Infiniti's new turbo V6 not for Nissan

Don't expect Infiniti's new downsized VR-series twin-turbo petrol V6 to appear in any models from sister brand Nissan any time soon, even though it replaces the Japanese car maker's naturally-aspirated VQ-series V6 that's been around since 2002.

Infiniti’s senior manager of product strategy, Gerardo Carmona, told motoring.com.au at this week's global Q60 launch that the engine was developed only for Infiniti vehicles for the foreseeable future.

“Even though Infiniti does belong to the Nissan group, the overall brand future R&D and advanced engineering [teams] are working on very different projects,” he said.

“All these technologies are intended for Infiniti only, at least for a long period of time."

Making its Australian debut next month in Infiniti's mid-size Q50 sedan before becoming available in November's new Q60 coupe by mid-2017, the new 298kW 3.0-litre V6 engine replaces the atmo VQ-series V6 that powers the outgoing Q60, as well as Infiniti's large Q70 sedan and Nissan's 370Z, Altima and Pathfinder.

In addition to the lighter, more advanced new V6, the Q50 and Q60 also premiere new infotainment and electronic driver aids, plus heavily revised digital steering and suspension system.

Like the variable-geometry turbocharging system Infiniti will debut at this week’s Paris motor show, all of these technologies are likely to remain exclusive to the Infiniti brand.

Carmona indicated that upcoming new models from Infiniti would utilise these technologies alongside the brand’s pre-existing VR-series engine for at least the next two or three years, leaving other Infiniti models to make the best of what’s already on offer.

Carmona's statement lends weight to reports that Nissan will kill off its 370Z, in favour of a Z-badged SUV previewed by the Nissan Gripz concept. The 370Z shares many of its FM platform components with the new Q60, which also borrows from the Nissan GT-R's PM platform, itself developed from FM, just to confuse matters.

The Infiniti product planner suggested the Japanese luxury brand’s new mid-size SUV would be next in line for the latest VR-V6.

“It’s [the new VR30 engine] the overall replacement for our previous VQ37,” said Carmona. “So, yes, you will be seeing this engine in more vehicles.”

“As to which vehicle, that’s something we haven’t completely defined. But there are a lot of new things that are going to come to the market soon that are going to wear this engine.

“In the next two or three years we’ll be replacing a lot of vehicles, depending on their lifecycle. Q70 will be a little bit overdue in a couple of years, QX50 the same. QX80 should get something in the next two or three years as well, though we’re still deciding which one will come first,” he explained.

Visit motoring.com.au again on October 3 for our first drive report of the new Q60 Coupe, which arrives in November and is again likely to be priced from under $65,000.