[Amphibian]

Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept Debuts, Promises to Deprive You of Oxygen​

By: Andrew Wendler
October 1, 2014
Car and Driver

A front-mounted, twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter direct-injected V-6 gasoline engine mated to an electric motor of unspecified output combine to produce 550 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque funneled through a nine-speed automatic transmission. Infiniti is claiming sub-four-second zero-to-60-mph times and an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.

Photos at link.

Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept: Flagship Aspirations, Coupe (and Coupelike) Intentions​

By: Nick Saporito
September 23, 2014
Car and Driver

After sitting on the sidelines of the full-size, premium sedan game for years, Infiniti looks set to suit up for action. The automaker’s opening salvo is this swoopy Q80 Inspiration concept, which is making its world debut at the 2014 Paris auto show. More than just show-stand candy, the sleek fastback is claimed to preview a future Infiniti model.

 

[CaddyLac10]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

By the way, de Ny pushed this at Infiniti. That's why he's pushing for the same kind of vehicle slotted above the CT6. Oh, and Audi is coming out with the A9 as well; another large 4 door fast back sedan. See the trend?

However, Infiniti wants to make to make it a 2 door coupe. I'd rather see them make it a true world class flagship but they don't have the nads to do it.

 

[dslay04]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

The Q60 coupe is supposed to follow the design.

 

[dslay04]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

By the way, de Ny pushed this at Infiniti. That's why he's pushing for the same kind of vehicle slotted above the CT6. Oh, and Audi is coming out with the A9 as well; another large 4 door fast back sedan. See the trend?

However, Infiniti wants to make to make it a 2 door coupe. I'd rather see them make it a true world class flagship but they don't have the nads to do it.

Yea, i picked up on that. But Jalopnik says its actually previewing 2 cars. The Q60 and the 4 Door Coupe flagship.

 

[Dequindre]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Why does Infiniti design such terrible looking cars?

 

[Envoy4Life]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Why does Infiniti design such terrible looking cars?

My main reservation with newer Infiniti designs is near the C-pillar. The designer looks like he sneezed when he was drawing the window line.

 

[Dequindre]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

My main reservation with newer Infiniti designs is near the C-pillar. The designer looks like he sneezed when he was drawing the window line.

Newer Infiniti's just look bulbous. I'm surprised they're not the designers of this:

 

[FJAPCRZ]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

The rear looks like they copied the Buick concept.

 

[Amphibian]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Why does Infiniti design such terrible looking cars?

Infiniti actually has designed very few of their products. For example, in the current Infiniti lineup only the QX60, QX70, and the front/rear of the QX80 were actually designed by Infiniti. The rest were just rebadged upscale/premium Nissans from Japan.

Q50 - Nissan Skyline Sedan
Q60 - Nissan Skyline Coupe/Convertible
Q70 - Nissan Fuga
QX50 - Nissan Skyline Crossover
QX80 - Nissan Patrol (with Infiniti-designed front and rear)

 

[Envoy4Life]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Dequindre I agree. The bulbous look doesn't help either.

This annoys me most on newer Infiniti designs:

 

[sfbreh]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Why does Infiniti design such terrible looking cars?

They don't, you just don't like them.

Relax that frontal cortex, homeboy. Try to take the design in objectively. Try to stop thinking of it in relation to something else.

What is it you don't like about them? Why? What about it is so wrong that you would consider the design "terrible?"

My main reservation with newer Infiniti designs is near the C-pillar. The designer looks like he sneezed when he was drawing the window line.

Because you have a really knee-jerk, conventional taste in design and resist deviation.

Infiniti actually has designed very few of their products. For example, in the current Infiniti lineup only the QX60, QX70, and the front/rear of the QX80 were actually designed by Infiniti. The rest were just rebadged upscale/premium Nissans from Japan.

Q50 - Nissan Skyline Sedan
Q60 - Nissan Skyline Coupe/Convertible
Q70 - Nissan Fuga
QX50 - Nissan Skyline Crossover
QX80 - Nissan Patrol (with Infiniti-designed front and rear)

And Nissan lovers LOOOVE that.

I feel like it's a big turnoff with Infiniti for NOT Nissan lovers, though. It was for me, at least. The newer designs look less Nissan-like.

I like the new designs. I feel there's a really strong association with water/femininity in the new designs, and I think that "gender" of their design language is where they catch flak from.

 

[Envoy4Life]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Because you have a really knee-jerk, conventional taste in design and resist deviation.

Many thanks for shooting down my opinion on Infiniti's design, and further thanks for clearing up something that I don't even think is true.

The C-pillar looks like ass to me. The rest of the car is fine, even if a bit bulbous. The C-pillar sucks in my opinion. Is that okay with you?

 

[sfbreh]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Many thanks for shooting down my opinion on Infiniti's design, and further thanks for clearing up something that I don't even think is true.

The C-pillar looks like ass to me. The rest of the car is fine, even if a bit bulbous. The C-pillar sucks in my opinion. Is that okay with you?

No. Please explain why you dislike C-pillar.

You specifically showed the kink in the rear window before. I'll assume that's what you're referring to. What about it don't you like?

Vocalizing things usually brings clarity in one way or another.

You'll either be able to articulate what exactly you think is wrong with it from a design perspective, or you'll stonewall and complain about it because YOU are convinced it's ugly and can find nothing objectively wrong with it, making what you say subjective and not based on any clash of design principles, meaning you just don't like it because it's different.

There's nothing incoherent or inherently ugly about the new designs, I suspect you disagree with them because they don't fit your paradigm of what cars should look like. That does not mean a car is ugly.

See: Lexus NX. One day it's the ugliest crossover you've ever seen and you're on the Predator train, the next you think it's great-looking. Why did that happen? You didn't just decide to like it.

Try to objectively reason through why your opinions changed or why you have the opinions you have of something. Put some mental distance between you and the object you're analyzing, and you'll be surprised how agreeable new things actually are.

 

[Dequindre]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Dequindre I agree. The bulbous look doesn't help either.

This annoys me most on newer Infiniti designs:

The weird C-pillar just adds to the bulbous look, yuck.

 

[Dequindre]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

They don't, you just don't like them.

Relax that frontal cortex, homeboy. Try to take the design in objectively. Try to stop thinking of it in relation to something else.

What is it you don't like about them? Why? What about it is so wrong that you would consider the design "terrible?"



Because you have a really knee-jerk, conventional taste in design and resist deviation.



And Nissan lovers LOOOVE that.

I feel like it's a big turnoff with Infiniti for NOT Nissan lovers, though. It was for me, at least. The newer designs look less Nissan-like.

I like the new designs. I feel there's a really strong association with water/femininity in the new designs, and I think that "gender" of their design language is where they catch flak from.

Based on the way you respond to people, I would think you're an elitist. Then, I realized that elitists would not drive Infiniti's, so now I have a whole different word in mind.

 

[Amphibian]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Aaanyway, back on the subject of the Q80 Inspiration Concept:

I would've hoped this would preview the Q80 more than other products, especially with the name that is what we're expecting from the flagship. An "Infiniti Panamera" would be interesting and certainly unconventional, as opposed to prior Infiniti attempts (as have others) in competing more directly with the S-Class crowd. But a large sedan with a much more dramatic presence and sportier dynamics might just be the thing Infiniti needs to set itself apart from the typical sedans in this price range.

As for the engine, that too will be interesting. Infiniti stated years ago now that they've stopped V-8 development under De Nysschen - http://blog.caranddriver.com/infiniti-abandoning-v-8-development-says-de-nysschen/. Now, whether or not that means they'd modify Nissan engines (a la 5.6L in the M/Q70) or not remains to be seen, but even the talk of a hypothetical "M30" with a twin-turbo V-6 - http://www.autoblog.com/2012/12/19/infiniti-takes-to-facebook-to-explain-model-names-mentions-550/ - makes me wonder if Infiniti is looking to turbo'd VQ V-6s for the future. Plus, they could go one step further on the tech-o-meter and use their hybrid VQ as the basis (3.5L hybrid V-6) with some turbochargers added in. And from there how crazy do they want to go? How about a twin-turbo hybrid 3.5L V-6 with cylinder deactivation and stop-start? More than 450 horsepower and 30 mpg highway?

 

[NoStopN]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

No. Please explain why you dislike C-pillar.

It's his opinion. That's explanation enough.

 

[sfbreh]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Based on the way you respond to people, I would think you're an elitist.

Do you even know what an elitist is?

I'm not an elitist, I just think people should spend more time introspectively, rather than just existing superficially.

The insult you were probably looking for is a pedagogue, or a pedant.

It's his opinion. That's explanation enough.

He asked if it was okay with me, I said no. I don't understand what exactly his issue is with it, so I asked for an explanation.

Re the post above, apparently an elitist is someone who wants people to actually THINK and open their minds to new things. And apparently you have a problem with that!

Why am I not surprised?

 

[NoStopN]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Re the post above, apparently an elitist is someone who wants people to actually THINK and open their minds to new things. And apparently you have a problem with that!

Wrong again chap. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Me personally, I don't like the car either. That's my opinion. You can ask for reasons why, but no one is obligated to fuel your desire to argue. You are trying to make your opinion the only one that matters. And it is the only one that matters.....to you.

 

[sfbreh]

Re: Paris 2014: Infiniti Q80 Inspiration Concept

Wrong again chap. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Me personally, I don't like the car either. That's my opinion. You can ask for reasons why, but no one is obligated to fuel your desire to argue. You are trying to make your opinion the only one that matters. And it is the only one that matters.....to you.

A small-minded interpretation of what I'm saying.

"I don't like the car." That's great... but why? "I just don't like it."

Is it so much to ask for a civilized human to try to explain his or her opinion like he or she is actually educated or at least has some type of rational thought process?

I would hope not. Not liking something "just because" is not a valid reason to not like something.

People form opinions through a process. If you don't form your opinion through a rational thought process, it's probably just a knee-jerk reaction and not an actual opinion. Asking someone to reason through something will either help articulate why exactly they feel the way they do (which is good for everyone's development, as dealing with opposing views is how we grow) or it will help them realize that they really DID just have a knee-jerk reaction and that their original "opinion" isn't how they really feel.

Or... they're immature and they believe they're the only ones that are right and everyone else is wrong.

If it's too much to ask for some introspection, please ignore me. I don't want to short-circuit anyone by asking him or her to think too hard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_(cognitive)