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As a piece of fantasy, this Infiniti Essence Concept is pretty dreamy. But underneath all that swoopiness is some important tech that'll sneak its way into Infiniti's real-world cars over the next two years.
Deep breath: it's powered by a 3.7-litre twin turbo V6 petrol-electric hybrid. Might be a mouthful, but it makes around 600bhp, which rolls off the tongue quite nicely, don't you think?
Drop the turbos, detune it a little and you'll have the basis for Infiniti's hybrid powertrain, which will give things like the Lexus RX450h a run for its money. But it'll have to have a seriously low CO2 output to get close - the Lexus kicks out just 148g/km, which is almost unheard of for a yummy mummy's SUV. So watch out Lexus, Infiniti is coming for you.
That's not all. The Essence might be a show car, but its design won't be wasted. As with any weird concept, expect to see bits and bobs cropping up on future models. Bits like the air vent behind the front wheel arch - it's inspired by a ‘Japanese comb', apparently.
We're not sure what a Japanese comb looks like, but after seeing this, we're pretty sure we want one. And if future Infinitis look and go like this, then we want one of those too.
Open Car Bar
What do you think?
Want to comment on this?
Tom90 commented on this article
at 12:44 am on 04 March 2009
I can only say one thing and that is WOW THAT IS AMAZING hope they make one similar to the concept
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jb68902 commented on this article
at 02:13 am on 04 March 2009
They should have made a large, swooping, 4 door "coupé" version with the same underpinnings as the coupé. I think this would have made more sense because all car makers are going for the 4 door GT, fastback look.
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Mikeado commented on this article
at 08:33 am on 04 March 2009
That looks awesome, unlike even any Inifnitis I've seen before!
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Mercedes7 commented on this article
at 04:56 pm on 04 March 2009
Are you sure this is a Infiniti Essence, Because in my mind it looks like a Maserati GranTurismo / Austin Healy 3000 Mk III Hybrid and also I certainly would NOT want a Hybrid.
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Alex commented on this article
at 06:40 pm on 04 March 2009
The bonnet, the wheel arches and the grill remind me of the Cobra.
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