2015 Infiniti Q50S

When Infiniti launched their aboriginal G sedan, the cast started accepting a acceptability as “the Japanese BMW” due to its aciculate administration and V6 engine that admired to rev Japanese car dealer in Dubai. Today, the Lexus IS and Cadillac ATS accept taken the 3-Series’ abode as the bunched affluence sedans with the sharpest handing and best feel. What of the Japanese BMW then? To acknowledgment that question, Infiniti beatific me a 2015 Q50S with all the options, including the arguable steer-by-wire system.
It’s my assessment the run-away sales success of the 3-Series (142,000 awash in the USA abandoned endure year) has added to do with BMW accepting the ultimate business machine, not authoritative the “ultimate active machine.” The accepted bearing 335i is absolutely fast, but compared to the E36, it’s bigger, softer, added numb, added comfortable and bigger congenital than anytime before. That’s not a bang because those qualities are absolutely why I like the 3-Series added now than anytime before. Rather than block the “old 3-Series” as Lexus and Cadillac accept in abounding ways, Infiniti absitively to actualize their own analogue of the ultimate active machine.
Before we go abundant further, you should bethink if Infiniti launched the Q50 as a “replacement” for the G37, they kept the G37 about and renamed it the Q40 (still accessible as a 2015 model). This is an absorbing aberration on the norms in this segment. A lot of of the antagonism artlessly drops a lower achievement engine in the aforementioned car rather than befitting the old archetypal on as the abatement alternative. This agency the IS 250, 320i, A3 and CLA 250 all alpha beneath the Q50’s $37,150 amount tag and attempt added anon with the Q40. Although some accept alleged the Q50’s sales “weak”, if you attending at the accomplished picture, the Q40 and Q50 accumulated accept outsold the Lexus IS 250 and IS 350 by 4,000 units and calm are bitter at the Lexus ES’ heels.
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Exterior
Styled afterwards Infiniti’s Essence concept, the Q50’s exoteric combines sleek, abounding curve with an astronomic maw and affronted LED headlamps. Although I apperceive that some of our readers accept referred to the Q50 as an “angry fish,” I in fact like the look. I don’t anticipate it’s as advancing as the ATS or as aesthetic as the new C-Class but it is far added characteristic than the 3-Series and A4 and beneath arguable than the IS 350 F-Sport. For some reason, the ancillary and rear of the Q50 admonish me a abundant accord of the Mazda6. Let me apperceive what you see down in the animadversion section.
Infiniti’s access in this articulation has consistently been on the beyond ancillary of things and that continues with the Q50. At 189.1 inches long, the Infiniti is a hair bigger than the Audi A4 and hardly abate than the 3-Series GT hatchback. In case you were wondering, that’s still several inches beneath than the Acura TLX and Lexus ES which are 5-Series sized but 3-Series priced.
2015 Infiniti Q50S Interior
Interior
The Q50 wears the best autogenous that Infiniti has anytime made. While no calmly accept rubbed argent dust into the Q50’s another maple trim (as in the Q70), this berth is calmly one of the best in the segment. The new Mercedes C-class still wears the autogenous architecture and ability crown, but the bunched Infiniti climbs up the affluence ladder to a abode aloft the Acura TLX and a baby cleft aloft the BMW 3-Series. (The maple trim is alone offered on top-end trims.)
Thanks to the Q50’s acceptable exoteric dimensions, we accept rear seats with added leg allowance than any of the bunched affluence sedans, but you will acquisition added allowance in the 3-GT. Unfortunately, like abounding bunched affluence entries, rear allowance suffers due to the car’s adult ancillary profile. If you were acquisitive for a ample trunk, you’ll be disappointed. The Q50’s block holds just 13.5 cubic feet, alone a hair bigger than the Mercedes CLA or BMW 3-Series admitting the car accepting beyond in general. If you opt for the Q50 Amalgam again block aggregate shrinks to a absolutely convertible like 9.4 cubic feet, a hair beneath than BMW’s ActiveHybrid 3.
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Infotainment
The Q50 is the aboriginal Infiniti to accept the new 2-screen InTouch infotainment arrangement which uses both an 8-inch touchscreen LCD and a 7-inch touchscreen LCD. Like the endure bearing Infiniti systems, you can aswell ascendancy a lot of of the system’s functions via a joystick-like button on the council wheel. But wait! There’s more! Infiniti aswell includes a new aeronautics ascendancy caster in the centermost animate abaft the shifter a la iDrive and MMI. This gives the disciplinarian three altered ascribe methods to accept from. However, not all appearance can be accessed via the council caster ascendancy or the ascendancy wheel, and some options will allegation to be ‘touched’.
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Some cartage were absolutely and assuredly abashed by the 2-screen layout, but I adapted to the software quickly. While this sounds like Acura’s 2-screen system, Infiniti’s band-aid is bigger anticipation out and both screens are touch-enabled rather than just one as in the Acura system Suzuki used cars. Acura’s advertised ambition was to acquiesce you to accumulate the top awning for aeronautics while you acclimated the lower awning to play with your audio device, but that’s alone bisected accurate as the top awning is bare to accomplish a ample amount of audio functions. In the Infiniti, the action overlap amid the screens is large, so you can browse your media accessory and accomplish baddest added operations via either screen. This akin of best seems to be what confuses some shoppers. I accept never apparent a car infotainment interface that has so abounding agency of accomplishing the aforementioned thing. On the cast side, by the additional day, I acclimatized into the arrangement preferring to avoid the ambassador in the animate and use a aggregate of council caster controls and the lower touchscreen.
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Drivetrain
Rather than starting with a turbocharged four-banger, Infiniti skips entry-level ability and makes a 328 application 3.7L V6 accepted on all Q50 models. (Other apple markets get a Mercedes sourced four-cylinder turbo gasoline comminute and four-cylinder agent as well.) The engine’s 269 lb-ft of torque slots amid the 2.0L turbo and 3.0L turbo competition. Should you allegation added oomph, Infiniti’s acknowledgment is not forced-induction, but hybridization. The Q50 Amalgam uses the aforementioned amalgam arrangement we aboriginal saw in the M35h. Engine displacement drops to 3.5L and ability to 302 horsepower. The engine is again akin to a 67 application electric motor for a accumulated 360 application and an bearding torque figure. (I appraisal it at 380-400 lb-ft.)
Both engines are akin to about the aforementioned 7-speed automated manual and an another automated AWD system. The key differences in the amalgam archetypal (aside from the electric motor) are the additions of a dry clamp amid the engine and the 360V AC motor and a wet clamp central the manual case that allows the auto to be decoupled from the transmission. This allows the batteries to allegation while the car is anchored and smooths out EV-to-gasoline approach changes.
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Drive
Our tester was the “S” archetypal which “sported” action brakes, action seats, action suspension, magnesium paddle shifters staggered summer tires (245/40R19 foreground and 265/35R19 rear). Even with 3,675 pounds of barrier weight to hustle, the Q50S corners awfully able-bodied and the bifold wishbone abeyance and dual-mode dampers accumulate the abeyance acclimatized over torn pavement. Opt for the accepted all-season elastic and anchor is a little lower than the added able-bodied competition. Breadth the Q50 splits from the backpack is in the feel.
Let’s allocution about the albatross in the room: the another Direct Adaptive Council system. That’s what Infiniti calls their steer-by-wire arrangement in the Q50 and, to be altogether blunt, it makes the Q50 feel “video game-ish.”
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Unless the arrangement detects a fault, there is no automated affiliation amid the auto and the council wheel. If a accountability is detected, or if the ability is off, a clamp backpack closes giving a automated connection. This allows the council arrangement to “compensate” for things like potholes, cantankerous winds, acclimatized pavement, etc by befitting the auto acicular the administration you’ve adumbrated by the council caster behindhand of slight inputs from the road. The car can forward aback as abundant acknowledgment as it wants, but this is kept to a minimum. This reduces disciplinarian fatigue on continued trips, but the activity of the car affective hardly in the lane in acknowledgment to alien armament while the council caster does annihilation is abnormal to say the least.
In accession to the steer-by-wire system, the Q50 gets “active trace control”, which uses the brakes to apathetic alone auto “vectoring” you about the corner. The aftereffect of all these systems calm is council that may about be “too precise.” In a corner, at even eight-tenths, you apprehend to get a slight adumbration of understeer. You may not even apprehend that your car is accomplishing this because it is so “normal.” The Q50, however, goes absolutely breadth you point it, something that takes some accepting acclimated to. Infiniti’s estimation of the “ultimate active machine” aesthetics seems to be one that prioritizes absolute council attention and alley captivation over feel and connection.
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Steering feel aside, the Q50 acquits itself able-bodied in every added area. The S archetypal accelerates with the best in the segment, announcement a 5.05 additional run to 60 in our RWD tester and a 60-0 ambit of a bare 111 feet. Non S rear-wheel drive models will be a hair slower due to the arrangement traction. Also, back there was about no caster blooper in the rear-wheel drive Q50S, the AWD archetypal will in fact apathetic the 0-60 time by a hair. If you wish something faster, the amalgam archetypal will dip beneath 4.8 seconds. There are few entries faster than the Q50 and if you wish to get to artery speeds faster than the Q50 Hybrid, you’ll be larboard with just the 335i, C400 and S4.
Fuel abridgement in the Q50 is agnate to the added 300+ application entries in this segment, with the barring of the Volvo S60 T6 Drive e and BMW 335i that can boilerplate in the mid 20s if apprenticed gently. Jump in the amalgam and you can boilerplate over 30 mpg if you accumulate your artery speeds beneath 75 mph. The abridgement is agnate to the GS 450h but 0-60 and casual achievement is badly better.
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For 2015, the Q50 starts at $37,150, which is afterpiece to the beneath able four-cylinder competition. That is just $600 added than the apathetic IS 250, $910 added than an ATS 2.0T and manages to in fact be $350 beneath than a abject 328i. Audi’s A4 is a appropriate accord starting $1,650 beneath than the Q50, but you get 108 beneath ponies and they are all prancing through the foreground auto via a CVT. If it comes to the 300 hp crowd, the Infiniti is $5,000 beneath than the ATS 3.6 and $2,000 beneath than even the Volvo S60 T6. Alpha abacus options to your Q50 and some of the abatement shrinks, but the Q50 charcoal the abatement RWD alternative. The Q50 Amalgam is $4,400 added than a commensurable gasoline Q50, but $10,000 beneath than a analogously able BMW ActiveHybrid 3.
If you apperceive me, you apperceive that I adulation a bargain. The absolute chat “value” causes my loins to burn. The Q50 is the best RWD amount in this affluence segment. Period. We get added accepted ability and performance, a comfortable cabin, accepted LED lamps and two screens for beneath with reasonable resale amount expectations.
Perhaps the a lot of important affair to apperceive about the Q50 is Direct Adaptive Council is not accepted – you do accept to baddest the $3,100 “Deluxe Touring Package” to get it. On the downside, that amalgamation includes absolute copse trim, auto concealment mirrors, ability tilt/telescopic council column, anamnesis seats, parking sensors and the chic 360 appearance camera. Not selecting that amalgamation gets you a council arbor that is still un-engaging but feels appreciably added traditional. The rumor comminute tells us that the G37’s hydraulic council arbor is acceptable to be adored and grafted into the S trims of the Q50 for 2016. Let’s achievement that happens soon.
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While the ATS and IS 350 are added activating options, I doubtable I’d buy the Q50 instead due to its interior, infotainment system, achievement and price. I accept to accept that I would aswell buy the archetypal with DAS if I was clumsy to delay for 2016. No, I don’t in fact “like” DAS, but I like the appearance arranged with it added than I animosity it. If there’s one affair that becomes accessible if you drive over a hundred cars a year, it’s that absolute buyers acclimatize to the way a car feels abundant added readily than journalists do. Is the Q50’s council odd feeling? Sure, in a allusive faculty it is, but you’ll aswell get acclimated to it afterwards a few canicule and again it will feel altogether accustomed to a lot of shoppers. I wouldn’t alarm the Q50 the ultimate active machine, but if my money were on the line, I’d get the Q50S AWD Hybrid.