JBrady

HELL YES, just spent Sunday at the Texas Motor Speedway north of Dallas/Ft.Worth. Infiniti hosted a by invitation TRACK event with there ALL NEW Q45.

Car lover heaven. This event included several activities.

Hot laps around the high banked oval with a professional driver (former Indy driver). It was raining all day so we only hit 110mph but still a great experience. They were running 125mph the day before in the dry. 110mph in the wet, going around turns, with someone else driving was still adrenalin pumping.

Safety and technology. We got to drive and test the Q45 VDC (vehicle directional control) system. Almost impossible to make the car loose control.

Drive the Q45. We each got to drive the car around the race tracks road course with a pro driver in the passenger seat. Very cool.

Drive the competition. They had an LS430, a Jaguar XK8, a Mercedes E430 and a BMW 540i that we each got to drive on the road course to evaluate against the new Q.

I have to say that the new Q is awesome. I liked many parts BETTER than the LS430. Both the Infiniti and the Lexus made the competition pale. All the cars had similar performance with the BMW feeling the quickest. The LS430 DID NOT have the sport suspension. The Mercedes was quick with 275hp but VERY disappointing in interior feel and features and looked VERY old compared to the Lexus and Q. The Jaguars engine sounded GREAT and was quick but the car itself was disappointing.

JBrady

Check out the new Q45 at http://www.infiniti.com and select "the NEW Q".

Killer 8 spoke 18" wheels with 245/45-18s. The only thing I really didn't like were the small brake rotors. Don't know the specs and maybe it was the huge wheels making them look small but I would like to see more rotor (same goes for the S8 Audi)

Stephen

Hows it ride compared to the Lexus?

JBrady

Very stable and confortable ride. The LS430 did not have the sport suspension and was much softer. It does have the speed limiter set for 150mph vs the 130 for the LS430 . The indy driver said in testing they had unlimited Q's in the 170s and the tire engineers were freaking out. The heavier a car is the more load on the tires as speed increases. I was disappointed in the off the line snap, the BMW was MUCH quicker feeling.

Stephen

Well, the BMW is a smaller car. Too bad you couldnt get any pictures.

JBrady

I am not sure on dimensions but the 540 is not much different in size to the LS or the Q. I do know that the M5 weighs right at 4000 lbs, way too much. The E430 Mercedes looked smallest and it ran well for having the lowest power at 275hp.

Stephen

When you look at dimensions its actually a good bit smaller, I'll try and find the numbers. Its actually slightly smaller than the E Class.

JBrady

Yeah, the power listed is "supposed" to be sae net. The previous 190hp Maxima/I30s were very quick. The Maximas were capable of over 140mph. The 1st gen Q45 with 278hp/292tq was respectably quick and fast. The '02 was strong in the mid to upper range, no doubt about it. It was just not as quick off the line as the BMW. I actually liked it a lot more than I expected to. I like (not love) the exterior. I really like the 18" 7 spoke wheels. I think this car with a torque convertor is gonna be FAST. I drove the LS430 right after the Q and didn't get that WOW feeling from the interior going from the Q to the LS. Don't get me wrong, I love the new LS but it is speed limited to 130mph and is obviously not targeted at the HI-PO market. I think the GS is supposed to capture that share. The Infiniti guys also said that they would be releasing several new cars very soon, I would LOVE to see a 2 door sport model with the 340hp/333tq engine with a looser TC and a little more gear. Already in testing for release in the 4th quarter is a 400hp version of the Q45. Let the horsepower wars begin.

HammerMan

Uhhh, are you serious? I think you better check that car out again.

HammerMan

No it wouldnt be very hard at all. However, you stated the interior of the new Q45 was "lifted from the LS430." Thats your opinion, which is fine, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact their interiors are so different, I'm having a hard time believing you actually looked inside the car at all. The Q45's interior is much cosier, and much more driver oriented than the LS430s. I suggest you take a second look, they are not only different in form, but function as well.

JBrady

Yeah, strange, I REALLY liked the new Q interior. The cars had light colored interiors and when I moved from the Q to a dark colored LS430 interior I kinda liked the Q better! Funny thing, my buddy (drives a 97 Q45) liked the LS interior and exterior better.

QBranchCars

I had the opportunity to test drive the new Q45 the other day at Peninsula Infiniti, one of the few dealerships in SF Bay Area to get a demo car before release. It was a premium model with the sports suspension. The wheels are actually 18x7.5, but should have spec'ed 18x8's. The rotors may look small, but the calipers are decent size, and a little bulky (I say this because it barely clears the wheels, but I don't know the wheel offset). I found the brakes to provide good feedback, not mushy like other luxury cars, and unlike the XK8. With a good set of SS lines, the brakes would feel great. I took a quick peek behind the wheels at the suspension parts, and they look to be of better quality than my GS.

I would choose the new Q45 over the LS430. With the sports suspension selected at sports mode, it was relatively firm for a stock setup. Granted it has been a few months since I drove a LS430, and it didn't have the sports suspension, but I felt overall I had better feedback from the Q. Of course the extra HP also helps. The engine was smooth and pulled well. The Q and LS are big cars of approx equal weight. I enjoyed the "tiptronics" shifter and found the car most driveable in the 3000-4000 RPM powerband, similar to my GS4. I guess I'm used to my E-shift because I preferred it over the Q manual shifter. Too bad the LS430 has no E-shift! The LS is quieter though.

Some may find the styling a little controversial, but I think it's a vast improvement over the previous model if you see them side to side. One interesting styling cue is the big, and I mean BIG, wheel gap at the front fenders. The car would look better lowered, but the rear wheel gap is not as drastic, so it would have to be an uneven drop. Those multi-beam/lense headlights are definitely something. In the premium package, there's a rear-view monitoring system displayed on the nav screen when in reverse. Pretty cool. The side mirrors have a turn signal blinker like the MB ones everyone seems to like at ClubLexus.

For the price of a GS, the new Q can be had in the highest premium package with the same features as the LS430 (includes reclining rear seats) but for approx $15K less than the LS. Of course the LS has the rear seat cooler.

Well, this is the beginning of the battle of the luxury V8's. We'll see what Acura can dish out with the pending V8 TL.

QBranchCars

I agree. The seats seem more supportive in the Q, like my GS. What I didn't care for was the light maple trim they call "blond". Much too yellow, IMO. Interesting, I saw the same color wood in the new SC430. the Q offers this smoke wood trim, which would go great with a black or gray interior.

HammerMan

Yeah, good thing the sport package includes the darker colored wood standard.

HammerMan

Aren't we all???