I took delivery of my new Q50S Hybrid on Tuesday and wanted to post my thoughts on the decision making process as a Thank You to this forum which popped up a lot on my Google searching when looking for specific info on the Q50S. I also wanted to post my thoughts because I did see some opinions/info that might be confusing to others trying to decide on a Q50 vs other luxury performance vehicles.
The purpose of the Q50S is to heighten my track events in the coming years as I take part in track events with Audi and BMW and Porsche car clubs. So my purchase HAD to be trackable with respectable enjoyment there as well as give me a great daily ride in the Boston Area daily traffic.
Full disclosure: I am not a Green Teamer and have never thought the world needs electric vehicles to save the planet.
A Bit o'History
In order of ownership, I have owned a new '96 GrandAM, a new '05 G35 6MT, used '03 330XI, and I was replacing my '12 MazdaSpeed 3.
My wife currently owns an Audi Q5 which she LOVES and I do mostly enjoyed on the weekends when I couldn't get her to set foot in my Speed3.
More History
Since my '05 G no other car's interior comfort or ergonomics has even come close, until the Q50 which has finally surpassed my love for that car.
I am an Audi Club Member and I was waiting for 2014 to use my Car Club discount for a 2014 S4 Prestige as I used my 2013 discount on my wife's Q5. Turns out, this gave me enough time to do more research on other AWD Luxury Performance Vehicles and ended with me not selecting the S4 in the end.
The list of drives
S4 was going to be the only drive and then I was going to buy it. However, the Audi ergonomics for the driver are THE WORST! The controls around the shifter is awful. It's the thing I hate in my wife's Q5 which is what led to looking for alternatives to the S4. Having to deal with the ergnomics of an Audi interior daily was going to bug me. The S6 has an even worse setup.
Lexus IS350 F Sport AWD - Though I am not a fan of Toyotas after owning several that have had quality issues but the reviews were compelling
Q50S AWD - Not expecting to drive the Hybrid. I was excited to read reviews of the Q50 and totally excited that this time around Infiniti decided to have an AWD Sport model.
Not BMW - My 330XI was always in the shop and was a heavy car that was not an exciting drive.
Not Cadillac - My experience with American made cars have soured me forever. And from the reviews, it seemed that the Q and Lexus have beat it.
Why the Q50S Hybrid
After driving the 3 cars above and an A4 and A6 it came down to reasonable performance vs daily driving. The Q50 had it all, and the hybrid was much smoother. And my wife gave me the thumbs up right after the test drive where with the other 2 makes she was underwhelmed.
As for the discussions that the Q50 has a "not so great" sound I would disagree. I love the throaty 3.5L . And the exhaust is deeper than the G35 6MT which was more high pitched. My preference is the low throaty exhaust sounds of a V8 is my ideal sound for a car. My Speed3 despite being a 4 banger has an exhausted that is tuned to be more throaty than pitchy.
The run-flats will have to be replaced. After just 400 miles the tires don't do well under heavy braking and that won't do at Watkins Glen.
Why the hybrid?
Cause it was smoother under heavy gas and the idea of getting somewhere near a net 360 HP sounds great. Though I have my doubts how close to that I will actually get. Does anyone know if the HP is likely to be close to 360 HP and any ideas on what the actual torque numbers are under driving conditions?
The other reason is because the Q50 is not a dual clutch transmission. And from my understanding of how the Hybrid works I can get the extra power without having the slushbox downshift. Not sure if this is good thinking or not but from my experience thus far it does seem to work this way as I accelerate on the highway on-ramp the car is definitely flying and when I look at the RPMs the they are flat at 1000 RPM and then slowly rise as I demand more power from the car. So it seems that it does work the way I expected when I bought it and it is definitely cool to have power on demand without the harsh downshift of a traditional auto.
In the end the S4 is probably the best handling car but the Q50 will be good enough for a pretty good track experience and will be a step up from the pushing FWD Speed 3 which was good enough to pass bigger faster cars on track but I needed an upgrade to improve the development of my driving skills.
Why not the Lexus?
The Lexus was a great car and performed pretty well but under high speed cornering was a bit pushy where as the Q50 was more loose and my preference is to have a loose rear than pushing the nose of a car. The interior was also not as "luxurious" and not as "easy to use" in my opinion.
Regarding "Is it an Infiniti"
I have read some posts how the new Q50 is not a traditional Infiniti since it has the sharp lines instead of the softer smoother lines. I think it distinguishes it from other cars that are moving to "roundy" boring lines, see the now totally boring 3 series sedans that are starting to get more straight (see 4 series). To me the straighter harsher lines are more aggressive and that is definitely something I like in a sporty car.
Hopefully my experience will help someone in a similar situation when trying to decide which car to take on a test drive.
The purpose of the Q50S is to heighten my track events in the coming years as I take part in track events with Audi and BMW and Porsche car clubs. So my purchase HAD to be trackable with respectable enjoyment there as well as give me a great daily ride in the Boston Area daily traffic.
Full disclosure: I am not a Green Teamer and have never thought the world needs electric vehicles to save the planet.
A Bit o'History
In order of ownership, I have owned a new '96 GrandAM, a new '05 G35 6MT, used '03 330XI, and I was replacing my '12 MazdaSpeed 3.
My wife currently owns an Audi Q5 which she LOVES and I do mostly enjoyed on the weekends when I couldn't get her to set foot in my Speed3.
More History
Since my '05 G no other car's interior comfort or ergonomics has even come close, until the Q50 which has finally surpassed my love for that car.
I am an Audi Club Member and I was waiting for 2014 to use my Car Club discount for a 2014 S4 Prestige as I used my 2013 discount on my wife's Q5. Turns out, this gave me enough time to do more research on other AWD Luxury Performance Vehicles and ended with me not selecting the S4 in the end.
The list of drives
S4 was going to be the only drive and then I was going to buy it. However, the Audi ergonomics for the driver are THE WORST! The controls around the shifter is awful. It's the thing I hate in my wife's Q5 which is what led to looking for alternatives to the S4. Having to deal with the ergnomics of an Audi interior daily was going to bug me. The S6 has an even worse setup.
Lexus IS350 F Sport AWD - Though I am not a fan of Toyotas after owning several that have had quality issues but the reviews were compelling
Q50S AWD - Not expecting to drive the Hybrid. I was excited to read reviews of the Q50 and totally excited that this time around Infiniti decided to have an AWD Sport model.
Not BMW - My 330XI was always in the shop and was a heavy car that was not an exciting drive.
Not Cadillac - My experience with American made cars have soured me forever. And from the reviews, it seemed that the Q and Lexus have beat it.
Why the Q50S Hybrid
After driving the 3 cars above and an A4 and A6 it came down to reasonable performance vs daily driving. The Q50 had it all, and the hybrid was much smoother. And my wife gave me the thumbs up right after the test drive where with the other 2 makes she was underwhelmed.
As for the discussions that the Q50 has a "not so great" sound I would disagree. I love the throaty 3.5L . And the exhaust is deeper than the G35 6MT which was more high pitched. My preference is the low throaty exhaust sounds of a V8 is my ideal sound for a car. My Speed3 despite being a 4 banger has an exhausted that is tuned to be more throaty than pitchy.
The run-flats will have to be replaced. After just 400 miles the tires don't do well under heavy braking and that won't do at Watkins Glen.
Why the hybrid?
Cause it was smoother under heavy gas and the idea of getting somewhere near a net 360 HP sounds great. Though I have my doubts how close to that I will actually get. Does anyone know if the HP is likely to be close to 360 HP and any ideas on what the actual torque numbers are under driving conditions?
The other reason is because the Q50 is not a dual clutch transmission. And from my understanding of how the Hybrid works I can get the extra power without having the slushbox downshift. Not sure if this is good thinking or not but from my experience thus far it does seem to work this way as I accelerate on the highway on-ramp the car is definitely flying and when I look at the RPMs the they are flat at 1000 RPM and then slowly rise as I demand more power from the car. So it seems that it does work the way I expected when I bought it and it is definitely cool to have power on demand without the harsh downshift of a traditional auto.
In the end the S4 is probably the best handling car but the Q50 will be good enough for a pretty good track experience and will be a step up from the pushing FWD Speed 3 which was good enough to pass bigger faster cars on track but I needed an upgrade to improve the development of my driving skills.
Why not the Lexus?
The Lexus was a great car and performed pretty well but under high speed cornering was a bit pushy where as the Q50 was more loose and my preference is to have a loose rear than pushing the nose of a car. The interior was also not as "luxurious" and not as "easy to use" in my opinion.
Regarding "Is it an Infiniti"
I have read some posts how the new Q50 is not a traditional Infiniti since it has the sharp lines instead of the softer smoother lines. I think it distinguishes it from other cars that are moving to "roundy" boring lines, see the now totally boring 3 series sedans that are starting to get more straight (see 4 series). To me the straighter harsher lines are more aggressive and that is definitely something I like in a sporty car.
Hopefully my experience will help someone in a similar situation when trying to decide which car to take on a test drive.