Question for owners re:poor "handling" reviews of Q50

[TimGinCentralNJ]

Hey gang!

I'm a member of the Nico EX35 forum, and a long-time G35/37 fan. I was hoping some of you owners wouldn't mind chiming-in with your impressions/experiences with your Q50's--specifically in the "handling" department,

I've been renting G35's/37's while traveling on business for years (and love them), but my dealer had given me a Q50 AWD as a loaner once last year, and I've pretty much decided it will be my next car. One thing which puzzles me is the many articles/reviews I've read about the Q, and how much "poorer" it's handling is as compared to the G37.

I know the Q50 comes standard with run-flats (which I'm not a fan of on any car I've driven), and I've also read (but not experienced first-hand), that the Q's stability control program is a lot more "strict" than the G's, (also not a problem for me because although I do drive fast, I'm not in the "drifting crowd" - heh heh). Personally, I thought the Q50 AWD handled and performed great...but that was only based on driving it for a long weekend.

I'm just wondering whether anyone here agrees with the statements about the Q's handling being worse than the G's--and if so, whether you attribute it to these 2 factors above or something different altogether.

Thanks in advance,
Tim G.

[Ace2cool]

Girlfriend's sister drives a Q60x, and I've driven it a few times. On terms of handling, to me it's a very competent drive with responsive steering and a lot of grip, especially for a factory luxury car. Now, R&T and other reviewers push the car to the limit, and it may get a little unpredictable at the limit. I haven't taken it too far, so I don't know about that. But in all honesty, for mild to aggressive driving, it did very well. It's no Z32 (I may be a little biased, but hey) but it is a great car.

Let's put it this way: I went fast enough round a corner to make my girlfriend scream and get mad at me. It does just fine, lol.

[TimGinCentralNJ]

Thanks for the response Ace2cool.

Yeah, I would almost certainly ditch the runflats and pickup a set of Michelins, etc regardless, but I'm glad to hear there's nothing behind those reviews which are panning the Q's handling. Always pays to ask a bunch of owners.....

Truth be told, I do love German sports sedans, but nothing currently being built really (for me) strikes the balance between "appeal" and "value", with many of those marques shifting away from building real "driver's cars" and focusing more on comfort, technology and gizmos. BMWs and Audis in particular are becoming too expensive to own, and too complicated to maintain one's self as could be done with the older models post warranty. I love my 2001 7-Series, but I doubt I'll ever own another BMW for those reasons.

Thank goodness Infiniti builds some pretty spectacular cars which--unlike the Germans--have a pretty solid record of reliability. My 2008 EX35 has been terrific. I only wonder why Infiniti doesn't sell more cars....

Appreciate it!
Tim

[audtatious]

I have a Q50s AWD and the factory runflats suck butt! They also have soft sidewalls that develop bulges and can rip. I yanked mine and I'm running my winter tires on them (ContiExtreme DWS) and they handle 100x better.