twin_snails

iTrader: (2)

I hope this is a good place for this thread, but I know how everyone is curious about the new Q50 RS 400.

I arranged to test drive one tonight and thought I would share my impressions because I haven't seen any driving impressions posted in any forums yet. According to the salesman, this was the first car in my area and I was the first person to test drive it, outside of the owner at the dealership. He mentioned that the sales team is not even allowed to drive it and that test drives were very limited to a short course. It was 2 miles at best..basically a long loop around the block so to speak.

I will base my comparisons around my current car, which is a 2010 G37 Sedan.

The car is very striking in person with the new wheels which are 19x9 up front and 19x9.5 in the rear. This particular model was Graphite Shadow which I'm rather partial to, because my current G37 wears the same color. The salesman wanted me to pay particular attention to the exhaust note as it started up. I found it to be rather unremarkable. They've got it tuned pretty quiet. I'm coming from a 2.5" Fast Intentions setup with no resonators and RHFC's. My car at idle would drown out the sound of the RS 400 starting up if they were right next to each other. I'm VERY interested in seeing how this engine sounds with a catback exhaust on it. Will it sound like a baby VR38 from the GT-R? That remains to be seen.

He pulled it off the pad and then I hopped in the driver's seat. I started to pull off slowly while we were in the parking lot. This car WAS equipped with Direct Adaptive Steering. This was a major point that I wanted to pay attention to because of 1) The reviews I've read on the first version of DAS in the '14s which was widely panned in reviews and 2) I have never driven a DAS equipped Q50.

I was very impressed with DAS. He let me know that he wanted me to pay attention to how the car felt. We started off in Standard mode which is the default. I immediately noticed how sharp, precise and responsive that the steering was in standard mode-- much moreso than my G37 with it's standard hydraulic setup.

Pause on the steering for a moment. I pulled out of the dealership and punched it. From a dig, it felt rather normal, until just above 1,200 or so rpm. That's when that monster mountain of 350 lb. ft of torque kicked in. The rear tires chirped a little bit as VDC was briefly engaged to keep things in check. The VR30 pulls and it pulls hard and early. On the VQ37, you really have to get up in the rpm band before you're really building speed. Not so with the VR30. Power and speed build effortlessly and the 7AT handles everything crisply, with ease. Shifts seemed very fast-- noticeably quicker than the 7AT in my G37. They've definitely reworked the shift logic because I felt none of the weirdness that annoy many of us 7AT owners.

The car is definitely fast. I was expecting it to "feel" faster, but that feeling may have been tempered by the fact that the G37 is a full 250 pounds lighter than this particular car. The specified curb weight for this car is 3,853 pounds. Add in the weight of two guys and we're now probably close to 4,300 pounds. I'm used to driving my G37 by myself the majority of the time, so by that logic, I'm around 450 pounds lighter (daily driving) than the RS 400 was when I drove it tonight. I think the heavier weight of the car may have soaked up some of how "fast" the car felt simply because it's moving more weight. Basic physics. However, in 0-60 terms, it is definitely a 4.4 - 4.5 second car.

My G37 has a Takeda cold air intake and full exhaust which probably has me sitting roughly around 350 horsepower and 290 pound feet of torque. I am referencing figures at the crank and NOT at the wheels. My torque peaks way higher in the rpm band, but the RS 400 has the full 350 available at 1,600 rpm. Torque that peaks earlier in the power band is getting work done sooner and with more force, ergo the reason it's able to heft all that weight and scoot to 60 so fast.

Back to the steering...he changed the steering to Sport and then Sport+ as well as the suspension. It is immediately noticeable going into Sport and Sport+ as the handling becomes even sharper, crisper and more responsive. The handling through the two corners I took was flat and felt very confidence inspiring, however, there is a HIGH tendency for the car to break the rear end loose coming out of the said turn. Even with 265/35-19's out back, it's simply not enough to glue the rear end down as the VR30 is shelling out it's mountain of torque. VDC reigns in the shenanigans with little fanfare and you're back to pulling hard up to 75 mph which is what I did.

The handling in stock form is very impressive and feels far beyond what my G37 has even with it's Hotchkis sways and firm Koni Yellow dampers. The G37 sedan is simply out-classed in every way by this car. For those that say the G37 is a better driver's car than the Q50, I can unequivocally say that is not the case with this car. That's my opinion of course, but the Q50 RS 400 is a lot more fun to drive, even in 7AT form. I've owned many manuals in my time and these days I just prefer an auto, although at times, I do miss the control that a manual offers.

The car feels very balanced all the way around from power to handling. The suspension is firm in standard mode (moreso than my G37 with Koni's set to stiffer damping) and very firm in Sport+ mode, while maintaining very good comfort and responsiveness. I would imagine that some would want to lower the car, but I don't see any reason to change the struts unless you want coil overs.

The brakes are carry over 14" Akebono's so no surprises there. Overall I'm very impressed with the car and VERY curious as to what will crop up in the aftermarket for mods on this car. The turbos are the same for this car as the 300 hp model. The optical speed sensors for the turbine blades tells me that they're pushing these turbos closer to their maximum rated speed and the optical sensors will signal the wastegates to open if they're spinning too fast to protect the turbo.

With that said, I have a feeling that we may be able to tune this car a la ECUTek and UPREV to squeeze a little bit more power out, but if you're wanting to get to 20+ pounds of boost, it's simply not going to happen without upgrading the turbos and that's where it gets expensive.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I asked to see under the hood while the engine was running. He popped the hood and the first thing I noticed was a rather surprising amount of valve ticking at idle. It makes our VQ37's sound completely silent. You don't hear it much with the hood down or the windows up, but I felt it was notable to add to the review.

Feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer them in a timely fashion.

dragion

iTrader: (2)

Great write up!

I'm interested in test driving one myself, since I'm now in the 2015 Q50S AWD.
Mine does have DAS, but would like to find out the different changes that the 2016 has "improved" upon.
I love the DAS system in mine already and feel that even in the 2015 Q50S, Infiniti has already improved the shifting on the 7AT from the G37.

They should have installed the Sport Muffler kit as standard on the Red Sport 400...not sure why Infiniti tone down the exhaust note on the Q50's.
That was one thing that I had to do to mine...it was way to quite.

Which dealership did you go to?


Thanks again for sharing your experience with the Q50 Red Sport 400!

eljoker

Very Nice Twin! I wonder how the stock turbos will react to mods. I know they went that stupid integrated manifold design so they will have to make new manifolds if they want to do turbo swaps.

Rennies5

Thanks for the well written review. This car really interests me as it may be the perfect replacement for my current g a few years down the road. I usually purchase someone else's 3 year lease turn in.

rm2342

close up cell pics?

rm2342

Did you shift manually with paddles? How crisp were and quick were the shifts under moderate accel? any shift shock(lurching)?

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

That sounds like a fun car. I am hoping that engine eventually makes it way into some Nissans like the 370Z or Maxima.

Kris9884

iTrader: (3)

Very interesting, thanks for the review! I'm hoping for a more sporty feel of the coupe version when it's released.

Falker11

iTrader: (3)

Nice review.

I'm sure I'll test drive one but for me I still enjoy 6MT too much to seriously consider it. For folks who are not interested in 6MT I'm sure it will be a hit.

twin_snails

iTrader: (2)

No problem Dragion! I read that you had gotten a new Q50S AWD and have been meaning to ask how you liked it. I haven't driven the previous DAS system in the 2014-15's so I didn't have anything to reference it against, except my standard hydraulic setup in the G37. The DAS system was better in every way than the G37.

I would be very interested to hear your impressions between yours and the new one in the '16 when you get your test drive in.

I agree...the 7AT is already world's better than it was in any G37. They've definitely ironed out a lot of the things I had issues with.

I agree. The sport muffler should have DEFINITELY been standard. It's way too pedestrian for me and it would be one of the first mods I did. However, it's going to be a long time before most of the companies that have systems for the G37 get their development work done for the new RS 400 exhaust and I would definitely want to go with the system that has the best combination of tone and hp improvement.

I went to Crest Infiniti in Frisco, Texas.


Thanks Jose! That's what I've been wondering myself, which is why I kind of want to wait a bit before picking one up. I'm curious what the aftermarket is going to look like for this platform. I have no doubt that people are going to be doing development work on it, it's just going to take some time.

I currently have a smoking deal that I worked on a '15 Q50S RWD and am having a hard time deciding between getting that now or holding off a while and trying to pick up a '16 when the '17s are rolling in and they're trying to move the '16s.


No problem! It was fun to put my thoughts and impressions into words. It actually helped me process the "experience" of the test drive. Either way, you will be pleased with this car.


I don't have any actually. I didn't have a whole lot of time for the test drive. I actually wanted to video how quick the acceleration was but I didn't even do that because the salesman asked me to focus on how the car felt different when it was altering the settings. I wanted to devote my full attention to that with no distractions so I could better quantify my impressions from the drive.


I didn't shift with the paddles and just relied on auto shifting. The shifts were lightning quick and I didn't feel any sluggishness between gears. The harder you get into the skinny pedal, the harder and quicker it shifts. The salesman mentioned that they had reworked the Adaptive Shift Control logic. That was evident because if you wanted to loaf around, it's perfectly comfortable, but if you're getting into it, the shifts are more sporty.


It is definitely fun for sure. They're going to sell a lot of them for sure. I think it will-- it will just be a question of when and what direction Nissan goes with the Z. I would want this engine in RWD and definitely not a CVT transmission like the Maxima has. I can see them putting the 300hp tune variant of this engine in the Max thought. I doubt we'll see the hotter 400hp variant in the Max though. It would cannibalize sales and wouldn't give people as much of a reason to step up to the Q50.


No problem Kris! I think you will be impressed with the coupe version. This car felt more sporty in every way compared to my G37 that has a fair degree of mods to it already.


I can understand that. I think for an auto, you'll be pleasantly impressed with the car. But it's definitely going to sell a lot of units for those where the transmission choice is not as important.

twin_snails

iTrader: (2)

So while I don't have pics, this review here has some and they have the cover removed off the engine here:



Picture Graphite Shadow on this. It's rather beautiful in person.

Now the reviews:

2016 Infiniti Q50S Red Sport 400 First Drive ? The 400 Club


The Askmen.com review:

Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 - AskMen


Very solid decent and very objective review from the perspective of a bimmer owner:

RS 400 Perspective from Bimmerfest Poster - 2014 Infiniti Q50 Forum

twin_snails

iTrader: (2)

By looking at that engine, the VR30 is not going to be easy to mod. Like eljoker said, the turbos being integrated into the manifold is going to present challenges. But I think it has a lot of potential because the aftermarket is very creative when it comes to engineering. I don't think we'll be able to modify the boost pressure as the turbos seem close to be tapped out given that the turbine blades are being closely monitored by the optical sensors.

A tune and an exhaust might open up a little bit more power, but Infiniti was able to achieve greater economies of scale by utilizing the same turbos for both the 300 and 400 hp tunes.

That again has me waiting to see what happens.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Wow, very impressive review there Twin, I guess your user name was just in waiting for this particular model, lol.

What was the sticker on that one BTW.

RavensMinded00

iTrader: (1)

When in doubt, bleeder valves to cheat an extra couple psi.

eljoker

I'm guessing it was about 55k based in the options be said.