Our view: 2016 Infiniti Q70

Source: Our view: 2016 Infiniti Q70

The judgment: A powerful V-8 engine can’t make up for the awkward handling, odd ergonomics, and outdated electronics of the 2016 Infiniti Q70.

Against the competition: There are many better $70,000 cars out there, with up-to-date multimedia systems and displays, class-leading handling, powerful engines, and luxurious interiors.

Big, rear-wheel drive luxury cars are the up and coming rides of choice for millions of people around the world. They are the technology showcases for luxury brands with dazzling electronics, remarkable powertrains and styling meant to embody their brand’s themes and execution. Infiniti’s top sedan is the Q70, a rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive sedan with a V-6, V-8 or hybrid powertrain. It is also available in a long wheelbase model.

The Q70 had its last major redesign in 2010 when it was still called the M. A minor refresh for the 2015 model year brought a slightly updated design, but carried over to the powertrain (see the 2015 to 2016 changes here). Despite this refresh not even two years ago, the Q70 has some challenges. Many competing vehicles have received major facelifts, including the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Lexus GS, and others are all-new, like the Cadillac CT6. Can the Q70 hold Infiniti in the battle for premium buyers?
Styling the Q70 was never an issue. It’s sleek, muscular, and uses the classic “Coke bottle” shape that has graced performance cars for decades. It looks good and gives the Q70 a curved shape that hides the size of the car. But it has an unusual problem: the gaps between the top of the tires and the bottom of the fender arches are comically wide. I could fit my whole fist between the big, optional 20-inch rear tires and fender without touching either, giving the car an odd, upscale look that’s possibly an unfortunate side effect of its all-wheel drive.

A longer version is also available in the Q70L, with an extended wheelbase that creates more room in the rear seats, but my test car was a regular-wheelbase Premium Select Edition with dark chrome exterior trim, dark bumpers, a trunk spoiler and custom wheels. The looks are sleek and appealing, and apart from the odd wheel arches mentioned above, it would hold up well against more modern designs like the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5 Series, Cadillac CT6 and Lexus GS.
Under the shapely hood of my test car was a beast of engine: the 5.6-liter Infiniti V8. It’s the optional engine; a 3.7-liter V-6 is standard. The big V-8 produces 420 naturally aspirated horsepower, which translates into plenty of thrust and an impressive, throaty gurgle. It doesn’t sound as brash as some American V-8 sedans or as mechanically sonorous as the German luxury brands, but it delivers plenty of smooth power, especially when paired with the seven-speed automatic transmission. The Q70 sits on a rear-wheel drive platform, and my test model had optional all-wheel drive.

This all-wheel drive is primarily used for traction in poor conditions; It’s not for improved handling, as the Q70’s ride and handling are a bit messy. The steering and suspension are frantic and felt ill-adapted to my test car’s massive 20-inch wheels. A broken pavement will make the steering wheel jerk in the driver’s hands, and it can even cause the car to lose track, as the stiff sports suspension sends a lot of vibration and harsh reaction into the cabin. At 70 mph, the passenger seat vibrates and shakes when nobody is in it. Steering feel and feedback aren’t bad, but given the bouncy nature of the suspension, there’s no incentive to drive this car aggressively and sportily.

That’s a shame because there are several things about the Q70 that are pretty good independently. Four-piston front and two-piston rear brakes included in the Premium Select Edition option package are strong, and the drivetrain is impressive, but the rest of the platform feels like it’s wrapped too tightly. The Cadillac CT6, on the other hand, is a paragon of effortless driving; it’s smooth and well-damped, with chassis sophistication that surpasses the Q70. The same goes for BMW’s excellent 550i xDrive sedan. Even the new Genesis G80 feels better executed than the Q70.

While the performance of the 5.6-liter V-8 engine is nice, it’s not the fuel penalty that you have to pay for it. The Q70 V-8 is EPA rated at 16/23/18 mpg city/highway/combined 4WD. My week of driving only averaged about 16mpg overall. The V-6 is more efficient, rated 18/24/20 mpg with all-wheel drive. Rear-wheel drive versions are better in both cases: 18/26/21 mpg with the V-6 and 16/24/19 mpg with the V-8.

If fuel economy is important to you, the Q70 is also available as a hybrid, which is rated a much more impressive 29/34/31mpg. Rivals like the BMW 550i xDrive aren’t much more efficient, clocking in at a 16/25/19mpg rating, but other rivals have eschewed big V-8 engines in exchange for smaller, turbocharged ones. The all-wheel-drive Cadillac CT6 is a good example: its top-of-the-line engine is a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. It makes almost as much power as the Infiniti V-8 but is rated at 18/26/21 mpg. The Genesis G80 has V-8 power, but not all-wheel drive. It’s rated slightly lower: 15/23/18 mpg.
The cabin of the Infiniti Q70 presents new problems. The seating position is unusually high, making it easy to get in but requiring an unexpected step down when getting out. Visibility is good, and it’s fun to peer over the sculpted hood (it’s always fun when the exterior design is visible from the inside). But there’s no denying that the interior overall feels dated and less than competitive.

The seating comfort is neat, especially in the rear, the leather quality is acceptable. But the Q70’s faux-aluminum trim doesn’t fit well from dashboard to doors, and the quality of the plastic feels no better than the best Nissans; It certainly isn’t worth a premium price.
A big part of the problem with the interior is its outdated electronic displays — from the central instrument cluster’s monochrome LCD to a menu-based multimedia system that looks almost a decade out of date and doesn’t have the resolution of today’s best systems. All this just makes the Q70 look old. The resolution issue with the central screen is a big concern as it makes the rear camera clarity terrible. It looks like someone smeared petroleum jelly over the camera lens.

The Q70’s button layout is also confusing, with seemingly little logic for the spread of functions. It requires more careful driving than it should. There was even a row of switches low on the dash near my left knee that were difficult to operate while driving. Simply put, the ergonomics of the interior of the Q70 need a complete overhaul.
Luggage space in the trunk is average at 14.9 cubic feet of space – plenty of room for a couple of large suitcases. The Cadillac CT6 and Genesis G80 are slightly larger at 15.3 cubic feet, and the BMW 550i (which has at least a 60/40 split folding rear seat) is slightly smaller at 14.0 cubic feet. The Q70’s rear seat is a bench that doesn’t fold down, but offers an opening through the center armrest for longer items like skis or things from the hardware store.
The 2016 Infiniti Q70 earned top marks in crash tests from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and a five-star overall safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Here you can see how the V-6 model performed in all the different crash tests.

Despite the Q70’s outdated internal electronics, a full range of modern safety features are available: blind spot warning with steering intervention, forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, rear collision intervention with automatic braking, lane departure warning and avoidance, parking sensors, 360-degree cameras with motion detection and more. A full list of Q70 safety equipment can be found here.
The Infiniti Q70 starts at $50,775 (including destination fee) for a base Q70 3.7 rear-wheel drive. The four-wheel drive version costs $52,905. Upgrade to a Q70 5.6 rear-wheel drive and it’ll set you back $63,755, while the Q70 5.6 all-wheel drive I tested starts at $66,255.

My car included a $3,300 Premium Select Edition package, bringing my tested total to $69,555. You can certainly go higher. Add in the Technology Pack, which has all those electronic safety goodies, and you also have to add either the Sport Pack or the Deluxe Touring Pack – but you can’t have it with the Premium Select Edition pack. Tick ​​all the boxes, and you can snag a standard-wheelbase Q70 for just under $75,000. The longer-wheelbase Q70L model isn’t that much more expensive, coming in at just over $76,000.

Competitors have surpassed the Infiniti Q70 in design, efficiency, onboard technological sophistication and more. The Cadillac CT6 offers plenty of interior space, a stylish ambience, cutting-edge technology and a choice of powertrains. Its fully loaded price is almost $10,000 more than a top-of-the-line Q70L, but smaller versions – which still have plenty of equipment and the powerful 3.0-liter V6 twin-turbo engine – are at a comparable price to have.

The 2017 Genesis G80 is perhaps best known by the name it had last year: Hyundai Genesis. Part of a new luxury brand from Hyundai, it features smooth, comfortable rear-wheel-drive chassis and a choice of V-6 or V-8 power. However, like Infiniti, it’s not generally considered a top-end luxury brand.

The BMW 550i xDrive is more honest, and its 4.4-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 even beats the Infiniti engine in horsepower and refinement. Combined with all-wheel drive, it’s more expensive than the Q70 when comparable options are added, but its refinement, chassis dynamics and superior multimedia technology give it an edge. Compare all four competitors here.

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