Infiniti Q50 Red Sport is flawed, but fast fun

Wednesday, 26 June 2019

The Infiniti Q50 3.0t Red Sport offers more bang-for-your-buck than anything else in the premium sports sedan segment.

**INFINITI Q50 3.0T RED SPORT

Base price:** $89,990

Powertrain and performance: 3.0-litre turbo petrol V6, 298kW/475Nm, 7-speed automatic, RWD, Combined economy 9.3 litres per 100km. 0 to 100km/h 4.9 seconds.

The Infiniti Q50 is a handsome, menacing thing, with a wonderfully violent engine to match.

Vital statistics: 4810mm long, 1445mm high, 2850mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 500 litres, 19-inch alloy wheels with 245/40 tyres.

We like: Bullish RWD attitude. Seriously good bang for your buck performance. It's not a BMW, Audi or Mercedes-Benz.

The Q50 Red Sport's engine is a smaller version of the mighty Nissan GT-R's 3.8-litre mill.

We don't like: Having to explain that it's not a used import. Getting old. Steering keeps you at a distance.

Premium sporting sedans are still a thing, despite the world's current hunger for everything SUV. And while the Germans dominate the sector, they aren't the only ones that play there - the Japanese do too.

There is, of course, Toyota's Lexus brand, but Nissan also get a piece of that with its Infiniti offshoot that recently officially set up shop in New Zealand.

It's not up with the European opposition, but the Q50's interior still packs a decent amount of luxury and technology.

And here is Infiniti's take on the BMW 3 Series, complete with a version of the twin-turbo V6 found in the mighty Nissan GT-R. Sound promising?

* Infiniti Q60 Red Sport has steer-by-wire but still does old-school skids

* Nissan to debut world-first autonomous tech**

Okay, so it's not perfect, but it does provide a massive amount of fun for the money.

Is this a used import?

Stop it. Sure, the vast majority of people who are even aware of Infiniti in New Zealand have only ever been exposed to them as used imports, but Nissan's luxury brand is actually established here.

But that used import thing is part of Infiniti's biggest hurdle to properly establishing itself in New Zealand - and it may well be enough to put some people off buying a Q50 over a 3 Series, C-class, A4 or Lexus IS.

Which is a shame, because while it looks a bit importy, it packs a seriously powerful and impressively smooth engine into a package that is dynamically convincing and a heap of RWD fun.

So why would someone buy it over the thoroughly excellent, similarly priced BMW 330i then?

Three litres and two turbos powering the rear wheels mean the Q50 certainly is fun.

Well, for the very reason that it isn't a BMW for a start. It's something different in the sports sedan segment, which is a good reason in itself, but the biggest reason is what lurks under the Q50 Red Sport's long, curvy bonnet.

The Q50 Red Sport gets Nissan's VR30 engine - essentially a 3.0-litre version of the Nissan GT-R's 3.8-litre twin turbo V6 - that pumps out a blisteringly powerful 298kW of power and 475Nm of torque.

By way of comparison, for the same money as the Q50's $89,990 asking price, its direct competition from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus all offer at least 100kW less than the Infiniti.

This puts the Q50 into a league of its own for sheer performance in its segment, and the opposition's cars with similar levels of performance cost tens of thousands more.

There is, of course, another reason for the Q50's price advantage, and it is not quite so good - it is noticeably behind said opposition in terms of quality and fit and finish, particularly in its interior.

The Infiniti logo represents a road stretching to infinity. Or is an oval with a notch in it.

How does it all come together?

In terms of performance for your dollar? Utterly convincingly.

In terms of luxury and quality for your dollar? Less so.

Glaringly obvious Nissan switchgear (and, almost insultingly, the key) populates a cabin that tries to be high quality and luxurious, but misses the massively high mark set by Audi and Mercedes to a noticeable degree, largely thanks to poor fit and finish, and occasional areas of cheap feeling materials.

Having two touchscreens stacked in the dash is a nice idea in theory, but quickly proves to be confusing and irritating in practice, while the Q50's other tech also lags slightly behind the opposition - while its driver assists are excellent, they aren't quite up to the level of refinement of the Europeans.

But virtually none of that matters when you nail the throttle and the Q50's rear end snaps out from the belligerent burst of power from that fantastic engine rushing through the rear wheels.

Big, powerful rear-wheel-drivey fun then?

Oh hell yes.

The Q50 practically begs you to drive it like a total bogan, with its aggressive power delivery wrenching the rear around in a deeply enjoyable and surprisingly controllable fashion.

Be a little more civilised with your throttle inputs and it is silky smooth and angrily insistent in its acceleration, but that amusingly aggressive rear end attitude is never more than a generous stab of the throttle away.

The Q50's chassis is a nicely balanced thing on a winding road, with a nose that eagerly turns in as readily as that rear is to step out if asked. It does keep you at something of a distance though, thanks to the electric drive-by-wire steering set up that transmits literally no feel and feels artificially heavy and dull at speed.

While the ride is also slightly brittle over New Zealand roads. While it is never annoying or intrusive, the Q50 feels its best when you ignore the optional Sport and Sport+ modes, leave it in Standard and shift gears manually using the steering wheel-mounted paddles.

Any other cars I should consider?

The Q50 is flawed, but it is also brilliant old-school RWD fun.

Sure, the new BMW 3 Series vastly out-handles it (as it does everything else in the segment) and the C-class offers way more luxury and quality, but in terms of performance there is very little that offers what it does, particularly for the money asked.

The Euros don't and Lexus asks another $10k for an equivalently powerful IS 350 F Sport, but there is one unlikely manufacturer that offers an alternative - Kia.

The Stinger GT has slightly less power and slightly more torque, but lands at just $69,990. Sure, its not as luxurious and it looks like the designers stood at a distance and threw a box of vents and random European design cues at it, but it has similarly belligerent performance, although it isn't as balanced or refined as the Q50 is though.

Then, of course, there will be a Hyundai alternative very soon too - the Genesis G70 that sits on the same platform as the Stinger, uses the same engine and transmission, has a much nicer interior and actually looks quite a bit like the Infiniti - which is due here later this year.