we started at about 35 mph and stopped when I redlined 3rd gear , I'm surprised how quick those cars are, I thought with my headers intake and pullies I would of had a bigger lead on him, but we were almost side by side the whole time, I got a little less then 1 car on him at the top of the third gear, do the results sound right?

 

Nope, he must of been modded too. They have more low end torque but tend to die out, but since he's manual it can also help also.

 

If hamilton has a 5AT (w/those mods) and the Alti driver knew what he was doing with a stock 3.5SE 5MT then it sounds like a legit result. A 6MT CLS w/those mods should walk a stock Alti, particularly at higher speeds.

 

i've always wanted to run one of those. if both were stock and A/T, i would say the CL-S will have a slight edge.

 

The CL-S should have an edge vs the 02-04 3.5SE 4AT but it should be even with the 05-06 5AT. The SE-R 5AT will walk all of the above.

 

...which is why i didn't bother mentioning it.

btw, what would you say about the CL-S' matched up against the newer Maximas such as yours?

 

Assuming the CL-S performs similar to the TL-S then it would be fairly even. Caveat: I actually have a previous generation Maxima but have the VQ35DE (i.e.: 5.5G Maxima - older body style with VQ35DE, HIDs, clear tails).

On paper, the Maxima appears slower than the CL-S. Being a Maxima & Murano owner, I do know that a broken in VQ35DE performs MUCH better than the green ones tested in mags.

Personally, I did have a run against a TLS about 4 years ago on the NJ turnpike when my Maxima was stock. CLIFFNOTES: I held about .5 car length on him by 140mph (speedo indicated) from a ~75mph roll.





LONG version:
Cruising on the turnpike at my usual 75-80mph, I skirt past interchange 9 in the "fast" lane of the truck lanes on an early Saturday afternoon. On the on ramp of the interchange was a TL-S (wheels gave it away) that I just noted an kept going. As I continuously watch my mirrors for troopers, I see the TL closing up on me at a good clip when he rolls up even with me.

I see that he has his girl with him and I had my wife with me. With the road being VERY unusually empty, we went for it at about the same time and it was fairly even where I held about 1/2 car length on him at 140mph (speedo).

That said, I imagine a 5AT CLS would perform similarly....at least with that driver.

 

Well I had a quick encounter from 80-110 with a 3.5 I'm sure an auto the other day and had him by 1 car length and he even had about 1/2 car jump on me. I'm beginning to think besides the G35 Coupe, 350z, Current Gen Maxima and SE-R any race against the VQ is a driver's race.

 

If you were to have kept going, I am certain the run would have evened out a bit...at least up to the speed governor on the Altima, which is about 130mph on AT 3.5SE/SL and 140mph on the SE-R. (I think the TL-S is drag limited @ ~150mph). NOTE: I believe the MT models have a higher governed speed.

In general, the FM cars (G35, Z) should beat out CL-S/TL-S with like trannies. (The margin is debatable though.) But with the FFL cars (and the A33 platformed Maxima/Infiniti I35), it is totally a drivers race.

 

Hamilton1, clear out your message box.

 

I've raced a couple VQ35 cars, and they almost always pull a 1/2 car length off the line regardless of tranny. I pull even by the end of 2nd, and by the time i'm at the top of third I have walked past. Of course the 5 speed's put up more of a fight, but I always inched past by the time I let off. From a roll the margin was even wider.

I know its not exactly fair, but my ex gf had a 03 Max automatic. From a highway roll it was bloody murder, as the 4AT's have a horrific 3rd gear. But from a slow roll or stop they are pretty quick.