Is the Infiniti Q50 really worth $50,000?
I recently had the chance to stop by the local Infiniti dealership and try out the 2019 Infiniti Q50. The thought in my head going into this was, is it really worth $50,000? The answer may surprise you.
The model I wanted to try was the Q50 Red Sport, however the only one they had in stock was inside of the showroom, so instead we went to another model, the Q50 Signature with a list price of $48,540. The Q50 Red Sport comes with an uprated version of the 3.0l twin turbo V6 that puts out 400 hp, while all other variants of the Q50 come with the same motor putting out 300 hp. All variants come in either RWD or with AWD, although most buyers are opting for the AWD.
The first thing I noticed about the Q50 was the how dated the interior looks. This particular model was first released 6 years ago way back in 2013, and you can tell. Yes, they have done some updates over the years, but their competitors have released brand new versions since then. Infiniti released a mid-cycle update in 2016 when it brought it some new tech and revised styling, but you can tell that it doesn’t have the same features as some of their competitors who have released updates in the past 3 years.
It’s not all bad in the interior. The seats are bolstered but not so much that you are squished in them and are very comfortable. There is a decent amount of leg room in the back seats and the trunk is a good size for this segment. The materials are nice to touch and give an upscale feel to the interior.
On the exterior the styling is pretty good. I like the aggressive looking front bumper and headlight design. It has nice flowing lines and overall I would say that this is a good looking mid-size luxury sedan. I like that there are dual exhaust pipes and a fairly aggressive looking rear diffuser to help with the aerodynamics of the vehicle.
There is, however, one quirk that I don’t really understand in the styling and engineering of the front of the vehicle. Most automakers put the adaptive cruise control sensors within the front emblem or within the front grill and generally in the center. Infiniti, however, decided to put it on the passenger side of the lower grill resulting in an asymmetrical lower grill in the front bumper. I don’t know why they put it there and I don’t know why they didn’t just put a similar insert into the grill on the other side of the car to create the symmetry. Either way, I can’t unsee it and now, neither can you.
The infotainment system is pretty decent. The system is divided into 2 screens, an upper and a lower screen. The lower screen is the infotainment controls, plus your temperature controls. The upper screen, at least from what I could tell, was strictly the navigation. There may have been a way to change this but I didn’t spend too much time playing around with the system. The infotainment system was nice but not quite as nice as the newest from its rivals. The one piece that stood out for me compared to the competition is that there were 3 really nicely designed physical buttons for quick access to the Home, Audio and Climate sections of the infotainment system, rather than just touchscreen controls or those awful haptic touch touch sensors.
The drive took about 15 minutes and it was almost exclusively spent cruising on the highway. The ride was very comfortable, even in Sport mode. The steering was very sharp and made driving in the city a very pleasant and engaging experience, although I found that the sharp steering made highway driving a bit challenging as the car kept wanting to wander back and forth from extremely minor steering inputs. It seems like most automakers adjust for this in modern cars when driving at highway speeds, but not in the Infiniti.
As mentioned, I was driving the Signature model with the 300 hp 3.0l V6. Acceleration was good and I was impressed with the AWD system, even on the slippery gravel on some of the back roads we took. It certainly provided for a fun driving experience, but I would stop short of describing it as exciting.
Overall I was impressed with the Q50 Signature. It was fun to drive, provided good acceleration and the interior was made from nice materials.
Is it worth $50,000? Honestly, no. If I was to spend $50,000 on a new car there are plenty of other options which have better tech, more power and newer interiors.
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Photos courtesy of Infiniti Motor Company Ltd.
