HONG KONG: The Infiniti Q60 Black S is what happens when you take a normal luxury coupé with sporting potential and fit it with a hybrid energy capture and return system developed for Formula 1 racing.
Set for its official debut on March 6 at a special event ahead of the Geneva motor show's first press day, this special car is the first official collaboration between the marque and the RenaultSport F1 team since becoming partners in 2016.
"It is natural that we come together to explore the possibility of bringing innovative high-performance hybrid technology to our customers," said Infiniti president Roland Krueger.
Taking the top specification version of Infiniti's Q60 coupé as its starting point, this show car keeps the standard model's twin-turbo V6 engine. But by then adding a KERS system, which returns energy and therefore an extra injection of power to the engine, it offers a huge performance boost and cancels out any turbo lag.
Infiniti will use the car's official unveiling as a gauge of public interest - if it excites enough people, it could get the production green light. But whether it stays as a concept or becomes a real-world road car, it is the latest in a growing line of premium cars getting a Formula 1 technology infusion.
However, unlike the Aston Martin AM-RB001 or the Mercedes-AMG Project One, the Infiniti Q60 Black S will only offer half the horsepower - roughly 500hp. Yet, even in concept guise, it's more than twice as comfortable and practical - it seats four in a certain level of luxury and offers space for luggage - and could potentially retail for a tenth of the £1.2 million Aston Martin is asking for the AM-RB001.
What's more, though the partnership on this first model is focused on the KERS system and compensating exterior aerodynamics, Infiniti has bought much more than a donor car to the project. Its engineering team have worked with Renault's to develop the hybrid tech.
"Performance Hybrid technology is one of Infiniti's major strengths," said Tommaso Volpe, Infiniti Global Motorsport Director. "We launched our first performance hybrid car in 2011 and we were the first car manufacturer to use this technology to boost performance rather than to reduce consumption; so when the Renault Sport Formula One Team decided to develop their ERS technology in-house, [we] emerged as the perfect partner to support them."
