You may not know a lot about the Infiniti Q60. What if we called it by its previous name, the G37 Coupe? Now you know what car we're talking about. Back in 2013, Infiniti renamed its model lineup. For the 2014 model year, all of Infiniti's cars had fresh new names, even if the car itself wasn't actually new. In some cases, like with the G37 sedan, the old model was actually sold in tandem (rebadged as the Q40) with the all-new car (the Q50). The Q60 began its life as a lame duck, so to speak, but now it could end up being Infiniti's savior.
Let's get something out of the way, the 2014 and 2015 Q60s are just rebadged versions of the V36 generation G37 coupe. The all-new 2017 is based on the new V37 platform which is shared with the Q50 sedan. The fresh Q60 will also benefit from the new series of engines from the Q50. One of the issues with the Q50 and previous Q60 was that they shared the same 3.7-liter VQ37VHR engine found in the G37 since used 2008. This engine was very potent at the time with 328 horsepower and is no slouch by today's standards. However, it was increasingly at a disadvantage compared to its more efficient and more powerful turbocharged rivals.
The Q60 will come with a range of new engine options. There will be a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo with 208 horsepower and 250 lb-ft of torque. This base VR20 engine will help the Q60 compete more closely with the BMW 428i, Lexus RC 200t, and Audi A5, all of which have four-cylinder turbocharged engines. In the past, Infiniti relied on having a more powerful, naturally aspirated V6 engine that still cost less than its less powerful rivals. Now Infiniti can really give off the image of a serious German car competitor while still winning in the pricing category. If that still isn't enough, Infiniti's new VR30 V6 should be able to get some attention from buyers.
Infiniti's new V6 is already available in the Q50 sedan and comes in two versions, both having 3.0-liter displacements with two turbos. The base tune comes with 300 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque and the more powerful version kicks out 400 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque. Both tunes are mated to a seven-speed automatic with RWD or AWD. No manual will be offered, but when you look at the Q60's main rivals, a manual transmission doesn't seem like an important option for Infiniti. The Q60 can easily hold its own in the looks department. The Q50 isn't a bad looking car, but it doesn't stand out like its coupe sibling.
The Q60 should be able to do for Infiniti what the Q37 and Q35 coupes were able to do when they were introduced. The G35 and G37 sedans were not bad cars, and they represented Infiniti's bread and butter for years. However, the coupe versions looked great, and gave people a reliable alternative to one of the German coupes at the time. Even though the Lexus RC didn't exist back then, we still think that the Q60 can do what its predecessors did: make Infiniti cool again.
