backwash
06-06-2006, 04:01 PM
My fiance's mother was in a car accident (not her fault) and the insurance company gave her a Maxima while the car is being repaired. It is the base level without leather, navi, etc, but it had the 3.5 with a manumatic 4 speed and the 17 inch wheels.
Interior: The seats were quite supportive with an active head rest system and all power adjustments on both the driver and passenger side. The headliner was that Alcantra (sp) and seems quite durable, a nice departure from the old "rat fur" look. The only other stand out feature was the chrome door releases. They had a nice weight and feel about them. As for the dash itself, the predominant material looked and felt the same as in the G6. By far the cheapest looking pieces were the guage shroud and the radio trim bezel. These faux aluminum pieces looked straight out of a economy car, not an entry level luxury vehicle.
Exterior: We all know what a Maxima looks like so I wont go into detail but personally I don't find it to be that attractive. The way the curved roof meets with the trunk that seems to be tilting up just looks strange to me. I also dislike the grill treatment on the front. And that Nissan badge is as big as a dinner plate.
Performance: Okay, this is what I was most interested. We have all heard that Nissans 3.5 is the sh*t. The motor never sounded strained even when revved to 6000 rpm. The power was nice and linear and the transmission shifted nicely once the power was poured on. However I really wasn't that impressed with the performance. The transmission seemed to hesitate when I gave it full throttle, seeming to try and decide if I meant it or not. I did a couple of timed 80 - 120km/h runs with the car and recorded 6.1 seconds when using the manumatic. The fastest I have ever done with my own vehicle was 5.9 seconds. So basically if felt about the same. Granted the Maxima seemed to appreciate the high revs more and I know it is a significantly heavier car than my own. I took this car to about 145 km/h and honestly it didn't blow my socks off. It was a little quicker than my car to those speeds but not significantly so. Perhaps if I lived in a magical land where I could drive as fast as I wanted to, the difference would have been more noticeable.
Interior: The seats were quite supportive with an active head rest system and all power adjustments on both the driver and passenger side. The headliner was that Alcantra (sp) and seems quite durable, a nice departure from the old "rat fur" look. The only other stand out feature was the chrome door releases. They had a nice weight and feel about them. As for the dash itself, the predominant material looked and felt the same as in the G6. By far the cheapest looking pieces were the guage shroud and the radio trim bezel. These faux aluminum pieces looked straight out of a economy car, not an entry level luxury vehicle.
Exterior: We all know what a Maxima looks like so I wont go into detail but personally I don't find it to be that attractive. The way the curved roof meets with the trunk that seems to be tilting up just looks strange to me. I also dislike the grill treatment on the front. And that Nissan badge is as big as a dinner plate.
Performance: Okay, this is what I was most interested. We have all heard that Nissans 3.5 is the sh*t. The motor never sounded strained even when revved to 6000 rpm. The power was nice and linear and the transmission shifted nicely once the power was poured on. However I really wasn't that impressed with the performance. The transmission seemed to hesitate when I gave it full throttle, seeming to try and decide if I meant it or not. I did a couple of timed 80 - 120km/h runs with the car and recorded 6.1 seconds when using the manumatic. The fastest I have ever done with my own vehicle was 5.9 seconds. So basically if felt about the same. Granted the Maxima seemed to appreciate the high revs more and I know it is a significantly heavier car than my own. I took this car to about 145 km/h and honestly it didn't blow my socks off. It was a little quicker than my car to those speeds but not significantly so. Perhaps if I lived in a magical land where I could drive as fast as I wanted to, the difference would have been more noticeable.