Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge
UPDATE: Racy Q50 revealed in full ahead of Detroit debut
Here it is then, the Q50 Eau Rouge in all its rouge and carbon glory. From the original teaser image, Infiniti has now revealed this Q50 is lower, wider and includes a raft of new body panels over the standard car. Only the roof and door profiles are unchanged, and the former is carbon anyway.
Elsewhere, there are carbon side skirts and mirror caps, plus 21-inch forged alloys, a spoiler integrated into the bootlid and a rear diffuser made of you know what.
According to Infiniti's Design Director Alfonso Albaisa, "the sculpted front wing assembly and the rear aerodynamic packaging take their cues from the Red Bull Racing RB9 race car". That's pushing it, but the Eau Rouge certainly adds some welcome sporting intent to the fairly generic Q50 shape. Technical specs are still under wraps ahead of its full unveiling on the 14th though.
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Given the amount invested in Red Bull Racing, it isn't surprising that Infiniti wants to promote the alliance with its road cars. We've already had the Vettel-fettled FX, now there's an F1 oriented Q50.
Compared to the standard car, the Eau Rouge looks more aggressive from head-on, with a new front bumper (that's probably 'F1 inspired'), a pair of bonnet vents and carbon mirrors too.
Surprisingly for a performance variant, there is no mention yet of any mechanical tweaks for the Q50 Eau Rouge. The standard car hardly blew us away recently, so can't help but feel the Eau Rouge appears a shameless 'motorsport' special for now. We'll find out more at the car's unveiling in Detroit on January 14th.
I'd like to see them wind back the sportiness and concentrate on just getting the luxury and efficiency bit right. Perhaps come out with some Audi All-road/S4/S6 Avant/535d touring rivals.
Much like Infiniti's 'special edition' soft-roaders. They're COMPLETELY missing the mark with all this. Perhaps if Infiniti made, y'know, a sports car (or even better, a supercar) then I could understand it.
Frankly I feel a little embarrassed for them. Some poor marketing schmuck is being told by the senior management to 'leverage their F1 connection' and doesn't really have much to work with.
The jaguar xf maggots or Bentley dingly dell anyone?
Personally I would have the Bentley "Genting Curve" (Sepang) as a manufacturer's special.....
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