Striking and sleek Q60 is an easy car to love
L AST time I was at the wheel of an Infiniti sports coupe I was bound for a campsite in rural Derbyshire and it made for one of those driving experiences I won’t forget in a hurry.
A wrong turning down a country lane ended in a rather panicky few minutes.
Essentially the road, which was flanked by dry stone walls on either side, got progressively narrower – to the point where there were just inches to spare either side of the car.
With those dry stone walls seeming to get ever close the more I progressed, I concluded I was definitely in the wrong place and needed to plan my escape.
That involved the trickiest bit of reversing I’ve yet undertaken and those inches either side going forwards felt like millimetres when reversing.
Suffice to say I managed it, stopping briefly afterwards to mop the sweat from my brow.
The experience meant that G37 Coupe is one of those cars I will always remember and I have to say the Q60 is probably one too.
It marks a welcome return to the sports coupe segment for the upmarket offshoot of Nissan.
As far as looks alone go the Q60 is an easy car to love – striking and sleek in equal measure.
It’s a beautifully designed and well-proportioned vehicle that really stands out from the crowd.
On the inside the good looking theme continues with a luxurious and opulent cabin that oozes quality and sophistication.
It’s almost as if Infiniti, a late entrant into the UK market, is upping the ante to get an edge on more established premium rivals.
There’s little to fault and the layout too is intuitive and easy to feel at home with.
Hugely comfortable, it’s one of those coupes you could imagine setting off on a very long road trip and relishing every minute of the experience.
Such an experience would also be accompanied by a suitable soundtrack, courtesy of the 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol engine under the bonnet.
Sweet and smooth, it also packs a performance punch that’s a delight.
Delivering 399bhp it’s mated to a slick-shifting sevenspeed automatic transmission that will take the Q60 from 0 to 62mph in just five seconds.
The Q60 nicely combines a sports car feel with that of a grand tourer, striking a balance that would see it equally at home on a track day or cruising through alpine mountain passes.
It’s certainly a car that can be all things to all drivers, courtesy of its range of five driving modes to suit the prevailing road conditions and the kind of performance you want to extract from it. Choose between snow, eco, standard, sport and sport+ modes.
There’s plenty of technology on board to help the Q60 deliver at all times from a handling perspective, including intelligent all-wheel drive, accurate and responsive Direct Adaptive Steering and a Dynamic Digital Suspension sys- tem. Standard equipment is generous throughout the range, which isn’t overly extensive or complex.
Buyers can choose between Premium and Sport models with higher-spec Tech versions of both.
If you want that 3.0-litre engine you’ll need to opt for a Sport model, otherwise it’s a less potent but still thoroughly decent 2.0-litre powerplant, which is also rear-wheel rather than fourwheel drive.