Hello Q50 enthusiasts. I had a chance to attend a ride and drive comparing the Q50, Audi A4 and BMW 328 on an auto-cross course.
The cars tested:
Infiniti Q50 AWD 3.7 Sport
Audi A4 Quatro with Prestige Pkg, S Pkg, Titronic Quatro MSRP: $52K
BMW 328 AWD Sport, Tech Pkg, Driver Asst, Premium Pkg, Lighting & Dynamic Handling Pkg MSRP: $52K
The course consisted of a straight away, hard right, evasive maneuver, hard left, s curve, hard right and a chicane.
We first drove the Q50 then the Audi and then the BMW.
There was a radar set up to measure speed at the end of the straight. The Audi was the slowest at 48 mph. Then the BMW at 52. The fastest was the Q50 at 58 mph.
The most sluggish handling was the A4 which handles like a Chevy Impala in the hard turns and MUCH more steering effort through the evasive and chicane maneuvers. The turbo lag hurt responsiveness coming out of the turns.
The BMW starts off really slow due to the 4 cylinder until the turbos kick in then it takes off nicely. But surprisingly, it too seemed to have a mind of its own during hard braking and turning. Braking was good but the car really didn't want to turn as readily as I expected.
The best (by far) was the Q50. The handling and braking was very balanced and even in the hands of an amature, it handled and felt more in control than the others...by a wide margin.
We then got to drive the Hybrid AWD on a road course. This thing is a rocket! 0-60 in less than 5 seconds! Handling and braking was on par with the gas version despite the extra 300 pounds it carries due to the hybrid system. Accelleration out of a turn was instantaneous no lag waiting for the power.
The takeaway was, Infiniti is no longer lagging behind the benchmark handling and ride of the 3 series. The new Q50 exceeds BMW in every category when it comes to performance. The other was, Infiniti while still offering purchase options under $45K well equipped, will not shy away from and can command comparable pricing to the best Europe has to offer when it comes to performance, interior quality and technology. Oh, and the new Bose stereo is amazing! MUCH better than anything before.
IMO, once the auto media folks start testing the Q50 and comparing it to the BMW, there will be a new "ultimate driving machine" and it won't be built in Germany.
The cars tested:
Infiniti Q50 AWD 3.7 Sport
Audi A4 Quatro with Prestige Pkg, S Pkg, Titronic Quatro MSRP: $52K
BMW 328 AWD Sport, Tech Pkg, Driver Asst, Premium Pkg, Lighting & Dynamic Handling Pkg MSRP: $52K
The course consisted of a straight away, hard right, evasive maneuver, hard left, s curve, hard right and a chicane.
We first drove the Q50 then the Audi and then the BMW.
There was a radar set up to measure speed at the end of the straight. The Audi was the slowest at 48 mph. Then the BMW at 52. The fastest was the Q50 at 58 mph.
The most sluggish handling was the A4 which handles like a Chevy Impala in the hard turns and MUCH more steering effort through the evasive and chicane maneuvers. The turbo lag hurt responsiveness coming out of the turns.
The BMW starts off really slow due to the 4 cylinder until the turbos kick in then it takes off nicely. But surprisingly, it too seemed to have a mind of its own during hard braking and turning. Braking was good but the car really didn't want to turn as readily as I expected.
The best (by far) was the Q50. The handling and braking was very balanced and even in the hands of an amature, it handled and felt more in control than the others...by a wide margin.
We then got to drive the Hybrid AWD on a road course. This thing is a rocket! 0-60 in less than 5 seconds! Handling and braking was on par with the gas version despite the extra 300 pounds it carries due to the hybrid system. Accelleration out of a turn was instantaneous no lag waiting for the power.
The takeaway was, Infiniti is no longer lagging behind the benchmark handling and ride of the 3 series. The new Q50 exceeds BMW in every category when it comes to performance. The other was, Infiniti while still offering purchase options under $45K well equipped, will not shy away from and can command comparable pricing to the best Europe has to offer when it comes to performance, interior quality and technology. Oh, and the new Bose stereo is amazing! MUCH better than anything before.
IMO, once the auto media folks start testing the Q50 and comparing it to the BMW, there will be a new "ultimate driving machine" and it won't be built in Germany.