Tint Film and Paint Protection Film Installed.

The Q50 got some protection done last weekend. I wanted two key things done: Window Tinting and Paint Protection Film.

I turned to the Tint Factory in Madison, WI. I have known the Owner/Master Installer, Kyle, for a number of years and his attention to detail, slow time taken, quality and technique, and perfection to each job made him my only choice and I highly recommend him as he has done all my cars in the past.

For the tint, I chose 3M Crystalline Automative Film at 40%. It has exceptional infrared reflection qualities, as Kyle showed me by placing various film strips in front of a heat lamps and the finish is fantastic.

I had it places on 7 window panes - rear window pane, two rear panes on each side, and front panes on each side. I did not have the sunroof or windshield done.

I think it adds a subtle class to the Malbec Black Q50, without making the windows look too dark and detracting from the overall color of the car.

Q50 Tinted

Here is another shot with the sunlight.

iOS 7 has been released!

Q50 InTouch works well with iOS 7.

Items to note are that I did not have to rediscovery the bluetooth setting, my device and the Q50 picked each other up.
Music worked exactly the same.
iTunes Radio was the new feature that worked well. The Q50 could not distinguish if the music was coming from the iPhone locally, via iMatch or from iTunes Radio. It displayed the track title, album title and single information.

Waiting for InTouch update from Infiniti to test the new features such as Pandora and iHeartradio apps on the Q50.

Infiniti Q50 LED DIY Conversion

I have never seen a vehicle with so many LEDs already in place and frankly done very well.

The Q50 uses LEDs for:

• Low Beams
• High Beams - Believe it or not - it's just 1 LED
• Day Time Running Lights
• Fog Lights
• Front Blinkers
• Side Markers
• Side Turn Signal in Mirrors
• Brake Lights
• High Mounted Brake Light
• Backup Light
• Front Passenger Map Lights
• Outside Handle Light

This leave regular bulbs for:

Installing K&N Drop in Air Filters into the Q50

Don't do it!!! K&N filters do nothing but allow more silicon /dust / sand into the engine, they turn the engine oil darker sooner and wear out the engine components quicker. I have been an idiot all these years and have fallen to marketing hype. Bravo K&N. I removed all K&N filters from all vehicles last year. Not only has is my oil lasting longer before turning darker, but Blackstone Labs Oil analysis on the Q50 and my GT-R have revealed that the silicon has gone down considerable.

Read this: https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm
and this: http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html

and feel free to draw your own conclusions. As for me engine life is more important than 2-3 more HP at the top of the curve near red line, which is impractical.


Don't waste your time and money, simply buy paper filters the Q50 HEV or non-turbo engine gets no benefit from these these terrible things.

I have been using K&N Air Filters for the last 10 years in all of our cars. In most cases such as the G35 Coupe, EX35, and GT-R, I have found that using the drop-in air filter (like this) is much better than any after-market intake piping + conical air filter combination (like this).

I have tired, compared and contrasted the "intake piping+filter" on the G35 Coupe, Pathfinder, Altima, and GT-R over very long period of time to give them a fair shake, but in most cases, and in all cases of Infiniti cars, the net effect of using an aftermarket air intake + filter has been:

- Engine sound and exhaust sound gets louder increasing the perception of more HP. The reason for this is really because all the baffles are lost by swapping out the stock intake.
- Most of them lose the ability to "ram air" into the engine intake manifold, which the Q50 is actually designed to do.  This is of course unless the aftermarket pipes and air filter drop past the radiator (often called "long ram air intake") and come just behind the front grill. If not, then HP is lost rather than gained.
- Most of these after-market ones (especially the shiny ones that sit completely in the engine called "short ram air intake") soak up more heat than the stock plastic piping and thus make the air hotter going into the car, which actually reduces HP and mpg.
- If the filters are positioned just behind the grill, then get dirtier quicker defeating the purpose of longer lasting filters, end up getting completely soaked in rain, the car wash and ice/snow. Worst case for me has been a carwash in winter, where a filter was wet and froze in seconds, denying air to the engine.
- Most of them do not have an alternate emergency by-pass opening so that if the above were to happen, they could let out the water before it gets to the engine and also serve as an alternate intake for air.

Nitrogen Fill into Q50 Tires

#1 Myth about filling Nitrogen in Tires: It does not expand and contract as much, and does not leak out of tires, so there will be no low tire pressure warning light.

Wrong!

Air is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, 0.1% carbon dioxide.

Specific Heat Capacity is the amount of heat that is needed to raise the temperature of volume of a substance without changing state (Remember you Chem-101 class?)

Air has a specific heat capacity of 1.01 kJ/kg K 

Oxygen has a specific heat capacity of 0.91 kJ/kg K 

Nitrogen has a specific heat capacity of 1.03 kJ/kg K 

Since air has only about 21% oxygen, by using the just nitrogen, the change in capacities are only 0.02 kJ/kg K. Thus Nitrogen fill tires will still expand and contract almost as much as air filled, just a slight difference, immeasurable really. 

Generally, 10 degree F in temperature change results in 1 PSI change in tire pressure -  Air or Nitrogen.

So why put in Nitrogen?

My reasons for using Nitrogen:

Photo-shoot of the Malbec Black Q50

It was an overcast weekend weekend so I decided to take some quick shots of the Q50 between running errands. Not too many words for this post. It was definitely more compliant than taking pictures of a 2 & 5 year old.

Enjoy the pictures! You can click on any picture to see the high resolution version.

Hello (Wink!)