While the EX35 was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside, the five-seater still lacked the size and space that a family of four needs. The interior was beautifully appointed with buttery leather seats and maple wood trim.

The center stack took some getting used to, though. It felt more like a plane's cockpit with a multitude of buttons, controls and switches. A simpler layout would have been appreciated since I spent too much time searching for the correct control when I should have been looking at the road.

When it came to storage space in the EX35, there wasn't much to be found. There were four cupholders, a decent-sized glove box and seatback pockets for the second row, but no hidden cubbies for cellphones and more.

In the second row, the outboard seats are wide with seat bolsters to help keep passengers in place during aggressive driving. Because my daughters were in their child-safety seats, they didn't get to experience the supple leather seats. However, my 3-year-old made sure to voice her complaints about the tight legroom in the backseat. She felt cramped in her forward-facing convertible. Infiniti needs to carve out some extra legroom for the second row when it redesigns this crossover.