Infiniti Q50 VS Volvo S60
Infiniti Q50
Likes
- Powerful V6 engine
- Good value
- Macho looks
Dislikes
- Struggles to maintain traction at times
- Confusing dual screens
- Cabin design feels busy
Volvo S60
Likes
- Elegant proportions and styling
- Feature-laden
- Superb on-road driving experience
Dislikes
- Sedate cabin compared to rivals
- Works best as a four-seater
- Not a lot of storage options
Summary
Infiniti Q50
The Infiniti Q50 Red Sport sedan really wants you to love it, and this latest version is doing its best to impress the heck out of you with its looks and features.
So much so that you'll take it home... and live with it, forever. And then there's that engine – armed with a formidable twin-turbo petrol V6, the Q50 Red Sport's outpowers all its rivals.
But then there's the BMW 340i which is not that much more expensive... and it's a BMW. And what about the Lexus IS 350? That's more like the Infiniti, but also more popular.
Oh, and don't forget that we when first met the Q50 Red Sport last year we didn't exactly get off on the right foot. The engine's formidable grunt seemed too much for the car to handle. Then there was the jiggly ride, and the steering wasn't great either unless you were in Sport + mode. It's all coming back now...
Perhaps the Q50 Red Sport had changed. This is the new one, and Infiniti had assured us it's a different car now.
Do we give it another chance? Of course, and we do, in a quick 48-hour test. So, has it changed? Is it better? Would we live with it forever?
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Premium Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 7.3L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Volvo S60
Sedans have long been supplanted by SUVs as the family favourite but they still have their charms for those drivers who like something that feels more dynamic on the road.
Enter the limited edition Volvo S60 Recharge Black Edition which sees the return of a plug-in hybrid powertrain for Volvo’s only sedan.
I’ve been family-testing the PHEV variant to see just how practical a sedan is for the modern family, and whether it's rivals, the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C200 have anything to worry about.
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| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | — |
| Fuel Efficiency | 1.4L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Verdict
Infiniti Q507.5/10
The Q50 Red Sport is a premium sedan that's great value, with a cracker of an engine. While Infiniti has improved the ride and steering, it still feels to me that the engine is too powerful for the wheels and chassis to handle. But if you're looking for something of an untamed beast, this car could be for you. Just don't say we didn't warn you.
Would you pick a Q50 Red Sport over a Euro sports sedan? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Volvo S608.3/10
The Volvo S60 Recharge Black Edition proves sedans can still be sexy and an excellent family car, providing your family is on the smaller side. I only have one kid, so it's perfect for our activities and gear. It’s wonderful to drive and has a great features list but it's not without its quirks.
My son thinks it looks cool, and we enjoyed bellowing out a few renditions of the original Batman theme song this week. He has had a lot of comfort in the back seat, too.
Design
Infiniti Q507/10
The Q50 Red Sport looks cranky from front on, which I like in a car. Yes, the grille is simplistic and gaping, the nose is a bit bulbous, and sure, side on the car looks like a Lexus IS 350, but those rear haunches and the aggro body kit with its front splitter and boot lid spoiler make for an impressive looking four-door sedan.
The update brought restyled front and rear bumpers, those red brake calipers and the dark chrome 20-inch rims and new LED tail-lights.
Inside, the cabin is an asymmetrical paradise (or hell, if you're a bit OCD like me) full of sweeping lines, angles, as well as different textures and materials.
The red stitched quilted leather seats are an addition that came with the update, so is the new steering wheel and the ambient lighting.
The 'Sunstone Red' colour of our test car is also a new hue which looks a bit like Mazda's Soul Red. If red is not you, there are other colours – hope you like blue or white or black or grey because there's 'Iridium Blue', 'Midnight Black', 'Liquid Platinum', 'Graphite Shadow', 'Black Obsidian', 'Majestic White' and 'Pure White'.
The Q50 has similar dimensions to the IS 350: both are 1430mm tall, the Infiniti is 10mm wider at 1820mm, 120mm longer at 4800mm, and has a wheelbase that's 50mm longer at 2850mm.
Volvo S60
The S60 Black Edition nails it on design. It sports a handsome and sleek shape that manages to look sporty and elegant. It's exactly what you expect a luxury sedan to look like.
My seven-year old dubbed this the Batmobile, and for good reason, every accent is black!
The grille, badge and 19-inch five-spoke alloys look aggressive against the 'Hammer of Thor' LED headlights and make this design look hot.
You better like black paintwork, though, as that is the only choice for this variant.
The interior hasn’t seen any changes for the 2025 model and it seems Volvo is streamlining most of its interiors to look the same.
You could find this dashboard in most of its cars, which is fine because it’s a good-looking treatment full of soft-touchpoints and high-quality materials. But there’s also nothing that sets the Black Edition apart from its stablemates. It would be nice to see a point of difference.
The dashboard is headlined by the 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system and a 12-inch digital instrument cluster. You have some other nice focal points in the large sunroof and massive air-vents, which add some interest to the dash.
Overall, it’s a pleasant interior but maybe not as fun as some of its rivals.
Practicality
Infiniti Q508/10
The Q50 Red Sport is a five-seat four-door sedan and is vastly more practical than its two-door Q60 Red Sport sister, in that I can actually sit in the back seat. The Q60's coupe styling looks amazing, but the sloping roofline means headroom is so severely limited that it reduces the rear seats to a place to throw your jacket.
True, I'm tall at 191cm, but in the Q50 Red Sport I can sit behind my driving position with legroom to spare and more than enough headroom.
Boot space is good at 500 litres, which is 20 litres more than the luggage capacity of the IS 350.
Storage throughout the cabin is good with two cup holders in the rear centre fold-down armrest, two more up front and bottle holders in all doors. A large centre console storage bin and another big storage area in front of the shifter are great for keeping junk under control and your valuables covered.
Volvo S60
The cabin of the S60 is fairly practical with the front row feeling spacious for my 168cm height. It’s a low car, so if your knees squeak you might find it annoying to get in and out of!
The comfort of the front seats cannot be understated. They feature a two-position memory function, lumbar- and side-bolster adjustments and under-thigh extenders. Plus, with the heat and ventilation functions, you’ll look forward to a long journey.
Because of the sloping roofline, it’s a bit awkward to get in and out of the back seat but once you’re in there is a stack of room (behind my driving position) and the outboard seats hug you into position, so you don’t move around in corners.
Seats are comfy for long journeys and outboarders enjoy heat functionality, too. The pillar-mounted directional air vents are super practical and the hardened kickplates are a godsend for parents with wildlings like my son, who seem to want to put their feet on everything.
The transmission tunnel is massive, though, so keep the middle seat reserved for kids only.
Up front, individual storage isn’t as great as you might hope for with the glove box being the largest cubby on offer. The middle console is literally a tray and it doesn't fit my iPhone 15 Pro Max (I have a thin case, as well!).
There's no centre console storage aside from the two cupholders, and this variant misses out on a wireless charging pad, so my phone and 'bits' have been shoved into the cupholders or on the passenger seat, which is a tad annoying. The storage bins in each door feature a small drink bottle holder but are, again, shallow.
Individual storage is a bit better in the rear with two net map pockets, two large cupholders in the fold-down arm rest, as well as a drink bottle holder in each storage bin.Â
Technology is well-rounded and the multimedia system (powered by Android Automotive) is easy to use, but curiously you don’t get Android Auto in this model!
You do get a bunch of built-in apps like Google Maps and Spotify. There's wired Apple CarPlay and satellite navigation, too.
You get a head-up display and the digital instrument cluster looks high-end with its graphics and shows your sat nav directions, which is always handy. Â
Charging options throughout are good with two USB-C ports in each row, while the front also gets a 12-volt socket.
The boot is slightly smaller compared to its rivals at 427L thanks to the electric components but it is still well-sized for my grocery run and it’s not too difficult to grab things that slide to the back.
You get a 'tyre mobility kit' (rather than a physical spare) underneath the floor and I like the way you can hang the home charging cable bag out of the way.Â
The Black Edition has a hands-free tailgate which is operated by a kick-function. But you don’t have an electric button on the lid and the kick-function didn’t always work to close it! That said, the lid isn’t heavy, so it’s nothing to split hairs over.
Price and features
Infiniti Q508/10
Maybe sit down for this next bit. The Q50 Red Sport lists for $79,900. Are you okay? Do you want a moment? Remember, though that only seems like a lot because it's not a Benz or a BMW. Truth is the value is pretty good – better than a German car of the equivalent size and grunt.
Look at the standard features list: 8.0-inch and 7.0-inch stacked touchscreens, the 16-speaker Bose 'Performance Series' stereo system, digital radio, road noise cancellation, sat nav, 360-degree camera, leather seats, power adjustable from sports seats, dual-zone climate control, proximity key, sunroof, auto wipers and adaptive LED headlights.
The 2017 update brought new standard features to the Red Sport including, red stitching on the seats and dash, quilted leather seats, new 19-inch alloy wheels and red brake calipers.
Don't forget that the bang-for-buck factor is strong with the Red Sport, too. In that nose is a twin-turbo V6 that makes almost as much grunt as the BMW M3 for about $100K less. Even the 340i, which Infiniti says is a Red Sport rival, is $10K more. Truth is though, the Lexus IS 350 is the real rival to the Q50 Red Sport.
Volvo S60
There are two variants for the S60, the mild-hybrid Ultimate or the plug-in-hybrid Recharge Black Edition, the latter being our test model.
The Recharge Black Edition is priced from $88,990, before on road costs, which positions it towards the lower end of the market, with the Audi A4 Avant 45 TFSI Quattro S Line MHEV being the most affordable at $85,700 MSRP.
Next up is the Mercedes-Benz C200 MHEV at $89,900 MSRP and then the BMW 330e M Sport PHEV at $98,700 MSRP.
The interesting thing, though, is you don’t pay extra for any packs on this model, which is rare for a luxury brand. It’s pretty well-specified already.
Luxury features include powered front seats that have adjustable side-bolsters, lumbar support and two-position memory function, as well as heat and ventilation functions.
Other items include heated rear outboard seats, a heated steering wheel, a panoramic sunroof and beautiful Nappa leather upholstery throughout.
Practical features include dual-zone climate control, handsfree boot opening and double locking, which is when you lock the car from the outside and if there is forced entry via a smashed window, for example, the doors still can't be opened, even from the inside.
Technology is robust with a 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system including in-built Google Apps (Google Play and Maps, YouTube, and Spotify).
Other items include wired Apple CarPlay, the 'Volvo Car Services App' with a four-year subscription and over-the-air updates, 12-inch digital instrument cluster, Bluetooth connectivity, digital radio and a 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkins 'High Fidelity' audio system.
Unfortunately on this variant, you miss out on Android Auto capability and a wireless charging pad.
Under the bonnet
Infiniti Q508/10
Inside the Q50 Red Sport's nose is a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine and it is a beautiful thing. To me this car is piece of technologically sophisticated jewellery that cradles a precious gem that pumps out 298kW/475Nm.
But I have my concerns... you can read about those in the driving section.
Shifting gears is a seven-speed automatic which delivers drive to the rear wheels.
Volvo S60
The S60 Recharge Black Edition’s plug-in hybrid powertrain features a 2.0-litre, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder engine and an electric motor that combine to produce 340kW of power and 709Nm of torque.
It has serious kick and can do a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 4.5-seconds. The eight-speed auto transmission is smooth as silk and creates a refined on-road driving experience.
Efficiency
Infiniti Q507/10
Infiniti says the V6 petrol engine in the Q50 Red Sport should use 9.3L/100km if you're using it on a mix of highways, urban streets and country roads. We only had the Q60 Red Sport for 48 hours and after a couple of days of Sydney city commutes and a trip to the Royal National Park our trip computer was reporting 11.1L/100km.
Volvo S60
The official combined cycle fuel consumption figure is an extremely low 1.4L/100km and I did two economy tests this week covering a healthy mix of open-road and urban driving.
Charging it every day for four days, gave me a real-world usage of 3.8L/100km and charging it once in three days gave me a trip readout of 5.6L/100km.
The PHEV powertrain has proven itself economical whether you dedicate yourself to the charging or not, so that’s pretty good.
The Black Edition features a Type 2 port for AC charging, but it can’t be hooked up to a DC fast charger.
This doesn't worry me because even on a standard domestic house socket you can charge the 19kWh battery from 0-100 per cent in just five hours, which is pretty fast for a PHEV.
You also get up to 90km of WLTP-rated pure electric driving range in this, which is good for a plug-in.
Driving
Infiniti Q507/10
Perhaps the biggest complaint we had about the previous Q50 Red Sport, which launched in 2016, was that it felt as though the chassis wasn't up to the amount of grunt running through it, and those rear wheels struggled to transfer the oomph to the road without losing traction.
We experienced the same issue again in this new car. I was breaking traction, not just in 'Sport+' and 'Sport' modes, but in 'Standard' and 'Eco', too. That was happening without pushing it hard and with all electronic traction and stability aids on.
If I was 18 I'd declare to the world I'd found my dream car - something that always wants to 'light 'em up' given half a chance. But like that one mate who always gets into trouble on a night out it's only funny when you're young.
A truly great performance car is planted, balanced and able to deliver the grunt to the road effectively. The Nissan R35 GT-R is the perfect example – a brilliant piece of machinery, a weapon of a performance car and with a chassis matched perfectly to its engine.
And that could be the issue with Q50 Red Sport - that engine feels overpowered for the chassis, and wheel and tyre package.
We also felt the previous Q50 Red Sport's ride, with its constantly adapting 'Dynamic Digital Suspension', was overly busy. Infiniti says it has developed the suspension system further and it does feel as though the ride is more comfortable and composed.
Steering was another area that we weren't overly impressed with when we drove the previous car. Infiniti's 'Direct Adaptive Steering' (DAS) system is super sophisticated and was the first in the world not to have any mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels – it's all electronic.
The new Q50 Red Sport uses the upgraded 'DAS 2' and while it feels better than before, it's only in Sport+ mode that it seems most natural and accurate.
Volvo S60
A lot of people think driving a Volvo means it’s stately or boring. Get in the Black Edition and it will change your mind.
The power it has is awesome and the pick-up will blow your hair back. Power delivery feels effortless.
The firm suspension and steering provide great road feedback and dynamic handling. While the suspension is firm, the comfort in the cabin is high and you don’t wince going over a pothole. The cabin is very quiet which makes it feel refined, too, even at higher speeds.
You do feel a bit low when you’re sitting next to a big SUV at lights but visibility is pretty good with the wide windows and pillars that don’t get in the way.
I've been precious about going over speed bumps or exiting a ramp, because it's easy to scrape underneath the nose as the S60 sits quite low. But on a whole it's pretty easy to park.
The 360-degree view camera system is clear and has a birds-eye and reversing view but I'd like to see both feeds pop up at the same time. It's easy enough to flit between the views when needed.
Safety
Infiniti Q508/10
The Q50 was given the maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2014 and the amount of advanced safety equipment which comes standard on the Red Sport is impressive. There's AEB, that works forwards and when you're reversing, forward collision and blind spot warning, lane keeping assistance and moving object detection.
There are two ISOFIX points and two top tether anchor points in the back row, for child seats.
The Q60 Red Sport doesn't come with a spare tyre because the 245/40 R19 tyres are run flats, which means even after a puncture you should be able to keep driving for about 80km. Not ideal in Australia where distances are seriously vast.
Volvo S60
The S60 Recharge Black Edition has just been launched, so it’s not covered by its siblings’ maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from 2018 but it features all of the goodies you’d expect from a Volvo.
Standard features include blind-spot monitoring, rear collision warning, forward collision warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure alert, lane keeping aid, traffic sign recognition, an intelligent seatbelt warning, a head-up display, adaptive cruise control, 'Pilot Assist', a tyre mobility kit and a 360-degree view camera system, as well as front, side and rear parking sensors.
The S60 Black Edition also features Volvo designed safety items like the 'Side Impact Protection System' (SIPS) that reinforces the car's steel framework at the sides and disperses energy in a side collision.Â
It also features a 'Whiplash Injury Protection System' (WHIPS), which if hit from behind, the headrests move with the occupants to limit injuries.
One of the highlights is the programmable spare key where you can limit audible levels and speed limits. Which is perfect if you have a teenager who borrows your car. And the spare key is bright orange, so there's no sneaky 'whoops, I grabbed the wrong key' moments!
The rear row features two ISOFIX child seat mounts and three top-tethers. You'd be doing very well to fit three child seats in, so two will fit best.
Ownership
Infiniti Q507/10
The Q50 Red Sport is covered by Infiniti's four year/unlimited kilometre warranty with servicing recommended every 12 months or 15,000km.
Infiniti has a scheduled servicing program which will cost $1283 (in total) for three years.
Volvo S60
The S60 comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is a normal term for the class.
You can pre-purchase either a three- or five-year servicing plan and the three-year plan costs $1750, while the five-year plan costs a flat $3000 or an average of $600 per service, which is reasonable.
Servicing intervals sit at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.