What's all this about?
Performance car branding using letters: it's tricky to differentiate these days, isn't it? We mean, RS has been done to death. And both R and S are used individually to indicate high-power versions of more mundane metal. But what about giving 'S' a new spin? With added blackness, always a cool colour? Sound good? Then say hello to the Infiniti Project Black S, which is revealed at the Geneva Motor Show this week.
Black S?
Yes, it could be a potential upmarket arm of the premium marque within the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Think of it as a Japanese rival to BMW M, Audi RS (see what we mean?) and Mercedes-AMG. Er... that is, of course, if you conveniently forget about the Lexus F stable of hot metal. Ahem.
Get on with telling me about the Infiniti, please!
Sorry. So Project Black S is based on the Q60 coupe and it features lots of hugely aggressive, blistered, carbon-fibre heavy bodywork finished in matte grey and black to make it look mean and moody. Ginormous 21-inch rims are wedged into the wheel arches, while there's a big spoiler perched on the boot lid and brightly-coloured brake callipers peeking through the spokes of the alloys - bright callipers equal performance brakes, dontcherknow?
And how about the engine?
This is the clever bit. Developed in conjunction with Infiniti's technical partner, the Renault Sport Formula One Team, it takes the 3.0-litre twin-turbo flagship V6 engine of the normal Q60 range and adds what would the Japanese company claims would be a world-first, F1-inspired 'energy recovery system' (ERS) to harvest otherwise wasted kinetic energy. It then pumps this electrical power back into the drivetrain, to boost the power and torque - lifting the outputs by up to 25 per cent, theoretically. This hybrid goodness therefore means your common or garden 405hp Q60 suddenly has access to 506hp.
Wow, big numbers! So when is it going on sale?
It isn't. For now, it's being used to gauge potential customer interest in both a performance sub-brand of Infiniti and the possibility of using ERS to boost its hotter models. If enough people express some curiosity in Project Black S at the Geneva event, then who knows? We might just see this race-track refugee in showrooms sooner rather than later.
Matt Robinson - 6 Mar 2017