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A beautiful conundrum | 2017 Infiniti Q60 First Drive

"OK, this should be fun." Hands are rubbed together excitedly. It's a rear-wheel-drive sport coupe painted candy apple red. It's sleek, slinky, and uniquely styled. It's from the same folks who, in the 2000s, finally showed that BMW could be matched in the whole sport sedan/coupe game. Oh, and it has 400 horsepower. Four-hundred! With a four. And yet the 2017 Infiniti Q60 underwhelms. What looks so good on paper instead is rather conflicted, stuck somewhere in no-man's land between the traditional expectations of a performance sport coupe and those of comfier, more luxurious cruisers that isolate and pamper their occupants. It's a serious effort with serious engineering and a clear desire to be innovative, but at least in the range-topping Red Sport model we tested, it fails to come together in a way that truly excites or indulges. A great coupe should do one or the other, and ideally both. To explain, let's start under the hood, where Infiniti's all-new "VR" series 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 makes its second appearance after debuting in the Q60's four-door sibling, the Q50. In the Q60 Silver Sport model, it produces 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque courtesy a pair of turbochargers that create 8.7 psi of boost. In the Red Sport, the knob is turned up to 14.7 psi, resulting in the oh-so-salivatory magic number of 400 hp along with 350 lb-ft of torque. A device known as an optical turbo speed sensor, special to the Red Sport, manages and maintains that extra boost, while an electric motor fitted to the valve timing system serves to quell any loss in throttle response due to forced induction. The Red also gets a second water-cooled intercooler, which, in both models, is distinctive for its more compact size, shorter airflow path, and, according to Infiniti, a resulting reduction in turbo lag and more immediate engine response. It's certainly a clear improvement on the somewhat rough 3.7-liter "VQ" V6 it replaces, which increasingly felt and sounded a little out of place in a luxury car. The new VR30DDTT, as it's so eloquently named, is buttery smooth and indeed responsive, likely capable of convincing luxury-car owners used to naturally aspirated V6s that everything's business as usual. Honestly, its character is reminiscent of a silky Honda V6. In some respects, that's a great thing. In others, it's where the Q60 starts to fall flat.

Infiniti Formula One-inspired Q60 Project Black S has been canned

Infiniti gave enthusiasts a preview of what a high-performance hybrid coupe equipped with Formula One-derived technology could look like when it released the Q60-based Black S concept in 2017. While executives hinted the 563-horsepower model could reach production sooner rather than later, the company confirmed it's been axed. Industry trade journal Automotive News learned the concept was consigned to the automotive attic from an Infiniti spokesman. He pointed out the design study "continues to inspire us," but he didn't explain why the Black S won't reach production. We're not surprised by the decision, though. It was a complex, eye-wateringly expensive version of a slow-selling model unveiled in 2015. Making the numbers add up was likely easier said than done.  Interestingly, many Infiniti dealers didn't want the Black S. "In today's market, a premium Japanese performance coupe has to be very low volume. Anything that Infiniti produces for its dealers, we want it to be a volume product. We're not really in the racing business. I would much rather see something like the QX60. That's a volume vehicle, that's where this company needs to go," opined Ed Lennon, the chairman of the Infiniti National Dealer Advisory Board, in an interview with Automotive News. Unveiled at the 2017 edition of the Geneva auto show, and presented again the following year in Paris, the Black S was powered by a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain built around the twin-turbocharged, 3.0-liter V6 that powers the Q60 Red Sport 400. It worked with three motor-generator units similar to the ones found in the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) fitted to Formula One cars. One spun the rear wheels, and the others were connected to the turbochargers to eliminate lag and deliver instant boost. Infiniti quoted a sub-four-second sprint to 60 mph. Hybrid technology adds weight, and Formula One-like components are no exception. Infiniti noted the drivetrain weighed 441 pounds more than the Red Sport 400's V6. Had it been built, the Black S would have relied extensively on carbon fiber to keep weight in check, and it would have offered a 50/50 weight distribution. Much has changed since 2017, however. Roland Krueger, the former Infiniti CEO who championed the project, left the company in January 2019 to lead Dyson's ill-fated automotive unit. Infiniti announced plans to exit the European market later that year, and it ended its participation in Formula One in 2020.

2023 Japan Mobility Show Mega Photo Gallery: All the highlights and reveals from Tokyo

The 2023 Japan Mobility Show managed to serve up a surprise heap of exciting and futuristic designs and production reveals. Our staff was on the ground in Tokyo for this year's show, where we captured not just all of the latest automotive trends, but some genuinely weird and fascinating stuff.  Browse: Some Delightful Oddities of the 2023 Japan Mobility Show But on to the cars. This year's show featured introductions from Daihatsu, Honda, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota. Some are weird; some are wild; most are probably destined to change significantly before production or merely fade into the void with the rest of the industry's vaporware, but if even a few of these make it to showrooms, we'll consider it a win. Scroll on down for our live galleries of each of the show's major debuts (and cars we're only now seeing in person for the first time). Enjoy!   BMW X2 and iX2 BMW X2 View 6 Photos   Daihatsu me:MO Concept Daihatsu me:MO concept View 14 Photos   Daihatsu Vision Copen Concept Daihatsu Vision Copen View 7 Photos   Daihatsu Osanpo Concept Daihatsu Osanpo View 6 Photos   Daihatsu Uniform Concept Daihatsu Uniform concept View 6 Photos   Honda Prelude Concept Honda Prelude concept View 5 Photos   Honda Sustania-C and Pocket Concepts Honda Sustania-C and Pocket Concept View 8 Photos   Honda CI-MEV Concept Honda CI-MEV View 3 Photos   Infiniti Vision Qe Concept Infiniti Qe concept View 14 Photos   Lexus LF-ZC Lexus LF-ZC View 8 Photos   Lexus LF-ZL Lexus LF-ZL View 10 Photos   Mazda Iconic SP Mazda Iconic SP concept View 8 Photos   Mitsubishi D:X Concept Mitsubishi D:X Concept View 8 Photos   Nissan Hyper Force Concept Nissan Hyper Force concept View 11 Photos   Nissan Hyper Tourer Concept Nissan Hyper Tourer concept View 6 Photos   Nissan Hyper Punk Concept IMG_6533 copy View 8 Photos   Subaru Sport Mobility Concept Subaru Sport Mobility Concept View 7 Photos   Suzuki Swift Suzuki Swift View 5 Photos   Suzuki eWX Suzuki eWX Concept View 3 Photos   Suzuki eVX Suzuki eVX concept View 4 Photos   Toyota Land Cruiser Se Concept Toyota Land Cruiser Se concept View 4 Photos   Toyota FT-3e Concept Toyota FT-3e View 6 Photos   Toyota FT-Se Concept Toyota FT-Se View 7 Photos     Tokyo Motor Show Honda Infiniti Lexus Mazda Mitsubishi Nissan Subaru Suzuki Toyota