Infiniti Q50 2014 Review

If they had a time machine you get the impression the folks at Infiniti Australia would happily zot back to September 2012 and scrub the local launch of the brand.

Instead of striking out with a couple of aged warriors in the M sedan and FX crossover, they’d have waited until now, February 2014, for the arrival of the Q50 and started a bold new adventure with a bold new car.

Maybe then all that stuff written about dealer doubts, over-pricing and unsustainably poor sales might never have become matters of public record.

Instead, the first Aussie interaction with Infiniti would have been learning about a car pitched at the heart of the luxury market against those icons of the upwardly mobile, the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-class (and yes, the Audi A4 and even the Lexus IS).

There’s no doubt Infiniti has done its best to cut through by making the Q50 an appealing pricing and value package, as well as packing it with some significant technology.

The Q50 comes with a 125kW/400Nm 2.1-litre turbo-diesel (dubbed 2.2d) in three grades – GT, S and S Premium; and with a petrol-electric V6 hybrid system in two grades – S and S Premium.

The guts of the diesel and its attendant seven-speed torque converter auto are supplied by Benz, while the Hybrid’s drivetrain is Nissan’s own and coupled to a seven-speed dual-clutch auto. All Q50s are rear-wheel drive except the Hybrid S Premium, which is all-wheel drive.

The Q50 is the first production car to feature steer-by-wire – although the entry-level GT misses out on this – and there is a suite of digital safety aids including a claimed world-first back-up collision intervention system – but only the S Premium models get most of these.

The Hybrid, with its stonking 268kW/546Nm outputs and 5.1-second 0-100km/h ability, gets sports suspension, bigger brakes and 19-inch wheels (the diesel S Premium also gets the big wheels).

There is a plethora of kit detailed along with sharp pricing here. At $51,900 (plus ORCs) the 2.2d GT undercuts all logical luxury opposition, while the most expensive Q50 Hybrid ($73,900) is $25,000 cheaper than BMW’s ActiveHybrid 3.

In the metal the Q50 looks smaller and more purposeful than on a screen. It’s led by a pair of mean looking headlights and a slightly shocked maw. It’s low at the front and quite heavily shouldered at the rear. Fat here and thin there, if a BMW 3 Series is techno then this thing is new-wave.

Some will find it unsettling, others will embrace it. Judging by the head swivel test, few will ignore it.

Inside there’s a sense of luxury in the base model GT that evolves through different trims but doesn’t become that much more pronounced as you progress up through the grades. Things like large, plush armchairs, dual LED screens, an incongruous foot parking brake and high-grade materials are common.

Leg and head space is good for rear-seat passengers, as is the high-mounted view out. Storage isn’t a strong suit (no rear door pockets). The boot claims 500 litres for the diesel but is oddly shaped and lacks cubbby holes. The Hybrid loses 100 litres and the split-folding rear seat to fit the lithium-ion battery pack.

The Q50’s interior is not up to Audi standards when it comes to fit and finish, but it banishes BMW and Benz to the ‘must do better’ column, something it appears the latter may have achieved with the new W205 C-Class. We’ll find out soon enough.

Nor is it Lexus-like in terms of refinement. The diesel is both noisy and vibey at idle. Even on the base 17-inch tyres the GT we drove rode with some sharpness at low speeds and transmitted sharp edged hits into the cockpit.

The Hybrid we sampled was much quieter – especially when running on battery power alone (something it can do up to 100km/h, apparently) -- and despite its stiffer suspension and 19-inch rubber actually rode with no more tension.

Once up and running the diesel proved itself strong and clean in its responses. The Hybrid is the same, both working well with their transmissions.

But there is a substantial difference in the level of that response. The Hybrid S punched truly hard from corner to corner on the winding roads used for a decent part of the launch drive in the mountain ranges north-east of Melbourne.

But get to the corners and that’s when the Direct Adaptive Steering comes into play. It removes any direct mechanical connection between the driver and the road (although if the ECUs crack up there is a mechanical fail-safe), which means all natural ‘feel’ is also banished.

It is driver-adjustable through various modes for both weight and gearing, but whichever way you set it there’s no doubt it takes some getting used to. That’s because response is extremely quick and quite pronounced. So much so it’s easy to apply too much steering lock and find yourself having to wind off and take another bite.

DAS is overlaid by digital aids such as Active Lane Control and Active Trace Control and the sense of what bits (bytes?) are influencing can become blurred. Some throttle responses were delayed, some brake applications too sudden. More time and twiddling of dials might have made for a better drive.

You do adjust as the kilometres go by; the fundamental chassis behaviour, as far as it can be divined, is strong. But DAS lacks the clarity of a good electric-assisted rack-and-pinion system, let alone some of the classic hydraulic-assist set-ups.

There is no doubt the Q50 Hybrid S is potent, but it isn’t the most communicative of sporting drives. If you go by the numbers no doubt it impresses, but by the seat of the pants it’s too up-tight.

It’s a very different proposition to the diesel GT, which slots into its dual roles of price leader and relaxed cruiser with ease. Both cars will have their fans.

And that’s good news for Infiniti Australia. From our first taste the Q50 range has width, depth, quality and value. There are some issues but also many substantial plusses.

It’s certainly the car that Infiniti Australia needed to gather attention and momentum back in September 2012. Better late than never.  

Infiniti Q50 2.2d GT price and specs:
Price: $51,900 plus on-road costs
Engine: 2.1-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 125kW/400Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Fuel: 5.2L/100km (combined)
CO2: 138gkm (combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star Euro NCAP

What we liked:
>> Price and equipment level
>> Competent dynamics
>> Original design

Not so much:
>> Diesel vibration at idle
>> Disconnected feel of steer-by-wire
>> Sharp low speed ride

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