Is it possible to review a car without talking about its engine? Can you describe the way a powerplant feels without commenting on the vehicle it’s bolted into?
The answer is a stern 'no' on both counts, which is why this evaluation has as much to do with the
2016 Infiniti Q50 as it does with the brand’s latest engine. This stylish four-door is the Japanese automaker’s best-selling nameplate. In fact, it has delivered more than 110,000
Q50s in the United States since 2013.
To keep a good thing going, the car has been mildly warmed over for the new model year, though it has also received a range of sweeping changes, the largest of which are hidden behind its large, mesh-filled grille.
Infiniti has totally revamped the Q50’s engine lineup for 2016, offering North American customers four all-new powertrains. Serving base duty, there’s a Daimler-designed four-cylinder engine. This turbocharged 2.0-liter delivers 208 horsepower along with 258 lb-ft of torque, rather unimpressive numbers for that level of displacement, but it’s supposedly meant to compete with the BMW 320i, which scuffles along with a measly 180 carnival ponies.
Beyond this, a tech-laden 360-horsepower hybrid variant will also be available, and, of course, in certain markets (not North America), customers will also be able to opt for a 2.2-liter diesel. All of that is well and good, but unfortunately, none of these propulsion systems are all that groundbreaking or even particularly exciting, at least not compared to the new V6 Infiniti’s been cooking up for the past few years.