First Drive: 2004 Nissan Maxima

[NFS4]

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/firstdrive/89485/article.html?tid=edmunds.h..reviews..19.*

 

[nord1899]

Ick! fugly.

 

[CraigRT]

that's like the one from the auto show... i like the car alot..

 

[StageLeft]

I am going to buy an Altima and stick a Maxima badge on it. Presto - 2004 maxima!

 

[Angrymarshmello]

wtf...did Pontiac design their gauge cluster? It clashes highly with the sleek but kind of dull instrument panel.

The outside isn't as fugly as I thought...the rear end definetly looks better while the front looks worse imho

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Another from AutoWeek:

No, it's not an Altima, but the new Maxima is as much fun to drive, in a slightly more luxurious way.

 

[Parrotheader]

This might sound stupid to the hard core car geeks, but once you cross a certain threshold in HP on midsized sedans in roughly the same weight ballpark, is a 20HP difference (such as the one between the Altima and Maxima) honestly THAT discernable to the average person - especially in already very powerful family sedans like these?? Granted there might be some torque, gearing differences, etc, but I have a hard time believing that most people will honestly be able to tell a 20HP difference over the Altima (much less a 10HP improvement over last year.) I realize Nissan has to do SOMETHING to differentiate the Maxima from the V6 Altima powerwise, but in the grand sheme of things it's less than a 10% difference in HP - sorta like comparing a 2.4Ghz P4 to a 2.2Ghz P4.

And obviously there tons of other differences between the two, but I think Nissan is ultimately going to undercut a lot of their Maxima sales with the Altima.

 

[StageLeft]

Since 9/10 peopl eon the road have a new altima I must say overall this does look better.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Parrotheader
This might sound stupid to the hard core car geeks, but once you cross a certain threshold in HP on midsized sedans in roughly the same weight ballpark, is a 20HP difference (such as the one between the Altima and Maxima) in an already very powerful family sedan honestly THAT discernable to the average person?? Granted there might be some torque, gearing differences, etc, but I have a hard time believing that most people will honestly be able to tell a 20HP difference over the Altima (much less a 10HP improvement over last year.) I realize Nissan has to do SOMETHING to differentiate the Maxima from the V6 Altima powerwise, but in the grand sheme of things it's less than a 10% difference in HP - sorta like comparing a 2.4Ghz P4 to a 2.2Ghz P4.

Agreed. Personally I think it's a pathetic distinction. Nissan almost screwed up by making the 240 HP in the Altima SO sweet, that to make the Maxima legitimately faster I think they'd need a good 40 HP on top of it. And then it just gets more and more expensive and let's face it the Altima is already very fast. Although Nissan caters to the performance crowd (well more so than honda or toyota anyway) it will find little return, I think, in charging all the money necessary to keep jacking up the HP to significantly improved levels.

 

[nord1899]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Since 9/10 peopl eon the road have a new altima I must say overall this does look better.

Damnit, I knew I wasn't fitting in with my Acura CL.

 

[RossMAN]

I'm not too crazy about the color but it does look better than the Altima which isn't that good looking to begin with.

As a side note the new Honda Accord redesign is slowly starting to grow on me.

 

[Parrotheader]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Parrotheader
This might sound stupid to the hard core car geeks, but once you cross a certain threshold in HP on midsized sedans in roughly the same weight ballpark, is a 20HP difference (such as the one between the Altima and Maxima) in an already very powerful family sedan honestly THAT discernable to the average person?? Granted there might be some torque, gearing differences, etc, but I have a hard time believing that most people will honestly be able to tell a 20HP difference over the Altima (much less a 10HP improvement over last year.) I realize Nissan has to do SOMETHING to differentiate the Maxima from the V6 Altima powerwise, but in the grand sheme of things it's less than a 10% difference in HP - sorta like comparing a 2.4Ghz P4 to a 2.2Ghz P4.

Agreed. Personally I think it's a pathetic distinction. Nissan almost screwed up by making the 240 HP in the Altima SO sweet, that to make the Maxima legitimately faster I think they'd need a good 40 HP on top of it. And then it just gets more and more expensive and let's face it the Altima is already very fast. Although Nissan caters to the performance crowd (well more so than honda or toyota anyway) it will find little return, I think, in charging all the money necessary to keep jacking up the HP to significantly improved levels.

The way things are going, pretty soon all 'family'-oriented sedans will have optional 450HP V8s so that mom and dad can bomb down the interstate at 165mph on the way to soccer practice. Granted, you'll have to pay $40,000 for these cars, but people seem to be willing to shell out that type of cash these days for a car without blinking. It's a great time to be in the debt consolidation business.

 

[StageLeft]

As a side note the new Honda Accord redesign is slowly starting to grow on me.

On the net I hated it from the getgo. In person I liked it from the getgo New accords look pretty nice.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Interior

WTF? I think it's about time we shot whoever it was that started this "one set of controls for every bloody thing" craze. Damn it, I want my radio display on the radio, I want my climate control display on the climate control. We need to get back to individual displays instead of this multi-function crap.

ZV

 

[nord1899]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Interior

WTF? I think it's about time we shot whoever it was that started this "one set of controls for every bloody thing" craze. Damn it, I want my radio display on the radio, I want my climate control display on the climate control. We need to get back to individual displays instead of this multi-function crap.

ZV

And how about we go back to standard sizes for stereos so I can put in an aftermarket one without ripping up the whole center console!?!?!?!

 

[loup garou]

I'm torn between which is uglier...this or the Altima.

 

[newbiepcuser]

Originally posted by: nord1899
Ick! fugly.

Nissan has been on the ball recently with their latest cars, but I'm not sure about this one.

 

[Ryan]

I love this car

 

[m2kewl]

FUGLY!

 

[WinkOsmosis]

It's ugly, but I wouldn't buy a FWD car anyway. Fishtailing and scaring the crap out of hdeck and radioactiveballpoint is too much fun.

 

[Vegito]

too bad, i can't even afford the old one....

my friend has the 2001 se and it had 17" wheels and he bought 4 tires for about 1200, i almost had a heart attack and it was from costco, that was already cheaper..

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I actually like it a lot better than I thought I would based on the initial spy shots. The glass roof seems like a strange idea but could be really nice. It sounds like a fun car to drive, and meaningfully nicer than the Altima. It does seem like a tough sale, though, when you consider the availability of the G35 (not to mention the other perfectly nice cars in the same class, like the TL Type S (I don't really count the A4, which is much smaller, as competion, even though its price is similar).

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: forcesho
too bad, i can't even afford the old one....

my friend has the 2001 se and it had 17" wheels and he bought 4 tires for about 1200, i almost had a heart attack and it was from costco, that was already cheaper..

I have the same exact car, and I can't imagine how he spent that much. There are several options available in the stock dimensions, from the ~$100 Kumho Excsta KH11 to the ~$200 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, but none are close to $300 per.

 

[Viperoni]

Originally posted by: nord1899
Ick! fugly.

 

[ElFenix]

i think this car is a bit larger than many in its price range, and is more meant to combat the toyota avalon, which is a stodgy boat.