Infiniti Q60S: Driven
G37 successor has plenty of power and performance, but keeps the controversial all-electric steering
Yet things have been moving in the right direction for Infiniti recently. The arrival of the Q30 hatch, and its QX30 sister, have helped more than double British sales over the last year. Okay, so the peak is still a modest 2,800, but there are now 12 dealers (spread from Bristol to Glasgow) with ambitions to increase that total to 25. It's a long way from becoming a mass market brand, but in a part of the market where exclusivity is in short supply, that brings its own appeal.
Course we went for the 400hp car first
Simples
The UK range will be refreshingly simple, with the choice of two engines - a Mercedes-built 2.0-litre turbocharged four-pot that we'll tell you about separately and the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 that powers the range-topping Q60S. Some markets will get a less powerful version of the 'six, but the UK is only going to have the full-fat 400hp model, which also gets all-wheel drive and a seven-speed automatic. Plus that controversial electric steering system as standard.
The cabin fits snugly thanks to the generous width of the centre console, and although it's well constructed it feels a bit old-fashioned compared to its glitzier European rivals -the combination of two touch screens and a rotary controller for nav and infotainment functions takes a bit of getting used to. But standard kit is pretty much Toys ' R' Us. The £42,990 Sport gets leather, navigation, a BOSE audio system, power seats and adaptive dampers. The range-topping Sport Tech adds a full battery of safety and visibility aids for £46,690. So more kit and nearly as much power as an M4 for less money than a 440i M-Sport.
Fun AWD and a balanced chassis? Yep, really
Good news first: the engine is a cracker. The V6 sounds good, likes to work hard and delivers a proper amount of wallop when fully unleashed. Responses are impressively linear with more revs dialled on, although as tends to be the case with modern turbos it takes a while to gather momentum at lower engine speeds. Discovering this means using lower gears through the transmission's manual mode, but leave the auto to its own devices and it's always adept at kicking the motor into life. The gearbox isn't the quickest, there's certainly no chance of mistaking it for a double-clutch, but it shifts cleanly under gentle use. While the overall powerplant doesn't deliver quite the sound or fury of Merc's new AMG43 V6 it suits the Infiniti's more relaxed dynamic mission impressively well.
Don't worry, things stay positive for a while longer. The chassis makes a decent fist of combining accuracy with refinement, the switchable dampers firming things up noticeably in the more aggressive Sport and Sport Plus mode but allowing the Q60S decent compliance at low speeds. The test car was riding on winter-spec Pirelli Sottozeros, which kicked up a fair bit or road noise and struggled to deliver adhesion on the cold, greasy Swiss roads the car was driven on. But even at modest speeds it's obvious that the all-wheel drive system has an amusingly rearwards bias; I suspect the Infiniti could prove to be a pretty entertaining companion on grippier rubber and grippier roads.
No danger of mistaking it for an A5
That just about covers everything, doesn't it? No, wait - the brakes. There's decent retardation, despite the Sottozeros squirming under bigger loads, but the pedal feels a bit mushy.
I'm teasing. It's time to open the jumbo bag of peanuts and call out to the sizeable elephant that's been lurking in the back of the room since the story began, the continued presence of the Direct Adaptive Steering system.
To (briefly) recap, this has removed the physical link between the steering wheel and the front axle; there's a back-up mechanical system if things go wrong, but in normal use all instructions are relayed electrically from sensors to the motor that powers the rack. The logic, other than allowing Infiniti to claim it's got its hand down the zeitgeist's pants, is that it allows almost limitless variation of the rack ratio, which gets far quicker in the car's sportier dynamic settings, four per cent faster in Sport and 12 per cent in Sport Plus.
The Q60S's set-up is certainly an improvement over the early Q50, which was almost laughably bad when asked to deal with the real world. The weighting is now more consistent and doesn't seem to change mid-corner any more, and the digitally simulated resistance is more convincing, although not really any more so than a good force feedback gaming rig would be. Other sensations are almost entirely lacking, deliberately so it turns out. The system has, we're told, been designed to "filter out unwanted vibrations" or, as they're alternatively known, 'feedback'. The rack-tightening is a neat trick, but from a driver's perspective DAS adds precisely nothing over what a decent conventional EPS would offer and remains the dynamic weak link.
It's good, but the steering remains an issue
Steering feel isn't everything, of course - the electron-powered tiller isn't nearly enough to ruin what is otherwise a fine car, and in many ways a compellingly old-fashioned one. These days comfy coupes with big engines and no undue concern for fuel economy or emissions numbers are in short supply. Infiniti says it is considering doing a hybrid version sharing the Q50's powertrain, but confirms that there definitely won't be a diesel version.
There's no doubting the Q60S will be an unusual sight, and that alone gives it some strong appeal in a segment that often seems filled with default choices. It doesn't feel as polished as its rivals, but you can't accuse it of being short of character.
INFNITI Q60S V6 AWD SPORT TECH
Engine: 2,997cc, V6, twin turbocharged
Transmission: 7-speed auto, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 400@6,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 350@1,600-5,200rpm
0-62mph: 5.0sec
Top speed: 155mph (limited)
Weight: 1,892kg
MPG: 31.0
CO2: 208g/km
Price: £46,690
Anyway, due to the steering system, definitely one to test drive I think, even better to get it overnight or over a weekend as I suspect it is a system that will need to be properly tested.
Makes the new Lexus look overpriced and a bit of a snotter, when you consider this is half the price and only loses out by about 75bhp.
I'm not sure it's a relevant comparison
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