Thursday, April 20, 2017

Forza Horizon 3: The car that would be the new Skyline Coupe

Last time, I drove the one-off, GT-R-powered, Skyline saloon called the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Concept while moaning about how Nissan execs complaining to other people to stop including the R35 GT-R to the Skyline timeline in the same way that today's WRX is part of the Impreza bloodline even though two cars are now separate models. As true experts know, the "real" Skyline timeline started out as a midsize family saloon and continues all the way to the current Skyline known to many as the Infiniti Q50.



Continuing the Skyline's 60th anniversary celebration, I was in a middle of a quick thinking that the Q50 (which is a V37 Skyline to the Japanese market) did have a coupe version called the Q60. Since no production-spec Q60 on sight, because the Forza producers are too coward to feature it, I'm only stuck with this 2015 concept car as seen from the 2015 NAIAS but don't worry, it's almost as close to the real one.



While this is basically the concept version of the car that would be the V37 Skyline Coupe, it's been powered by its next-generation 3.0L V6 twin-turbo engine generating 400HP of power and same amount for torques. This kind of engine powers not just the production version Q60 but also the Q50 as well, although Nissan has no plans to offer the turbocharged V6 model to the Japanese model as of now. A turbocharged V6 engine with 400HP of power is what you called, in Infiniti terms, the 400 Red Sport, and it has some bits and bobs sourced from, you guessed it, the Nissan GT-R. No wonder they christened the engine code VR30DTT and it comes with two kinds of configurations with the lesser one produces 300HP of power. Need I say more?



A turbocharged V6 engine may sound like the future is happening now but when revving, this engine sounds like the it came from the RB era of Nissan sportscars. It maybe feels modern for a turbocharged six-cylinder petrol engine but it sounds very old school and that's a good thing. It's a shame that the Japanese will be missing out on this engine at this moment in time but no time to rest, let's drive it to the place "where Skylines belong". You get the point but let's do it in honor of the Skyline's 60th anniversary!





The job is over but the celebration continues. I may wish that Nissan should bring the new Skyline Coupe (now based on the Infiniti Q60) to the Japanese market along with the 400HP turbo V6 engine, which makes a nice addition to the four-door saloon model, but like all good historians, the story continues because there are still a handful of Skylines that needs to be driven in the Land Down Under while honoring the Skyline's 60th birthday with a little storytelling.

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