Infiniti QX70S (Price £49,620 to £49,775)

On the road: I WORRY about some of those driving city cars or family hatchbacks who suddenly glance in their rear view mirror and see this behemoth bearing down on them. Menacing doesn’t go close to doing the front end view of the QX70S justice. In dark chrome it looks like military hardware.

Infiniti, the luxury arm of Nissan, say the QX70S is “the antidote to SUV boxiness and blandness” and it’s hard to argue against that.

Playing it safe is not a phrase that their designers appear to have come across.

Look at the length of the bonnet, witness the sculpted lines along its flanks and consider just how big those 21ins alloys are.

With V6 engines in either diesel or petrol form, there’s plenty of go to go with the show. Our 3.0 litre diesel, mated to a seven-speed automatic box, possessed more than a little of the animal and for a vehicle that feels weighty was fleet of foot. Nought to 60mph takes a little over eight seconds and top speed exceeds 130mph.

In a straight line that’s great news and in the bends, despite its proportions, you don’t feel like you’re trying to manoeuvre an oil tanker through a chicane.

The only real complaint is the ride which some might consider a little on the firm side, but then this is a sporty car - albeit a very big one.

On the inside: YOU won’t want for toys in a QX70S. As you might expect of a car with Japanese origins, it scores high for gadgetry. There’s a lot of equipment as standard and there is a definite feeling of quality to the interior but a suggestion of luxury might be stretching things a little.The seats were cosseting which offset the ride quality and finding your ideal driving position is easy.

What do you get: OUR car had the aforementioned 21ins six-spoke alloys, heated and electrically folding mirrors, roof rails, powered boot, privacy glass, Bi-Xenon lights, self-healing paint, full colour central display unit, rear view camera with front and rear parking sensors, multimedia pack, Bluetooth and smart access and ignition. In addition, there was dual zone adaptive climate control, rear air conditioning vents, a seven speaker audio system, aluminium pedals, electrically operated and heated driver and front passenger seats and a cargo cover and partition net.

How practical is it: IT’S fair to say that for a big car the interior is not as big as you might think. You can still seat five, but it’s really best suited to four and even then your passengers are not going to be stretching out.

There’s 410 litres of boot space which isn’t huge by any standards and a high floor means trying to carry bulkier items without lowering the seats first could cause some issues. Do that though and you can increase the load space to 1,305 litres.

Running costs: IT’S not cheap and there are those who will keep reminding you it’s just an upmarket Nissan. We managed a shade of 30mpg and with CO2 emissions at 225g/km it’s perhaps best to steer clear of the green lobby.

VERDICT: LET your heart and head have a good old scrap and see which comes out on top.

Alternatives: Porsche Cayenne, BMW X5