Overview & Reviews

The Infiniti Q50 effectively replaces the Infiniti's popular G series entry-level luxury sport sedan. And just like the G, the Q50 offers an appealing combination of luxury, performance and value wrapped up in handsome styling.

Although the luxury sport sedan segment has historically been dominated by elite German nameplates, the Infiniti Q50 holds its own against these typically pricier models. It also comes with the latest high-tech features, and there's an available hybrid model as well.

Current Infiniti Q50 Specs
The Infiniti Q50 entry-level luxury sport sedan debuted for the 2014 model year. It's powered by either a 3.7-liter V6 with 328 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque or, in the case of the hybrid version, a 3.5-liter V6 and a 50-kilowatt electric motor, which provide a total output of 354 hp. All Q50s come with a seven-speed automatic transmission, and rear-wheel drive is standard. All-wheel drive is optional. The regular Q50 comes in base, Premium and Sport trim levels, while the Q50 Hybrid comes only in the upper two trims.

Standard feature highlights on the base trim include keyless ignition/entry, dual-zone automatic climate control and eight-way power front seats. Also included are an electronics interface with twin touchscreen displays, smartphone app integration, Bluetooth phone/audio connectivity, a rearview camera and a six-speaker sound system.

Premium trims also feature a sunroof, heated front seats, leather upholstery (on the hybrid only), a 14-speaker Bose sound system and a multimedia monitor/display, while the Sport adds a sport-tuned suspension, 19-inch alloy wheels with summer performance tires, leather seating (for non-hybrid Q50 sedans), a sport driver seat and paddle shifters. The hybrid also includes Infiniti's Direct Adaptive Steering (which offers four different steering responsiveness settings) and a power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel. Option highlights include a navigation system, a 360-degree camera parking system, a 60/40 split-folding rear seat and various safety features such as blind-spot warning and front and rear collision warning.

On the move, the Q50 has been somewhat of a disappointment for us. While acceleration is strong, ultimate handling ability on non-Sport trims is hobbled by all-season tires that don't offer the grip we'd expect from this otherwise athletic sedan. Ride quality is similarly mixed. Although the Q50 ably damps out larger bumps and ruts, it gets fidgety on roads with minor imperfections.

Beyond these issues, however, the Infiniti Q50 stands strong thanks to its well-trimmed and comfortable cabin, roomy trunk, user-friendly high-tech features and the impressive fuel economy of the hybrid model. It's worth a good look if you're shopping for a sport-oriented entry-level luxury sedan.

Used Infiniti Q50 Models
The Infiniti Q50 was all-new for 2014. If you're looking at used cars, though, many of the Q50's qualities can be found in its predecessor, the Infiniti G sedan.

User Reviews:

• 

  Loved my Gs, but the Q50 is a beaut! - 2015 Infiniti Q50
  By rogue36 - December 30 - 11:54 pm

  Ive owned 5 Infiniti G-Series vehicles over the past 12 years, starting with the original G35 in 2003. Needless to say, I love the car. Ive always preferred its styling, comfort, and value compared to other entry luxury sedans. I was hesitant to get a Q50 after reading the bad press it received, but the new styling really appealed to me and the technology in my 2012 G37 was feeling old (particularly the audio/navigation system). After several test drives of the Q50 and its competitors, I liked the Audi A4 the best, but only slightly more than the Q50 and the lease deal on the Q50 was so much better there was no way I could pass it up. Looking back, Im glad I didnt get an A4 -- its styling is so boring compared to the Q50. Overall I really like the Q50. The powertrain is excellent - smooth acceleration and quiet at highway speeds. The cabin is comfortable with nice feel to the materials, supportive seats, minimal wind and road noise, and good visibility. The Bose "studio on wheels" is thankfully just as good as it was in the G37. I didnt get the Technology Package (which I somewhat regret) so I cant comment on all the cool ADAS features. I like the car, but I do have two reservations: the steer-by-wire system, and the infotainment system. I wanted Around View Monitor to help with parking in my cluttered garage, and I really like entry/exit assist where the seats and steering wheel move out of the way to make getting in & out of the car easier, but to get these two features I had to take the "direct adaptive steering" system. Im not a professional driver, but even I can easily feel the difference between DAS and the hydraulic steering gears used on the G-series in the past, and I prefer the old steering feel. That said, it wasnt a deal breaker for me. I use this car for my daily commute on boring mostly-straight highways. After three months I can honestly say Ive gotten used to the DAS feel and it doesnt bother me anymore. In fact I appreciate the lightness of the steering while making low-speed maneuvers. I did however have one incident where I was taking a tightly curved on-ramp at excessive speed just for the fun of it (which I did all the time in my Gs) and in the middle of the maneuver I felt the car turn in slightly without me moving the steering wheel. It scared the heck out of me. I dont know if it was the DAS system making an adjustment, or something else happening, but it was very disconcerting. Bottom line: DAS makes me nervous and I would prefer not to have it. As for the infotainment system, it has a nice set of features but the execution is bad, not terrible, but bad. I have a lot of complaints about the system, but Ill limit myself to just mentioning two of them: 1) When listening to HD Radio the song title and artist name do not appear on any screen anywhere. Not on the radio screen, not on the navigation screen, and not on the instrument cluster screen. Its ridiculous. I eventually found that information buried two levels deep in the "controls" menu, where it makes no sense for it to be and is basically useless. When you listen to music from your phone or iPod the song title, artist name, and even album art are prominently displayed -- why wouldnt they do the same for HD Radio? Even more crazy, if you turn HD Radio off you do get the song title and artist name displayed - though in the old style scrolling text format. Its really frustrating and I hope Infiniti offers a software update to fix it. 2) I like to put my iPod or phone into random mode and just manually cycle through my songs. Weirdly, in the Q50 there is a span of time where you cant hit "next" to go to the next song -- the system says "retrieving album art" and wont respond no matter how many times you hit the button. That window of time seems to be from 1 - 3 seconds after a song starts playing, which can really be annoying when I hear a song I rather not listen to and want to quickly skip to the next one. I either have to hit "next" immediately or wait 3 seconds. Its a minor thing, but still, didnt anyone do user testing on the system? Anyway, it is a great car and I am happy with my purchase. I recommend it to anyone who appreciates a sporty rear-wheel drive (or rear-wheel biased AWD) sedan and wants something that looks more elegant and interesting than the boring German sedans.

• 

  Loved my Gs, but the Q50 is a beaut! - 2015 Infiniti Q50
  By rogue36 - December 30 - 11:54 pm

  Ive owned 5 Infiniti G-Series vehicles over the past 12 years, starting with the original G35 in 2003. Needless to say, I love the car. Ive always preferred its styling, comfort, and value compared to other entry luxury sedans. I was hesitant to get a Q50 after reading the bad press it received, but the new styling really appealed to me and the technology in my 2012 G37 was feeling old (particularly the audio/navigation system). After several test drives of the Q50 and its competitors, I liked the Audi A4 the best, but only slightly more than the Q50 and the lease deal on the Q50 was so much better there was no way I could pass it up. Looking back, Im glad I didnt get an A4 -- its styling is so boring compared to the Q50. Overall I really like the Q50. The powertrain is excellent - smooth acceleration and quiet at highway speeds. The cabin is comfortable with nice feel to the materials, supportive seats, minimal wind and road noise, and good visibility. The Bose "studio on wheels" is thankfully just as good as it was in the G37. I didnt get the Technology Package (which I somewhat regret) so I cant comment on all the cool ADAS features. I like the car, but I do have two reservations: the steer-by-wire system, and the infotainment system. I wanted Around View Monitor to help with parking in my cluttered garage, and I really like entry/exit assist where the seats and steering wheel move out of the way to make getting in & out of the car easier, but to get these two features I had to take the "direct adaptive steering" system. Im not a professional driver, but even I can easily feel the difference between DAS and the hydraulic steering gears used on the G-series in the past, and I prefer the old steering feel. That said, it wasnt a deal breaker for me. I use this car for my daily commute on boring mostly-straight highways. After three months I can honestly say Ive gotten used to the DAS feel and it doesnt bother me anymore. In fact I appreciate the lightness of the steering while making low-speed maneuvers. I did however have one incident where I was taking a tightly curved on-ramp at excessive speed just for the fun of it (which I did all the time in my Gs) and in the middle of the maneuver I felt the car turn in slightly without me moving the steering wheel. It scared the heck out of me. I dont know if it was the DAS system making an adjustment, or something else happening, but it was very disconcerting. Bottom line: DAS makes me nervous and I would prefer not to have it. As for the infotainment system, it has a nice set of features but the execution is bad, not terrible, but bad. I have a lot of complaints about the system, but Ill limit myself to just mentioning two of them: 1) When listening to HD Radio the song title and artist name do not appear on any screen anywhere. Not on the radio screen, not on the navigation screen, and not on the instrument cluster screen. Its ridiculous. I eventually found that information buried two levels deep in the "controls" menu, where it makes no sense for it to be and is basically useless. When you listen to music from your phone or iPod the song title, artist name, and even album art are prominently displayed -- why wouldnt they do the same for HD Radio? Even more crazy, if you turn HD Radio off you do get the song title and artist name displayed - though in the old style scrolling text format. Its really frustrating and I hope Infiniti offers a software update to fix it. 2) I like to put my iPod or phone into random mode and just manually cycle through my songs. Weirdly, in the Q50 there is a span of time where you cant hit "next" to go to the next song -- the system says "retrieving album art" and wont respond no matter how many times you hit the button. That window of time seems to be from 1 - 3 seconds after a song starts playing, which can really be annoying when I hear a song I rather not listen to and want to quickly skip to the next one. I either have to hit "next" immediately or wait 3 seconds. Its a minor thing, but still, didnt anyone do user testing on the system? Anyway, it is a great car and I am happy with my purchase. I recommend it to anyone who appreciates a sporty rear-wheel drive (or rear-wheel biased AWD) sedan and wants something that looks more elegant and interesting than the boring German sedans.

• 

  Great car - 2015 Infiniti Q50
  By Mr D - November 15 - 11:05 pm

  I purchase my Q I April and love it! Easy to drive but you have watch because it is easy to speed in the car!

• 

  Great car - 2015 Infiniti Q50
  By Mr D - November 15 - 11:05 pm

  I purchase my Q I April and love it! Easy to drive but you have watch because it is easy to speed in the car!

• 

  The best car I have owned, totally fun to drive - 2016 Infiniti Q50
  By Valerie Adams - October 23 - 5:37 pm

  I also own the 750li so I was a little skeptical on the 2016 q50 turbo. I love the handling and this car hugs the road in a way I have not felt before, it is a quiet whisper grabbing the curbs of the road even steep inclines.. This car is a lot a power and bang for the buck include the ease of "total" voice navigation for all the controls. I also love the braking power. It gives total break without the noise or the jerk, very amazing in a 4 cylinder car. I love it and it is worth every penny of the $41k price tag.. I do a lot of interstate and city and I am getting 24.5 miles per gallon. I have saved 52 kg of fuel economy with the 8 months that I have drove the car.. I have put way more miles on this car than I thought that I would.. I am now up to 20k miles, but dang she is beautiful and fun to drive..

• 

  Great balance of performance and luxury - 2015 Infiniti Q50
  By Andrew Dunn - October 16 - 4:33 pm

  I was looking for a sedan with all wheel drive, 0-60 in under 6 seconds, and led headlights and the Q50 worked out to be the cheapest way to meet those needs. Many comparisons are made to the BMW 3 series, and Merdeces-Benz C class, but the q50 can be purchased for significantly less money. I found that I was able to get a Q50 for less than a Subaru wrx sti and the build quality is far superior. I was able to buy a q50 for 33k (36.8k out the door with tax, and other fees)

• 

  Great balance of performance and luxury - 2015 Infiniti Q50
  By Andrew Dunn - October 16 - 4:33 pm

  I was looking for a sedan with all wheel drive, 0-60 in under 6 seconds, and led headlights and the Q50 worked out to be the cheapest way to meet those needs. Many comparisons are made to the BMW 3 series, and Merdeces-Benz C class, but the q50 can be purchased for significantly less money. I found that I was able to get a Q50 for less than a Subaru wrx sti and the build quality is far superior. I was able to buy a q50 for 33k (36.8k out the door with tax, and other fees)

• 

  2015 Infiniti Q50 - 2015 Infiniti Q50
  By trod - August 25 - 10:47 am

  i leased my q50 this past february at fette infiniti clifton nj...ive had absolutely no problems with it...my navi and infotainment work just fine...drives very well and i always get compliments on it...while driving in manuel on sport mode with traction off i did 0-60 in 4.8 sec...sexy and fun car to drive...cant wait to get the new twin turbo 400hp Q50...thats next...

• 

  2015 Infiniti Q50 - 2015 Infiniti Q50
  By trod - August 25 - 10:47 am

  i leased my q50 this past february at fette infiniti clifton nj...ive had absolutely no problems with it...my navi and infotainment work just fine...drives very well and i always get compliments on it...while driving in manuel on sport mode with traction off i did 0-60 in 4.8 sec...sexy and fun car to drive...cant wait to get the new twin turbo 400hp Q50...thats next...

• 

  Former G owner - 2015 Infiniti Q50
  By Christopher Bradham - March 4 - 4:39 am

  First of all the car is awesome. I am a former BMW guy and owned an 2008 G35 fully loaded. The 2015 Q50 did not replace all that I had in my G such as an actual power steering wheel adjustment. The Q has a manual lever. Premium leather in my G Leatherette in the Q (not a bad thing). Memory seats, lumbar support on driver side in the G not for the Q. Cd changer in the trunk (not a big deal anymore) But overall more cabin room and the 7 speed transmission is a beast. Not too bad on gas on highway. Love it and feel I made the right decision.