This past week was quite exciting for a car enthusiast such as myself, because the Detroit Auto Show took place. For those of you who don’t know, Detroit is the Mecca of all things automobile. For one week a year, all the automakers all around the world take the gloves off and agree to a truce and simply announce all new projects they have as well as share new ideas with the public.
This year Infiniti announced quite a lot of new updates to its Q line. But to explain it’s Q line requires us to turn back the dial on the clock a little.
Infiniti is owned by Nissan, and is considered the luxury/performance division of the brand. In 2003, to coincide with the release of the 350z (which you can read about on an old blog post), Infiniti released the G35 sedan as well as a coupe variant. The difference being that the coupe is a 2 door version, and the sedan is the 4 door. Both used the same VQ V6 engine out of the 350z, although they were uptuned to 330 hp each, had a limited slip differential—which meant going sideways was very fun and very possible—, and were available with either a 6 speed manual or automatic.
Similarly to coincide with the release of the 370z in 2009, Infiniti released the G37. Also coming with a sedan and coupe variant, Infiniti had managed to do something that neither of the other luxury Japanese manufacturers had achieved. You see between the years of 2003-2008, if you wanted an affordable performance sedan or coupe with some luxury you bought a BMW 335i, no question. But the G37 changed that. It offered a legitimate challenge to the authority of the Germans, and offered it at a better price point and offered Japanese reliability to add to that. Personally, I love the G37 coupe, and am legitimately looking into purchasing one after my lease is up. The G line of Infiniti’s are back to basics rear wheel drive, front engined, Japanese sports cars, with all the bells and whistles you could ask for. It is in my mind, the perfect blend between overbearing technology and you killing yourself by being a hooligan.
But Infiniti decided to change things up in 2014 by changing the name of the G line to the Q line.
The G37 coupe became the Q60, and the G37 sedan became the Q50, with a longer version released as the Q70. Here’s the thing though. They were exactly the same cars as before, but only rebadged.
With all these Q’s, I have a Q for Infiniti: whose mans is this?
In the year after the rebadged, they neutered the Q line by skyrocketing the price to near $60,000 as well as throwing in more overbearing technology, and not adapting to the new BMW 335i on the market, which is quite good. Infiniti has made it now nigh impossible to tune their engine for the Q60, and only offers them in an automatic transmission.
Infiniti is trying to rebrand itself as a luxury family brand by updating its line of crossovers, SUVs, and hatchbacks, which I can admire from a financial standpoint. But they have alienated the entire base of people who loved their cars in the first place. I don’t care about automatic brakes, backup cameras, and push button starts and all that glitzy nonsense.
Bring back the days of a passionate rear wheel drive, 6 speed, front engined Japanese beast, and I’ll bring back my business.
Really cool…my uneducated view of Nissan (and Infiniti, to some extent) has always been that they are rather average cars, with nothing to really distinguish them. Your analysis of this line of cars going back years shows how much you know about them. I’m new to this class and reading your blog, and I can tell that there’s a lot to learn about this type of car, which I didn’t even know before could be considered a category.
That was interesting to read about, and it sounded like very smart analysis (though I’m not one to judge). The background about the Q line really helped to make your point about the changes they made recently.