"Is that a night club or a car showroom?" was the question for many on Thursday evening. It was indeed Infiniti’s showroom on SZR, which turned into a party center for the launch of the new Infiniti Q50 sedan and the Infiniti Engineering College.
Infiniti’s Key executives, Fintan Knight, Vice President of Infiniti EMEA; Juergen Schmitz, General Manager of Infiniti in the Middle East; and Gert Van Avondt, Product Manager Infiniti EMEA were in attendance. Fintan Knight, Vice President of Infiniti EMEA started with the introduction of the Infiniti Engineering College and some discussions with the Chief Engineer of Infiniti Red Bull F1 Racing team, Paul Monaghan.
Another main attraction of the evening, besides the anticipated new Infiniti Q50, was Mark Webber of Infiniti Red Bull F1 Racing team talking about the role of engineers in a racing team. The Infiniti Engineering college initiative aims to find three top young engineers from around the globe by April 2014 to go and work at the Infiniti Red Bull F1 Racing teams HQ in Milton Keynes, England, with full salary, a house and a car! What a way to start a career in Automotive Engineering!!
The new Infiniti Q50 replaces the G37 and would be available in three options, all with the well-known 328-horsepower 3.7-liter V6, same as the outgoing G37. Hybrid models use a hybrid V6 instead, producing 364-hp with the help of an ‘Electric Super Charger’ pushing the car from 0-100 kmph in 5.1 seconds. The ‘Fly by Wire’ steering, which was also tested by Sebastian Vettel, Director of Performance at Infiniti, provides precise control minus the road vibrations and is dubbed as the world’s fastest reacting steering system. All Q50s will include a standard 7-speed automatic regardless of engine choice or drivetrain. The Q50 would feature a whole lot of new features like the Active Lane Control; Lane Centering System and Back-up Collision Prevention System which goes up to applying breaks to stop the car to avoid collision with any vehicle while reversing etc.
Visually the car looks aggressive from the front and rear. The cabin is pushed rearwards to give it a true rear-wheel-drive sports sedan look and feel. The interior carries the Infiniti’s double wave theme and the center console comes with two touch screens, one under the other. The top is used primarily for navigation and the lower one serving mostly as the control center for various options available.
The top model Hybrid Q50s would be available for AED 144,000 only. This seems to be a great price for a car that looks goods and hopefully performs even better. We look forward to testing it soon to see if it really measures up!
