So I was out with my girl to grab dinner and on my way back a current gen Maxima rolls up next to me. We stop at a red light and I look over and he gives me a quick glance and revs his engine. My girlfriend was going off earlier about her idiot brother who got a ticket for street racing yesterday so I decide it's not a good idea to switch over to sport shift.

So I maintain my conversation with my girlfriend and start off a little faster then usual but I didn't punch the gas. I didn't want my girlfriend to know that I was trying to stay ahead of the maxima. I took the lead till about 40 when the Maxima suddenly lurches forward to about 65 on the street, gets ahead by about 3 cars length, merges into my lane and takes off on the 405 on ramp ahead of me.

I was actually shocked at how responsive the maxima was; I don't know what year it was exactly, but it was a current model Maxima 3.5SL. They seem pretty damn quick to me.

After the Maxima blazed off, I kept on wishing I had switched over to sportshift to see how my baby (the TL-S not my girl) would've held up against it. A friend of mine has the 2002 6 Speed Maxima and that thing is fast... everytime I've raced against him it's always been a toss up on who has the better start. ALthough when he wins, its by a half cars length, and when I do its usually less than that.

Sigh, anyhow this event has inspired me to put my CAI back in. I had it taken out because of the rainy season here in So Cal, but now that it's over its time to put it back on.

Has any second gen TL-S owners gone up against a current gen maxima? I wouldn't be suprised if they could beat a TL-S in stock form. I wonder how a current gen TL would fare against a current gen maxima.

 

not worth racing with the gf in the car. they never let you forget it (believe me, i know).

as for racing a current gen maxima in a type-s, a few months back i chronicled in this sub-forum how i was getting eaten every morning by the same guy in a new maxima who would continually pass me on a road by my house and there was nothing i could about it. turns out the new maximas are hella fast. they have a nice torque band and about 30ft-lbs more than the stock type-s out of the box.

now fast forward a month and i find out my intake was broken the whole time and since switching to the comptech ice box i think i could keep up with him. although i don't think i could beat him without at least upgrading to spacers and pulleys on top of my icebox and headers.

a 3G tl would fare better, but i think it would have to be the 6MT to outgun the maxima. of course if it were a manual maxima then it may be a driver's race. maybe someone else out there has raced one in a 6MT. anybody? i know this has been brought up before, but i can't remember what the outcomes really were.

i would consider trading in my tl for a fully loaded one if it weren't for the nissan common design front end/grille. i don't like it.

SSTS

 

...definitely needed to be SS to run that Maxima. Here is a sampling of 6G Maxima times: LINK.

Satin, as an 02 Maxima owner I have had a hard time taking to the new Maximas and have found them to be a step up (from the older Maxima) in size only. However, the upcoming 2007 model is noticeably cleaned up:

2007 Nissan Maxima

NissanUSA

 

^ umm... the 2007 maxima looks the same to me as any 2005, 2006 Maximas...

 

I said cleaned up, not redesigned :

LINK

2004-2006




2007




NOT revolutionary but, a very noticeable step up.

 

yeah, i find the 2007 more agreeable. i guess my only beef is the shortness of the trunk. i wonder how much space is in there. maybe i will still consider a trade-in....

SSTS

 

WTF, the interior looks like just a different package. The exterior looks identical to me still I dunno, but I'm not a fan of Maximas..... I can careless about them. They look the same to me between the 2004~2006 vs 2007. Interior wise, much better but still fugly.

 

hahahahahaha!!! I love your avatar!!!

 

thanks man! i can't take credit for it though. found it online. a good find in my opinion

SSTS

 

i took a 255hp 5g maxi from a 30 roll with ease...i raced a current maxi from a 10mph roll stayed with it but i have only had the opertunity to race one of the current models so i cant really say if its an even match or if the driver sucks

 

The interior on the 2007 destroys the previous style... No comparasion at all.. the 04-06 looks like a poorly designed concept car's interior.. the 07 looks like it is up to the luxury level.. This will make it awkward to differentiate the luxury level between the Maxima and the G35 Sedan...

personally I like what Honda/Acura is doing in the future to seperate the brands, Acura is going with SW-AWD, Honda is "Going Green" with hybrid automobiles.

 

I notice that the 6-gen Auto's are trapping the same as the 6-spd's. Wonder what's up with that?

 

The new auto / tip-tronic transmissions in the TT and the a4's are faster then the manuals... I couldn't believe it when I heard it, the tranny shifts faster and smoother then the manuals... A co-worker of mine told me he drove his girlfriend's parents new a4 6spdAT. He said it didn't even feel like the car changed gears, no neak snapping feeling when you change gears because the car changes gears so quickly, it's almost as if the acceleration doesn't stop until you take your foot off the pedal.

 

I have raced a 2005 Maxima SE 5speed Auto (stock) in my 2003 Accord Cpe V6 Auto w/CAI Intake. From a dead stop to about 90MPH I had his front fender a halfs car length behind my rear bumper. Most of my pulling was in 2nd and 3rd gear but 1st gear he was right with me no problem. I know the SL is a 4spd Auto not the 5spd like in the SE so I would bet your TL-S (stock would take him).

 

The new G35 will be totally different in terms of performance. The G35 will have over 300+ hp with the new sae rating which will make it MUCH faster than the 07 Max. Nissan finally decided to differentiate the two cars even more.

 

I'm very glad they decided to change the front part of the Maxima..because that was just butt ugly..but still the back is not appealing. The interior is nice though..i gotta admit that..

 

I know the 6MT and 4AT 5.5Gs were reasonably close in straightline performance, with the typical 6MT being about .3-.5sec/3-4mph faster in the qtr mile. But, I also understand the the 6MT in the 5.5G was not exactly the smoothest shifting MT around.....maybe the same deal with the 6G Maxima, where the gearing in the 5AT now closes the gap. I do not know for certain though.

 

The new G35 is shaping up to be a BEAST. I think it may wind up as Nissan's fastest sedan to date, bumping the 2G M45 from its pedestal.

Nissan is still holding its cards close to the vest so far though in terms of final HP numbers. 2007 G35


Getting back to BraveDemon's original post, his friend's 2002 Maxima 6MT should be able to make short work of a stock TL-S.

Brave, I would not worry about your CAI ingesting any water, unless you plan on running you TL-S through a river. My Maxima has an Injen CAI and my Accord had an Iceman CAI and has never had any problems with rain/deep puddles.

 

i second this. i had an AEM and drove through a 1ft deep 50ft long flooded road last year during a bad flood my town had (didn't really have a choice to go another way). i took in a little water that time but that's the ONLY time ever with the AEM i had an issue. luckily the car turned out ok that night.

SSTS

 

Are you modded? If not, that dude in the "255 hp 5g maxi" can't drive for sh!t.

 

Yeah, exactly, there is that .3-.5/3-4 mph difference with the 5.5 gens and the rest of the maximas for that matter. However, the 6th gens, looking at the times posted on the org, run virtually identical times.

 

Nissan is better.
That is all.

 

But the Nissan's Navi sucks !!! I have 2005 Nissan Armada which has the same Navi System as the Maxima and I love my Acura's NAVI 1000X !!!

 

Agreed!

 

Agreed

 

Agreed, a 6spd 02 + Max vs an Auto TLS or 04 +Tl should not be difficult run for the Max, 04 Manual TL vs 02+ Manual Max good run. Auto 02+ Maxima vs TLS's or 04+ TL's, Maximas have the advantage down low to mid range TL's up top. If that Maxima grabs without burning the tires the Max will get it out of the gate pretty good, remember 02/03 Maximas were underrated for torque as many dyno's have proven.

 

no i was bone stock.....it wasnt really a drivers race for the 5g maxi since there was no traffic and it was in a straight line. its also an auto so theres no way he can really mess up shifting. he also got the jump since he was in first and i had to wait for mine to go from 2nd to 1st in sport mode.

 

Sheer is referring to this:

If the 5.5G Maxima 6MT driver has any skills, he/she should pretty much dominate a stock TL-S.

 

Sorry bro, but I find this story a little hard to believe. If he got the jump on you like you say, then there is no way you could catch and then pass him, thats how close these cars are, remember these cars run very similar 1/4 mile times. Maybe you raced a 2000 or 2001 5th gen. The way you tell your story, it seems more likely you raced a VQ30 5th gen Maxima than a VQ35 equiped Maxima.

 

Underrated in torque but put NO WHERE NEAR 255hp at the crank. More like 240 hp. Wasn't there a debate if the max engine was actually the same one in the pathfinder or altima?

As far as the 6th gen maxima, its a complete piece of junk. Everything is cheap in it, from the interior materials, to the quality of the doors! My good friend can't wait to get out of his lease on his 04 3.5 SE Max 5-speed auto. I've raced him numerous times in my 04 TL auto. Off the line, we're neck and neck to 50 mph, but the TL has a bit more pull after that. 40 or 50 mph rolling starts, I walk him too. It is a close race though, and one little driver error in sportshift (such as shifting a bit early) will give the other driver the win.

 

Yes, you are correct. Most 02-03 Auto Maxima's are putting down 190-195 Whp which equates to about 245-250 crank horsepower. However, they do put down about 210 pounds of torque to the ground, which equates to about 270 to the crank.

 

the 5.5G max's are much better cars overall than the 6G IMO. My friend has an 03 Max SE 6spd and it has a very nice fit anf finish both inside and out. That car pulls very hard. I haven't raced him yet, but I have driven his car and then mine one after the other and so did he. Neither of were sure which car was faster, but there was certainly a completely different feel to each one. His Max pulls hard right off the line, but over 5k rpm's it doesn't pull nearly as hard as it does from 2500-5000rpm, while my car pulls much much harder over 5k rpm's.

 

Yoru right both trap low to mid 90's mph in the 1/4 and run mid to high 14's, sounds like an 00/01 Max to me as well. It no way neither one of these cars can walk away from each other at "legal" speeds! Go to the org and some of them say the opposite they pulled away from TLS or 04+ Tl and we respond the same way to them!

 

I agree totally the 02/03 Maximas had great interiors and still look great the 04-06 Max I just dunno what Nissan was thinking.......I saw an 07 Max on the lot at Bankston Nissan in Lewisville, TX today and the interior seems to be somewhat back on track to the 02/03 interiors.

 

From a 40 or 50 mph roll I give the TL the slight advantage but form a stop or 20-30 mph roll Maxima. Also both of these cars run mid to high 14's stock in the 1/4 and trap low to mid 90's so I donot see anyone pulling anyone from a stop to say over 90 something mph, the power is just to similiar.

 

I drove a 2002 Maxima for 4 years, brought it to the track a couple times too. Just picked up my 2002 TL-S last week, and can make some good comparisons. Maxima owns the TL in torque. High RPM tho, TL-S does a little better.

My Maxima ran the 1/4 in 14.1 @ 97.5 mph (I have timeslips somewhere....).

Only mods were UDP and ghetto intake. I averaged 14.3's @ 95-96 on a regular basis. However, its all about the launch. With so much torque, I could spin the wheels like nothing, and when that happened my times would drop to 14.6-14.8. And that was my auto maxima. 6 speeds, when driven well, are faster. They have their problems however, which is why I've switched to a TL.

 

You posted a 14.1 with a UDP and intake? Very impressive. I have not run my 02 Maxima with my current mods (Cattman Y-pipe, UR UDP, Injen CAI) but your times give me hope that I will do better than my stock 14.7 @ 93 mph.

What kind of problems did you have with your 5.5G??

 

I'd expect you could get low 14's with a y-pipe, UDP, and CAI. I highly recommend the drop resistor mod too, the same day I ran the 14.1 I also ran several 14.3's with the DR mod off. It seemed to make decent difference. PM me if you need further explaination.

My first time to the track I actually had the opportunity to run a TL-S. It was a really crappy day (very limited traction) and my Maxima got it off the line every time, but he trapped a little better than me (shows the better high end power). I believe he ran 14.9's all day and I was at 14.8. Also don't think he was using the sport shift mode, he didn't really know what he was doing at the track.

So basically, its a drivers race.

Problems I had with my Maxima... well first let me say I drove it hard on a regular basis. If the power is available, might as well use it alot right?
1. Blew 3 MAF's (first 2 replaced under warantee, 3rd had to fork out $500)
2. Developed a serious lack of power, but no engine codes were thrown. No clue as to the cause.
3. Car wouldn't idle after starting when warm, I always had to give it some gas to get it to idle.
4. Brake rotors warped a long time ago
5. Drivers side window sucked the rubber stripping down with it
6. Bose radio stopped playing CD's a couple years ago
7. Both foglights cracked during regular driving
8. Suspension started going (regular wear and tear I suppose)
9. Brakes had recently started grinding when I made right hand turns
10. (not a fault with the maxima) I hit a pothole (or small canyon) in Boston and dented both front wheels and damaged the new tires too.
11. Gas mileage Sucked!

 

I have read about the drop resistor mod on the org and I may effect that mod when I get the chance.

BTW, I can relate to 1, 4, 6 and 7 on your list. I blew my MAF back when it was new but, has not been a problem since...even with the CAI My front rotors were NEVER right: OEM and with my current Brembo xdrill/Raybestos setup. I have a small chip on one fog lamp lense and my non-Bose HU went bad a little under 2 years ago (replaced under warranty then later replaced by my current Kenwood HU).

It seems like you use your Maxima MUCH more than I do mine (45k). But it also sounds like I might have experienced likewise if I used it daily.

 

It only had 79k miles on it when I traded it last week, but like I said, I drove it pretty hard on a regular basis. When it ran properly though the car was pretty nice. I must say though overall I like the Acura better in almost every way so far, with the exception of its significantly lower torque. But hitting 7000 RPM with the VTEC makes up for that I'll probably only have this car for 1.5 years before moving to a newer one, as I'm just starting out my full time career here. Next car could very well be an ~06 TL. The overall package is nicer than the Maxima IMO, and the power is the same or better. Although the G35 coupe has been calling my name for some time now as well... Love that VQ!!