2013 Detroit Auto Show: Infiniti Q50
G35 makes way for Q50…wait, what’s that?
By Imthishan Giado
The current G35 saloon dates all the way back to 2007 – an eternity, in automotive terms. Clearly it’s time for something new so er, well here it is: the brand spanking new Infiniti Q50. Wait, what?
Yes, Infiniti have binned nearly 25 years of history and have decided to use a completely new naming structure for its cars with everything preceded by a ‘Q’ prefix. So the G35 becomes the Q50, the upcoming coupe will be called the Q60, and the M-series cars are now the Q70. What about the EX,JX,FX and QX? They’ll renamed QX50,QX60,QX70 and QX80 respectively.
Quite why Infiniti needed this drastic name change is perplexing – it’s not like the old names were confusing anyone. But this new German-style system is bound to leave everyone confused – and well, it ultimately didn’t make things a whole lot easier for the Germans either.
What’s new with the Q50? The style, for the most part – the Q50 adopts Infiniti’s signature double-arch grille at the front, the hawk-eye headlamps that first debuted on the FX, and maintains the outgoing car’s strange-but-characterful kink in the C-pillar. The Q50 may look ungainly in picture but in the metal I found it quite a distinctive design that arrests your attention without resorting to gimmicky styling flourishes and fixes main of the problems of the outgoing car – namely, the lack of rear leg and headroom.
Inside, there’s a marked improvement in the quality of materials with real metal, wood and leather in evidence. The twin-cockpit concept first mooted by the old G35 is still present but thankfully, Infiniti has finally moved away from top-mounted controls. Or has it? There are actually two screens now, one to handle navigation and HVAC duties and the other controlled by a mixture of touch and hand gestures, and featuring a number of preloaded. Basically, it’s like having Google Android in your car. And yes, there are redundant switches for climate and radio systems.
Power comes from the reliable 3.7-litre V6 that’s found in most of Nissan’s fleet – here it produces 328bhp and 269lb ft of torque. However, that isn’t the car you’re looking at; this is the Q50 Hybrid that sports a 3.5-litre V6 hooked up a 50kW electric motor for a total output of 354bhp. By the way – the Q50 also sports another innovation, drive-by-wire steering. Dubbed Direct Adaptive Steering, it’s an electric steering system which allows ‘independent control of tire angle and steering inputs’, basically allowing you to customise steering effect and feel according to your tastes. And no need to worry – there’s a backup mechancial system in place, although you can bet your bottom dollar that Nissan/Infiniti will get rid of it in future models as soon as they work the kinks out of the software.
