Infiniti IPL (Infiniti Performance Line) G Coupe revealed

The Infiniti Performance Line G Coupe - more warm than hot

In May we were reporting that Infiniti were teasing a pair of ‘New’ cars which they said would be making an appearence at Pebble Beach this year. One of those new cars was to be a performance model, the other mainstream. And we’d completely forgotten about these new Infinitis – we can’t find anything Infiniti has done to remind us since May – but here we are with Pebble upon us and we get a new Infiniti.

Well, a sort of new Infiniti. What we actually get is an existing Infiniti – the Infiniti G37 Coupe - with a bit of work and a new monicker – Infiniti Performance Line – which we’re guessing we’re supposed to say in the same tones we would use for AMG or BMW M or Jaguar R or…

But ‘Infiniti Performance Line’ isn’t hot in the way a BMW M or Mercedes AMG is. More warm than hot, at least in this initial iteration. What you get is a tweaked G37 Coupe that manages an extra 18 horses thanks to a bit of recalibration of the ECU and a high-flow exhaust.

The suspension gets a bit stiffer – 20% at the front, 10% at the back  - and there’s bigger brakes, LSD and sportier steering. On the sytle front you get what looks suspiciously like the already available bodykit for the G Coupe, a new set of 19″ alloys and some new sports seats.

Which all seems very nice, but hardly earth-shattering stuff and certainly not enough to justify the Performance Line badge. We can’t help thinking Infiniti are missing a trick here. Why aren’t they marketing themselves as the car Lexus should have been?

Ever since Lexus starting smoking waccy baccy and wearing beads it only wants to make hybrids. There’s surely an untapped market for performance cars with Lexus-like quality that are more comfort focused than back breakingly firm. An AMG for the less enthusiastic. A high-quality performace car for the non-petrolhead.

Just a thought. Oh, and it seems Infiniti aren’t even going to bother bringing the slightly warm IPL G Coupe to the UK.

By Cars UK