Infiniti Q50 3.0T RWD

[cp-the-nerd]

I recently flew to the Florida Keys to get married, and our "premium sedan" rental turned out to be a 2017 Infiniti Q50 3.0T (RWD) with under 1,000 miles. At first, I was pleasantly surprised to have the sport sedan because the rental preview online was a Buick Lacrosse, but my enthusiasm faded during the 100 mile drive from Fort Lauderdale to Islamorada. I'll try to keep my impressions fairly brief and I can answer any questions in detail.

Exterior: 7/10 - I find the Q50 completely forgettable. Infiniti has made much better looking cars, this design has some clean lines, but I think the front looks kind of melty and the rear is too generic.

Interior Fit/Finish: 8/10 - Slick design and nice materials. Nothing mind blowing, but looked and felt appropriately luxurious.

Comfort/NVH: 7/10 - The seats were good and highly adjustable with usable back seats, but the car had pretty bad road and wind noise. It wasn't a particularly good highway companion.

Technology: 5/10 - Sitting in the car, you're greeted with a mess of controls and screens. There are two large screens right on top of each other in the center stack that serve separate functions, plus the gauge cluster display, all with their own controls strewn about, and none of them are intuitive. The stereo system left no lasting impression and pairing a new android phone was a pain in the ass.

Powertrain: 8/10 - The 3.0T is the lower output version rated 300 horsepower. It made great power (albeit with noticeable turbo lag) and the 7-speed automatic was very responsive. I managed 26+ mpg on the drive pretty easily, I'd say this is par for the course. I actually think this engine is underrated to make the 400 horsepower version look better on paper. The sound at heavy/full throttle was underwhelming for an Infiniti V6, too appliance-like with practically no turbo noise.

Steering/Handling: 4/10 - The car handled securely enough, but the EPS is simply awful. Way, way too light and completely numb with a large dead spot in the middle. I was constantly working to center the car in the lane. Sadly, I'm pretty sure this car did not have the widely panned steer-by-wire system, so I can only imagine how bad that must be.

Brakes: 8/10 - Great pedal feel with linear response, but it was a tad touchy at the top of the pedal travel for my taste.

Conclusion: I ended up wishing we had the Lacrosse shown on the rental website. The only major redeeming quality about this car was the powertrain, which I didn't get to play around with all that much. There's no way in hell I'd opt for this car again as a rental or recommend anyone buy one of them. Infinity needs to rediscover driving dynamics because the Q50 makes a case against investing in RWD if this is what they do with it.

Edited March 14, 2017 by cp-the-nerd

[Drew Dowdell]

Well congratulations on getting married at least!

I've done this drive many many times all the way down to Key West from my parent's place in Miami.

It is, unfortunately, not a sporting drive at all. Cars I've had on this drive:

Sebring Convertible (both 2nd gen and 3rd gen)

Mustang Convertible (more than a few)

Challenger

Lincoln MKS

Chrysler 300

Cadillac DTS

Mercedes GL (supplied by Benz, not a rental)

Jeep Wrangler soft top

 

[G. David Felt]

Congrats on getting married and thank you for confirming what I always thought about the Infinity cars.

[ykX]

Congratulations on you marriage and good luck!

Thanks for the review, seems to be confirming all other magazine reviews.  Infiniti has to find their way again.  As the current owner of G37S, which I love, I can't consider the new Q50 as the future replacement.

[cp-the-nerd]

Thanks all, we've been together for 8 years as of this month. Marriage was only held up by life and finances. It was a beautiful wedding followed by a week in Jamaica (couples resort in Negril).

As far as the Q50, it's shocking to me Infiniti built this car as it is. They need to throw out the steering system, scrap every bit of the infotainment system, throw about 20 lbs of sound deadening into the wheel wells, and switch to acoustic laminated glass like so many other manufacturers are using. This car has multiple deal breakers, and it's a ground up new car just a few years old with a refresh under its belt.

There were tons of Q50 rentals in the Florida Keys. I know that's anecdotal, but I do wonder if that's a symptom of retail sales issues.

[Drew Dowdell]

3 hours ago, cp-the-nerd said:

Thanks all, we've been together for 8 years as of this month. Marriage was only held up by life and finances. It was a beautiful wedding followed by a week in Jamaica (couples resort in Negril).

As far as the Q50, it's shocking to me Infiniti built this car as it is. They need to throw out the steering system, scrap every bit of the infotainment system, throw about 20 lbs of sound deadening into the wheel wells, and switch to acoustic laminated glass like so many other manufacturers are using. This car has multiple deal breakers, and it's a ground up new car just a few years old with a refresh under its belt.

There were tons of Q50 rentals in the Florida Keys. I know that's anecdotal, but I do wonder if that's a symptom of retail sales issues.

Nissan has been dumping to rental fleets like crazy the past few years.  I wouldn't be surprised to hear of Infiniti doing the same.  I drove the Q50 and Q60 back to back and they seemed to be very different cars... the Q50 as you described while the Q60 was substantially better. They're on the same FM platform, but there seems to be a significant difference in development work between the two. 

[G. David Felt]

The Greater Seattle Area has seen the Infinity dealers close by half. We used to have 2 on the eastside, 1 south, 1 north and 2 in Seattle.

We now  have 1 in Seattle, 1 on the East side and 1 in the north. The south end closed but is a much lower income area. From 6 to 3 and I honestly do not see much business at the lots very little inventory and I do not see them on the street like you do Cadillac, BMW and MB.

[regfootball]

I've never understood the Infiniti appeal

[Cmicasa the Great]

13 minutes ago, regfootball said:

I've never understood the Infiniti appeal

that's because there is no "Infiniti appeal." Everything Cp described was on point imo, except the interior fit and finish. My recent experience with one would have yielded a 5. I will say that because there is no conceivable reason why one would buy an Infiniti over a Nissan. None. 

CP.. Congrats on your Nuptials. 

[ykX]

9 hours ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

that's because there is no "Infiniti appeal." Everything Cp described was on point imo, except the interior fit and finish. My recent experience with one would have yielded a 5. I will say that because there is no conceivable reason why one would buy an Infiniti over a Nissan. None. 

CP.. Congrats on your Nuptials. 

I will give you few reasons I bought my G37S over Nissan:  RWD, 6 speed manual trans., LSD, Brembo brakes.

Now, as I said it previously, the current crop of Inifinitis do not look appealing to me, unfortunately.

[Cmicasa the Great]

2 hours ago, ykX said:

I will give you few reasons I bought my G37S over Nissan:  RWD, 6 speed manual trans., LSD, Brembo brakes.

Now, as I said it previously, the current crop of Inifinitis do not look appealing to me, unfortunately.

and I hear U.. but alas.. the G37S is another gen.. and the Qs seem to me to have regressed in the area of interiors.