1998 Infiniti Q45 Performance and luxury with distinctive styling. By Mike Knepper, New Car Test Drive .com

The combatants are the elite: Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Jaguar, Audi, Cadillac, Lexus, Infiniti. And in the big picture they don't amount to a cheeseburger in the fast-food world of automotive sales. But the people who make them and the people who buy them are very serious about their luxury cars. That's why there's a lot of punching and rolling around and, yes, some name calling in the attempt to get your name on the bottom line.

Arguably, no one is fighting harder than Infiniti. How? By building a very good car. Powerful, quiet, roomy, comfortable. However, those descriptions can be used for any of the others. So what's a potential luxury car owner to do? Study the specs and the list of standard features. They'll be pretty much the same also. Compare prices. Same. That leaves two things, both highly subjective: How do they look? How do they drive? That's what it boils down to and both questions lead to somewhat subjective answers.