The rear-wheel-drive Infiniti Q45 comes with a new 4.5-liter twin-cam V8 producing a very healthy 340 horsepower (up from 266) and 333 foot-pounds of torque. The transmission is a five-speed automatic with a manual shift mode. It's available as one model, which retails for $50,500.
High-end electronics are standard, including traction control (TCS), Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), tire pressure monitors, high-intensity xenon headlights, and Voice Control for the climate control and eight-speaker Bose 300-watt audio system, including a six-disc CD changer.

Major options include a Navigation Package ($2100), which uses a DVD-driven system with seven-inch LCD screen and 3D Birdview of the map on the screen; a Sport Package ($1500), including a tightened active damping suspension and 18-inch, eight-spoke wheels with low-profile tires; a Sunshade Package ($500), including a power rear window sunshade and manual rear door sunshades; full-size spare tire and wheel ($180); and heated front seats ($450).
Or you can get the Premium Package ($8000) that includes all of the above plus the Rear View Monitor, a video screen that shows what's behind the car, as well as power reclining rear seats, rear seat audio and climate controls, and B-pillar face vents.

The Infiniti Q45 has a presence that draws second looks, if not stares. We stopped in front of a hotel and porters were all over it. It's being promoted as a big car that feels small, but its styling says full-size luxury all the way. It's the same overall length as the previous-generation (2001) model, but slightly wider, taller and longer in wheelbase, increasing interior space from 97.4 to 107.1 cubic feet.

books

sponsored links

Huge headlamps make the Infiniti Q45 especially distinctive from the front. There are 18 bulbs within two huge sealed lenses shaped like right triangles with fat edges. The four largest bulbs comprise two each for high beams and parking. The other 14 are high-intensity xenon-fired low beams, seven highly visible bulbs on each side forming a circle like a Gatling gun.
Such a radical appearance brings radical expectations, the ability to turn night into day. Infiniti claims that they're the world's most powerful, twice as powerful as those on the $79,000 Mercedes-Benz S-Class ("Warning: high voltage," declares the manual). Infiniti says the low beams are the brightest, based on lumens (a measure of light intensity), and have a better dispersion pattern, providing long range illumination in a narrow beam, as well as wide angle illumination in the foreground, making foglamps unnecessary. (Most factory foglamps are nearly worthless anyway.) The pattern of the low beams is designed to reduce glare to oncoming drivers by cutting the beam sharply on the left side. A switch on the dash allows the driver to adjust the angle of the headlights, a feature we liked. Four positions seemed like overkill, though; we either aimed them high for max visibility or low for traffic or fog (they do indeed eliminate the need for auxiliary foglamps). The problem will be that it's easy to forget where the lights are aimed.

Overall, the front view of the Infiniti Q45 presents a handsome shape, a sweep, as if the lines were poured on. No chrome. A wide-mouthed grille, fully but sparsely filled by four long horizontal titanium-colored slats, with a chrome Infiniti emblem in the center. A subtle front bumper and fascia includes natural-looking air intakes at the bottom.
The wheels are a nice touch, a confident statement, spidery six-spoke 17-inch alloys or more spidery eight-spoke 18s. The silhouette suggests the Chrysler Concorde or LHS, although Infiniti reps were slightly aghast at our vision. We think the rear end is clean and nice. You can see Nissan all over it. Altima or Maxima on a luxury scale, and a bit racier. The roof seems to have more rake when viewed from the rear.