The Infiniti Q50 has been designed to take on the BMW 3 Series – but Infiniti is trying to attract a more youthful set of customers and efficient diesel and hybrid saloons aren’t exactly going to gain any favour with the young crowd.
Enter the 2014 Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge concept debuting at this year’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. This thing has been designed to take on the mighty BMW M3 and could well have the weaponry to succeed.
If it’s going to beat the BMW the Q50 Eau Rouge will need a stonking engine – which makes it all the more odd that Infiniti hasn’t yet revealed details of the car’s motor.
The company says it’s “still evaluating the Q50 Eau Rouge’s engine”, but that it’ll have a big personality and will be laid out in a V, featuring forced induction. Twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 from its sister brand’s Nissan GT-R, anyone?
That potential choice of engine fits with the firm’s statements on intended power output, too. Infiniti's president Johan de Nysschen said:
“If we built this car I would expect it to feature over 500hp and 600lb ft of torque. Through our various alliance partners we have access to a range of engines featuring this performance capability which, with a fair amount of engineering effort, can be developed to exhibit Infiniti character and accommodated within the Q50 engine bay.”
That level of power and torque eclipses the 431hp, 405lb ft 2014 BMW M3, which will sprint from 0 to 62mph (approx 100kmh) in 4.1 seconds.
We reckon the BMW will be lighter than a production version of the Eau Rouge though, so even with that mammoth intended power output, don’t expect a hot Q50 to destroy the M3 over the same benchmark test.
As part of the transformation from family saloon to performance car, Infiniti has given the regular Q50 a pretty heavy makeover, endowing the Eau Rouge concept with a more sporting look.
There’s a new deeper front bumper and carbonfibre splitter, carbon side sills and a carbon diffuser housing two fat exhaust pipes, set off by 21-inch lightweight forged alloy wheels. We like the candy apple red paintwork, too.
The theme is the same on the inside, with plenty of racier details and lots of “red-infused” carbonfibre detailing.
Infiniti says there’s also a new “high-grip” Alcantara sports steering wheel with paddle shifters – hinting that the transmission could be either a dual-clutch (think Nissan GT-R again...) or a conventional auto – as well as more supportive Recaro front seats to better hold you in place on track.
The Q50 Eau Rouge will have to do more than just look the part to compete with products from BMW’s M division, Audi’s RS department and Mercedes-Benz AMG, however.
As a result, Infiniti’s engineers have widened the Eau Rouge concept’s track by 20mm all round, which should improve grip and handling. There’s also a bigger duck tail spoiler on the boot lid to give more downforce at higher speed. How very Formula One.
It’s easy to see the Formula One influences on this hot Q50 – take the name for a start. “Eau Rouge” is a corner on the Spa Formula One circuit in Belgium, taken flat out at around 200mph (approx. 320kmh) in a modern Formula One car.
Infiniti also claims the aerodynamic package is inspired by the top-class motorsport (including those drag-reducing “barge boards” behind the front wheels), while the rear fog light mirrors the item used on four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel’s RB9 Infiniti Red Bull Formula One car.
In fact, as well as being probably the quickest guy in a car on this planet, Vettel is also Infiniti’s director of performance, so he’s almost certainly had a hand in developing the Q50 Eau Rouge’s chassis setup.
With lots of clever chassis technology featuring on the Q50’s potential rivals, however, Infiniti and Vettel have a lot on their plate to create a class-leading performance saloon. We can’t wait to see how this plays out.
Infiniti has not yet announced if the Q50 Eau Rouge concept will get the green light for production, but we strongly suspect that an announcement won’t be far away.
If and when it does get confirmed, expect to be able to buy one in late 2015 or early 2016, priced from $90,000 (€66,000).
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