Mitsubishi uses the Rogue’s platform but had the phev model to itself until 2026.
You’re right. I meant Infinity. I corrected it.
All three (Nissan, Honda, and Toyota) use their models for most (not all) of the Inifinti, Acura, and Lexus models. So a lot depends on the quality of the starting model. I put Nissans behind the other two, resulting in unimpressive Infiniti models.
The younger forum members might not recall the original Infiniti commercials, from 1989.
During the design/engineering stage, BMW was Infiniti’s target, and Mercedes was Lexus’s target.
I remember when dad bought his 2004 Infinity I35 (in protest from me lol) it was the last and only FWD Infinity made, so at the time most of the Nissan’s were FWD based and 2005^ Infinity’s were all RWD based, until the Infinity Crossovers came out in 2013ish…
One Infiniti model was based–heavily–on the Mercedes GLA. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
A neighbor has a QX30, don’t know how much they like it.
Their first effort was pretty good. Compared to the top Lexus sedan released about the same time, the Q45 had more “soul”. It provided good feedback and had character. Not BMW character, but not a bad first try.
While the Lexus was a fantastic car, it was so vanilla in its feel. It had no character. The drivers cars were the smaller models.. The TSX. That was a winning philosophy that Infinity flat out missed.
Did you mean the GS?
No not the GS. Seems I was thinking of the ES in the 90s, then the IS in the 2010s. I see the GS as grand touring… luxury with sport.
The TSX was the small sporty Acura, not Lexus.
Senior moment!
All great cars - alphabet soup letter names!
What’s your point?
Some forum members may recall that Mazda planned to enter the luxury car market in order to compete with Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti, but the implosion of the Japanese economy in the early '90s led to the cancellation of the project. The large sedan that was supposed to be marketed under the new Amati brand was instead marketed as the Mazda 929, albeit with a lot less luxury than had been planned when it was supposed to be an Amati.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/mazdas-forgotten-second-gen-929-was-a-luxury-moonshot/
I remember the 929 being a little underpowered compared to others i it’s class… Was never impressed with Mazda back in the 80’s and 90’s… Worked on lots of them back then…
You got a problem with Mazda?? You think Mopars are the best thing ever?? 
Back in the 80’s and 90’s Mazda was a commodity brand. Nothing fun or ■■■■ about them, but they were inexpensive to buy and operate and fairly reliable. I don’t remember them as being any worse than anything else in that price range of the time.
Over the last several years Mazda has been doing their “Path to Premium”, hoping to compete with Acura instead of Honda, Lexus instead of Toyota, etc. How far up the premium ladder they have gotten is up to the driving public to decide.
I lost all hope in Mopar when they put the name Daimler in front of Chrysler… Other than the 3rd gen Hemi’s, I am not impressed with anything much in the last 20+ years…
I remember the 626 transmission being a PITA to R&R, they just seemed to over complicate things for some reason… But lots of different vehicles kept me pretty busy back then…lol
Mazda had Automatic adjusting suspension as an option on certain 626 models in 1988. You couldn’t get aftermarket struts or shocks so oem only.
Our basic 1990 Protoge SE came with twins trapezoidal-link rear suspension that basically was passive rear steer and made it entertaining in even the cheapest 13" all seasons discount tire had to offer. Held up as good if not better than Honda or Toyota lover 19yrs and 194,000mi.
Newer Mazdas keep that spirit alive with 250,000mi on Mazda 3 and 5 and still going.
The Protoge had defective door latches that made the seat belt beep go off randomly but a service campaign covered that. It had been test driven 300mi when we bought it and putting another 194,000 on it didn’t seem to bother it much. Clutch and rack and pinion were on the watch list for years but our mechanics didn’t feel either was needed. Particularly on a $1,000 car. Still good enough for a work car. Only interior part broken was the hook that kept the lap belt in easy reach you just had ti grab it from next to the seat 3in further.
Burned 1qt every 6,000mi at most. Not having a/c or cruise was a drag in road trips but you just put it in 5th gear and leave it at 75moh keeping up with the semis while getting 40mpg.
That rotary Mazda engine didn’t go over very well.