A big engine is essential for American muscle-car enthusiasts, and automakers who cater to that crowd know this. The Chinese luxury-car buyer is equally enamored by a large back seat. And Infiniti has taken this to heart.
Since its debut in China last year, the brand's flagship Q70 sedan has been available solely in a long-wheelbase version, priced at about $68,000. "Long wheelbase" simply means that the car has been stretched a bit, to add space in the back seat and to equip the vehicle for limousine lite duty.
Infiniti might be struggling to define itself - or redefine itself - in the US, where it's supposed to be going up against luxury sedans from Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Audi, and, to a lesser degree, Cadillac and Acura. The whole long-wheelbase thing isn't as important in the US, however, where affluent drivers prefer to drive themselves. If they want more room, they buy a high-end SUV.
China is obviously a different story, and it's to Infiniti's competitive credit that it's successfully established itself there. Its long-wheelbase cars are important to the carmaker's ongoing strategy in China. The bottom line is that variant could help Infiniti makes a lot of money in the Middle Kingdom.
The current Q70 (formerly known as the M37/56 - Infiniti recently revamped their naming scheme) has been around since 2009 and was growing a bit long in the tooth. So for 2015, Infiniti has given the model a refresh, a common practice in the auto industry that's one notch below a full redesign.
In the U.S., the Q70 will be available in both long- and short-wheelbase models, along with the choice of a V6 or V8. Like the smaller Q50, the Q70 looks to offer great bang for the buck. With a starting price just under $50,000 for the short-wheelbase V6 and just over $51,000 for the base Q70L, there are few flagship sedans on the market that can rival the Infiniti in value.
Recently, I sampled a couple variations of Infiniti's updated Q70/Q70L around the winding country roads of southern New York.
Here's how it went: