Autoblog's Michael Harley drives the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Prototype.

Transcript

MICHAEL HARLEY: We're out of here at the Testing Center in the UK driving-- basically, it's the Infiniti Eau Rouge prototype. It's the working mechanical version of the concept that we first saw in Detroit and that was shown with the engine in Geneva. And under the hood is a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 from the Nissan GTR. It's got coil over suspension, modified steering, obviously, Nissan GTR steel brakes, and all inside the body of a Q50. It is a spectacular package, understandably.

And I'm out here learning this course, simultaneously trying to fly. I'm having a blast. I'm not a huge fan of paddle shifters that are on the column, obviously, because on a corner like that, I've got to take one hand off the wheel and activate them.

It's got tremendous grip. It's got a Pirelli [INAUDIBLE] at all four corners, 255 width. It's a square setup, just because they had to adapt the front of the intelligent all-wheel drive system to this car because the GTR has a transaxle. A Tesla all-wheel drive system is the transaxle. Obviously, that's not going to fit under the passenger cabin of a Q50, which is a four-passenger vehicle.

This is a challenging hill. Great view. Gonna bleed a lot of speed down here just so you don't go flying over what they call the ski jumps. Just about come out of your seat. This proving ground is interesting because it's not a track in the traditional sense. You can see it's lined down the middle. It's no wider than maybe 20 feet wide. Almost every road circuit in the world is wider than 20 feet.

The brakes are unbelievable. I don't even remember the Nissan GTR brakes feeling this good. Hit the pedal, get instant bite, and they just grab and they bring this thing down. It weights over 4,000 pounds and it brakes so well. The steering's [INAUDIBLE]. They've been playing around with it with the racks and changing it. And they just changed it, I believe, two or three days ago. Initial turning is really, really sharp. G loading is-- it's dizzying.

These Corsas are basically R compound tires. And hopefully, if this thing makes it into production, it's going to have the Corsas because they are far grippier than any Bridgestone tires that are out there right now. You know, in terms of overall size, a lot of people are comparing this to like an RS4, a C63 AMG, or an M3, the four-door M4 version. But you know, to me, it reminds me an awful lot of the M5 size, just the way it drives. It's a bigger car. The M5, S6, E 63.

In any case, I don't care who you want to compare it to. There's one thing that's for sure, is that Infiniti's got to build this thing. They need the flagship. It's an incredible car. Just need a little more sorting out, a little more polishing, and they've definitely got a winner on their hands. I'm Mike Harley for Autoblog. Thanks for watching, guys.

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