Infiniti’s SA-born global president Johan de Nysschen has hinted that Nissan’s GT-R engine – the 397 kW twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 – could well find its way into a production Infiniti.
It’s already been dropped into an Infiniti concept – the Q50 Eau Rouge concept car shown at the North American International Auto Show in January – and speaking to the USA’s Motor Trend magazine, de Nysschen revealed that more Infiniti models could end up with a GT-R powerplant under the hood.
“I think that we should expect to see at least three different car lines across the Infiniti line-up that feature that powertrain,” said de Nysschen. “You can imagine a high-end coupe, you can imagine a real high-performance luxury four-seater… and it seems to me a logical evolution to do the new Q60.”
As revealed to us in an interviewed published in CAR’s March 2014 issue, Infiniti plan on launching a raft of new models as part of their $13-billion investment program. This includes the upcoming Q30, the new Q60 coupe, and a Q60 “Gran Coupe” style four-door version that will slot in between the Q50 and Q70 models.
Interestingly, the GT-R-engined Q60 is likely to cost even more than the GT-R itself (currently R1,47-million) says de Nysschen. The reason given is that the cars will be mostly largely hand-built in low numbers.