to five different settings that do nothing at all when you navigate through them, as the headlights are constantly set to automatic, even when you haven't selected Auto.

It's important to underline that Infiniti usually nails these ergonomic elements in their other cars.

Finally, rear seat room is actually quite impressive for such a tiny vehicle.

As you can see, me and my Tim Horton's coffee fit impeccably well in the back seat.