Geneva show: GT-R soul for Infiniti’s Q50 Eau Rouge

THE secret is out: Infiniti’s latest flagship, the Q50 Eau Rouge, will shoehorn a version of the Nissan GT-R’s twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6, turning out even more power – no less than 424kW.

Speculation has been rife that the Eau Rouge – a high-performance concept car based on Infiniti’s Q50 sports sedan that was first revealed at the Detroit motor show in January as a Formula One-inspired, carbon-fibre aero-enhanced concept – could have a V8 fitted under the bonnet.

However, an audio track of the concept car released last week featured a distinctive turbo whine, leading to speculation it could be the V6 powerplant, and not the eight.

And now, with the powerplant that will propel it finally unveiled at the Geneva motor show overnight, it is a Nissan-sourced V6 charged with the task of motivating it.

“A car with such pronounced styling treatments demands the very best in terms of high-performance powertrains, which is why we installed this V6 twin-turbocharged, seven-speed combination as an example of what a potential powertrain for the Q50 Eau Rouge may look and sound like,” Infiniti Motor Company president Johan de Nysschen said while unveiling the engine of choice.

The V6 in the concept car is tuned to turn out 424kW of power – a 20kW gain over the GT-R – while on-demand torque is rated at 600Nm, down 28Nm on the Nissan-badged donor car.

The V6 pairs with an all-wheel-drive system that sends equal amounts of drive to the front and rear wheels.

On paper, it lacks the outright pace of the GT-R, dispatching the 0-100km/h sprint in about four seconds, well above the Nissan supercar’s official 2.7 seconds.

However, despite its slower sprint to the national speed limit, Infiniti says a top speed nudging 290km/h was enough to “put the Q50 Eau Rouge firmly into the premier league of super-sports saloons”.