How about a little sympathy, for the auto writer?
You think it's easy driving the world's best cars week after week and then have to crawl back into a four-banger econobox?This is tough duty, my friends. Filet mignon one day, macaroni and cheese the next.
Take the 1994 Infiniti Q45t I've been driving this past week. Or better yet, don't take it. Instead, help me figure out how to keep it. Do you think Infiniti would believe me if I told them I lost it?
Probably not. There are more where mine came from, of course, but inventory control of $52,000 automobiles must be pretty tight.
Oh well, I'll always have my memories, and those of the new and revamped Q45 will be pleasant, indeed.
You will recall that Infiniti is the upscale division that Nissan created a few years ago on the heels of Honda's Acura offshoot, which had proven that separate dealerships to market pricier cars worked just fine. Arch-competitors Nissan and Toyota said thank you very much and formed Infiniti and Lexus, respectively.
I had the opportunity several years ago to drive what was said to be the first Q45 in Utah - an early production car the factory had sent on a whirlwind tour through the West to whet media appetites. I was impressed then, and I remain so today.
Even more so, actually. For '94, Infiniti has gone through its top-of-the-line Q-ship and made what was always a good thing even better.
The most controversial element of the original - the engraved nose badge that looked like the buckle on a World Wrestling Federation championship belt - has been replaced by a discreet, Jaguaresque grille and new bumper to set it off. It transforms the car. Kudos, Infiniti.
About the Jaguar business. Some scribes have criticized the Qster as a Jag ripoff (the door handles also look Jagish), but so what. The Mazda Miata also bears a suspicious resemblance to the old Lotus Elan, but that doesn't mean it is a Lotus. If the Japanese want to borrow some body bits from the Brits, while retaining their own penchant for quality and reliability . . . hey, whatever works.
And it does work. With its new front teeth (which are said to aid air flow to the radiator and engine), the Q45 qualifies as one of the world's most beautiful cars. And Michelangelo could not do a better paint job than the "Crimson Pearl" covering of my test car - a rich burgundy so deep you could fall into it.
But wait. Looks and ultra-luxury were not supposed to be the Q's strong point, that niche having been usurped by Lexus. Performance is supposed to be the Q-meister's strong point.
It still is, but marketing surveys - and lofty Lexus sales figures - apparently convinced Infiniti that while go-fast is fine, most buyers of $50K cars put cossetting first and Grand Prix performance second.
Thus, softening of the Q's ride was a priority, but it still leans (or, rather, doesn't lean) toward hard cornering rather than boulevard cruising.
The seats - as finely crafted as the Connolly "hides" found in a Rolls-Royce - are a tad softer than before but, again, it's all relative. At first, the seats seem as firm as a church pew (the wooden kind). But after an hour behind the wheel, one realizes that firm is good. That one could drive this car to New York without getting a backache.
It helps that the driver's seat has a 10-way power gizmo (also two memory buttons so you won't lose your favorite position once you find it) that surely must rival the pilot's chair in the space shuttle.
The instrument panel has also been massaged - partly to make way for a passenger side airbag, new for '94 - and it remains state Continued from E1
of the art.
The (again Jaguaresque) slotted gear shift lever is surrounded by exotic wood veneer - real wood, not plastic - as are the door handles, and on the dash is a lovely, gold analog clock - a nice classic counterpoint to all the high tech.
In true luxury car tradition, the Q45 is no lightweight, tipping the scale at more than 2 tons. But it doesn't feel heavy, and the 278-hp 4.5 liter V8 will propel those 4,000 pounds to illegal freeway speeds in under eight seconds.
Not that the Q feels particularly hot off the line in the manner of, say, the Camaro Z28 or Corvette Convertible I reported on in recent weeks. In the classic American tradition, those cars do their best work when the light turns green.
The Q45, conversely, shows its breeding in the European manner, after it has reached its stride. For example, assume that one is cruising along the freeway at 65 mph when one comes upon an 18-wheeler in one's path.
No problem. One simply turns into the next lane, depresses the accelerator to the '45's thick mohair carpet, and . . . truck? What truck? You mean that little dot in the rear-view mirror that looks like a Tonka toy?
The Q can go from 65 to 95 faster than you can say "What's the problem, officer?"
I broke the Q45's price to you early so you could get used to it. The base price of the car I tested was $47,500. A traction control system added another $1,000 and the "Touring" package (the reason for the "t" in Q45t) bumped it another $3,100. The "T" package includes four-wheel steering, alloy wheels, deck lid spoiler, rear stabilizer bar, "performance" steering ratio and heated front seats. (What heated seats have to do with performance I have no clue.)
With destination charges the bottom line was $52,550.
Still with me? I wouldn't blame you if you had moved on to the used car ads after reading that price, but what can I say? Expensive cars are, well, expensive. Incidentally, my test car did not have the optional "active" suspension, which would have added a few grand more to the sticker.
Is the Q45 worth 50 big ones? Only if you can afford it. Obviously, there are a number of less expensive cars that have much of the performance of the Q45 and even most or all of its convenience and luxury appointments. At this level, the law of diminishing returns kicks in fast.
But what the heck, rich people have to spend their money on something, and an Infiniti Q45 is an awfully nice something to spend it on. It won't make you younger, it won't bring back your health if you've lost it, it won't make you grow hair if you're bald and it won't make your kids any smarter, but it sure is fun to drive.
Also, it attracts quite a bit of the right kind of attention. No one gave me the so-you-think-you're-pretty-hot-stuff treatment - nasty looks and upraised fingers are the cross that expensive car owners sometimes have to bear - but many wanted to look inside and ask questions about it.
Sure, my little gas miser gets me where I want to go, but when I climb out of it, no one looks at me like they're trying to figure out which particular big shot I might be. That's what expensive cars give their owners beyond mere transportation: People assume you are what you drive.
Fooled them, didn't I?