In the automotive world one man's amazing and unique is another man's; meh.

I haven't driven the Q yet, obviously, but it seems my expectations were right in line with Infiniti was going to do. Maybe it's about misplaced expectations.

 

went into to drive the Q when I took my G in for service. My impressions were
-looks nicer inside and out more refined
-like the DRL (hawk eyes)
-like the dual screens seems a bit laggy in my experience.
-Went to start it up and first thing I noticed was the exhaust note is much quieter than the G...
-acceleration wise everything feels the same to me, can't see how some people are saying it's faster.
-handling - cant really feels a BIG difference in my G vs the Q...
-honestly it seems all they did was do a redesign and stick with the same suspension and engine, and market the car saying vettel help fine tune the car..
-last but not least was that I can't get my head over the fact that the Q50s I drove was listing at 54k...when I asked the sales person how much wiggle room I have for the price his response was "1000" -_-

 

Personally I was hoping for a 3.0T engine and 6MT (basically a budget S4), seems like the Q50 went the other way,which is understandable. I doubt I'll even ever test drive the Q50, sinceI'm more than happy with my car and by the time I'm not, I'm sure I'll move on to something more suitable to my tastes at the time

reminds me when I asked the salesman about the 6MT sedan and he said "I'll get sticker"

 

Was in Albuquerque today and saw about 8 new Qs up close, still don't like the way the car looks as a whole. Parts of the side I like, particularly the rear fixed windows' trim swoosh. Like the upper part of the front end, including the lights but the grill on down is a big miss IMO~the fog light area w/ the plastic ribs and the bulging sides just outside of the lower grill look like a hurried decision.

The rear w/ the two horizontal chrome strips is just too much along w/ eliminating the traditional twin ring lighting. They somehow added more but the look is bland

Interior does look more refined w/ more attention to the proper details and seems like the trim pieces are a better looking material.

Stickers ranged from $44k up to the unmarked G37S AWD Hybrid.

It is nice that the AWD S models now get the big brake kit.

I was hoping when I saw some firsthand I'd warm up more to the styling changes, but other than the interior I'm not feeling it.

 

I hate that part.

 

LOL
It's funny how polarizing this car is. I think I like it because it's just a bit more aggressive take on what they had going back there. The rest of the car went too far away IMO.

 

Well then, by all means go take one for a test drive. I suspect you will not be disappointed when reviewing a new car with lowered expectations.

In that context... I wonder if MOTORWEEK has any job openings?

 

To me, it looks awkward, kind of like Hyundai Genesis coupe's weird droop on the rear window. I'm not saying the Q looks like the Genesis coupe, but just the awkwardness of the swoosh.

 

You're right, lowered expectations in the sense I never thought the Q was going to be a cross between a gt3 and m5. However, I did have an expectation of improvement from the current G.

 

On the auto stop/start feature (had a day in a new 328 loaner a while ago): I really think it's a gimmick and very annoying. I don't know how much gas it saves by stopping the engine but the extra wear on the starter/engine may not be worth the cost IMO.

And people are begging to have this feature turned off. There was no way to turn this off at the beginning and BMW had to update their software to allow this a couple of months after.

 

Since you came up with that comparison all on your own, I'd say you're doing just fine arguing with yourself.

In all seriousness, g37guy01, go test drive the car. Arrange for an S-model, and be sure to only drive it in Sport Mode.

 

My impression of start/stop was that it helps a lot with fuel economy and is the way of the future with many companies moving to it. But happy to be proven wrong, its not a must have by any means.

A better transmission, suspension and driving mechanics are an absolute must. Almost all the reviews in the Q50 forum say the new Lexus IS and the BMW are much better drivers. It seems Infiniti wants to sell this car on the good name of the G and market it solely based on dual touchscreens.

They should've taken some of the marketing budget and spent it on the engine/drivetrain IMO.

 

I don't know about Lexus, but I agree, BMWs are better drivers than the G. So selling the Q in the good name of the G may not be what it's cracked up to be.

 

From what I have read the Lexus has the best steering feel of all the new entry level luxury sedans and for me steering feel is a big plus because that's what makes a car fun to drive. Its the connection to the road that i crave and it's one thing i love about Mazda when I owned a first gen Mazda 6 in my younger days, they have kept that feature and make it a priority throughout their lineup.

While the BMW might be better when taken to the limits and have the most lateral G's through a slalom, 99.9 % of the time I'm not taking my daily driver to it's limit so lateral g's is not a huge factor. The G37 used to be the reigning champ in this segment for steering feel but it appears they have turfed that in favour of making a high tech Camry which frankly was the last thing I expected Infiniti would do with the G37 successor.

I could get over the Q50 Transformer looks but taking the fun quotient out is a big negative for me. The Lexus IS350 may have some really out there looks as well but at least it seems to flow better than the Q50 and looks to be more fun to drive and it seems like a winner for those current G owners who are looking to their next vehicles and who are wary of owning German sedans and their high repair cost and suspect reliability.

 

another thing is why hasnt Infiniti let the car reviewers get there hands on the car and see what they say about it? If they are confident they made a challenger to BMW then let them have it just like the new IS.