How the East does luxury

The revamped Infiniti Q70 takes on the Germans in the luxury sedan game - and proves to be a worthy opponent

Shopping for that essential executive sedan is an easy task. Your friends, family and conscience will naturally direct you to either one of the big three Germans manufacturers. There's also the growing popularity of Cadillac and Lexus to consi-der. But not everybody wants to take the cars most travelled, and for them, have just the thing. This week, we look at the 2016 Infiniti Q70 - previously known as the M sedan - which has been often overlooked in the mid-size luxury segment. If we take the objective approach, the Q70 already wins half the battle, costing between Dh20-50k less than its counterparts. But there is more to car buying than the suggested base price.
DESIGN & AESTHETICS
First, a question of size. You will find that the Q70 is a lot of car on the outside. It's 4,980mm long, 2,096mm wide and 1,500mm tall, making it almost full-size, and size matters for buyers that like to be seen and be seen in.

The sheet metal exterior is a seamless union of contours like a natural European landscape. As polarising it may be, this Infiniti has a certain abstract appeal that cars of today lack, especially because of their largely geometric shapes. Its shape is also the reason for its slippery drag coefficient of 0.27, making it amongst the most aerodynamic sports sedans available. The gaping chrome-laden double-arch grille has intricate wave forms for mesh detail, and is flanked by swoopy headlamp clusters that house new LED daytime running lamps shaped like a brow, over C-shaped main lamps.
The Sport model test car we drove features a lower stance, an apron with trapezoidal bumper intakes and sporty splitters at the bottom. Also part of the Sport package are black-painted turn and fog lamp finishers. The very muscular profile, with highly pronounced wheel arches and creases that originate at the hood and flow over the front wheels, across the doors and terminates beyond the rear wheel is what gives the car distinctive visual appeal. To complete the aesthetics in the rear are new detailing in the brake lamps, dual exhaust pipes and bits of chrome over the licence plate. Overall, the wind-swept body of the Q70 is as much beauty as it is beast.
The base model comes with 18" 5-spoke wheels, and optional 20" 5-split spoke wheels that simply engulf the wheel wells. In our opinion, a revamp warrants a new spoke design, not a carry over.
Our test car came in a midnight blue - a very saturated dark hue that would be my personal choice - but you have seven other colours to choose from.
The oval shaped key fob is truly intelligent - besides functions like keyless access and push-start, it also allows the settings to revert to those of your choice, or of your spouse's, for the air-con, audio, etc, depending on whether you use the main key or spare.
The cabin is just as complex, curved, contoured and flamboyant as the exteriors, lavishly decked in leather, metal and decent quality plastics, if not the best. We took a liking to the soft textured leather upholstery, as we do in all Infinitis. They are soft and supple and range from a frosty white to an ear-thy brown, to the regular beige and black shades. Most of the trims come with a brown ash wood veneer, but with the brown upholstery you get a white ash silver powdered wood effect.
Both driver and front passengers' seats feature 10-way power adjustment, including two-way lumbar support. And the seats are designed for large builds, considering they're catering to the US market. The front seats are heated and cooled too. so that is a bonus! In the rear, the big transmission tunnel takes away some leg space for the centre seat passenger, but in general, it is a sizeable cabin for three average sized adults.
The steering is a 4-spoke variety that is leather wrapped, with as many buttons as you can count, right at your fingertips. The newly introduced welcome lighting feature also extends to the ignition switch, which glows with a pulsating effect - a feature pioneered by the Indian-built Jaguar, we believe.
The detailing on the old-school clock is neat, and instead of numbers or dashes for hour/minute denotation, you have slight ridges, which is a nice touch. The internals mostly remain the same as its predecessor's, and so does the cascading centre console, and its overkill of hard buttons that may seem half a generation behind. But the fact is, it's as ergonomic as it's intuitive, and is a better interface all around compared to the futuristic newfangled dual touch screen interface and additional rotary controller on the Q50. Also the main 7" touch screen is tucked into the top of the dash, and the sculpted visor over the gauges gives everything a great degree of legibility. 
POWERTRAIN & PERFORMANCE
Infiniti gives you two ways to power the Q70: you can either get the potent V6 or the superlative V8. Our test car ran its paces on the power of the direct injection 24-valve 3.7L V6, which gives you 325bhp right out of the box and 363Nm of torque. The motor is eager and revs easily, but we observed some unpleasant engine chatter as the revs went higher.

The 7-speed transmission isn't as seamless as you'd expect, and do note that only the sport pack gets the magnesium paddle shifters. To take away some of that sudden thrust effect from a downshift or heavy throttle, Infiniti have introduced this 'acceleration swell' feature, which is designed to bring on the power gradually. It seems to work, but we think it takes some of the thrust away.
We don't expect track days in a car like this; most would be glad to know that this is a rear-wheel drive platform that can go from 0 to 100km/h in a claimed 5.8 seconds. We hear the V8 does it in 5! So there is great power to keep you entertained, but along with it comes great responsibility, or in this case, great stopping power. The base model comes with sufficiently large disc rotors in the front and rear, while the Sport model has even larger 355mm rotors upfront and 350mm in the rear. They are effective over all speeds, but the lack of pedal-feel takes away sportiness some from the 'sports sedan' moniker.
Keeping the body floating over tarmac is independent suspension all around, with a double wishbone coil over shock absorbers up front and rear independent multi-link coil springs over shock absorbers in the rear.
All this seems like mechanical mumbo-jumbo to most, but what is important is that if you forgive the slightly vague steering, this is a true corner carver, especially with the 4-wheel Active Steer that is capable of steering the rear wheels as well.
Infiniti has high expectations for the Q70 even on the fuel burning habits, and by that, we mean, they expect frugality. But reality isn't expectation, at least in this case - the V6 does not manage the claimed 9L/100km rating, but would do something closer to 12, but the largish 80L tank should grant you plenty of range. Generally, the ride quality is good and the presence of active noise cancellation that applies itself through the speakers does minimise some of the noise that comes off the low-profile tyres. 
FEATURES & FUNCTIONALITY
By giving the Q70 a 500L boot, it means that Infiniti tries to put family first. It comes with a removable luggage net, which keeps your plastic grocery bags in place, and you also have hydraulic space saving hinges that won't get your luggage pinched when you close the deck lid.
Nissans have amazing air-conditioners, and Infiniti being of the same family, does not compromise. The dual-zone automatic temperature control is good on draft and chill. Apparently, the system uses extract from grape seeds to reduce allergens. I don't know how much of it is science-fiction and how much fact, but it sure would be of interest to the hypochondriacs.
Infiniti and Bose have had a long partnership, and it continues in the Q70, where you get a Bose Studio Surround system with digital 5.1-channel decoding and 16 speakers. You even have speakers on the shoulders of the front seats to help get that surround effect. Additional options include bluetooth hands-free phone and audio streaming, USB ports for quick music changeovers and a navigation system with an 8" WVGA colour touch screen display. There is also a 10GB hard drive for your music.
This car is armed with defense mechanisms that can keep a country safe! Starting off, we have six airbags, predictive forward collision, forward emergency braking, an around view monitor that uses four cameras that can now detect moving objects, back-up collision intervention, a rear camera along with stability control and traction control. You name it, it's got it! 

VERDICT
In a city littered with ubiquitous offerings from Audi, Mercedes and BMW, the bodacious curves on this 2016 Infiniti Q70 will get you more attention that you expect. It is essentially a mid-size luxury sports sedan that is more luxury than sports and will pamper you with conveniences at a seemingly discounted price, as compared to its German rivals.
Also, it's a good time to get one, considering that Infiniti is giving out a 5-year/unlimited mileage warranty, a year's worth of insurance and a 2-year service contract.

• On The Road