2023 Infiniti Q50 Luxe on 2040-cars

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Six luxury-car features I'm ashamed to admit I love

A hot compress felt wonderful on my sore back. The methodical kneading of my shoulder blades loosened the knots that formed over several hours of driving. The Swedish-style pulses firing into my lumbar region released more tension.
I wasn't getting a much-needed massage following a recent road trip. I was getting it during the road trip.
I grew up riding in the back seat of a 1976 Chevy Nova. But once you use these lux features, it's easy to go soft.

2022 Infiniti Q60 gets wireless Apple CarPlay

Infiniti has announced what's new for the 2022 Q60 and the list contains one item: wireless Apple CarPlay. This is after the automaker made the most minor of changes to the 2021 Q60. We can almost imagine one of the coupes sitting outside Infiniti HQ playing a particular Ray Parker, Jr. song on repeat, with the line, "If you're not sure that you want me, let me go." Thing is, the Q60's sales figures aren't bad, not far off the Chevy Camaro's numbers since the Infiniti got refreshed in 2016. Sales have plummeted this year — and so have the Camaro's — but the freefall puts the Q60 right in line with the Toyota Supra. Rumor has it that Infiniti's only going to keep its flagship coupe around until 2023 anyway, when it will embrace electrification, meaning the Q60 could continue to follow the Camaro into the sunset. Prices for the entire range run thusly after a $1,025 destination charge:  Infiniti Q60 Pure – $42,775 Infiniti Q60 Luxe – $51,325 Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400 – $59,225 Adding AWD is a $2,000 option on all trims. And Android Auto is still included, but the phone must be plugged in for that. To recap the trim line, the Pure and Luxe run with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 making 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. The Q60 Red Sport whips 400 hp and 350 lb-ft out of the same engine. All models shift though a seven-speed automatic.  Pure and Luxe sit on 19-inch wheels, but the Pure interior makes do with leatherette seating trim while the Luxe upgrades to semi-aniline leather on heated front seats and other perks such as adaptive cruise control and 13-speaker Bose Performance Series sound. The Q60 Red Sport ups the tire contact patch with staggered 20-inch wheels and upgrades the suspension to adaptive damping, further sharpening its reflexes with a faster steering rack.

Japan sends official to Lebanon over fugitive Carlos Ghosn

BEIRUT — Japan's deputy justice minister met top officials in Lebanon on Monday over the case of NissanÂ’s fugitive ex-boss, Carlos Ghosn, who fled to his home country late last year while on bail in Japan and awaiting trial. Ghosn was arrested in late 2018 and is facing charges of under-reporting income and breach of trust. He says he is innocent. He led Nissan for nearly 20 years. State Minister of Justice Hiroyuki Yoshiie (pictured above with Lebanese Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm) met President Michel Aoun as well as the Lebanese minister of foreign affairs. Yoshiie did not speak to reporters after the meetings and is scheduled to hold a news conference later in the day. Aoun's office said in a tweet after the meeting that they discussed mutual relations and ways of developing them "in addition to matters that are of interest for both countries." The tweet did not mention Ghosn, who made his first public appearance in Lebanon in early January saying he fled a “nightmare” that would not end and vowed to defend his name wherever he can get a fair trial. On Friday, Japan's Justice Minister Masako Mori said she was dispatching the official to Beirut to explain the Japanese justice system and improve cooperation. She said Japan hoped Lebanon would gain “a proper understanding of the Japanese criminal justice system.” Japan and Lebanon do not have an extradition treaty, and it's unlikely Lebanon would agree to send Ghosn, considered a Lebanese national hero, back to Japan to face trial. Mori acknowledged that there were “various environments” and laws that underpin each country's stance. Nissan, maker of the Leaf electric car and Z sports car, said in a statement regarding the justice officialÂ’s trip that it hoped Ghosn would return to Japan to stand trial, “so that all the facts can be properly established under JapanÂ’s judicial system.” Having spent months in detention and struggling to gain his release on bail under stringent conditions, Ghosn said he fled in the belief he could not get a fair trial in Japan. Japan has requested GhosnÂ’s return through Interpol and issued an arrest warrant after his escape. Lebanese prosecutors issued a travel ban for Ghosn in January and asked him to hand in his French passport following the Interpol-issued notice against him. NissanÂ’s sales have plunged recently, and it sank into losses for the last fiscal quarter. The brand is widely considered to have been tarnished by the controversy around Ghosn.