Thinking about getting Q50 RS need advice.

In 2014, the G37 Sedan became Infiniti Q50. G37 Coupe and Convertible became Infiniti Q60 under Infiniti's new naming structure - Here's the place to discuss the Q50 and Q60!
omgthedonny
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:02 pm

Post

I'm in the market for a car and thinking about getting the Q50 RS like now lol. I had a couple questions and concerns if anyone could help with I would greatly appreciate the feedback.

1) Is the RS400 worth the difference from the 3.0T ?
I know the differences on paper but how does that really relate to real world and daily driving. if I was just interested in power would it make sense to get a 3.0T and get a tune instead of going full blown RS400?

2) How important is AWD on the car?
I was looking to get AWD but apparently no one has a black RS400 AWD in southern California :( my concern is all that HP without all wheel drive will just turn and burn without putting the power down. I dont care to do burn outs I would rather just GO!

3) Reliable ? How reliable is the car?
for my mon-fri commute I drive 100miles a day so I will put miles on the car quickly and curious how well this new platform and motor take to daily driving

4) with those questions in mind - how well does the 3.0T and RS respond to mods? I have a 2010 Acura TL AWD and they made crap for mods, you spend thousands on mods and only get 20-30hp total if lucky. I dont want to go crazy but I know I probably would like a few bolt-ons or maybe a tune nothing too crazy that would affect the daily drivablity tho.

5) The alternative would be a BMW 340i in the above questions I wonder which is the better choice

Thanks in advance !!!


-Don


User avatar
RicerX
Moderator
Posts: 4013
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:36 am
Car: '20 Titan Pro4X
Location: Southeastern US

Post

Hey Don! Welcome to NICOClub!

I'll be as concise as possible -

1) Do you want to mod, or do you want power under warranty? I recommend power under warranty, myself. The RS makes gobs of it. It also has a couple of extra hardware components (notably turbo speed sensors and an extra water pump for cooling) which is nice to have should you get into the mod route (I'll touch on that in point 4).

2) The car has garbage tires from the factory. Put some sticky, non-run flats on the car, and you'll find a RWD would be just fine in SoCal. The AWD is extremely nice, however, but given where you live, I don't see getting a RWD as a deal breaker given you swap the tires. What I do recommend is sourcing a RWD with the spare tire package equipped and you'll be golden. Be aware that neither AWD nor RWD can be equipped with a Limited Slip Differential, so depending on your driving style, this may affect your decision. Infiniti uses a type of brake "torque vectoring" (to use the term loosely) called Active Trace Control, which basically uses your brakes to mimic the action of an LSD.

3) I imagine you'll be just fine as long as you stay stock for a while. The aftermarket guys haven't quite come up with a fool-proof solution to tuning and stuff with the Red Sport. There is a lot going on with the car that hasn't been present on previous performance platforms from Nissan, most notably direct injection and electronically monitored turbocharging. There is way more to it that just cranking up the boost. (more in point 4)

4) The aftermarket for this car will be monstrous. Simple bolt-ons are yielding serious power from this platform - it appears Nissan has seriously underrated it. The weak points for power adding are the smaller turbos and the transmission. AMS (of Alpha GT-R fame) are officially partnered with Infiniti, and they will be releasing performance parts - some will allow you to keep your warranty and some will not. They already have an 11-sec Q60 Red Sport that is outfitted with parts soon to be released through the official Infiniti stores. It's still a relatively new platform, so the tried-and-true solutions aren't quite there yet, but they absolutely will be.

As far as bang for the buck goes, Fast Intentions has a catback exhaust for the Red Sport models that is going for around $1300 right now that will get you near 30 lb-ft of torque without a tune. It will be an incredibly cost-effective platform to modify once the kinks are worked out. Watch this space as we'll have some write-ups on some of it.

5) The BMW 340i is an absolutely wonderful vehicle, and quite frankly, the safe choice is you want to get into modifications right away. However, the Infiniti, equipment for equipment, is a more cost-effective way to get into a premium performance-oriented sedan. You'll find the Infiniti less expensive than the BMW. The BMW currently has a stronger aftermarket base, but Infiniti is working hard to catch them. Definitely drive both - both great cars. I believe they're so close that it will come down to which one just feels better to you. However, at the end of the day, this is an Infiniti forum, and you'll get the answer of "Infiniti is a better choice" similar to what you'll see on a BMW forum :)

Good luck in your search! Let us know how the test drives go!

rmyAddison
Posts: 67
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 7:24 am
Car: 2016 Q50 Red Sport

Post

Hi,

I've had my RWD Obsidian black over Stone '16 Q50 RS400 for a year this month. I love the car, and I've had BMWs and Jags in the past.

I have zero buyers remorse, I added the Infiniti branded Mortorsport exhaust (with mufflers) and it's just enough throat under acceleration and hardly noticeable drone on the highway.

There are a number of differences between the S and Red Sport, including Sport+ mode, wheels/tires, exhaust...the website lists them, it was worth it to me.

In Texas the stock tires on RWD Red Sports are Dunlop Sport Maxx summer run flats, they stink, I'"ll add Super Sports when I get my money out of them. IF you are a serious buyer I would negotiate a tire swap.

The closest competition was the MB C43 and BMW 340i, I drove both, all great cars, I think the Q50 is a better value and I prefer the looks, had the chrome grill frame painted body color and it looks fantastic, gets lots of compliments.

Best of luck, this owner is very satisfied !~!~!

rmyAddison
Posts: 67
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 7:24 am
Car: 2016 Q50 Red Sport

Post

Hi,

I've had my RWD Obsidian black over Stone '16 Q50 RS400 for a year this month. I love the car, and I've had BMWs and Jags in the past.

I have zero buyers remorse, I added the Infiniti branded Mortorsport exhaust (with mufflers) and it's just enough throat under acceleration and hardly noticeable drone on the highway.

There are a number of differences between the S and Red Sport, including Sport+ mode, wheels/tires, exhaust...the website lists them, it was worth it to me.

In Texas the stock tires on RWD Red Sports are Dunlop Sport Maxx summer run flats, they stink, I'"ll add Super Sports when I get my money out of them. IF you are a serious buyer I would negotiate a tire swap.

The closest competition was the MB C43 and BMW 340i, I drove both, all great cars, I think the Q50 is a better value and I prefer the looks, had the chrome grill frame painted body color and it looks fantastic, gets lots of compliments.

Best of luck, this owner is very satisfied !~!~!

User avatar
audtatious
Moderator
Posts: 37008
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2002 5:31 pm
Car: 2017 Q60 Red Sport. Gone: 2014 Q50s, 2008 G37s coupe, 2007 G35s Sedan, 2002 Maxima SE, 2000 Villager Estate (Quest), 1998 Quest, 1996 Sentra GXE
Location: Stalking You
Contact:

Post

Regardless of silver sport or red sport the VR motor has much more punch and lots of additional tuning options than the out-going 3.7, even if it's noisier. I expect quite a lot of parts and options coming out for this motor over the next few years after the ECU has been fully cracked.

SS or RS is up to you and ricerx mentioned some of the differences. You can get a SS and install a tune (Burger Motorsports has one available) and it will get as much HP as the RS. On the max tune (93 octane + E85 mix) they were pushing 6psi and received 368.76hp and 392.1 ftlb torque. Their 5psi tune, which is simply 93 octane, hit 355/375. Mike sells these at tunerzstore: https://www.tunerzstore.com/Infiniti-Q6 ... er-q50-q60

This stage 1 tune gives more power to the SS than RS, but, will give a RS up to 40whp more +/- over stock, from what I understand.

Stock runflats are crap. I have a set sitting on my factory Q50s sport wheels where one has a sidewall hole and two others have side bubbles.....and they only have 8k miles on them.


Return to “Infiniti Q50 / Q60 Forum”