What should the new Q45 or Q50 be like

[Infinitiguy19]

"NICO: Do member comments on online forums, like NICO, help drive any of the direction NNA uses for new car development?

Canaan: Forums like NICO have more input than people realize. Everything that is planned and brought to customers is based on qualitative data from research and marketing. Web boards give market researchers and product planners the opportunity to see the individual customer's voice. Consumer Reports, Edmunds, and J.D. Power & Associates are other resources that also give planners information on what the customer likes and dislikes. And finally there are plenty of surveys (internet, mailers, etc.) that produce data on customer's input. NICO: Do member comments on online forums, like NICO, help drive any of the direction NNA uses for new car development?

Canaan: Forums like NICO have more input than people realize. Everything that is planned and brought to customers is based on qualitative data from research and marketing. Web boards give market researchers and product planners the opportunity to see the individual customer's voice. Consumer Reports, Edmunds, and J.D. Power & Associates are other resources that also give planners information on what the customer likes and dislikes. And finally there are plenty of surveys (internet, mailers, etc.) that produce data on customer's input."

Source: http://www.nicoclub.com/articl...shtml

So it would seem that NICO and others have influence in Nissan and Infiniti's decision on there car's.

So what do you guys expect in the next Q45 or Q50?

*I want useful luxery as thats what I am after in my G50.

*I also want alot of power and the option of a standard transmission. There better also be a supercharger option AT LEAST if not twin turbo and a supercharger.

*I also want the body style to be thin like the G50 Q45.

*And I want at least all the features that I have added to my car to be in the New Q45 or Q50.

[Q451990]

I think it needs to be a low production number, ultra high-end car. The Q has never been a big seller anyhow.

Maybe something at the $80 - 90K price point and really push the technological envelope - direct injection V12 mated to a CVT that can handle 500HP, something like that...

I would like for it to be something so rare that it gets those "what #$@% is that?" looks when people see it.

Heath

[Infinitiguy19]

We already get that "What the f*** is that look" with the G50. I still get looks if my car looks really dirty.

[naladude911]

Well your car is considered rare now. When I had the J30, I got a lot of stares too, and I am starting to get some with the QX4 believe it or not. Sorry to venture into the Q45 forum but I'm bored. I think the Q45 should compete with the SL class, LS class, and other flagship sedans.

[Q45tech]

All electric with 1,000 lb/ft at 0 rpms.

[1991q45]

i was told by my friend that my 91 looks like a alfa romeao (misspelled). what the hell is that.

[maxnix]

i was told by my friend that my 91 looks like a alfa romeao (misspelled). what the hell is that.

No ALFA Romeo looks like a G50. Unless having 4 wheels is sufficient resemblance.

The new Q is the M56. Wonder what they did to make that engine rev? Seems the 5L would have been a better choice.

I am with Q45tech, small turbine driving a generator with a high induction motor at each wheel. Turbines can just about burn peanut butter if they have to.

[elwesso]

while gas turbines are lighter they typically have a lower thermal efficiency than internal combustion engines do...

IT woudl be interesting to bring the nissan president or cima over when they phase out the F50 chassis.. I dont think they could bring over the F50 chassis any more..

http://www.nissan.co.jp/PRESIDENT/

[trajanH]

i was told by my friend that my 91 looks like a alfa romeao (misspelled). what the hell is that.

I think they meant that the big Infiniti medallion on the front of the 91 Q looks something like how Alfa Romeo styles their front grill.

[trajanH]

while gas turbines are lighter they typically have a lower thermal efficiency than internal combustion engines do...

IT woudl be interesting to bring the nissan president or cima over when they phase out the F50 chassis.. I dont think they could bring over the F50 chassis any more..

http://www.nissan.co.jp/PRESIDENT/

Yea, I would phase out the F50 chassis. It just does not work here for a high end luxury car. Even with the President grill the F50 chassis does not impress. My idea of a successful new q45 would hark back to the second generation FGY33 idea where Nissan just copied the Mercedes styling cues.Instead this time I would copy the shape of the Mercedes S Class S550. You cant go wrong by doing that and at least it gets the Q back in the ballgame. Plus, don't forget the hood ornament. Any new Q45 definitely needs a hood ornament.

[Skibane]

I want an engine with an absolutely psychotic amount of power, mated to a transmission that can handle it, stuffed inside a chassis that will cruise all day long at 170 MPH in near-complete silence.

I want a large, comfortable car that will blow blow the doors off of 99.5 percent of the other cars on the road.

No luxury car worthy of the name concerns itself with fuel economy. Give me performance!

[MinisterofDOOM]

I want to see something like a supersized first-gen CTS-V or the first-gen Audi S8. Something that pushes the boundaries between sports car, muscle car, and luxury car. Something that sends the luxury regulars running for their handkerchiefs to wipe their tears. Something with an exhaust note that will piss off the neighbors and enough torque to slow the rotation of the earth. I want several leagues of legroom in the back and a beltline that's down below my waist. Long, LOW, and wide, with a flat-topped roof, none of this wannabe coupe horsepucky. Needs to have a real rear deck and real classic long sedan proportions with a cabin, a nose, and a tail, not just one big blob that's kind of all of those smushed into one pile of soullessness. I want something you'll feel guilty for not buying in black. Something that snarls "Yes, I'm a Sedan. Yes, I seat 5 adults comfortably. And yes, I will eat your little sports car's soul for breakfast, then after I'm done I'll eat yours just for good measure," and backs all that up with it's performance.

direct injection V12 mated to a CVT that can handle 500HP, something like that...

If the letters CVT ever come anywhere NEAR a Q or any other Infiniti I will personally kill whoever is responsible, all their pets, and their family, and bury them all in the world's biggest pile of rhinocerous droppings and then light the whole mess on fire and pee on it at regular intervals.Please note this is just an expression and I'm not really going to murder anyone. The peeing part is not an expression, and I'm fully prepared to urinate on anyone responsible for a CVT-plagued Q whether alive or dead.

If there is one thing I NEVER EVER want to see in a Q, it's a CVT.

[Infinitiguy19]

MoD that is the best looking post I have seen yet in this topic.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yea, I would phase out the F50 chassis. It just does not work here for a high end luxury car. Even with the President grill the F50 chassis does not impress. My idea of a successful new q45 would hark back to the second generation FGY33 idea where Nissan just copied the Mercedes styling cues.Instead this time I would copy the shape of the Mercedes S Class S550. You cant go wrong by doing that and at least it gets the Q back in the ballgame.

Why copy Mercedes Benz when you can beat them, Thats what Infiniti should aim for next.

Plus, don't forget the hood ornament. Any new Q45 definitely needs a hood ornament.

I have never driven a car with a hood ornament but, I don't think it matter if the Q has one or not.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I've never liked hood ornaments on cars built after the '40s. They (arguably) look bad, get in the way of sleekness, and add nothing of value to the car. The E38, which serves as my standard by which all other sedans are judged, does not have a hood ornament, and it should not have one. So neither should a Q. The Q should not be the President, it should be the President with it's suit swapped for a leather jacket.

MoD that is the best looking post I have seen yet in this topic.

Thanks.

Quote »Why copy Mercedes Benz when you can beat them, Thats what Infiniti should aim for next. [/quote]That was kind of the philosophy behind the G50. Infiniti knew they didn't stand a chance against the Germans, so they went a different direction. It ended not not working out because it alienated too many people. So they got worried about sales and took the copycat tactic that was working so well for Lexus (whose cars have always been barely-disguised unapologetic carbon copies of MB or BMW models). Funny thing is, that didn't really help sales either. When they went full-tilt MB-copycat with the Y33, sales still remained poorer than they hoped for. And the F50 was too unusual looking and again offended too many people, so those sales remained low. I think Infiniti really needs to just capitalize on what they know: stand apart, make something with soul for those who know exactly what they want, and let Lexus and MB sell to the mindless masses who are only buying for the emblem anyway.

Just as I said with the Maxima when it was Buickized, a handful of DEVOTED owners is more benefical than a gaggle of lobotomized ones. When you snag that group of people, you snag them for good. If you keep making "that car" they know they want, they won't WANT to go anywhere else. And I think at the $90k plus price point, you can afford to trade volume (which has, in case anyone hasn't noticed, become Nissan AND Infinit's focus of late) for product distinctiveness. You can afford for the Q60 not to sell in large numbers assuming it snags "that group" of buyers and sells for a price that makes up for the lack of volume. Plus, when you're selling enough Versas, Altimas, and G37s to pave nations with, you can certainly afford to produce a low-volume "brand image" car that even perhaps loses money in sales but stands as a beacon that redefines what your brand means and is capable of. That's what the GT-R does for Nissan. I don't see why Infiniti can't have a car in that same vein: not a moneymaker, but an image maker.

What I'd like to see happen now, in potential preparation for a new Q, is for the M56 to succeed spectacularly and see tons of praise from the automotive press. That way, when a new Q does poke it's head out, the reaction won't be "this is the followup to the poor-selling Q45" but "This is Infiniti's next step up from phenomenal M56." Nice fresh start without having to stand in the shadow of the earlier models.

[lino]

.... A new sedan is also in the pipeline for a 2012 release. A new Q-badged full-sized limousine, to be the brand's flagship model.....

http://www.worldcarfans.com/10...years

I hope it doesn't look like this:

http://www.worldcarfans.com/10...usine

It may look similar to the new 2011 M37 and M56 sedans:

http://www.worldcarfans.com/10...ually

[Q451990]

Please note this is just an expression and I'm not really going to murder anyone. The peeing part is not an expression, and I'm fully prepared to urinate on anyone responsible for a CVT-plagued Q whether alive or dead.

If there is one thing I NEVER EVER want to see in a Q, it's a CVT.

That's funny right there... don't care who you are (unless you're the guy on the other end of MOD's golden shower)

I meant that more as an illustration of something way out of the box on the technology end... Although I do think there's a lot of merit in the whole CVT tech - if it can be made to work in more powerful applications.

Heath

[trajanH]

MoD that is the best looking post I have seen yet in this topic.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why copy Mercedes Benz when you can beat them, Thats what Infiniti should aim for next.

I have never driven a car with a hood ornament but, I don't think it matter if the Q has one or not.

Infiniti Nissan cant beat Mercedes when it comes to luxury + performance. Are you crazy! No way in hell will that happen. The best that they can do is to copy and get in the game to play with the star players in the flagship luxury game. The latest Q45 is like the player on the bench that never gets in the game.. I get more attention with my black on black 97 Q45(with the Cima hood ornament) than any F50 Q.

[Infinitiguy19]

Infiniti Nissan cant beat Mercedes when it comes to luxury + performance. Are you crazy! No way in hell will that happen. The best that they can do is to copy and get in the game to play with the star players in the flagship luxury game. The latest Q45 is like the player on the bench that never gets in the game...

Nothing is impossible!!!

I get more attention with my black on black 97 Q45(with the Cima hood ornament) than any F50 Q.

1997-1998 they copied Lexus more if you notice your tail lights.

[trajanH]

Nothing is impossible!!!

1997-1998 they copied Lexus more if you notice your tail lights.

Yea, but from the shape of the body to the grill and hood ornament The overall vibe is that of a Mercedes which is what is most appealing about the car. No one (that I have come across) thinks that it is a Lexus, even from the back.

[Infinitiguy19]

They must have never seen a Lexus before:



I rest my case.

And sorry for posting a Lexus on NICO.

[qship96]

Yea, but from the shape of the body to the grill and hood ornament The overall vibe is that of a Mercedes which is what is most appealing about the car. .

California dreaming!!!!!!

more like a Buick than a Mercedes!!!!

[MinisterofDOOM]

I get more attention with my black on black 97 Q45(with the Cima hood ornament) than any F50 Q.

You'd probably also get more attention riding on a donkey pulling a cart of bananas. That does not make it a better alternative to the F50. People who buy cars to get attention do not deserve a say in what a car should be like. There are always more look-at-me options out there if attention is all you care about. The rest of us want a car FOR OURSELVES that we can enjoy driving, which is very rare these days. I don't care if NO ONE notices my car. What I care about is that I enjoy driving it and looking at it myself.

The objective of a car's design should not be to grab as much attention as possible. It should be to please the driver. EVERYTHING ELSE is irrelevant. If you want something that will make you look cool, just go buy a mercedes S class and be done with it. Why spend your days wishing Infiniti would build a car like the S-class when the S-class already exists? Just go buy it. If you want an S-class you don't want a Q. WE DO want a Q, for the very reasons that the Q is NOT an S-class.

Infiniti Nissan cant beat Mercedes when it comes to luxury + performance

No one buys MB cars for their performance, unless it's the astronomically priced AMG models. Infiniti has never failed to beat Mercedes in the performance department.

[trajanH]

You'd probably also get more attention riding on a donkey pulling a cart of bananas. That does not make it a better alternative to the F50. People who buy cars to get attention do not deserve a say in what a car should be like. There are always more look-at-me options out there if attention is all you care about. The rest of us want a car FOR OURSELVES that we can enjoy driving, which is very rare these days. I don't care if NO ONE notices my car. What I care about is that I enjoy driving it and looking at it myself.

The objective of a car's design should not be to grab as much attention as possible. It should be to please the driver. EVERYTHING ELSE is irrelevant. If you want something that will make you look cool, just go buy a mercedes S class and be done with it. Why spend your days wishing Infiniti would build a car like the S-class when the S-class already exists? Just go buy it. If you want an S-class you don't want a Q. WE DO want a Q, for the very reasons that the Q is NOT an S-class.

No one buys MB cars for their performance, unless it's the astronomically priced AMG models. Infiniti has never failed to beat Mercedes in the performance department.

You posted a picture of a Lexus back lights that looks nothing like my 97 Q45 lights. You might need to brush up on how good the second generation Q can look.Also, most of us buy certain luxury cars to get attention. Few wants to admit that but it is being naive and a bit disengenous to say that people buy luxury cars just for performance. Is that what Nissan thought when they introduced the Q45 to the US with that bogus advertising campaign? There is a reason that the Q45 is not being sold in the US anymore.

I have owned Mercedes and the Infiniti cars and I can tell you that a Mercedes is a performance oriented car where the goal is to find the correct balance of performance and luxury. So there is something for everyone in the line of Mercedes Benz cars. You buy the model that suits you best.

I definitely want people to notice my car and I also want to be different than everyone else. So instead of the ubiquitous Mercedes I like the Infiniti brand. Performance is not really high up on the list for me since I mostly just cruise the roads and try to stay out of the crazy LA traffic. I also don't commute over 50 miles a day to work like a lot of people do. Infiniti (with the F50 Q45) just did not make a design that really appeals to people like myself( and there are many of us here in LA) and that is why you rarely see a F50 Q45 around town. But, I have noticed a good amount of second generation Q45's rolling around town and they look good and they do resemble a Mercedes at first glance(some people tell me that.) Also, people will ask admirably, what type of car that is.

[qship96]

The second generation Q41 was an embarasment to the Q series, a retreat from nissan to cut costs- they just took an existing lower level sedan from their home market and slapped the Q badge on it- this decision seriously hurt the image of Infiniti in the top flagship sedan market, for which they have never recovered. The F50 Q was a huge step back in the right direction for the Q series, but the damage was already done and shoppers in the lux class no longer considered the Q when making the rounds through the Lexus, BMW, MB dealers......Infiniti was dead in the mindset of the high dollar flagship sedan shopper

[trajanH]

The second generation Q41 was an embarasment to the Q series, a retreat from nissan to cut costs- they just took an existing lower level sedan from their home market and slapped the Q badge on it- this decision seriously hurt the image of Infiniti in the top flagship sedan market, for which they have never recovered. The F50 Q was a huge step back in the right direction for the Q series, but the damage was already done and shoppers in the lux class no longer considered the Q when making the rounds through the Lexus, BMW, MB dealers......Infiniti was dead in the mindset of the high dollar flagship sedan shopper

Well, whatever Nissan did at the time it was not good enough. But the second generation Q45 is withstanding the test of time. The car looks better on the streets now than the Lexus's of the same year. You might be talking more about quality of build and not styling. I am talking styling and I actually think that the styling of the original Q45 hurt the Q45 brand more than you can say the second generation was an embarrassment. In 1996 few people wanted a Q45 car and so no one was going into Infiniti dealerships to buy luxury cars. It seems like the second generation got some people into the dealerships and then they did not make any impressive styling developments and then changed to the F50 styling which gave people the impression that Infiniti designers were just not on the top level when it comes to designing flagship luxury cars. You just cant go backwards in styling when your competitors are making giant leaps.

Modified by trajanH at 4:44 PM 8/26/2009
Modified by trajanH at 4:45 PM 8/26/2009

[MinisterofDOOM]

You posted a picture of a Lexus back lights that looks nothing like my 97 Q45 lights. You might need to brush up on how good the second generation Q can look

Not I. Someone else posted that pic.

And I agree it's nice to get complimentary comments on your car. But that's just a bonus. The real point is to enjoy it yourself. I would never trade my own enjoyment for those compliments. Having a MB I don't enjoy driving that gets me tons of compliments is just not an option. I'd rather drive a car everyone else things is a hunk of junk but puts a smile on my face. Fortunately those aren't the only two options.

I have owned Mercedes and the Infiniti cars and I can tell you that a Mercedes is a performance oriented car where the goal is to find the correct balance of performance and luxury.

"Correct" is subjective, though. In my eyes, MB is not going for the right mix. WAY too little performance and too much luxury. The BMW of the late 90s is my benchmark for the right balance. Fortunately, BMW seems to be who Infiniti has in their sights these days.

...but the damage was already done and shoppers in the lux class no longer considered the Q when making the rounds through the Lexus, BMW, MB dealers......Infiniti was dead in the mindset of the high dollar flagship sedan shopper

Exactly. That's why I'm hoping the hiatus plus the success of the M will help "reset" the mindset of those shoppers. If the M does well enough, when the Q comes back it could be more than just the few of us in the Q forum getting excited about it.

[qship96]

I think the current Audi A8L is the type of lux performance understated full size sedan the Q should have morphed into. If the A8 were a little more reliable, it would be #1 on my list as a replacement for when my beloved 96Q finally needs to be laid to rest. The A8 is understated handsome on the outside and drop dead gorgeous on the inside, and the all wheel drive and all aluminum body{no rust} make it wonderful for those of us that get some snow in the winter.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Definitely agreed. The A8L is beautiful without being gaudy and has really nice proportions. I just wish Audi hadn't replaced the torquey W12 with a rev-happy V10 designed for a car that weighs 1200lb less in the S8.

I also wish Audi would make some RWD cars for those of us who don't care about AWD.

[seldomseen]

The new M56 looks like a G37 on steroids. It should definitely be a great replacement for the current M.