2017 Infiniti Q60



The Q60, on sale next year as a 2017 model, is Infiniti’s answer to Audi’s A5, BMW’s 4-series, and Mercedes’ C-class coupe. Like that German triad, the Q60 will offer a choice of turbocharged four- and six-cylinder engines. The four will be nearly identical to the 241-hp 2.0-liter found in the C-class, as this product of the partnership between Daimler and Nissan-Renault will be built on Nissan’s engine line in Decherd, Tennessee, which is already shipping engines to the Mercedes plant near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.



The turbo 3.0-liter V-6, however, is Nissan’s own design and brings direct injection to compact Infinitis for the first time. Output will be around the same 330 horsepower as today’s naturally aspirated 3.7-liter VQ V-6. And turning up the boost on the twin turbochargers will allow Infiniti to sell a hotter version of the Q60 with an estimated 400 horses. A seven-speed automatic will send power to either the rear wheels or all of them with optional four-wheel drive, just as in the Q50 sedan.


Since the new Q60 is based on the Q50’s architecture, its new powertrain hardware will appear on the sedan concurrent with its mid–life-cycle refresh, also for 2017. The Q50’s hybrid system, however, won’t be available in the two-door, as Infiniti wants to play up the Q60’s sportiness. Such ambitions will require improvements to the Direct Adaptive Steering system, the much-derided steer-by-wire technology that made its debut on the Q50.


Infiniti recognizes it has a problem, and efforts are underway to fix the steering before the Q60 hits dealerships. The ­calibration for the Q50 has already been revised once, and development engineers have been driving a prototype Q50 equipped with the hydraulically assisted rack-and-pinion setup from the old G37 Sport as a benchmark for the Q60’s electrically assisted steering.


Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the enormous grille that dominates the 60’s scowling face. Indeed, the Q60 will be the more extroverted of the pair of Infinitis. Compared with the dimensions of the current G37, er, Q60, the Detroit concept is roughly an inch longer, an inch and a half wider, and an inch lower.

SPECIFICATIONS
VEHICLE TYPE
front-engine, rear- or 4-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe
BASE PRICE
$40,000–$55,000*
ENGINES
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 241 hp, 273 lb-ft; twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter V-6, 330–400 hp*, 270–350 lb-ft*
TRANSMISSION
7-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS
WHEELBASE
112.2 inches
LENGTH
184.6 inches
WIDTH
73.4 inches
HEIGHT
53.9 inches
CURB WEIGHT
3700–4000 lb
PERFORMANCE*
0–60 MPH
4.6–5.6 sec
0–100 MPH
12.0–14.1 sec
STANDING 1/4-MILE
13.2–14.2 sec
TOP SPEED
140 mph