Rolling on stage at Detroit, the new 2017 Infiniti Q60 Coupe is a near identical translation of the Q60 Concept car that was shown a year ago. It didn’t lose any of its sexiness in the translation, at least on the outside.
The third generation of Infiniti’s sport coupe brings the brand’s styling which I used to call angry fish into a new arena that can actually be called appealing, if not beautiful. The curves and creases of the Q60 all seem to flow together just right and its stance is low and menacing.
It has the same fastly raked rear roof line that we’ve seen in the Lexus RC, but here it has a more daring kicked up window sill at the C-Pillar. It’s tail lights are certainly elegant enough and around front, the grille and headlights come together with a well conceived balance.
The hood is low, but under it this year will be three new engines. The headliners are the pair of new VR -series 3.0 liter twin-turbo V6’s. The engines, will offer two power ratings at 300 and 400 horsepower respectively.
They’re mechanically identical with air-to-water inter-coolers mounted atop the engine. Each turbocharger mounts directly to cylinder head which has an integrated exhaust manifold. The key difference between the two engines is a turbine speed sensor that allows for more precise and aggressive tune for the more powerful version.
Both of these will no doubt offers some thrilling sounds and a nice kick in the back, the kind of high winding goodness that you pay for in a car like this. In both engines power peaks at 6,400 rpm so you’ll be doing just that.
The base engine will be the 208 horsepower 2.0 liter four-cylinder engine shared with Mercedes-Benz and all engines will come with a seven-speed automatic transmission. There’s no word on whether a manual will ever be offered, but you can get all-wheel drive.
Available this year is the second-generation of Infiniti’s not so loved Direct Adaptive Steering or rather, drive-by-wire steering. They claim it’s had significant re-tuning to enhance steering feel and feedback. This is because most drivers and journalists hated the last version of it in the Q50.
The question becomes, why do they work so hard to make fake steering feel good when we can just have real steering so much more easily?
And since we’re talking straight now, the interior is the one area where the production car didn’t quite bring all the goods from the concept. While the new cabin is indeed very attractive with fine leathers, high quality materials and all the tech you will ever want for, its design isn’t nearly as emotional.
I admit design is subjective topic with opinion being all that is measured. The concept just seemed to evoke a spirit and artistic form that really knocked it out of the park. The production version here hardly seems substantially different from the last Q60.
