I drove a $60,000 Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 all-wheel-drive sport sedan to find out if it could combine luxury, tech, and fun - here's the verdict
Let us now ponder the Infiniti question.
Nissan's luxury brand arrived in 1989, at about the same time as Toyota's Lexus and a few years after Honda's Acura. In the US, this wave of neo-luxe from the Japanese carmakers meant that GM's Cadillac and Ford's Lincoln brands were going to see some additional competition — something they'd already confronted with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and to a lesser degree, Porsche.
To attract customers, the premise was straightforward: the Japanese had proven that it could deliver impressive quality and reliability — so why not give consumers something snazzier to buy? You liked your Nissan (and before it, your Datsun, the name the carmaker used in the US until the mid-1980s). So don't step up to a Mercedes or BMW. Choose Infiniti.
Three decades later, Infiniti is still in the game. But as far as the luxury market goes, a hierarchy has developed. Cadillac and Lincoln were displaced by Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus, with Toyota's effort the only really stunning success from that late-1980s period of innovation. Cadillac and Lincoln have been in semi-permanent revival mode, with their fortunes tied to their large SUVs.
And Acura and Infiniti have formed a sort of second tier, a cut above Buick, but with pressure coming from Genesis, Hyundai's upstart luxury entrant. With US market share in both the mass-market and the premium realm more-or-less fixed, this has led Infiniti in particular to occupy luxury limbo.
This is the calculus and running commentary that shuttles through my brain whenever I slip behind the wheel of an Infiniti. The question for me, then, is does the management-consulting problem supplant the vehicles themselves?
When it comes to an ostensibly exciting car such as the Q50 Red Sport 400, I regrettably have to answer, "Yes."
Infiniti loaned me a 2020 Q50 Red Sport 400, with all-wheel-drive, in a handsome "Dynamic Sunstone" paint job, a sort of deep red-orange.
I'm mostly a fan of Infiniti's designs, which I usually consider flashier than Acura or Lexus, although to be honest Lexus has turned up the volume on its exteriors of late.
The Q50 looked sharp in my driveway and put a smile on my face every time I checked it out. Not quite as big a smile as what a BMW or Mercedes sedan would induce, about the same as an Audi. The price tag was a not-unreasonable $60,475, with a little over $4,000 in extras on the starting sticker of $56,250. The most expensive bit of bling was a $1,520 "Carbon Fiber" package because, you know, this four-door is sporty. (The Dynamic Sunstone exterior added a mere $800).
For that, you get a rather attractive compact performance sedan that should in theory be able to handle triple-duty as a suburban family car, a stylish daily commuter, and a dash of thrills when you cut it loose on some twisty asphalt.
As far as the design goes, the Q50 was appealing from all angles, but the front fascia was my fave. The grille is a study in modesty, when compared to Lexus' controversial "spindle" and Acura's hard-edged angles. It borders on elegant, and the LED headlamps and running lights assume a balanced proportion relative to the other design elements. The chrome band around the black-out grille also stuck me as being ... just the right amount of shine.
The Q50's rear is also nice-lookin'.
I had the Q50 for only about four days, a shorter load than usual, but I warmed up to it in a hurry. Harmoniously styled, the Q50 nonetheless stands out amid all the Bimmers and Mercs. And the truth is that although sedans are fading in popularity, overwhelmed by the advent of the crossover SUV as a station wagon of the 21st century, I still loves me a four-door!
Of course, the Q50's design dates back to 2014. There's a whiff of either appealing throwback or alarming aged-ness to it, depending in your point of view. The Red Sport treatment does intensify what could be construed as stodgy. My Q50 tester had all manner of fun stuff going on, from 19-inch aluminum-allow wheels to hawt red brake calipers, showy dual exhaust ports, and a carbon-finer decklid spoiler sharing the exterior with carbon-fiber side-view mirrors.
The trunk provides 13 cubic-feet of cargo space, which is adequate. I didn't stress over grocery-store runs.
A "Quilted Gallery" interior!
I like quilted upholstery. I'm still undecided about white and cream interiors, although I'm fine with tan. The Q50's seats won me over, as they just seemed ... well, logical with the exterior. I can't fully explain it. They were simply right for this car.
They're heated and cooled up front, eight-way-adjustable, and mostly comfy. Except when the stiff-framed Q50 Red Sport is negotiating city streets in cities such as New York, land of potholes and uneven paving. Then they wouldn't be comfy even if they were stuffed with acres of down.
It's a trade-off, as we'll see in a minute when I detail the driving experience. Over the long weekend I spent piloting the Q50, I managed to dial in a driving mode and driving style that made run-of-the-mill highway driving a manageable enough.
The rear seats are also comfy, but legroom is limited. My taller children complained.
The cabin doesn't feel fresh.
It's a good thing that I typically enjoy Infiniti interiors, because the Q50's had an old-school vibe.
A lot of luxury brands are transforming everything in a screen or a high-res digital display, so the Q50's legacy gauges aren't very contemporary. The worked for me because I'm not a proponent of screenification. But the approach is likely to turn off some consumers.
The leather wrapped steering wheel was adorned with some red top-stitching, and that was extent of the Red Sport aesthetic that made it inside. After dealing with BMW M styling, as well as Mercedes-AMG, Infiniti's subdued attitude was refreshing.
But it was also boring. Which made me thankful for the white interior.
Why have one screen when you can have two?
Acura has also used a dual-screen setup, so it's not unprecedented. The question is, "Worth it?"
The answer is probably not. But in practice, I found that being able to dedicate one screen to navigation while using the other for different features worked out quite well. On balance, the overall ergonomics and interface of all the systems that Infiniti has located on the center console and between the front seats were commendable.
The Infiniti InTouch system is responsive, Bluetooth device pairing is a snap, there are USB ports for device connections, and both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available. The Bose Performance 16-speaker audio system served up what I expect from Bose, which is consistency across musical genres: classical, jazz, rock, blues, country.
For driver-assist, the Q50 has a limited range of systems — adequate for most consumers, but behind the curve of what the tier-one luxury brands now routinely offer. There's forward collision warning, emergency braking, a 360-degree warning system, and adaptive cruise control.
The heart of the Q50 Red Sport 400 is its powerplant.
Under the hood, the 2020 Q50 Red Sport 400 has a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V6, making 400 horsepower with 350 pound-feet of torque. Infiniti pairs this motor with a seven-speed automatic transmission, with paddle shifters for manual snicking.
Drive modes are Standard, Sport, Sport Plus, Eco, and Snow (my test car was all-wheel-drive, but a rear-wheel-drive is also available, and it's cheaper). I wound up using Sport the most.
The engine is beefy, and it makes a seductive noise, thanks to the sport exhaust. I'd categorize it as toward the growl end of the sonic spectrum, versus the whine side. The motor also serves up ample punch. I've always been a fan of Nissan's V6s, the mill in the Q50 is a dandy example, with nearly lagless acceleration.
Some folks think the Q50 Red Sport is slow, compared to Mercedes and BMW sport sedans. On paper, it does take its relative time to get to 60 mph: about five seconds, in my reckoning. But there's time on the clock and there's a feeling of speed, and with the Q50 Red Sport, the V6 in combination with the seven-speed creates a juicy overall impressive. This car, in my hands, felt both powerful and agile at all times.
Fuel economy is meh: 19 mpg city/26 highway/22 combined. That motor should wind up costing you a bit more at the pump, and it prefers premium.
The Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 isn't perfect, but it is pretty good.
I'm under no illusion that I'm going to convince a BMW, Mercedes, or Audi fan to take a second look at the Infiniti Q50 Red Sport. They aren't even going to take a first look.
I'd take a first look because I drive everything in the sport-sedan world and know that Infiniti does a fine job, even if it does tend to fall behind the curve as far as styling goes. In my book, that isn't always a bad thing. These days, I'm so stick of struggling to figure out every new touchscreen infotainment system that comes down the pike, I long for the era of AM/FM radios and crank windows.
But back to the present. While I'd prefer the rear-wheel-drive trim of the Q50 400 Red Sport, the all-wheel-drive is probably the one to get if you inhabit snowy wintertime regions. Driving the thing is soothing when you need it to be and peppy when you demand, showcasing the beauty of 400 horsepower. It's really just right — 425 would be overkill, and 375 would be skimping.
True, the suspension is tuned stiff, and that's not pleasant on battered roadways. The power steering also gets knocked for feeling disconnected, but I didn't really sense that, and in Sport and Sport Plus, it goes in fast-ratio mode and provides adequate if not telekinetic response. I wasn't apprehensive about braking vigorously, throwing the Q50 hard into a corner and then getting back on the throttle for fear that the steering could keep up.
The 2020 Q50 Red Sport, in the end, is a fun-ish car to drive, with an interior that's a perplexing combination of comfortable and technologically patchworked. The design is dignified, but with a touch of the wild. The price, at just north of $60,000 as tested, but around $56,000 before the goodies, is fair but not a stunning deal.
Sounds like a tepid reaction? It would be, save the excellent twin-turbo-V6-and-seven-speed marriage. I can pick apart the Q50 Red Sport 500 all day. But you have to give Infiniti credit for getting the most important part of the car absolutely right.
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