Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge inherits the engine of the insanely fast Nissan GT-R.
Remember when Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen said that, if the Q50 Eau Rouge ever made production, it would feature more than “500hp and 600lb/ft of torque”? Well you’ll never guess what – he was being deadly serious.
Infiniti just took the wraps off the Q50 Eau Rouge in Geneva, revealing it will have the heart of the Nissan GT-R ─ a 3.8-litre twin-turbo engine that packs 568hp (560bhp) and 600Nm (501lb/ft) of torque. All that power will be sent through a 7-speed gearbox.
The Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge, like the Nissan GT-R, features an all-wheel drive powertrain with a 50/50 power split, which helps it 0 to 60mph in an estimated time of less than four seconds. A top speed of 180mph is touted. Not quite the 2.8 seconds 0 to 62mph sprint a Nissan GT-R can manage, then, but still more than fast enough for us mere mortals.
A smaller, more practical 2.0-litre 4-cylinder engine is also on display at the Geneva Motor Show. It packs 214hp and 320Nm of torque. Power is sent through the rear wheels via a 7-speed automatic gearbox.
Infiniti is still yet to confirm the Q50 Eau Rouge will make it to production, which means the luxury Japanese cruiser with the heart of a monster may never become a reality. We think that would be a shame because we feel the standard Q50 could do with a bit of added personality.
“Building on the extremely positive feedback on the Q50 Eau Rouge at its recent Detroit Auto Show launch, we decided to further whet the appetite of performance sports saloon fans by engineering this powerful heart into our blood-red beast,” Johan de Nysschen commented.
“A car with such pronounced styling treatments demands the very best in terms of high-performance powertrains, which is why we installed this V6 twin-turbocharged, 7-speed combination as an example of what a potential powertrain for the Q50 Eau Rouge may look and sound like.”
Want to hear the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge? Check out the official video below.
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