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Function and form…

Like many of us aging Fast and the Furious kids we are at a point in our life where function sometimes outweighs form. Having a family with kids and a husband or wife now means that rolling around in two door project cars with no AC is not an option. So what is an aging car enthusiast to do? Enter in Joe’s four door, fire breathing air ride monster that turned more heads at the World of Wheels Pittsburgh car show than I saw all day. The unlikely four door that looks like a time attack weapon draped in black and carbon puzzled show goers and piqued the interest of the young and old alike.

Joe’s 2016 Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 is one of the rarer bird from the Infinity line up. For 2016, Infiniti replaced the aging naturally aspirated, 3.7-liter VQ-series V-6 with a new twin-turbo, 3.0-liter VR-series V-6 available two variations. The base 3.0t made 300 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, but the Red Sport 400, as its name suggests, makes 400 hp and 350 lb-ft. For this first year, Infiniti introduced the VR30DDTT which is as close to a GTR motor as you can get without shelling out Skyline money. The main difference being a 3.0 in the Infiniti vs the 3.8 in the GTR. When Motortrend tested the Infinity they said “From a standstill, the Red Sport booked it to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and completed the quarter mile in 13 seconds flat at 109.2 mph.” All wheel drive is standard in the Q50 line up and allows to get all those ponies to the ground with the Infinity Intelligent All-Wheel-Drive system.

However, you know I can’t put a stock car on the podcast! The beautiful part about modern engines are that they have been so detuned from the factory that unlocking horsepower becomes pretty easy. Joe’s Q50 motor with some tasteful bolt ons and a full tune now pushes out 464 all wheel horsepower and 501 all wheel torque. This is all achieved with 3” Z1 downpipes, 3” exhaust, Frozen Boost heat exchanger, Stillen intakes, HKS blowoff valves and the aforementioned full tune. For a four door car that you can safely and reliably take your family around in, the 400-500 number tends to be the sweet spot. Joe hasn’t had any issues with the motor and only reports that he’s snapped a couple of belts which is a common issue on these cars.

Carbon on black is timeless which Joe’s exterior gets a full treatment of carbon that matches perfectly and in the right light cannot be differentiated from the paint. The made to order parts from Fly 1 Motorsports include a Spec S hood, S50 fenders, front lip and grill all of which have a perfect fit and finish. Not only do the parts give the Q50 more attitude but also function with hood and fender vents. More carbon in the form of M3 style side mirrors, rear trunk lid, duck bill trunk lid, rear carbon diffuser with extension, rear window wing and carbon door handles bring it all together. The last piece that Joe is waiting on that will tie in the hood to the trunk is a one piece carbon roof. Joe likes the understated use of composite materials which until you walk up on the car cannot be fully appreciated.

The attitude comes from the lack of altitude and Joe absolutely nailed the stance on this car. The suspension is on Air Lift 3P with full 3/8” lines and a full custom trunk setup. The 2 compressor and 5 gal tank setup allows for the system to be aired up quickly. Joe reports that his only issue with the system is sometimes you do not know what your ride height is. Joe plans on upgrading to the 3H system that self levels together with upgraded full copper hard lines to match the gold and black elegant theme. With the bags aired out Joe perfectly tucks a set of full custom Work Wheels.

It took Joe 11 months to get the Workmiester S1 3 piece wheels with an anodized bronze lip with gold hardware, gun metal grey face and R1 race connetics lugs. They say wheels can totally change a cars look and let me tell you the thought that went into these wheels completely makes this car. Like a piece of jewelry you get to roll around on Joe is extra careful coasting around the Johnstown PA area. Joe runs a square stance with 19x10.5 and 235/35/19 Toyo tire stretched to the limit all around. If you take anything from this podcast, use Joe as a model of well thought out wheels that fit perfectly that you’ll never be able to pull straight off the rack. The two piece Z1 rotors shave off 5lbs of unsprung weight on each corner and allow for those large three piece wheels to stop quickly.

Now onto one of my favorite parts of the build and something that myself and Joe are happy about making a comeback…neons! Lit up light a Christmas tree, the well thought out leds that accent the car give it an over the top look while not looking like an early 2000s tuner car. With 200 different settings this car can glow any color for any occasion. The setup is from Low Glow and wraps 360 degrees around the car. The headlights are over the top and retrofitted with over 200 different colors on the eyebrows, demon eyes and angel eyes as well as a blacked out housing with deleted high beam and side marker lights.

The Infiniti does get driven quite a bit with a 900 miles round trip to a car show a few months ago. He is very cautious though because of the awesome pothole filled roads up here in PA that like to swallow busses (literally, Google it). All of that carbon fiber and full custom wheels aren’t cheap! The car has been tracked and even while fuel cutting the car ran a 12.1 quarter mile with full interior and airside. Joe thinks with proper fueling he will be somewhere in the 11s. If you’re in the Johnstown area and think about running Joe you better hope he has a trunk full of groceries!

By day Joe works in plumbing and heating, a profession that seems to be a theme on the podcast. He owns his own business Meyers Brothers Plumbing and Heating and still finds time to work on his car with a wife and kids. His daily driver is a 2022 GMC Denali with a lift, 22x12 wheels on 33” tires. You can’t haul a bunch of tools and equipment in the trunk of the Q!

Big thank you to Joe and the Burgh Built crew who all showed up to the World of Wheels! You can find Joe on instagram @ez2hate_q50 or rolling around car meets in the Pittsburgh and Johnstown area. I can’t wait to see the next iteration of the build, like many of us the project is never complete even when its cleaning up at a large car show.