Did I miss all the fun???

When I was about 11 or 12 years old my dad bought a used Maxima. I grew up in that thing and fell in love with it. I always looked out through the window with its 4DSC sticker on it and smiled. It was either a '94 or a '95 white SE edition with leather, spoiler, and bose stereo. The car felt quick, light, agile, and fast. Now as I approach graduation from college next year I will be receiving a nice fat car loan which I want to get a sweet car with. I would love to get a maxima but feel like I have missed the days of the 4DSC and have moved on to plush and slow. What would be my best bet for me to relive that rush I had as a child? Is the '04 Max out, am I better off getting a '03? I want to get either a new car or one with low miles on it. I know it is still a year off, but I am starting to look now. Thanks for all the input.
-Svence

Me remembers the time in the 60s that we had all these muscle cars, gas was cheap insurance was cheap, my how the times have changed:smoka:

Originally posted by csvencer
When I was about 11 or 12 years old my dad bought a used Maxima. I grew up in that thing and fell in love with it. I always looked out through the window with its 4DSC sticker on it and smiled. It was either a '94 or a '95 white SE edition with leather, spoiler, and bose stereo. The car felt quick, light, agile, and fast. Now as I approach graduation from college next year I will be receiving a nice fat car loan which I want to get a sweet car with. I would love to get a maxima but feel like I have missed the days of the 4DSC and have moved on to plush and slow. What would be my best bet for me to relive that rush I had as a child? Is the '04 Max out, am I better off getting a '03? I want to get either a new car or one with low miles on it. I know it is still a year off, but I am starting to look now. Thanks for all the input.
-Svence

'03 all the way...you'll get a better looking, better performing (at least in a straight line) car, for prolly about 6-7 thousand less. plus, you won't have to look at the grille every time you walk to your car:D

Straight line? Is the 03 sloppy into and out of the turns? Will a few aftermarket suspension upgrades help me out? I am trying so hard to bring that inspiration back from when I was a kid, but I feel hopeless.
-Svence

If you are looking for an affordable (all relative) 4-door car that has decent power, and an available manual transmission, a Maxima is the way to go.

But if you want a true sports sedan, I'd lean toward a BMW 5-series.

Originally posted by Lordrandall
If you are looking for an affordable (all relative) 4-door car that has decent power, and an available manual transmission, a Maxima is the way to go.

But if you want a true sports sedan, I'd lean toward a BMW 5-series.

decent power??? an '03 max has 255 HP and a 6 speed transmission. cars it will smoke: Passat W8, Lexus LS430, Infiniti Q45, BMW 540i (Auto), Audi A6 2.7T, tons of Mustang GT's and Camaro/Firebird v8'. The list goes on and on.

As far as handling, the Max is not very good. No IRS + shitty tires= shitty handling. New suspension setup, along with STB's will help tremendously:sun:

Originally posted by Lordrandall
If you are looking for an affordable (all relative) 4-door car that has decent power, and an available manual transmission, a Maxima is the way to go.

But if you want a true sports sedan, I'd lean toward a BMW 5-series.
bimmer's are some of the most overrated cars in the world. i shit all over a 528, and even the z3's can't hang. unless it's an M, fuck it. you want the bomb car for pretty cheap? get the mercedes amg c32. 3.2 supercharged v6 349 hp 5.6 0-60. >$36,000

Originally posted by Paonessa

bimmer's are some of the most overrated cars in the world. i shit all over a 528, and even the z3's can't hang. unless it's an M, fuck it. you want the bomb car for pretty cheap? get the mercedes amg c32. 3.2 supercharged v6 349 hp 5.6 0-60. >$36,000

no way you can get a c32 amg for 36K...with dealer markups they are pushing around 55 thousand. hell, the base price is in the 50's i think. yu must be talking used.

as far as BMW's go, i think that they are bs, unless you get the M Models, like Paonessa said, or the 540i 6 speed. otherwise, you're paying 10 grand extra for a little blue and white symbol on your car. same goes for mercedes, at least the lower end models. for what you pay for a 215 hp C230, you can get a 300+ hp 4.2 AWD 6sp Audi S4 that will rip the shit out of it in anything

Originally posted by thrasher


decent power??? an '03 max has 255 HP and a 6 speed transmission. cars it will smoke: Passat W8, Lexus LS430, Infiniti Q45, BMW 540i (Auto), Audi A6 2.7T, tons of Mustang GT's and Camaro/Firebird v8'. The list goes on and on.

As far as handling, the Max is not very good. No IRS + shitty tires= shitty handling. New suspension setup, along with STB's will help tremendously:sun:

Passat W8, uhh who cares
LS430, smoke? Not sure on the times of the Big Lexi, but it is a Luxury car.
Q45 is dog slow
540i Auto vs. Max auto, lets not compare manual to Auto
Audi A6 2.7t 6-speed will eat up a 5th gen, if not stock, than lightly modded. no contest
Mustang GT's are slow, I can take them
Camaro V8, depends on driver, but mostly likely the Max will lose

Besides, that's all magazine racing

The 02-03 Max will also get you
Torque steer
Crappy rear beam
Ugly exterior
FWD :rolleyes:


Not to bash the Max, I do own one, but it's not the god of cars.

Originally posted by Paonessa

bimmer's are some of the most overrated cars in the world. i shit all over a 528, and even the z3's can't hang. unless it's an M, fuck it. you want the bomb car for pretty cheap? get the mercedes amg c32. 3.2 supercharged v6 349 hp 5.6 0-60. >$36,000

MB AMG? I don't drive automatics. :bloated:

I seriously doubt you can hang with a Z3 in the curves.

What are u saying the Q45 is slow? The 0-90 times are like 6.4 sec that pretty good. You want a nice car you should also consider the G35 sedan or the coupe.

Originally posted by Lordrandall


Passat W8, uhh who cares
LS430, smoke? Not sure on the times of the Big Lexi, but it is a Luxury car.
Q45 is dog slow
540i Auto vs. Max auto, lets not compare manual to Auto
Audi A6 2.7t 6-speed will eat up a 5th gen, if not stock, than lightly modded. no contest
Mustang GT's are slow, I can take them
Camaro V8, depends on driver, but mostly likely the Max will lose

Besides, that's all magazine racing

The 02-03 Max will also get you
Torque steer
Crappy rear beam
Ugly exterior
FWD :rolleyes:


Not to bash the Max, I do own one, but it's not the god of cars.

actually, a 5.5 Gen will rip an A6 2.7T a new asshole and shit all over it. they are heavy as hell. and i was referring to older camaro's, although I did pull on a new Trans Am a couple weeks ago. in any case, a car that does 0-60 in 6 flat and has an ET under 15 seconds is fast in my book. there aren't a whole lot of cars on the road that can jeep up with my car...and yes, i know that a Max isn't the shit, if i could, i would be driving a 575M Maranello, but if you had driven a vq35 Max, you would know what i am talking about

Originally posted by thrasher


actually, a 5.5 Gen will rip an A6 2.7T a new asshole and shit all over it. they are heavy as hell. and i was referring to older camaro's, although I did pull on a new Trans Am a couple weeks ago. in any case, a car that does 0-60 in 6 flat and has an ET under 15 seconds is fast in my book. there aren't a whole lot of cars on the road that can jeep up with my car...and yes, i know that a Max isn't the shit, if i could, i would be driving a 575M Maranello, but if you had driven a vq35 Max, you would know what i am talking about

Who said I've never driven a VQ35 Max? :confused:

I've driven a 3rd gen VE (mine)4th gen, 5th gen VQ30, and a 5th gen VQ35, all manual transmissions. I've also been in my buddies A6 2.7tt with drop in intakes and a ECU flash, that car is fast! I know it's heavy, but that sucker blows my buddies VQ35 off the freeway.

I personally wouldn't have bought a Max in the first place, but you can't beat the bang for the buck. IMO a VE30DE 5-speed is still the best all around car for under $10K.

What's the point of listing all the cars your Maxima can "smoke"? Most of what was listed were not in the same class of car - they were luxury vehicles and several were midsize and even large cars. They serve a completely different purpose than the Maxima...and are not designed for stoplight drag racing.

As for BMWs being overrated - I think they are overPRICED, but not overrated. Again, very few magazines who test the car are comparing the stoplight drag capability...the BMWs are so highly ranked for their superb balance, excellent shift action, some of the best steering in the industry, and excellent high-speed stability. Combined with excellent ergonomics, very comfortable and supportive seats, good build materials, and still respectible acceleration...BMWs are excellent all-around sports sedans.

Maximas are very good sports sedans themselves. As stated already, they are not the end-all-be-all, but they are excellent bang for the buck, and offer very good power and accomodations for 4 people with most of the features someone would want. They certainly deserve Kudos for continuing to offer manual transmissions in a sedan - quite a rarity in the US.

I think the 04 Maxima is a step in the wrong direction. It is attempting to move up and compete with mid-luxury sedans, most of which are offering rear wheel drive or all wheel drive chassis, and are better built and use higher caliber interior materials. Altime has gotten larger, and essentially displaced the Maxima. At nearly $36,000 for a fully loaded one, they are priving it out of the former market. Design is a whole other story...personally I think the new Maxima design is to incohesive, bulbous, and vague. From some angles, it is not attractive at all. The previous generation Maxima was much better looking (and I like the 3rd generation best of all).

And as for the smoked vehicles above...just remember that most people buy a car that ignites their passions and is fun to drive, AND fits all the criteria they are buying a new car for. Sometimes, a Maxima may not be on their shopping list. In my personal case...I certainly wanted a fun to drive car with good power and nice performance. But I also needed a decent business car, roomy with generous helpings of luxury and amenities. I needed top notch materials and build quality to keep clients happy and to hopefully last long too. I wanted a heavy, stable, safe, long distance tourer for my many out-of-state trips. And I needed huge amounts of cargo room for my bikes, water equipment, etc. And finally, winter and foul weather traction was a must for my North Carolina Winter getaways, and Florida's incessant rain...that meant AWD. So after extensive shopping, I came upon the only vehicle under $40K which could offer the smooth torquey power of an 8 cylinder engine, AWD, every conceivable luxury feature known, excellent build quality and upscale materials, and plenty of room. It can still "smoke" a reasonable number of vehicles on the road today...while still doing everything else I need it to do. If I get beat by a car length by another very fast sedan in a stoplight drag...then thumbs up to him! I'm still enjoying my ride!

Back to topic...I would recommend to the topic starter to look around for a good deal on an 03 Maxima...once the 04s are on the lot, the leftover 03s will have excellent closeout discounts. You could go with aused 3rd gen too...depends on if the warranty is important to you or not. Either way, with any Maxima except the new 04 design, you can't really go wrong!

Originally posted by zackiedawg
What's the point of listing all the cars your Maxima can "smoke"? Most of what was listed were not in the same class of car - they were luxury vehicles and several were midsize and even large cars. They serve a completely different purpose than the Maxima...and are not designed for stoplight drag racing.

As for BMWs being overrated - I think they are overPRICED, but not overrated. Again, very few magazines who test the car are comparing the stoplight drag capability...the BMWs are so highly ranked for their superb balance, excellent shift action, some of the best steering in the industry, and excellent high-speed stability. Combined with excellent ergonomics, very comfortable and supportive seats, good build materials, and still respectible acceleration...BMWs are excellent all-around sports sedans.

Maximas are very good sports sedans themselves. As stated already, they are not the end-all-be-all, but they are excellent bang for the buck, and offer very good power and accomodations for 4 people with most of the features someone would want. They certainly deserve Kudos for continuing to offer manual transmissions in a sedan - quite a rarity in the US.

I think the 04 Maxima is a step in the wrong direction. It is attempting to move up and compete with mid-luxury sedans, most of which are offering rear wheel drive or all wheel drive chassis, and are better built and use higher caliber interior materials. Altime has gotten larger, and essentially displaced the Maxima. At nearly $36,000 for a fully loaded one, they are priving it out of the former market. Design is a whole other story...personally I think the new Maxima design is to incohesive, bulbous, and vague. From some angles, it is not attractive at all. The previous generation Maxima was much better looking (and I like the 3rd generation best of all).

And as for the smoked vehicles above...just remember that most people buy a car that ignites their passions and is fun to drive, AND fits all the criteria they are buying a new car for. Sometimes, a Maxima may not be on their shopping list. In my personal case...I certainly wanted a fun to drive car with good power and nice performance. But I also needed a decent business car, roomy with generous helpings of luxury and amenities. I needed top notch materials and build quality to keep clients happy and to hopefully last long too. I wanted a heavy, stable, safe, long distance tourer for my many out-of-state trips. And I needed huge amounts of cargo room for my bikes, water equipment, etc. And finally, winter and foul weather traction was a must for my North Carolina Winter getaways, and Florida's incessant rain...that meant AWD. So after extensive shopping, I came upon the only vehicle under $40K which could offer the smooth torquey power of an 8 cylinder engine, AWD, every conceivable luxury feature known, excellent build quality and upscale materials, and plenty of room. It can still "smoke" a reasonable number of vehicles on the road today...while still doing everything else I need it to do. If I get beat by a car length by another very fast sedan in a stoplight drag...then thumbs up to him! I'm still enjoying my ride!

Back to topic...I would recommend to the topic starter to look around for a good deal on an 03 Maxima...once the 04s are on the lot, the leftover 03s will have excellent closeout discounts. You could go with aused 3rd gen too...depends on if the warranty is important to you or not. Either way, with any Maxima except the new 04 design, you can't really go wrong!

i think you took it personally that i included your car in my list, but don't. the point was that the cars on that list are known for being pretty good performers, most of them having 8 cylinders...i was just saying that a Max has more than decent power, it will surprise a lot of people.


like i said, andzackiedawg reiterated, get an '03, and save a grip of money

hey zackiedawg
i was thinking about the w8 passat(not to buy, just thinking in general) and i was wondering what the manifolds look like since it is a W8. as opposed to a V. is there any difference?

Originally posted by Lordrandall


MB AMG? I don't drive automatics. :bloated:

I seriously doubt you can hang with a Z3 in the curves.

that auto merc would smoke a max.

and i never said anything about curvies with the bimmer. of course i'll lose there 1) it's a bimmer,2) it's an FR roadster. speedwise, it ain't got nothing to brag about though, especailly for the price tag it carries.

i just think the bmw cars get more credit than they deserve, with the exception of the m3, it deserves all the credit in the world and then some. but your typical bmw doesn't impress me.
my cousin has a 540i with the the 4.4 dohc 285hp v8. it's got a lot of nice features and handles well, but it doesn't feel super powerful he's lucky to have gotten it for $15,000(his job picked up the difference) but if he had to pay full price i think he would have taken a beating

Paonessa,

Unfortunately, as is typical with German manufacturers, they have the W8 engine pretty well shrouded under an engine cover and panels to keep everything underhood looking clean and neat. So you don't really get much chance to see the good stuff underneath.

I did see the W8 engine in a cutaway at the autoshow before I bought mine...and it is pretty amazing construction. The engine looks durable. The VR6 engine VW made quite a while back is the origin of the engine...so if you can picture the narrow angle of the VR6, picture two grafted together, then 4 cylinders lobbed off. That's pretty much what the W8 is. It sure is small for an 8 cylinder engine...but plenty torquey and powerful, and quite smooth.

Originally posted by zackiedawg
Paonessa,

Unfortunately, as is typical with German manufacturers, they have the W8 engine pretty well shrouded under an engine cover and panels to keep everything underhood looking clean and neat. So you don't really get much chance to see the good stuff underneath.

I did see the W8 engine in a cutaway at the autoshow before I bought mine...and it is pretty amazing construction. The engine looks durable. The VR6 engine VW made quite a while back is the origin of the engine...so if you can picture the narrow angle of the VR6, picture two grafted together, then 4 cylinders lobbed off. That's pretty much what the W8 is. It sure is small for an 8 cylinder engine...but plenty torquey and powerful, and quite smooth.

do you happen to have a graph of the torque curve??? i thought i read that peak torque comes pretty early, not sure though. you ever driven a VQ Max? smooth as butter man

I'm gonna go with the 03... Ok, I'm biased cuz I got one...

Originally posted by thrasher


do you happen to have a graph of the torque curve??? i thought i read that peak torque comes pretty early, not sure though. you ever driven a VQ Max? smooth as butter man

Here's a cutaway of the W8 engine...I found a link to one:
http://www.vwvortex.com/news/02_01/02_27/geneva_01/w8_passat/engine1.jpg

I don't have the torque curve graph...I do know that peak torque comes on at 2600RPM, and stays fairly broad and flat to 5800.

I have driven the VQ engine in various vehicles, including a 2002 Maxima, and the Infiniti G35...it is one of the best 6 cylinders I've driven...great power band, smooth, tractable, and plenty of pull. Plus the sound isn't too bad either (I've always liked the sound of 8s and higher...6s usually sound too strung out for my ear...and 4s sound ready to explode. But the VQ sounds pretty throaty.

You only been missing the fun if you missed all of these:

http://www.4drspeed.com/movies.html

Originally posted by zackiedawg
What's the point of listing all the cars your Maxima can "smoke"?

Thanks Justin, I agree 100% with everything you said.

:cool:

Originally posted by Paonessa


that auto merc would smoke a max.

and i never said anything about curvies with the bimmer. of course i'll lose there 1) it's a bimmer,2) it's an FR roadster. speedwise, it ain't got nothing to brag about though, especailly for the price tag it carries.

i just think the bmw cars get more credit than they deserve, with the exception of the m3, it deserves all the credit in the world and then some. but your typical bmw doesn't impress me.
my cousin has a 540i with the the 4.4 dohc 285hp v8. it's got a lot of nice features and handles well, but it doesn't feel super powerful he's lucky to have gotten it for $15,000(his job picked up the difference) but if he had to pay full price i think he would have taken a beating

Uhhhh, who cares? If I wanted a car that is fast in a straight line, I sure as hell wouldn't have bought a Maxima. :o

You obviously are not going to be convinced, so I'll just leave you in your world.

later.

Originally posted by Lordrandall


Uhhhh, who cares? If I wanted a car that is fast in a straight line, I sure as hell wouldn't have bought a Maxima. :o

You obviously are not going to be convinced, so I'll just leave you in your world.

later.
well you're the one who thinks the 3rd gen is the best looking max and you think the ve30 is the better engine so nothing YOU say is gonna convince me otherwise on any subject. So yeah, later.

Originally posted by Paonessa

well you're the one who thinks the 3rd gen is the best looking max and you think the ve30 is the better engine so nothing YOU say is gonna convince me otherwise on any subject. So yeah, later.

Now you're puting words into my mouth.

Looks are subjective. Yes I like the 3rd gen better.

I never said the VE was a better motor. The VE30DE was a test bed for technology used in the VQ30DE. There would be no VQ without the VE. Do I wish my car had a VQ? Maybe, but I'm happy with the engine I have. It's more than enough to get me in trouble.

calm down children :newburn:

Originally posted by 97wvmax
calm down children :newburn:


I agree.... lets all agree that my year is the best looking, and has the best engine.... ok? ok.

hehe

Originally posted by Swonder67



I agree.... lets all agree that my year is the best looking, and has the best engine.... ok? ok.

hehe



hey, i'm in newton too, go to any meets?
i know there is one coming up this month.

your 03 a manual?.. i went to frost to pick up a 03 manual but were none left in the country!!
once i saw the 6th gen i thought of flapping a burger on that grill.

Originally posted by zackiedawg


Here's a cutaway of the W8 engine...I found a link to one:
http://www.vwvortex.com/news/02_01/02_27/geneva_01/w8_passat/engine1.jpg

I don't have the torque curve graph...I do know that peak torque comes on at 2600RPM, and stays fairly broad and flat to 5800.

I have driven the VQ engine in various vehicles, including a 2002 Maxima, and the Infiniti G35...it is one of the best 6 cylinders I've driven...great power band, smooth, tractable, and plenty of pull. Plus the sound isn't too bad either (I've always liked the sound of 8s and higher...6s usually sound too strung out for my ear...and 4s sound ready to explode. But the VQ sounds pretty throaty.

that's a pretty nice looking engine...yeah, the great thing about 8 cylinders is that torque comes in so early...although on my '02 Max, it pretty much feels as torquey as a small v8, and pulls like a mofo. nice car, btw, VW did a great job packaging 8 cylinders into sucha small area!!

Originally posted by EPVQ30




hey, i'm in newton too, go to any meets?
i know there is one coming up this month.

your 03 a manual?.. i went to frost to pick up a 03 manual but were none left in the country!!
once i saw the 6th gen i thought of flapping a burger on that grill.


No... I will shamefully say my Maxima is an automatic...

Originally posted by EPVQ30




hey, i'm in newton too, go to any meets?
i know there is one coming up this month.

your 03 a manual?.. i went to frost to pick up a 03 manual but were none left in the country!!
once i saw the 6th gen i thought of flapping a burger on that grill.

there's an '03 manual that's been sitting on the lot where i bought mine since July...Luther Nissan in Inver Grove Heights/West St Paul, MN