The 1991 Infiniti G20 is a luxury car that packs a punch in a small package. With its twin-cam, four-cylinder engine and all-independent suspension, it's a joy to drive. Our test car cost $20,000, which included front-wheel drive, an all-independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes with anti-lock circuitry, leather seats, a power sunroof, and the twin-cam, four-cylinder, sixteen-valve engine that also powers Nissan's Sentra SE-R and NX2000.
Yet the message coming through the seat of the pants confirms the G20's overt sophistication. It echoes what we've said for decades: an expensive small car makes a better value than a bigger, more wasteful, equally pricey car. In other markets, the smaller Infiniti sells for much less money, comes in considerably more spartan trim, and wears a no-disguise Nissan name tag.
View Price on AmazonAs Nissan's luxury-car division, Infiniti prices the G20 at half the cost of its big, breathtaking Q45 supersedan. The two represent solutions to the push/pull between the lust for big, fast cars and the need for small, slick ones. So the market for big-buck minicars grows. Customers already pay $30,000 for small BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes less efficiently packaged than the G20.
Infiniti promotes the G20 as an "entry-level luxury car." Audi, BMW, Honda, Mercedes, and Infiniti's archrivals Acura and Lexus already perch on this tiny dot of a segment in a market where pickup trucks and mid-size sedans rank as the monster sellers along America's "Miracle Mile" dealerships. Yet the G20 makes no mystery of why less can be more. It makes friends in a flash. Its aerodynamic styling draws admirers to its conservative curves.
Its enticing interior knocks hedonists out of their socks and into its seats. Its lively feel puts the bite on buyers hungry to get out there and snarf up some road. We've snarfed up miles aplenty in this G20, and plenty quickly. Fortunately, its "anycar" shape and muted color qualify it as a stealthster. Yet its details bespeak distinction. The body's lines, masses, and features flow in subtle harmony.
Source: caranddriver.com
