Under the leadership of Carlos Ghosn, the Nissan Group has shown that it’s not afraid to break with conventional wisdom and create products that can raise more than a few eyebrows – i.e. the GT-R Juke.
The Q50 Eau Rouge study is also one of those vehicles, and it looks like it may very well be heading towards production, especially after an announcement today, that it has asked four-time F1 world champion and Infiniti brand Director of Performance Sebastian Vettel to begin testing a prototype version of the car.
At the recent Geneva Motor Show, Infiniti confirmed the Q50 Eau Rouge study’s Nissan GT-R-sourced twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 with 568PS (560hp) and 600Nm (592 lb-ft) paired to a full-time, all-wheel drive system with 50/50 front-to-rear torque split and a 7-speed transmission.
Infiniti said that Vettel put the sports sedan through its paces at the Millbrook Proving Ground automotive testing facility in the UK, to evaluate the car’s “performance, handling and precision driving”.
“Vettel’s invaluable feedback will be engineered into the next stages of the prototype’s extensive development program – testing components, packaging and viability,” said Infiniti, which has not yet reached a final decision on production.
The Japanese carmaker added that it will release further information regarding the Q50 Eau Rouge running prototype on the press day of the 2014 Beijing Auto Show on April 20.
By John Halas
PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEO