The Infiniti->ke36 Q60 actually began its life as the G37. But the company decided to adopt a new naming strategy in 2012, dropping its old nomenclature in favor of a new 'Q->ke1262' prefix for its coupes, sedans, and convertibles. That's how the Q60 came to have its new name. The model is actually offered in both coupe and convertible configurations, offering customers a choice of enjoying the model with the top closed or tucked comfortably near the trunk.

Naturally, new strategies also comes with new expectations. That's what Infiniti had to overcome with the launch of the 2014 Q60 Convertible. For the most part, Infiniti has a model that can really make a name for itself in an extremely competitive market segment.

The Q60 Convertible still has some work to do if it wants to catch some mainstream love, but the good news is that Infiniti gave it a nice head start.

Click past the jump to read more about the 2014 Infiniti Q60 Convertible.

Exterior

There aren’t a lot of styling differences between the coupe and convertible versions of the Q60. The similarities are actually even more striking when the convertible’s special three-piece "clamshell" retractable hardtop is closed. But for what its worth, Infiniti could have done the Q60 a serious favor with a fresh exterior upgrade. We actually expected the company to do exactly that with the name change, but certain parts of the car still evoke images of the “old” G37. Not that it’s an issue or anything, but a name change could’ve been more effective with styling changes to complement it.

In any case, the model is still well-proportioned, which is a good thing for a convertible and its traditionally complicated aesthetics. The flowing front fenders and the wave-like hood are signature Infiniti designs, as is the brand’s signature, 4-bar, double-arch grille design. Subtle chrome accents were also added into the mix, giving the model a more upscale look.

Unfortunately, those L-shaped HID bi-functional xenon headlamps are a little dissappointing. Functionally, they’re incredible. But Infiniti could’ve done the Q60 Convertible a favor by transferring a little more of the Q70 into it. The former is, after all, the middle ground model that’s seen as the best combination of luxury styling and aggressive performance.

The rear section looks a lot better, partly because of the LED taillights that Infiniti describes as incorporating a ‘circle of light’ design, a unique design characteristic for the Q60 line. The chrome rear trunk finisher is another design highlight, integrating a high-mount stoplight and a small camera for rear view monitoring for good measure.

2014 Infiniti Q60 Convertible: Exterior Dimension

Interior

Infiniti gets a lot of high marks from us for the quality of the Q60 Convertible’s interior. Simply put, it succeeds in establishing a dual personality that speaks to the sophisticated clientele the company wants to impress.

The configuration is laid out nicely with plenty of space for both the driver and the front passenger. The special sport-styled front seats look like they’re comfortable to sit on, plus they're available in three colors: Graphite, Wheat or Stone.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the Silk-Obi aluminum interior trim, which the company says was inspired by fine Japanese silk. It’s spread across the instrument panel, on the center console and on the door panels, creating an visually stimulating appearance of class and luxury.

Notice also how the instrument panel is typical Infiniti, complete with the electroluminescent instrumentation and the white illumination color scheme, integrated multi-function information drive computer display, and signature analog clock. Guess old habits die hard when it comes to the instrumentation panel, huh?

We now move to arguably the most important part of the interior: the double hand-stitched leather-covered steering wheel that comes with standard wheel-mounted audio, cruise controls, and solid magnesium paddle shifters. This highly functional steering wheel puts all of the important controls right at the tip of your fingers.

2014 Infiniti Q60 Convertible: Interior Dimension

Drivetrain

The Infiniti Q60 Convertible benefits from a bigger engine than its German rivals, specifically the BMW 4 Series Convertible and the Audi A5 Convertible. This is an important advantage for the Q60 because it can’t win a battle of perception against its German rivals.

To combat its lack of brand cache, Infiniti dropped a 3.7-liter V-6 into the car’s engine bay, giving the Q60 Convertible 325 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 267 pound-feet of torque at 5,200 rpm to play with. These numbers allow the Q60 Convertible to spring from 0 to 60 mph in about 5.7 seconds to go with an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.

2014 Infiniti Q60 Convertible: Drivetrain Specification

Prices

Having this entire package on the Q60 Convertible will understandably hike the car’s price tag. So it comes as no surprise that the base Q60 has a price of $48,550 while the Q60S Convertible 6MT retails for $53,400.

Those numbers don’t include the added options listed below so if you’re looking to give your Q60 Convertible more shine, expect to add another $3,000 to $5,000 on that price list. That’s taking into account the options you might get for your new convertible sedan.

Options

Competition

BMW 4 Series Convertible

The BMW 4 Series is a tricky competitor for the Infiniti Q60 Convertible. We already touched on the model being sprinkled with BMW's aura but another important fact to remember about the 4 Series Convertible is that it's a new model.

It was only launched last November so it's really an 'all-new' model more than anything else. That's what the Q60 Convertible has to deal with; the combination of BMW's incredible brand prestige and the fact that it's offering a car that still smells like fresh daisies compared to the Q60 Convertible.

It also has the advantage of having engine variety, something the Q60 Convertible doesn't have. First, there's the 2.0-liter cylinder version for the 428i that produces 240 horsepower and 252 pound-feet of torque, good to hit 60 mph in 6.2 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph. Then there's the 3.0-liter inline-six cylinder for the 435i that develops 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque. That added power allows the model to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds, two-tenths of a second faster than the Q60 Convertible's time, with the top speed remaining at 155 mph.

The BMW 428i Convertible comes with a price of $49,675 while the 435i Convertible sells for $55,825.

Audi A5 Cabriolet

The Audi A5 Cabriolet is a less heralded model than the 4 Series Convertible, which should play into the hands of the Q60 Convertible. Then again, it's still an Audi, and like Bimmer, people think more highly of Audis than they do Infinitis.

The 2014 Audi A5 Cabriolet is basically unchanged, but American customers can still choose among the usual Premium, Premium Plus and Prestige trim levels. In terms of trim variety, the A5 Cabriolet has the cards against the Q60 Convertible.

Unfortunately, the A5 suffers because it only has one engine available in the U.S.: a middling-by-comparison 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 220 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It's 0-to-60-mph-time of 6.2 seconds remains competitive, but the 130-mph top speed falls short of what the Q60 Convertible is capable of.

The Audi A5 Cabriolet does come with a cheaper base price of $44,500 for the Premium trim of the A5 Cabriolet 2.0T FWD Multitronic version. Those numbers quickly escalate, though, settling in at $55,800 for the Prestige trim of the A5 Cabriolet 2.0T Tiptronic model.

Conclusion

You have to give Infiniti credit for doing its homework and preparing the Q60 Convertible to ably take on some of Europe's finest. The model itself isn't a masterpiece, but it does employ plenty of unique attributes that should give brands like BMW and Audi something to think about.

Consider the 2014 Q60 Convertible as a renewed opening salvo from Infiniti. Now that it has set the bar on what it can do, we can all expect future models to be even better than this one. That's the real purpose of the Q60 Convertible in our minds. It gave the company a chance to show what it can do with a convertible and more importantly, standards to maintain moving forward.