Jonathan Gitlin

Infiniti’s 2017 Q60 sports coupé exemplifies a trend that’s been underway for some time in the auto industry: the software-defined car. The car—Infiniti’s answer to a BMW 4 Series—is completely drive-by-wire. Yes, the throttle and brakes are all controlled by electronics, but so too is the steering, which operates without a mechanical linkage to the front wheels. The flick of a switch reconfigures the Q60’s systems, changing the car’s behavior to suit one’s mood and the road conditions. This is fast becoming normal throughout the automotive marketplace, but it represents a sea change compared to cars from just a few years ago.

The Q60 fills an important niche in Infiniti’s lineup. The brand had a lot of success with the rear-wheel drive G35 and then G37 coupés here in the US, and Infiniti wants to rekindle that, drawing away sales from BMW and Audi. That means this car ought to look good inside and out, pack a punch under the hood, and provide the kind of driver feedback (read, excitement) that encourages the owner to think about taking the long—and twisty—way home instead. To find out if that’s the case, we spent a week with one—a 3.0t Premium rear wheel drive model.