Cars, Food and the Ladies of Hong Kong & Macau: Infiniti Q50 2.0T Turbo Premium

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Infiniti Q50 2.0T Turbo Premium - Test Driving the New Infiniti by Nissan

The latest Infiniti by Nissan-Renault group is every loyal Skyline fan's dream come true. The Infiniti range is an upgraded version and derived from the same Nissan Skyline DNA linage over the years. It has returned wiser as a grown-up version and became a more mature design package, the L-Shaped LED front parker lights and the smoother curvy bonnet lines are definitively trendily European in style than all of its predecessors. Rest assure the performance has also received a welcoming and deserving boost by the manufacturer, yet it manages to use less fuel than those before this generation. The engine installed is shared with Mercedes and Daimler development.

Infiniti Q50 -
Sporty and with European curves, suitable for Professionals in image. This is the Premium package which sports 18” Alloy Wheels and Bridgestone tyres, with an Electronically adjustable Suspension package and better interior. In Macau, this is currently selling in the MOP $440,000 range, but knowing the Tax System discrepancy, paying in Hong Kong Dollars here can give you around a $20,000 discount.

Executive Looking yet Young Sporty -
Let’s give it some acceleration pedal action, to see if this 2.0L Engine with Turbo can give the enthuasists some real action.

Blessed with a Wind Tunnel calibrated aerodynamic performance of a very low 0.26 Coefficient of Efficiency drag, the 2015 Spec Infiniti Q50 2.0T carries an impressive 0-100km/h time of only 7.2 seconds whilst managing to keep fuel usage down to under 7.3Litres/100Km -
Impressive figure and this certainly is one efficient beast. In my mind instantly, I was drawing direct correlation to an equally worthy competitor in the upper end Lexus Performance series. And don’t forget this Engine shares the same DNA as a Mercedes C-Class Turbo engine as mentioned above.

Seat Stitching - “Infinity” by Nissan-Renault Group
They are also present on the latest Formula 1 Red Bull-Infiniti team. Since Renault and Nissan supply the engines to Red Bull Formula 1 Team as well, in partnership.

Dual Monitors with Touch-Screen -
GPS System and the Control below is digitalized via Fibre Optics. You can select every variable from Air Conditioning, to Stability Control, Braking and Steer Assist, all the way down to the specially installed BOSE Audio system.

Designed and built from scratch to emulate a European Spec Sports sedan experience,
Indeed the Infiniti Q50's underlying engine block also shares the same development program with a Mercedes-Benz C Class, the result of a joint manufacturing collaboration between Nissan and Daimler AG group. Having evaluated the limits of the Infiniti Q50 2.0T S Premium package, under slippery and rainy conditions in Macau, it still handled steadily and safely up to the point of Electronic Stability Control finally kicking in by calculations of its sensors, just as I very deliberately provoked it during cornering. *None of the other passengers actually noticed my mischievousness as I put pedal to the floor in the middle of a wet corner to test if it will drift wide naturally, or we can somehow trust it’s passive Electronics System to correct. Not that one can’t control it if it falls out of hand but it is still a big test and expected in today’s technology, just like the accelerometer in your iPhone and Smart Phone! It gives the driver much needed confidence as a passive and non-intrusive safety feature as we are all humans after all, even for the most precise professional drivers having an off-day and it might catch them off guard.

As a long term dedicated Skyline-Infiniti line fan and enthusiast -
One of my major inner concerns was how would the car ultimately perform when pushed to its limit during sudden turn-ins or fast cornering, in this rear wheel drive configuration historically famous for great handling. I mean with the much sharper European design in looks, I somehow was skeptical they might become too safe and classy and nullify the handling side of things to make it too gentlemen predictable in behaviour just as we are just beginning to have fun. Rest assure the Engine Power Distribution from the Turbo Engine and also the Drivability set up is as sharp as is expected and here I must give praise to Infiniti sticking to heritage. Performance in all aspects is tuned by none other than multiple F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel, surprisingly even also down to the Engine Mapping. Red Bull, Renault and Nissan Infinity linkage definitely helped with its development. Sure I would expect less understeer on turn-in, but the balance was close and suitable for most novice.

18” Alloy Wheels with the Premium Package -
The Bridgestone tyres have a good amount of grip even in the wet.

Dashboard -
Revs to 6,500rpm but the power-torque delivery arrives quite early. Such is modern Turbo technology.   Turbo lag nowadays is almost non-existent and it climbed up hill many times without effort.

7 Speed Gear Shift has only +/- Controls on the Gear Stick -
The Shift-Paddles on the Steering Wheel are not present. And for what is an Automatic Gearbox with a Torque Converter still taking care of the power, this makes inherent sense since the Tip-Tronic Gear set up wasn’t meant to be mechanically racy with thumping clutch gear changes.

A lovely Package that is emulating a European Experience -
As an ex-Nissan driver I can totally see where this is heading in the European Sporty Cars section!   The no lag engine response with plenty of usable torque and a lovingly designed and manufactured interior is almost immaculate.   The chassis is convincingly stiff, the suspension and handling characteristics was accurate with a good safety margin dialled-in.   I would love to own this as my daily car and it looks so cool yet executive.

Despite looking Executive in Design -
If you are adventurous enough to turn off the brake assisted turn-in and other stability controls, you can manually test the car's ultimate balance. My final impression of this car is that it has definitely matured to become right up there with the best available European sporty sedans, even the suspension, built, engine and handling plus the design of the interior is very convincing. There is also a Hybrid V6 version available which carries a 360 Horsepower engine and can perform 0-100km/h in 5.1s, which is just touching on super car territory. Now I am excited to try that version, and also the newly released Q70 series..