New QX50 gets trick engine
INFINITI IS BIDDING TO crack Britain with its new QX50, a car design boss Alfonso Albaisa believes will finally show “the true potential of the brand”.
The Audi Q5 rival will be the world’s first production car to have a variable-compressionratio petrol engine.
The turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, called Vc-turbo, is claimed to improve efficiency by up to 35% compared with the old QX50’S 3.5-litre V6. It can seamlessly shift its compression ratio from 8:1 (for performance) to 14:1 (for economy), essentially giving the 268bhp and 280lb ft engine the best traits of petrol and diesel engines.
It comes with a continuously variable transmission – the most efficient gearbox type – and drives the front wheels in standard form, although all-wheel drive is also available. When pushed, the engine can accelerate the QX50 to 60mph in 6.3sec and on to 143mph.
The torsional rigidity of the platform is up by 23%, which should improve refinement.
Inside, there are four monitors: a head-up display, an instrument display between the speedometer and rev counter, and two touchscreens in the centre console. The upper 8.0in screen displays navigation, and the lower 7.0in screen is for apps, climate control and the car’s entertainment menus. It can also show the car’s 360deg surroundings.
Albaisa recently admitted to Autocar that the outgoing QX50 wasn’t the perfect balance of design and usability. He said the brief for the new one, seen as a concept earlier this year, was a “balance between lust and logic”.
The QX50 will be produced alongside Mercedes-benz models at the Aguascalientes plant in Mexico. The car will first reach the US at the start 2018 and the UK late in the year. Expect prices to start from around £35,000.