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Comments
As for your car, it is notable that even with recirculating ball steering, BMW managed to provide better steering feel on its 540i (according to one magazine, I forgot which one) than Mercedes did on their rack-and-pinion E420. But that just means BMW's engineers are better than Mercedes' (who would argue with that?).
mmx6: Comparing my 1995 Maxima SE to what it's competitors were back then, it was an easy conclusion for me (albeit subjective) that it was the best handler in it's class. I test drove the heck out of everything. The Passat was very good, but was handicapped by just feeling too slow back then.
Considering the FWD sedans on the market today, I still think my 1995 Maxima stacks up extremely well. Granted, you do feel the road more than some current models. But in everyday "enthusiastic driving" the combination of relatively low body roll and 5-speed manual transmission make it a lot of fun to drive. And I have even had compliments from my BMW/Mercedes associates on both it's acceration and highway smoothness.
As for the Accord, surely you jest. I love Honda. Just bought a 2002 S2000 as a third car. But the Honda Accord is one of the least "enthusiastic" sedans from Japan or Europe, with the exception of the Camry. I wouldn't even rate the Acura TL-S much higher on the "fun to drive" scale. They are exceptionally smooth, if that's your priority.
Final point, in 120,000 miles, I have never "lost" the back end of my Maxima going over bumps on twisty roads. I am enthusiastic, but not insane. I suspect anyone having that problem should be in a rear wheel drive car, period.
I also have the same problem which a couple of people had, shifting from park, I can not press the button unless i press it and move it forward, wierd....but that sound while turning conserns me a lot more.
$500 over is too much for this car. In my area, CarsDirect is selling them for $850 below invoice.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
When you get quotes, try to get out the door prices. I hate when I lose a customer over 50 dollars to only find out that their bottom line was hundreds of dollars more.
Sid
Duke
So have no fear, it's a great car.................gg
The Bridgestone RE92's on my SE have not worn well
at all. Checking tire survey results at Tirerack.com confirmed that almost all owners of
these tires complained about exceptionally poor wear and very bad traction in wet weather albeit
snow (impossible traction) Those who had Michelins
were very critical of those as well.
Have any of you found a 225-50-17 in any brand
tire that you are REALLY pleased with (v-rated,
of course) I suppose I could go to a Z-rated tire
but those wear faster as well due to the softer
rubber compounds normally found in Z-rated tires.
Your input would be sincerely appreciated!!!
berbel
Anyway, back to tires. I haven't heard of any good replacements. But I've found the tires are not bad in snow and OK on wet pavement. The lateral grip when cornering on wet roads seems good.
What I don't like is they tend to hydroplane sooner than other tires when there is a lot of water on the road, so I actually have to drive slower than most traffic in heavy rain.
All things considered, I think Nissan made a good choice with the Potenzas. The tread wear is better than I expected going in, and I would replace the tires with another set of the same.
I thought I saw that Goodyear now makes a tire for us...in one of the auto mags - the inserts towards the back. I'll look for it. The goodyear website gives us the 16" size when we select our car. DOH!
Motor Oil:
Some people change at 1,000. It's a good idea. The thinking here is that the engine is breaking in (valves are seating, etc) so there may be additional metal particles in the motor oil. Although the oil filter should catch most of this, spending $20 for an oil & filter change at the 1,000 mile mark is cheap insurance.
Transmission Fluid:
I think Nissan recommends changing this every 30,000 miles. I would imagine that the "break-in" theory would apply here too, however I don't hear too much about this. This is a little more costly because they would have to power flush your transmission to ensure a complete changeover of your fluid (simply draining the fluid via gravity only removes 1/3 of the fluid). I think Nissan charges in the neighborhood of $150 for a complete power flush. But then again, $150 is cheap insurance too (compared to the cost of replacing a transmission). I personally would follow Nissan's recommended fluid change interval since the transmission is warrantied for 5 years/60k miles.
Goodluck.
http://www.2003cts.com
click on specs.
Anyone have experience with Nitto tires?
gg
wear of my Potenza's.....I thank you! Perhaps others will reply as well..I hope so.
Incidentally, one guy at the Tirerack user survey
started his response my saying, "I love my Maxima
but I hate these tires." Numerous respondents to
the survey on the Potenzas were very critical of
the tire wear and lack of traction on wet roads
and "no traction" in snow. One person mentioned
"sliding clear out of his level driveway" due to
lack of snow traction. I will check out some of the responses I have received from you folks and
post additional info as I obtain it. I've got
Bilzzaks (MZ-01) shod on all four wheels right
now but in the spring I'm going to have to put
4 new v-rated tires on the MAX. Hope, with your
help to find good replacements for the Potenzas.
berbel
call. I think I'm going to the Goodyear website to
try and get some info on the tire you mentioned
in post 3878. Will log back on afterwards with
any findings.
berbel
The Goodyear website shows the RS-A but they are NOT shown as available in size 225-50-17. They ARE
shown available in 225-60-17. That size is the closest shown to the OEM tire size. The manager of
that Goodyear store you called must not have made
the proper inquiry re size not withstanding the
possibility that I missed it in the listing of
available sizes at the web site. I examined that
listing pretty closely and didn't see it.
Also, those 225-60-17's are a higher profile so you'll gain a smoother ride, but will lose some handling. Changing sizes may also throw off your speedometer a little (I use to have a tire size/speedo calculator but I can't find it now). If I find it, I'll post the link. I'd wait to hear about those Goodyear's (if you can wait).
Goodluck!
I went through the same thought process about two months ago and ended up with an I35. Rejected the Volvo because it was more expensive, smaller, and reliability seems to have dropped in the last few years (I have an '95 850 turbo with 130k miles on it, so I'm not anti-Volvo).
The TL is a fine car, very similar to the I35 in terms of features, quality level, size and price. My wife has a 99 TL and is very happy with it. I find that it is not designed for my height (6 feet). For some reason I look out through the top of the windshield. Although the I35 has about the same headroom, the windshield is just a bit more upright, and doesn't produce this effect.
The nav system is great. I like the pop-up nature of it in the I35. It has a dedicated control panel, which is very easy to use and means that you aren't leaving finger smudges all the time on the screen like the Maxima and the Acura. Also, if you don't want to use it, it is out of sight. Finally, the radio and climate controls are totally independent, which makes them easier to use. Although it's not DVD based, it works fine provided you aren't travelling all around the country.
The Infiniti is just a bit more costly than the Maxima. In return you get different styling and nav system, you avoid the Nissan dealer in favor of (hopefully) a better dealer experience, and you have a bit more cachet.
BTW: the cold weather package is great. Love that heated steering wheel (especially on 35 degree mornings like today).
--Andy
Thanx for your input. I was aware of the possible
impact of changing tire sizes but still appreciate
your mentioning it. I chose the SE trimline primarily on the basis of the better handling
characteristics of the car. I certainly would not
want to lose any of those characteristics as a tradeoff to changing tire sizes. I learned something from you today. I was not aware that a tire company would forestall releasing a tire in a
certain size pending the release of the car that
those tires fit. In a way, I'm not sure I under-
stand that in light of the fact that that same
tire size is the oem size for the Max and has been
since model year 2k. Can you shed any additional light on this for me?
Thanx/berbel
Other finalist is Subaru Outback H6 LL Bean wagon.
I am probably the first guy to cross shop these vehicles . . . . :-)
Does anyone know -- does the engine have a timing belt or a timing chain? And is the head an interference design (timing belt or chain is the only thing that keeps valves from impacting piston and if it goes . . . .) or not.
Had a Honda Prelude lose its timing belt at 60,000 miles. That was $3000 to fix due to interference design of head on Prelude (valves damaged / bent by force of impact of pistons). Honda paid half since it went early. Still $1500 I did not care to spend.
The 02 Altima brochure brags about a timing chain on the Altima 6 but the 02 Maxima brochure does not. Maybe they had other features to tout?
Thanks in advance for the info. -- JN
Guess I won't be getting RS-As! At least from the dealer.
I haven't posted in some time..here are some things about my Max
-Just had one of the spark coils replaced under warranty. I was driving up the Garden State Parkway and when I got off the engine started to stumble...I swore it was the tranny. But they found a dead coil...no charge...
-Still have knock/pinging issues. I hoped that the bad coil was the culprit and the knocking would go away...I have tried every grade of gas from different companies. I think it is just a flaw in my engine...oh well...
-Window etching- My dealer (Acme Nissan in NJ) wanted me to buy the etching for $200 or something...told the sales manager to shove it (Fred Nass is a honest salesman, the sales manager was a snake though). My insurance co. doesn't discount for that...and even though I didn't pay for it, they do all of their cars, so mine has the etching anyway as a deterrent! Thanks guys!
-I love my Maxima. For the money I spent ($22,000) I have an awesome car that no Camary or Passat can match. The interior and exterior still look great after 2 years/45K miles and I haven't kept up on the washing/waxing. This car is so much different than my 1998 Grand Prix...that car started to fall apart after 4K miles...
-But will trade it any day for the 350Z
-Eric
use chains. Head design doesn't matter too much.
If your engine is running at anything higher than an idle, and the chain or belt breaks, the valves and / or pistons will probably be damaged. The amount of damage is proportional to how fast the engine is turning.
Two good things about chains:
1) They usually last longer than belts.
2) Chains usually give plenty of warning when
they get ready to head south. A bad chain
will usually rattle for about 5 secs. on
a cold start-up.
280 PLUS horsepower. Do they mean 300 hp. ??
YEAH BABY !!!!!! WOOO-HOOOOOOOOO !
As for the interference design of some motors - I thought some had it and others do not. For example I thought most Hondas have the design while Toyotas do not.
Generally higher performance, higher compression motors have the interference design.
But hey - I am open to being educated.
I had the same problem with pinging in my Y2K gle. It was something that popped up all of the sudden so I was baffled. Turned out my favorite Amoco gas station was closed down because they were adding water to their tanks to stretch the gas!! I was pissed needless to say and it took about 5 tank fills of gas to get my car back to normal. I did some investigating and found out this was common practice in other stations in my area, another of which was fined and closed down.
So if anyone is experiencing pinging on high octane in their Max beware, your gas station could be cheating you and killing you pride and joy.
They had the ability to create your own Z and add options...there are 4 models from the base to a racing version with Bembro brakes. Starting price...$26,200!!!
Nissan is really taking performance seriously...let's see how NISMO adds to that...
-Eric
and VQ 35 engines have chains. The earlier VG 30
V6 had a belt.
Thanks much,
Rob
rosserrb@hotmail.com
I don't know how long the H6 engine has been sold worldwide, but if my memory serves me correctly, it has only been since 2001 model years. Consider that too.
IC
Was this close to picking up a 02 GLE today. Had everything but NAV, was perfect, spoiler all opt. $33 off in monthly payment, and I walked. they came down some, but not quite enough. Invoice was 26,700 on it. Might call them back tomorrow to see if they will drop a little more...
sysadmin1:
I agree with riez...the 2002 max should be able to do 0-60 in the 7 sec range with the auto trans. The 2000's and 2001's were sub 8's with the 3 liter engine, so the extra torque and HP should knock a half sec or more from the times.
Bridgestone Turanzas...who has them and are they good?
Help soon...might decide today!!