Infiniti Q60

The Q50 sedan is Infiniti's mid-size business car. The Q50 not only drives above average thanks to innovative technology, but also thanks to its design. Namely, the Q50 has the design of a sports car with rear-wheel drive and proportional weight distribution between the front and rear wheels.

And that provides the ideal basis for a sports coupé! Note the choice of words here; the Q60 is not a sports car, but it is a sporty coupé. The Q60 has an elongated silhouette with sharp creases in the sheet metal. Chrome accents emphasise the shapes where needed, resulting in a downright desirable car.

Space and equipment

Inside, the coupé feel is complete. The Q60 has a low seat and gives a secure feeling. The sports seats sit, or rather lie, wonderfully. Legroom in the rear is reasonable, headroom only sufficient for small children.

The dashboard is almost unchanged from the Q50, including two screens one above the other in the centre tunnel. The upper screen is mainly for the sat nav system, the lower one for "infotainment" (radio, media and phone). In practice, the dual display works nicely because there is never any need to switch between functions. The experience is similar to that of a large upright display as supplied by Renault, Tesla, Volvo and McLaren, among others.

For the audio system, Infiniti enlisted the help of Bose. The "performance audio system" sounds nice with the right settings of the tone controls, but the clarity lags far behind that of other high-end audio systems in this segment.

Safety

Infiniti can keep up well when it comes to luxury, but is at the forefront when it comes to safety. As with other modern cars, cameras, radars and lasers watch the driver. Infiniti looks even further, however, and can also predict what is happening in front of the car in front. That way, a rear-end collision does not turn into a chain collision.

Very pleasingly, the Q60 automatically decellerates when other traffic brakes, even when not using adaptive cruise control. In other words, when other traffic brakes, the Q60 reduces speed to keep the driver alert. Very nice and very smart!

The many sensors also ensure that the Q60 always stays neatly within the lines and follows the course of the road (even through corners!). Semi-autonomous driving that's called. However, in the Q60, the front wheels are not directly connected to the steering wheel. The steering wheel is connected to a computer, which steers the wheels ("steer by wire"). This is why the car sometimes corrects itself, even though there is no sign of it in the steering wheel, which takes some getting used to, to say the least.

Handling

The advantage of steering by computer is that the Q60 can make driving even easier. Steering errors are corrected even before they are made. Thereby, the driver can choose how directly or indirectly and how lightly or heavily the car steers.

As indicated earlier, the Q60 is not a sports car, but it is a car with a sporty character. The suspension is therefore firmer than that of the sedan it is derived from. In addition, the choice of tyres ensures exemplary and especially "linear" handling. That is, the car responds to driver commands in roughly the same way at both low and high speeds, which gives a lot of confidence in the car.

Keep in mind that the wide tyres create a lot of driving noise on bad road surfaces. Given the price tag, this coupé could have been quieter.

Performance

Engine power is sent to the rear wheels. At least, in the 2.0-litre turbo driven here. There is also a 3.0-litre turbo and it produces so much power that four-wheel drive was necessary.

The 2.0-litre turbo engine is "borrowed" from Mercedes-Benz, but fitted by Infiniti with its own software and its own automatic transmission. Because this is a now-aged engine, the Q60's fuel consumption is higher than similar cars from other brands.

Mercedes-Benz's automatic has nine gears, Infiniti's "only" seven. Nevertheless, Infiniti's automatic gearbox shifts as it should: jerk-free, at the right time and therefore almost imperceptibly. With 211 hp / 350 Nm of power, the Q60 delivers the performance and driving pleasure to match its promising looks.

Conclusion

True beauty is on the inside, so the saying goes. And the Infiniti Q50 is a good example of that. Innovative technology, rear-wheel drive and ideal weight distribution make for above-average handling. But to make a car truly desirable and special, it takes more. This is why the Q60 picks up where the Q50 left off: with a handsome bodywork and even more emphasis on sportiness.