Reviews
Gallery 1
Infiniti finally has a sports sedan to give its German rivals a run for its money.
WHAT IS IT? The new flagship of Infiniti’s Q50 line-up. A premium mid-size sports sedan intended to go head on with BMW’s 340i, Audi’s S4 and the Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG.
WHY WE’RE DRIVING IT It debuts Nissan’s new VR30 engine, a 3.0-litre twin-turbo powerhouse that is capable of giving this segment a clip behind the ears. There’s also new suspension and steering tech that warrants investigation.
MAIN RIVALS BMW 340i, Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG, Audi S4, Lexus IS350 Sports Luxury
PLUS: Super zesty V6, swift performance, mostly sorted chassis, well equipped, cabin quality, well priced MINUS: Steer-by-wire improved, but no match for a decent conventional rack; no limited-slip diff, over-eager ESC with no sports setting
THE WHEELS REVIEW The most noteworthy aspect of the new Infiniti Q50 Red Sport is not that it’s fitted with version 2.0 of the company’s controversial, no-one-else does-it, ‘by-wire’ steering. It’s sure not the new-to-Q50 two-mode electronically adjustable dampers. It may not even be the new twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6, which cranks out a class-leading 298kW and 475Nm.
And that it’s actually quite a likeable sports sedan, if ultimately a just little underdone in a couple of key areas.
Let’s start with that engine. It’s an extensive redevelopment of the venerable VQ-series Nissan V6, now with twin turbos blowing through a pair of water-to-air intercoolers.
It runs variable cam timing, direct-injection, and that attention-grabbing power figure: Not quite BMW M3 territory, but not far short, and better than BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi manage from 3.0 litres without wand-waving from their respective tuning divisions.
The seven-speed torque convertor auto does a mostly agreeable job of allowing you to deploy it effectively, auto-blipping on downshifts via magnesium paddle shifters, or responding intuitively to your right foot if your leave it in Sport.
The only bum notes are that it auto-upshifts in manual model, instead of holding your chosen gear, and the software occasionally denies you a downshift even though your road speed says the revs could handle it.
It’s all pretty engaging, though, and doesn’t turn to porridge when you point it at a corner via the improved steering.
It does that with some success, and is quick at just 2.1 turns lock to lock, but still has way too many modes – five – including the patently ridiculous ‘response’ setting for each. I went looking for the one called “non-contrived chassis engineer’s choice” but failed to find it.
At least the various modes can be individually configured, allowing sharp powertrain mapping and steering without the sports suspension, which can feel a bit stiff and toss-prone on lumpy Aussie backroads.
What ultimately stops the Red Sport rising to true, sub-AMG or M Division sports sedan greatness, though, is the lack of a limited slip diff and no sports mode for the ESC.
The extra shame is in the fact that, with 245/45 R19 Dunlops all round, the Red Sport actually feels a little under-tyred at the rear, which could easily work in its favour from an involvement point of view if the ESC had a bit more latitude.
So what we’re left with, in sports sedan terms, is an eight-tenths car; albeit at a seven-tenths price compared to the Euro opposition. Not such a bad deal when viewed in that light.
SPECS Model: Infiniti Q50 3.0tt Red Sport Engine: 2997cc V6 (60degree), dohc, 24v, twin-turbo Max power: 298kW @ 6400rpm Max torque: 475Nm @ 2200-5200rpm Transmission: 7-speed automatic Weight: 1784kg 0-100km/h: 4.8sec (estimated) Fuel consumption: 9.3L/100km Price: $79,900 On sale: Now
