Is The Q60 The Car That Will Bring Infiniti Back Into The Spotlight?

Or will it be overlooked just like most of the Infiniti lineup?

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.

The Refreshed Audi R8 Could Bring Back Enthusiasts' Dream Ride

Here's a hint: this R8 debuted exactly one year ago.

Believe it or not, the second generation Audi R8 debutws back in 2015 at the Geneva Motor Show. Given the amount of time that has passed, its mid-life facelift is expected in the very near future. We wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen this coming March at Geneva 2019. Although the second-gen R8 isn’t as groundbreaking as the original R8, which debuted in 2006, there is one very limited R8 that’s quite special, the 2019 Audi R8 RWS. RWS stands for Rear Wheel Series.

Only 999 R8 RWS examples are being built (just 320 are heading stateside), with power coming from the same 5.2-liter V10 as the all-wheel-drive R8, with the RWS variant producing 532 hp and 398 lb-ft of torque.

According to Autocar, the R8 RWS is set to make a comeback sometime after the facelifted R8 has its official debut. Audi marketing manager Linda Kurz told the publication the R8 RWS was “a great success” for the brand, and “is something that we are looking into” in regards to a second go-around.

No one should have been surprised the R8 RWS, first revealed exactly a year ago at Frankfurt, was so successful. Although it shares some components and an engine with the Lamborghini Huracan, it’s still a different supercar with a different personality.

The Huracan, like all Lamborghinis, can be a bit rough around the edges while the R8 offers a more user friendly driving experience. So why did Audi take so long to do a RWD R8? Good question, but better late than never. The existence of the R8 RWS can be attributed to one man: now former Audi Sport chief and current Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann. Prior to his Audi gig, Winkelmann was CEO of Lamborghini for 11 years, so he knows a thing or two about supercars. He was also responsible for the RWD Gallardo and Huracan.

New Aston Martin AMR Range Will Bring Extreme Race Cars To The Road

Which Aston Martin would you like to see get the AMR treatment?

Billed as a race car for the road, the Aston Martin Valkyrie will be the most extreme car in the company’s line-up when it launches next year. Now, Aston Martin wants to apply this concept to some of its existing models. At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, the automaker announced its new AMR range, which aims to strengthen the connection between Aston Martin’s race cars and road cars, bringing “enhanced performance, sharper dynamics and a more powerful design language”.

Eventually, every model in the Aston Martin range will get the AMR (which stands for 'Aston Martin Racing') treatment, but for now the company has revealed the Rapide AMR and the Vantage AMR Pro at Geneva. AMR cars will be developed at Aston Martin’s main branch, whereas AMR Pro models will developed by the Aston Martin Advanced Operations department. For the Rapide, the AMR model features a tuned version of the base car’s naturally aspirated 6.0-liter V12 with a new quad exhaust that produces 592 horsepower. Capable of a top speed of 210 mph, Aston Martin says the Rapide AMR is now “world’s fastest and most thrilling four-door.”

Once a sleek sedan, the Rapide AMR looks much more menacing, sporting a Stirling Green paintjob which is the AMR’s signature color with vibrant lime green accents, along with a dramatic full height grille and new 20 inch alloys. Other details include a new front splitter, side sills, rear diffuser and an aero flip on the rear decklid. Inside, the cabin is trimmed in Dark Knight Alcantara with Lime Green accents along with carbon fiber seats, center stack, and center console. Unsurprisingly, the extreme Vantage AMR Pro looks even more striking. A track-only car, the 500-HP engine is derived from Aston Martin Racing’s GT4 race car, making its the most powerful V8 Vantage ever.

It also has the same paint scheme, hood and rear wing as the World Endurance Championship winning race car. Other body modifications include a new splitter, fenders, side skirts, and rear diffuser. Additional upgrades include adjustable suspension, and center-lock wheels with Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tires. Inside, the cabin isn’t drastically different to the Rapide AMR, but being a race-spec car it also has a fitted roll cage. Unsurprisingly, Aston Martin’s AMR cars aren’t going to be mass produced. While prices haven’t been announced, the company only intends to build 210 examples of the Rapide AMR. The Vantage AMR Pro will be even rarer, with only seven going into production.

Audi Won't Bring Confusing Naming Scheme To The US

Luckily we won't have to decode Audi's convoluted names.

Audi recently unveiled a new naming scheme that would include each model's power output. This sounded like a good idea, especially since BMW and Mercedes both use alphanumerical naming schemes that spell out what engine a certain car has. We couldn't wait to see what Audi's new scheme would look like, until we started to hear about it. For some reason, Audi decided to relate its scheme to how many kilowatts the engine produces. Not only do most people not use kilowatts, but the numbers don't even directly align with the output.

For example, an Audi with 81 to 96 kilowatts (108-128 horsepower) would have a 30 badge (for some reason). The numbers go up in increments to 70, with diesel models being a bit lower than gas models. If this all sounds confusing, that's because it is. Luckily, US buyers will not have to deal with learning this convoluted mess. Autoblog reports that Audi will not use this naming scheme in the US. At the recent A7 launch event, Audi representatives explained that the US has far fewer engine choices than markets like Europe, so there would be no need for the extra badges. US Audi models will likely retain the old formula of having the engine size on the back (such as 2.0T).

This sounds like a much easier solution, but we've seen in the past that this doesn't always work out well with Audi. For example, the 3.0T engine sounds like a 3.0-liter turbocharged engine, but was actually supercharged. Jaguar recently revealed a practically perfect naming scheme, which simply puts the horsepower of the car following either a P, D, or E (petrol, diesel or electric). For example a 3.0-liter F-Type with 380 hp would be badged as a P380. We don't know why Audi ever thought that this confusing naming scheme was a good idea, and we are glad that it isn't coming to the US.

Audi Could Bring A Badass Porsche-Derived RS Q5 To Geneva

But would this awesome crossover come to the US?

We know that Audi wants to double the amount of RS models from seven to 14. Part of this model increase has already come in the form of the RS3 sedan and TT RS. Now, Motoring has reported that it expects most of the new RS models to be SUVs, including an RS Q5. Audi recently announced the SQ5, which replaced the supercharged V6 with a 354 hp twin-turbo unit. The head of Audi's RS brand and former Lamborghini CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, said that there will be a new RS model at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show in early March.

There is currently only one SUV model in the Audi lineup with an RS badge, the RS Q3. Unfortunately this model is not sold in the US. It is assumed that the new RS model will be a Q5 because Winkelmann said that “Geneva is in front of us, we’ll have a launch there which is going to be very important for us because it’ll set a new era of the B-segment [Q5 size] of Audi Sport for us. You will see very shortly what is going to happen.” It is uncertain which engine the RS Q5 will get. It could be a tuned version of the S5's twin-turbo V6 or even a Porsche-derived V6. Which ever engine is chosen, the RS Q5 would be quicker than the SQ5, which can hit 62 MPH in 5.4 seconds. The RS model could lower this time to under five seconds.

It is unlikely that the car will use the RS3's 2.5-liter five-cylinder because Winkelmann said “we want to stick to the A-segment” with that engine. After the RS Q5, the next RS model is predicted to be an RS Q2 which would be revealed at Frankfurt. SUVs will be a big part of the RS lineup in the future, so an RS Q7, RS Q4, and RS Q6 are all in contention. We are glad to see that Audi is making more RS models, but we would also like to see some more sedans, wagons and convertibles instead of just SUVs. We are interested to see the new RS Q5, because it could provide some insight into the new RS4 and RS5.