M35 Vs 2015 Q50 PREMIUM

[Larz]

The few times I have needed a loaner from the dealer, it has always been an M37 or a Q70, so not much to report as they are quite similar to the M35 minus the new body style.
This time I was given a Q50 - brand new with 103 miles. I reckon I must have been the second customer to drive this loaner and it still had the front windscreen sticker with the manufactured details. Prior to buying my M35 I looked at a G37 at my dealer and was given a demonstrator for the weekend. I wasn't expecting this Q50 to be any different than the G37 was. I was wrong.
The Q50 is more than just a new version of the old G37. It's a completely different car in so may ways.
It has plenty of pep (same engine as the M37 with much less mass to propel. But that's just mathematics ... there is more. The way this Q50 drives is nothing short of amazing. The steering is all grip like a gecko clinging to tree bark. No undue amount of body roll and less under steer than expected. Actually not much over steer either, though the rear can move about under the right (or bad) driving style. The cabin is quiet and the road imperfections are handled smooth and with only slight bumping over deepest pot holes. It's a muffled 'bump' like that of a much heavier car. Apparently, this isn't the G37 suspension under a new body. The sport exhaust is deep and throaty on acceleration, and noticeable but not intrusive while driving at speed. The headlamps are also amazing - slightly better than the Osram CBIs that I added to my M. The sticker was inside the glove box. This car seemed to have all the packages and went for $45,741. That's nearly 10k more than the base Q50 and only 2k less than the base Q70.
The gear box is the 7-speed like my M35, but seems Infinit has finally worked out how to get it to shift smoothly under all driving styles. There was no gear searching in stop and go traffic.
So, how does this compare to Q70 (and the similar M37, M35? If I'm honest, it doesn't. It wasn't meant to, and it doesn't.
The Q50 is a fine car, no doubt. But Infiniti are clearly going after the driving experience, where the Q70 and the like are aimed at luxury first, then with a bit-o-sport built in on top.
The interior of the Q50 has less leather (if it in fact IS leather) and more plastics. Not "tic-tac box plastics", but still ... plastics. The cup holders are where your elbow should be - located on the console, they remain open like two big empty holes exposed at all times. And, they will not accommodate my driving mug as it's too wide to slide inside far enough, allowing it to tip about. The seats have much less bolster support and are not as comfy. Headroom is merely acceptable for a 6' 3" driver or front seat passenger. The rear seats are not comfy as they should be for a nearly 50k sedan and rear headroom / leg room will not allow any tall people.
The dash and controls are properly placed as expected from Infiniti. However, the double-screen info system is a bit hinky and takes time to adjust to. The upper screen has only three choices - a time clock, radio info, and limited info browsing. I reckon (after much experimentation) that the lower screen is best used for selecting and adjusting to preferences while the upper screen is for ????? ermm I left the upper screen set to show XM station info and I suppose it would serve well with NAV running up top and uninterrupted, while browsing on the lower screen. One option on the top screen that I found particularly rubbish is the "clock" display. It is an fugly, bugly HUGE white clock face that takes up the entire screen. Perfect for a pensioner who left their granny spectacles back at the rest home - it has NO place in this car and It can't begin to compare to the elegant time piece used in the 35,37, and 70.
The steering wheel is also a bit cheap and small but the buttons are well placed and easy to use. While it is adjustable, it is also manual and does not allow for much in the way of adjusting up or down. This is clearly NOT a smaller version of the larger sedans. It is noticeably less refined and elegant inside, and noticeably less comfy as well. Still in all, it IS fun to drive and is certainly a quiet, well built small sedan that could easily be used for long road trips. If you had never experienced the larger sedans, you might well enjoy the Q50.
What about MPG? I averaged 17.9 on surface streets which is only 1 more MPG than my larger M35. I reckon it beats my MPG on long roadway trips but probably not enough for me to trade down.

[pedsemdoc]

Couldn't agree more with your observations/review, Larz.

I had the chance to drive a Q50 as a loaner while my M37 was getting an oil change and then found to have a leaking strut which was replaced under warranty.

My observations:
1. Acceleration - quicker, but less mass to move vs my M37, so it ought to be
2. Better shifting - I probably need to do the idle relearning accelerator pedal dance for mine which should help with some of the gear hunting, but eventually I am hoping an UpRev will do a lot to straighten that out.
3. Steering seemed a little tighter, but again less mass to move around and it's not as wide as the M37 with a shorter wheelbase - my loaner didn't have the option to change the steering feel with the new drive by wire system (did yours have that option, Larz?) I would've liked to have played around with the steering feel.
4. Headlights look brilliant, I'd love to have that mod done to mine, or else have the gatling style Q45 projectors swapped in
5. I also liked the tail lights more than my M's which I think were still a step up from the Y50 2006-07 ones
6. Driver's side seemed a little cramped, I've been spoiled by the extra room in the M
7. Touch screen seemed cool at first, but accessing some of the options and functions with multiple touches got a little old. There are times I just want to go to a dedicated physical button to adjust things. I did like the fact that you could access a performance page - kind of like the newer Dodge SRT models: lateral g's, acceleration times, etc. (I guess you can get some of the same info with the Android Torque app)
8. Interior panels and surfaces seemed a little cheap compared to the M
9. My loaner was the tricolor pearl white same as my M... I've only had one white car before. White gets dirty quick, BUT when clean looks pretty boss - so I'm beginning to appreciate the color each day.
10. My mpg was about the same, but I found myself constantly jumping on the go pedal just to see how quick I could get it to go.

Craig

[BlackCat81]

The upper display is used for the Navigation. Also, did the one you drove have the 19" wheels and big brakes?

[Larz]

Yes, mine had 19s but I didn't look at the brakes. They grabbed VERY well so it's possible they were the larger brakes or the upgraded shoes.

[pedsemdoc]

I don't think mine had the 19 inch tires, so no sport brakes either.