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Infiniti Q30 vs Suzuki Vitara

What's the difference?

VS
Infiniti Q30
Infiniti Q30

$22,800 - $33,982

2019 price

Suzuki Vitara
Suzuki Vitara

$20,444 - $35,990

2021 price

Summary

2019 Infiniti Q30
2021 Suzuki Vitara
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Turbo 4, 2.0L

Inline 4, 1.6L
Fuel Type
Premium Unleaded Petrol

Unleaded Petrol
Fuel Efficiency
6.3L/100km (combined)

5.8L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Concept car practicality
  • Lacking multimedia
  • Priced in the big leagues

  • No AEB availability in this grade
  • Stiff ride
  • Too much road and engine noise intrusion
2019 Infiniti Q30 Summary

Welcome to the future - where your Mercedes-Benz is a Nissan and your Nissan is a Mercedes-Benz. 

Lost already? Let me catch you up. Infiniti is the premium arm of Nissan, in much the same way Lexus is the premium arm of Toyota, and the Q30 is Infiniti’s hatchback. 

Thanks to the state of various global manufacturing alliances the Q30 is mechanically, largely a previous-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class, with a similar arrangement seeing the new Mercedes-Benz X-Class ute comprised largely of Nissan Navara underpinnings.

Recently, the Q30 has had its range of variants trimmed from a confusing five down to two, and the one we’re testing here is the top-spec Sport.

Make sense? I hope so. The Q30 Sport joined me on an 800km trip along the east coast in the height of summer. So, can it make the most of its German/Japanese roots? Read on to find out.

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2021 Suzuki Vitara Summary

Suzuki invented the modern compact SUV. It’s funny how quickly people forget.

Yes, the pioneering Vitara of 1988 rode on a ladder-frame chassis so was not car based, but it was successful enough to show the way for others to follow. Chiefly, Toyota, with the seminal Corolla-derived first-gen RAV4 of 1994.

Fun fact: this earliest Vitara was also known as the Suzuki Escudo (Japan) and Sidekick (North America), as well as the GMC/Geo/Chevrolet Tracker and Pontiac Sunrunner (USA), Asüna Sunrunner (Canada), and perhaps most evocatively, Wanli WLZ5020XLD and Guangtong GTQ5020XLZ (China).

So, respect to the Vitara, especially since it has evolved over four redesigns, eight different badges and 33 years, from fashionable 4x4 leisure machine to 4x4 off-roader (1998 FT and 2005 JT Grand Vitara) to 2015’s monocoque-bodied JY-series small SUV.

How does the 2021 JY Series II Vitara 1.6 auto stand up? Keep on reading.

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Deep dive comparison

2019 Infiniti Q30 2021 Suzuki Vitara

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