THE $88,900 Infiniti Q60S Red Sport arrives as the Japanese carmaker’s performance-oriented halo model, equipped with a twin-turbo V6 and flexing a sizable 298 kilowatts.

WHAT IS IT? The Q60S Red Sport is the flagship sports coupe offering for Nissan’s luxury arm Infiniti, fitted with a powerful twin-turbo 3.0-litre six-cylinder that shares some features with the muscular 3.8-litre V6 of the Nissan GT-R.

WHY WE’RE TESTING IT While the four-cylinder Q60 that launched locally late last year failed to excite us, its high-performance brother, the Q60S Red Sport, has on-paper stats which suggest it’ll deliver more thrills and a more engaging drive as well as a pricetag that promises exceptional value for money.

THE WHEELS VERDICT THE WHEELS VERDICT: The Red Sport recipe definitely adds some much-needed spice to the Q60 experience, but sub-par steering lets it down somewhat. A capable machine, but there’s still some scope for Infiniti to sharpen what is otherwise a very swift coupe.

PLUS: Strong engine, exceptional value equation, best Infiniti design yet MINUS: Steering devoid of feel, sharp ride, road noise, oddball switchgear layout

THIS is a fantastic six-pot. It’s something you discover approximately halfway up the tachometer, when its two turbochargers are well and truly on song and you’re in the meatiest part of the Q60S Red Sport’s seemingly relentless wave of torque.

But is that any great surprise? Infiniti’s parent company Nissan has a long history of making stellar sixers, most recently with the supercar-shaming VR38DETT of the mighty R35 GT-R, the multi-award-winning VQ-series V6s of the 350Z and 370Z and right past the silky RB26s of the R32, R33 and R34 Skyline GT-Rs through to the L24 of the vaunted 1969 Datsun 240Z.

It makes an appealingly throaty V6 growl too, mimicking its powerlifting GT-R cousin. Hooked up to a slick seven-speeder and driving the rear wheels, the only real downside of the Red Sport’s powertrain is the fact the auto will self-upshift 200rpm shy of an indicated 7000rpm redline when in so-called ‘manual mode’. Irritating, but not necessarily a deal-breaker.

And it’s quick too. It may tip the scales at nearly 1.8 tonne, but the Q60 Red Sport dashes to 100km/h in roughly 5.0 seconds – on par with a BMW 440i for straight line speed.

However a bigger black mark is the steering. Infiniti may have added another steering mode relative to the Q50 Red Sport, but even the Sport Plus mode that’s touted as the most natural-feeling doesn’t quite give the Q60’s steer-by-wire system the tactility a performance car requires.

That said, the steering is certainly accurate. It goes where it’s pointed without much fuss, and the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx rubber grips well. It’s just a bit of a video game experience, is all. A shame, given Infiniti has elected to make performance the raison d’etre of its brand.

There’s loads of active and passive safety equipment as standard as well, with lane keep assist, forward collision warning and blind spot monitoring on top of the usual suite of airbags and stability/traction control aids.

On balance though, the Q60 Red Sport is a far more resolved product than the underwhelming four-pot that arrived here late last year. Its price-to-performance quotient is exceptional and there are plenty of mod-cons to enjoy on the inside. And to be fair, our steering complaints feel like they could be solved if Infiniti threw a few savvy engineers at a laptop to sort out that electric rack’s code (again). Keep at it, Infiniti, you’re getting close.

SPECS Model: Infiniti Q60S Red Sport Engine: 2997cc V6, dohc, 24v, twin turbo Max power: 298kW @ 6400rpm Max torque: 475Nm @ 1600-5200rpm Transmission: 7-speed automatic Weight: 1784kg 0-100km/h: 5.0 sec (estimated) Fuel economy: 8.9L/100km Price: $88,900