1997 Infiniti Q45 Base Sedan 4-door 4.1l on 2040-cars

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2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid

Infiniti launched its seven-passenger JX crossover for the 2013 model year with the automaker's familiar 3.5-liter V6 as standard equipment. For 2014, the model was renamed the QX60, and a new variant packing a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain joined the lineup. (For those interested in the family lineage, the new arrival is a mechanical twin to the Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, which we took for a Quick Spin last year).
Hidden beneath the hood of the QX60 Hybrid is a supercharged, 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine, rated at 230 horsepower and 243 pound-feet of torque. The combustion engine is supplemented by a 15-kilowatt electric motor, fed by a small lithium-ion battery back (hidden under the rear cargo floor), which adds 20 hp and 29 lb-ft of torque to the mix. Added up, Infiniti rates the total system power at 250 hp and 243 lb-ft - numbers that fall just short of its combustion sibling (the 3.5-liter V6 in the QX60 is rated at 265 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque). The only gearbox is a continuously variable transmission that drives either the front or all four wheels, depending on what the buyer specs.
The 2014 QX60 Hybrid AWD starts at $46,500 (the green model commands a $3,000 premium over the gas-only model). A long list of factory options such as Roof Rails ($495), Theater package ($1,700), Deluxe Technology package ($6,050), illuminated kick plates ($440) and a Hybrid Premium package ($4,600) bumped our as-tested price to a healthy $60,780, including $995 for destination.

Infiniti-Red Bull Racing will seek a fourth title with the RB9 [w/video]

This is the car and the team that everyone wants to dethrone. The stability of this year's regulations means that the Infiniti Red Bull RB9 is a seriously honed RB8; however, that's a situation probably no other team would complain about seeing that the RB8 recovered from early stumbles and reliability issues last year to carry Sebastian Vettel to a third consecutive driver's title and the team to a third consecutive constructor's trophy.
The most noteworthy revisions to the car are the partial vanity panel that omits the driver cooling slot, the even narrower rear end - a feature of just about every car launched so far - and purple sidepods to showcase new title sponsor Infiniti. Adrian Newey, perhaps the most feared designer on the pit lane, said the nose and front wing could be changed relatively easily throughout the season, but he wanted to make sure to get the middle of the car - everything from the sidepods, back - as good as possible since they're more difficult to re-engineer. His track record leads us to believe he did just that.
Below are two videos, one of the making of the RB9, the other the launch at team headquarters in Milton Keynes.

Grand Prix of the Americas, Day 1 Recap: a city arose in the fields, and it was good

The Circuit of the Americas is the miracle in the fields, the track that no one thought would be finished in time to hold its appointed race. But the Texans got past the turmoil, and even though the heavy machinery was still working on dirt roads as July, come November 18 there was a beautiful, and completed, Formula 1 facility for Travis County to call its own. It was dusty, sure. But it was done, and F1 could come to town.
Infiniti, sponsors of Red Bull Racing, invited Autoblog to watch the first grand prix in America since 2007, and the first GP on a dedicated F1 course since the Phoenix street circuit in 1991. Here's a little recap of what we saw and fount out on day one.