Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 2017 Review

Less than 12 months separates this review of the Q50 Red Sport from my previous assessment of Infiniti's answer to the BMW 340i.

Since then, Infiniti has made subtle changes to the looks of the entire Q50 range, including the rampaging Red Sport model. Buyers either love or hate the looks of the Q50, and the facelift isn't likely to soften any hardened attitudes. There are almost no changes to the Q50 underneath, other than some fiddling with the suspension and some fettling of the Direct Adaptive Steering.

And the steering certainly does seem significantly better in Sport mode than I recall of the car tested late 2017. There's acceptable feedback in this mode and turn-in is prompt but not startling. The system features a 'Personal' mode to allow the user to select Standard, Eco and Sport modes separately from other drive mode settings (for ride/handling and powertrain). So, for example, users can opt for sportier steering and softer ride comfort.

Nonetheless, there's still something odd about the feedback from the steering in standard and Eco modes. It's idiosyncratic on-centre, with the level of assistance changing unexpectedly on occasions, and the feedback is all game-controller-like in this mode. Standard mode does work better with some steering lock applied and a bit of load on the outside wheel. You do get used to it, but driving enthusiasts are well advised to switch to the Q50's Personal mode (with steering set to sport and suspension set to standard) for those occasions when the road surface is below par.

Many Q50 buyers may prefer the lighter steering in Standard mode, of course, which comes with comfy ride as well.

The ride is naturally less compliant in Sport mode, but body control is better. I found the Q50's suspension to be noisy over speed bumps and the Q50 tends to wallow and crash over these, and sharp-edged potholes, unless it's set to sport mode.

On the handling front, the Q50 has a well-established reputation for oversteering at whim. And, as we found in Tasmania earlier this year, it's a reputation shared with the Q60 Red Sport. While the Q50 showed no sign of lift-off oversteer during its brief spell with us, it would drift out with the prodigious power applied, even on dry bitumen.

As a result, the car's stability control system works overtime correcting the car's attitude – and that makes the handling a little wayward. That said, the Q50 offered plenty of grip at the front end and could be maniacally good fun to drive harder, as long as it's in the right circumstances.

The engine is key to that. Producing 298Kw, the V6 offers more power than its two principal German rivals, but splits the two for torque. Although it has the aural character of a V6, the Infiniti engine sounds better than many, but it's not as classy as the inline six of the BMW 340i. While the Q50's twin-turbo mill is whisper-quiet at cruising speed, it lets loose a spine-chilling howl with the throttle wide open. Over the few days in our possession, the Q50 drank fuel at the rate of 12.6L/100km, which is acceptable, given the engine's performance potential.

Active safety that won't startle the driver
Reining in the Q50's outstanding engine output, the powerful brakes felt highly assisted from the moment the driver's foot pressed the pedal, nevertheless they stopped the car softly and quietly. The Infiniti's autonomous emergency braking could be triggered by straggly plants overhanging the driveway, while reversing. This was something I also experienced with the pre-update Q50 last year. My take-out from this is that, firstly, the Q50's AEB works effectively and, secondly, that I must trim the shrubs around the house.

The Q50's forward collision alert was preferable to the rival system sampled in the Ford Mondeo during the same week. Whereas the Ford was blasting you with lights and high-frequency sirens as soon as it detected a car or other obstacle in front – and only 'stood down' from battle stations about 10 or 15 seconds after the car was past the obstacle – the Q50's system was far more measured… more a gentle reminder. Ditto for the Q50's Lane Departure Warning.

Much as I liked the Q50's adaptive headlights on low beam, I found the car's high-beam assist to be at a level of sophistication about four or five years behind the latest tech from the German prestige brands. It was too slow to dip the lights for an oncoming car – and sometimes failed to dip the lights altogether, for instance, if the reciprocating traffic happened to be approaching around a bend.

On more than one occasion I had drivers flash their lights at me. And the Q50's system was also confused by high-vis reflective signs warning of hazards. On the winding, dangerous stretch of bitumen from St Andrews to Kinglake to the north east of Melbourne, the Q50 was dipping the lights immediately prior to a fairly dangerous bend, due to the reflection from the yellow signs directing traffic around the bend – leaving the driver with reduced night vision and reduced lighting to pick out the corner.

Those country roads revealed some tyre noise - from around 70km/h up, but no more so than the Q50's rivals.

Tidy design inside
Inside, the Q50's cabin featured a stylish presentation, with its quilted leather upholstery a standout. While the driving position was generally good, the parking brake was still a foot-operated device.

Infiniti has modified the density of the foam in the seat cushioning, and the result has been a worthwhile improvement. Powered lumbar adjustment comes in handy too, and I found extending the seat base made a significant difference to comfort for longer-distance touring. While the cushioning was quite firm, and the side bolsters didn't seem that aggressive, the seat did hold the occupant in place very well during high-speed cornering.

The infotainment system graphics are nice to look at, and the two screens and the respective switchgear is generally cohesive and well integrated. An app which displayed g force during cornering was amusing to monitor, but seems to max-out at 0.5g. Needless to say, the Q50 can do better than that, but the screen runs out of real estate on the X axis.

It has to be said it does take a little while to set up the Q50 for individual drivers. Converting the fuel economy units of measurement from km/l to L/100km, for instance, working out how to switch audio tracks using the toggle on the steering wheel, finding the drive mode toggle in the centre console (if you happened to miss it when stepping into the car), disabling the mute for the satnav voice prompts and setting up the Personal drive mode are cumulatively time-consuming tasks until the driver is familiar with Infiniti's ergonomic conventions, which are different from German rivals.

Similarly, it was a little surprising to discover that the Q50's voice recognition system won't allow the verbal input of a destination for the satellite navigation. On the other hand, scrolling through the trip computer's various functions was simply a matter of pressing a button repeatedly until the system landed on the datapoint desired – fuel consumption or digital speed reading, as two examples.

With the front passenger's seat set to suit me I tried the rear seat behind and found knee room was adequate and the toe room under the front seat was fine also, but the Q50's rear-seat headroom was by no means generous for adults. And this is where the 3 Series has a distinct edge. Admittedly the Q50's lack of headroom was due in part to the sunroof fitted to the Red Sport model tested. Kids would be fine though, and there were adjustable vents in the rear of the centre console to cater for rear seat occupants.

The boot was reasonably large and well finished, but there was no spare under the floor and the cords that flip forward the rear seat for added luggage space just unlatch the seat, they don't flip it forward. You have to walk around to the side of the car and reach in through the door to lay the backrest down. When you do, the aperture from the boot is relatively small and there's a step in the floorpan between the boot floor and the base of the rear seat, so the through-load facility is limited to long and narrow items, rather than bulkier goods.

On balance, the headline act for the Q50 Red Sport remains its hard-charging V6 engine. The steering is improved, but is arguably still trying to be all things to all men (and women). With a price difference of over $11,000 between the Q50 Red Sport and the BMW 340i it begs the question: what price brand cachet, but equally what price a classic six and better cornering?