And while Vettel probably doesn’t have the time to get too involved with Infiniti’s road cars, he clearly approves of the new Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge. Officially, it’s just a concept car, but there’s little doubt that the marque plans to put this beast into production: grabbing attention for this reticent brand and radically changing our notion of what Infiniti stands for.
The Eau Rouge borrows the mighty twin-turbocharged 3.4-litre V6 engine from Nissan’s GT-R budget supercar and shoe-horns it into the existing Infiniti Q50 sedan, giving it the same 560 horsepower output as the most powerful current Porsche 911. A seven-speed automatic gearbox means easy shifts in town, but a manual mode means you can hold each gear to the redline and enjoy the full fury of this renowned engine. Four-wheel drive means that power is deployed securely, and the GT-R’s brakes mean the Eau Rouge stops as suddenly as it starts.
This car, named after one of the most famous corners in motorsport at the Spa circuit in Belgium, is a direct rival for the super-sedans produced by BMW, Mercedes and Audi – the M5, E63 and RS6. It is quite unlike any Infiniti that has gone before it, and when it goes on sale in around 18 months it will only account for a tiny fraction of the firm’s global sales. But as a means of linking Infiniti more closely to its F1 partner, and of getting the attention of luxury car buyers who might otherwise just pick from the usual suspects, it has already worked.
Scorecard
Price: TBD
Engine: 3.4-litre V6 twin turbo
Transmission: 7-speed automatic, 4WD
Performance: 560hp, 0-100km/h: 3.8sec (estimated), 300km/h (estimated)
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