Infiniti is still interested in fighting in the same arena as Mercedes-AMG and BMW M, but it has chosen to take a different approach altogether. Australian media outlets are reporting that the company will flex its muscles by offering a four-door version of the next-gen Nissan GT-R.
“Our research has shown that there is a move in high performance car manufacturing toward four-door sedans,” revealed a source close to Nissan.
While the Eau Rouge was basically a Q50 with a massive engine, the yet-unnamed four-door GT-R will launch as a standalone model that will be positioned at the very top of the Infiniti lineup. The sedan is currently being developed alongside the GT-R by a small team made up of engineers and designers from both NISMO (Nissan’s racing arm) and Williams Advanced Engineering. The bulk of the design work is being carried out in Europe and in the United States, where sports cars and racing in general are much more popular than they are in Japan.
Australian website Motoring reports that both the next-gen GT-R and its four-door Infiniti counterpart will be powered by a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain. Details are few and far between, but it will allegedly be built around a detuned version of the turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 engine that was found under the hood of the ill-fated GT-R LM Nismo racer that Nissan entered in this year’s edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Infiniti has not commented on the report, so only time will tell how accurate it is. If the rumor materializes, look for the super sedan to land in showrooms in 2018 as a 2019 model.
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