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Sedans Nissan Maxima 2009 Nissan Maxima
681 messages, Last post on Oct 08, 2009 at 11:05 AM
You are in the Nissan Maxima Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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I must say that as direct and critical of the Maxima as habitat1 may come across, his opinion of the CVT is right on target. A sports package should allow the enthusiast driver to feel the rush of the car shifting, the CVT is as he states, for Buick and Oldsmobile (gee we know what happened to those). For the price of the sport package Nissan gives you 19in wheels (dress up), sport tuned suspension (what does that mean) and seats with an extra long cushion on the front (the cushion is too soft and by no means anything like the same bolsters on a BMW). Oh yeah and paddle shifters on CVT transmission. You know there is a reason why BMW takes an extra year or 2 to bring the M series cars into the market after the original versions hit the streets, fine tuning, real power, sophisticated and respectable performance, not just play dress up like Nissan. After all from the base line S to the SV-Premium and SV-Sport, the engine is the same on all 3, what gives? I agree that every day driving is what most of us do in bumper to bumper traffic but if Nissan is going to charge a couple of thousand dollars to portray their car as sporty, then by all means don't just give the Maxima a bark, make the darn thing bite and bite hard. I have nothing against the Maxima, have owned and loved all 3 of mine (the 04 was a challenge quality wise). I have something against Nissan talking the talk but not letting the car walk the walk. The engine can easily exceed 300 HP but they put that version in the fufu snob appeal Infinity and not the Sport Package Maxima, just not right. |
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Replying to: habitat1 (Sep 10, 2008 2:26 am) Friggin' go away, already. It's hogwash to claim that the definition of a driving enthusiast is predicated on manual or rough automatic transmissions. cecilt1 - as habitat1 has made abundantly clear, the CVT tranmission is not for everyone. He clearly doesn't like it. That's fine - but that opinion is no more valid than that of those that recognize that the CVT is the transmission of the future. The world changes. The CVT is progress in automotive technology. It's a phenominal transmission, and a lot of fun to drive...and yes, that includes being fun for driving enthusiasts. The '09 Maxima is a FWD vehicle with virtually no torque-steer whatsoever. It's extremely responsive, handles great, and is a heck of a lot of fun to drive. It's a pricey, luxurious, sporty car. Is it a true sports car? No - but come on, people, get over that 4DSC spin. Nobody that buys one of these things thinks the Maxima is a Corvette. We didn't take that tag as being literal when we bought the car...why are you taking it so clearly personally?? 
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I was wondering who had the Sport with Nav and how you like it. I was looking at the Prem. Package and really like the wood trim but its more expensive. Is there any big difference between the Prem and the Sport. Talking about Interior. Thanks for the feedback.
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Replying to: cyberpunk (Sep 10, 2008 5:49 pm) On your opinion that a CVT is "a heck of a lot of fun to drive", we clearly define fun differently. A CVT has NO "friggin" driver involvement whatsoever. How in the hell can that be much "fun" or "sporty"? On your opinion that the CVT is "progress in automotive technology". I'll grant you that compared to a old style poorly engineered Nissan 4-speed automatic. But, as much as I'm not a fan of automatics, BMW's 6-speeds and Lexus 8-speeds are better performing AND more fuel efficient than Nissan's CVT. And if the metric for progress is "sport", everyone from BMW to Audi to VW and others have developed far superior SMG's and DSG's that can be set to automatic mode when preferable. Nissan tells you humm a fake shift, if you want to remember what it was like driving an old Maxima with a manual transmssion. For the record, I don't have a "personal" dog in this hunt. I am now fortunate enough to have a 911S as a third car and not currently looking to replace my TL 6-speed. But I still would like to see, for the benefit of others that can't or don't want to dish out $45k+ for a 335i 6-speed, a decent, more affordable "sporty" sedan alternative from Nissan. I guess I'm taking a stand for the sake of others who, hopefully, don't get all of their sports jollies from watching ESPN while eating pizza and all of their driving jollies from humming shifts to the drone of a CVT. |
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Replying to: habitat1 (Sep 10, 2008 2:26 am)
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Replying to: houdini1 (Sep 10, 2008 5:25 am) I can accept that. And believe me, driving is not my primary source of excitement. But, as old4cat said with less rant than me, if Nissan wants to talk the "sport" talk, they should walk the walk. Here's an offer, get Nissan to relabel and advertise the Maxima a 4DCC ("4-Door Commuter Car), and I will exit this forum never to be seen again. That's exactly what a CVT Maxima is - and a pretty darn good one at that, with all the techno do-dads.
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Replying to: teddy7117 (Sep 11, 2008 5:15 am) I don't think stoplight drag racing is a valid metric for driving enthusiasm. But since you brought it up, the 2009 Maxima with 290hp and a CVT manages to go 0-60 in a whopping 0.3 seconds faster than my 1995 Maxima with 190hp and a 5-speed manual. And my TL 6-speed with only 258hp will leave you squinting at my taillights by at least a similar margin. Granted, FWD is a significant limitation compared to RWD, but the CVT transmssion definitely has its negative impact on performance. But beyond stoplight drag racing, the satisfaction of shifting your own gears and having direct control of the cars transmission and rpms is not uniquely limited to RWD. If push came to shove, I'd probably rather have my 1995 Maxima SE 5-speed to take on a drive through the twisties than a current BMW 3 series with an automatic transmission. Ultimate performace would go to the BMW, fun and driver involvement to the Maxima. |
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Replying to: habitat1 (Sep 11, 2008 5:24 am) No, I have seen people leave forums before over disagreements and when that happens the forums are diminished and sometimes die. We need differences of opinions here to make it interesting. Even though I disagree with you on this car you certainly have the right to your opinion. My feeling is that all cars are compromises to some extent and the Max is just what it is....and isn't. Have you driven the new Mazda 6? Sounds like it would be to your liking. |
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Replying to: out4cat (Sep 09, 2008 5:06 pm) One of my cars is red...On a scale of 1 (easy) to 10 (hard) to keep clean, I'd vote the Sunset Red as a 7. |
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Replying to: out4cat (Sep 09, 2008 4:48 pm) |
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