View Photos ROBERT KERIAN

From the April 2015 issue

Infiniti’s hot, Nissan GT-R–powered Q50 Eau Rouge concept is dead. Cooler heads have prevailed now that itinerant luxury czar Johan de Nysschen has decamped for Cadillac. So shed some tears. Pour some Red Bull on the curb. But grieve quickly because Infiniti has something more tangible—and more important—coming relatively soon.

The Q60, on sale next year as a 2017 model, is Infiniti’s answer to Audi’s A5, BMW’s 4-series, and Mercedes’ C-class coupe. Like that German triad, the Q60 will offer a choice of turbocharged four- and six-cylinder engines. The four will be nearly identical to the 241-hp 2.0-liter found in the C-class, as this product of the partnership between Daimler and Nissan-Renault will be built on Nissan’s engine line in Decherd, Tennessee, which is already shipping engines to the Mercedes plant near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

View Photos The Q60 concept's design trades the gracefulness of the first G coupe for the currently popular hungry-predator look. However, its new twin-turbo V-6 promises to be more refined than the old 3.7-liter V-6. ROBERT KERIAN

The turbo 3.0-liter V-6, however, is Nissan’s own design and brings direct injection to compact Infinitis for the first time. Output will be around the same 330 horsepower as today’s naturally aspirated 3.7-liter VQ V-6. And turning up the boost on the twin turbochargers will allow Infiniti to sell a hotter version of the Q60 with an estimated 400 horses. A seven-speed automatic (sorry, no manual) will send power to either the rear wheels or all of them with optional four-wheel drive, just as in the Q50 sedan.

Since the new Q60 is based on the Q50’s architecture, its new powertrain hardware will appear on the sedan concurrent with its mid–life-cycle refresh, also for 2017. The Q50’s hybrid system, however, won’t be available in the two-door, as Infiniti wants to play up the Q60’s sportiness. Such ambitions will require improvements to the Direct Adaptive Steering system, the much-derided steer-by-wire technology that made its debut on the Q50.

View Photos ROBERT KERIAN

Infiniti recognizes it has a problem, and efforts are underway to fix the steering before the Q60 hits dealerships. The ­calibration for the Q50 has already been revised once, and development engineers have been driving a prototype Q50 equipped with the hydraulically assisted rack-and-pinion setup from the old G37 Sport as a benchmark for the Q60’s electrically assisted steering.

Speaking of the G37, Infiniti is still selling it . . . as the Q60, confusingly enough. But there’s nothing unclear about the intention behind the Q60 concept unveiled at Detroit and pictured here: It is a dramatic departure from its predecessors. Everywhere the current coupe is plump, the Detroit show car is creased, taking the basic theme of the Q50 to the extreme. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the enormous grille that dominates the 60’s scowling face. Indeed, the Q60 will be the more extroverted of the pair of Infinitis. Compared with the dimensions of the current G37, er, Q60, the Detroit concept is roughly an inch longer, an inch and a half wider, and an inch lower.

View Photos ROBERT KERIAN

Infiniti says the new production model will mimic the concept, delivering 90 percent of what you see here. It is a beguiling car. If not exactly beautiful, it’s certainly striking. While the Q60 doesn’t look much like the original G35 coupe from 2002, it is envelope-pushing in the same way that old car was in its era, when it began building the brand’s credibility with enthusiasts.

Infiniti says it is still serious about building drivers’ cars. We might have taken a production Eau Rouge as proof. And maybe, eventually, Infiniti will resurrect the idea and commit. Let’s hope the Q60 will already have convinced us by then.

Specifications Vehicle Type front-engine, rear- or 4-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe Base Price $40,000–$55,000* Engines turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 241 hp, 273 lb-ft; twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter V-6, 330–400 hp*, 270–350 lb-ft* Transmission 7-speed automatic with manual shifting mode Dimensions Wheelbase 112.2 inches Length 184.6 inches Width 73.4 inches Height 53.9 inches Curb Weight 3700–4000 lb Performance* 0–60 mph 4.6–5.6 sec 0–100 mph 12.0–14.1 sec Standing 1/4-Mile 13.2–14.2 sec Top Speed 140 mph

*C/D estimated.

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