dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Makes a whole lot of sense. If you produce a DOHC V6 that produces north of 300 hp with a beefy torque curve, AWD is practically a prerequisite.

gizzsdad

99% speculation. If we see AWD, it will only be for NISMO versions.

george__

iTrader: (1)

That looks like a Jaguar XF but doubt RWD/AWD

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

I would like to see it as a RWD for the every day Maxima. If they did, they would probably use a variation of the GT-R transmission that is part of the rear axle. That leaves the option of running a driveshaft to the front wheels for a NISMO style car.

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

I agree, that article is not really telling us anything new, and RWD totally wishful thinking, AWD may come later but not at launch time.

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

chris make up your mind...lol. One day you like it one day you hate it...lol Now I dunno if you have ever sat inside a Kia Cadenza, that interior and interior quality is top notch for this class. IMO and to many to many others better than the Max's quality.

CS_AR

New article:

http://airherald.com/2015-nissan-max...in-class/7885/

phattyaltnatl

They lost me at "2015" Nissan Maxima...

Hokie350Z

iTrader: (1)

You guys realize that article says that 3.5 VQ V6 has been used on AWD and RWD platforms!?! As much as I wish it will be, it's not saying that the 2015 Maxima is AWD or RWD.

nestorlugo

iTrader: (11)

And we all realize 2015 cars come out @fter June 2014 usually...

Chris Alexander

MONTE 01&97 SE i'm feeling everything Lexus puts out these days i'll check out the Kia Cadoosa.

lightonthehill

Do you mean the Cadenza? Not a bad car, but is a little more expensive, a little less stylish and clearly less sporty than the Maxima. As a new vehicle, the Cadenza does not yet have a reliability record.

I feel sure the 2016 Maxima, once released, will purge any thoughts of a Kia from your mind.

FanaticMadMax

It's has been a while since past spring about some detail on the next generation Maxima. Nissan is pretty tightlipped about what going on with the next gen and yet we should have heard by now since the fall is already here as they say it was going to be "released" which given me doubts. Still no news or any new details on the next Maxima. Looks like they are just focusing on the Murano rolling out in showroom sometime between now and December. Just like with the Rouge, that I noticed on website says Rouge "Select" aka previous gen and the new Rouge. I hope this not the case when the next Maxima comes out would have you choose, Maxima "Select" LOL

lightonthehill

Nissan backed away from their intended 'fall release' last February, when it became clear that the new CVT being tested in the new generation Altimas and Pathfinders was having problems. By April, most here were resigned to seeing the 8th gen Maxima arrive neaxt year as the '2016 Maxima. I think this could happen any time between March and July, with May or June the most popular estimate on maxima.org.

FanaticMadMax

Wow, then the 7th gen would be the longest production of that generation since the 3rd generation ran for six years, this would be a record breaker, unheard of for any domestic and Japanese cars since the Germans usually cycle every seven years.

Chris Alexander

Yeah i'm not sure what's going on with Nissan on the 8th gen I know most of us are anxious.

D.Stillwell

^^ I've heard rumors of it coming around May 2015 as said above.

Considering Nissan's production schedule that sounds very likely.

Chris Alexander

You have to admit the reason the Maxima is in trouble right now is because the Altima has gotten too big. Of course this has been discussed around here As of right now to the world the Altima is the flagship car.

lightonthehill

I have tried twice to respond to this post, but each time, maxima.org timed me out and threw away my post. I will try yet again, but limit my post in brevity, and post every other sentence and simply edit in order to complete my response.

The Altima and Maxima are similar in size, but not even in the same ballpark in purpose, intended audience, appointments, etc. The Altima competes in the 'mass produced everyman's' category with the Camry and Accord, among others. The Maxima is clearly more exclusive, more expensive, is a near-luxury vehicle, has more advanced styling, and once the 8th gen is out, few folks here will remember what an Altima looks like.

The Altima MSRP is generally between $22K and $31K, while the Maxima MSRP is generally between $32K and $41K. Those are totally different classes of vehicles. I suspect the 8th gen Maxima will raise that range to around $33K to $43K, getting even further from the Altima window. Totally different target audiences.

Yes, I can see why some would think the Altima might be carrying Nissan's flagship banner while we await the 8th gen Maxima. But that would be only the 4 door sedan flagship banner, because, until the 8th gen Maxima arrives, I would probably consider the Z to be the overall Nissan flagship.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

That makes sense, especially when you consider that the GTR bows down to the Z

D.Stillwell

^ I disagree, the Maxima is currently selling like they want it to. You do see quite a few 7th gens on the road these days.

Altima is no flagship, unlike Camry and Accord. No argument that the Accord is Hondas flagship, Camry Avalon I guess would be Toyota flagship. Altima competes with those, while the Maxima is a true higher level flagship like it should be. At least Toyota has Avalon but Honda has nothing besides the Accord.

Flagship is supposed to be the more exclusive, high end car offered by a brand. No way anyone would call a C class the flagship Benz...That said, Maxima has its place in the market and competes very well with entry level luxury cars.

Chris Alexander

Time flies I was a senior in high school when the 6th gen came out in 2004. Even though they're known to be the troubled kid on the block but because the 6th gen is such a big car The Altima people know which one is in charge when they see it coming in other words there goes the larger bigger better car. Now its a sad situation with 7th gen Max all the Altima people are getting the notion that they are driving a large and and more in charge car.

lightonthehill

Fortunately, that is not the case in many places. The delay in releasing the 8th gen Maxima has resulted in dealers letting 7th gen Maximas go for really affordable prices, so I am seeing three times as many 7th gen Maximas on the road as I did just two years ago.

That tells me that, given remotely close pricing, buyers are stretching their budget and opting for the Maxima, even though it is now an old design. While the new Altima is very modern, it is not a ground-breaking design - just sort of like a lot of other cars on the road.

By contrast, the Italianate grille, coke-bottle shaped, low hooded, athletically-haunched and sleekly styled Maxima is still a head-turner around where I live.

Ghosn made it very clear back in 2002 that Nissan does not intend to sell a lot of Maximas. While they hope to sell as many Altimas as possible (at least 250K, hopefully 350K), they intend to keep Maxima production around 70K per year, and have it as their upscale flagship. And they are pretty much doing that.

Many of the most exotic vehicles on earth are smaller than the Altima. Size is not the primary factor when comparing vehicles. The Maxima is a more refined, more stylistic, more reliable and better appointed vehicle than the Altima.

Sales data tells us that only a small percentage of Altima buyers purchase the 3.5 engine, so the reality is that we are comparing a 2.5 liter modestly-priced, volume-produced family sedan with a near-luxury limited-production 3.5 liter well-equipped flagship. Those totally familiar with these two vehicles understand which is the pedestrian 'home-to-office-and-back' transportation and which is the true flagship.

Chris Alexander

lightonthehill let me ask you this what do you think the outcome would be if Nissan said we are only going to offer the Altima as a 4 cylinder option as was the case before 2002?


The problem is before 2002 the Altima/Maxima were two different cars with time they've become too similar half of the world can't tell a 2004 Maxima from a 2007 Altima when i'm out and about in Public the most common question I get nice car is that an Altima or a Maxima or Nice Altima. If and when they release the 8th gen now we will be able to tell the different. Nissan has been cost cutting and doing things backwards for so long.

If it was up to me in 2007 I would have given the Altima at the time 255hp and given the 6.5gen Maxima the 270hp or given the 2007 Altima 270hp and the 6.5gen 290hp and just carried that engine over into the current 7th gen Maxima.

lightonthehill

Chris - I think we are somewhat stuck in the past here.

In 2002, Ghosn announced that Nissan was taking the Maxima upscale toward luxury, and the 4DSC entry formerly filled by the Maxima would then be filled by the V6 manual version of the Altima. And with the 6th gen '04 Maxima, Nissan did exactly that. And that is the situation which you are describing. And you are correct that Nissan went astray with the Maxima at that time. The 6th gen was a very nice car, but not exactly a true Maxima as we had always known it.

THEN

Ghosn admitted in 2006 that Nissan had diverted the Maxima too far toward luxury with the 6th gen, and the V6 manual version of the very pedestrian Altima, although a very reliable and competent vehicle, was not the way to satisfy true Maxima fans.

SO

Nissan took the 7th gen Maxima back toward sporty. The 7th gen was clearly a totally different, much more agressive and stylish design and more sporty than the Altima of that time, and was clearly more upscale in appointments and price.

And that made things right, until the Altima was redesigned a year or two ago, and the planned Maxima redesign was delayed when the new Nissan CVT proved to have problems. That delay in release of the 8th gen Maxima has resulted in confusion in the minds of folks who are not aware of the cause of the delay of the 8th gen Maxima. Some are even wondering if Nissan may be dropping the Maxima.

BUT

Quite the opposite is true. Nissan has a dynamite design lined up for the 8th gen Maxima (very similar to the great concept car revealed at the Detroit Auto Show), but is holding off the release until they are sure they have a dependable CVT wiothout the sluggish off-the-line situation we had in the 7th gen Maxima.

Yes, you are correct that the current situation is not the best. But I have already said somewhere here that the release of the 8th gen Maxima next spring will erase all memory of the Altima from the minds of true Maxima fans. I still stand by that statement.

phattyaltnatl

I think another problem also, is that when Nissan pushed the Altima upmarket in 2002, the Max got squeezed into an uncomfortable place. They didn't want to Max to step on the G35 toes, so they copped out on the 6th gen. More quasi-luxury...not much sporty.

Altima from 2007 to now, is now more pedestrian, while the Max seems have gotten some of its' sporty roots back.

I have a feeling though, unfortunately, that the 8th Gen is going to be more of a visual show-stopping vehicle, with LOADS of technological advancements, and LESS sporty.

Give me a more somewhat austere looking Maxima, with a GT-R "soul", than an overly techno-laden, futuristic looking vehicle.

Chris Alexander

From the feedback i'm getting from yall is the Maxima needs an edge the 6th gen went all luxury and the 7th went mostly sport. So the next gen should achieve the balance we've all been waiting for. I think Nissan needs a new CEO just like the guy that turned Kia/hyundai into the best automaker in the world. The guy that is leading this company has a ton of work to do because as of 2003 these Nissan products are mediocre if at best.

The 6th gen is a nice car but was built poorly Nissan didn't give it 100% I drive one everyday from what I can tell you they're nice to look at but somethings missing it feels like a car that needs a spark or some mild improvements just a little kink and a few fixes.

95VQ30

AirHerald and Atuoomobile "magazines" are nothing but fodder sites used for marketing purposed that regurgitate the same story over and over. I would talk anything they say with a grain of salt.

D.Stillwell

^^ To be honest with you guys, I actually feel that Nissan did the right thing with the whole Maxima/Altima/Infiniti situation. I hate to defend Nissan, because they've done many stupid things over the last 10 years or so but...

If you think about it, they couldn't put the VQ37 into the Maxima for many reasons. It would step on Infiniti's toes, it's a way more powerful engine for CVT to handle, and the VQ37HR is also longitudinal so that would mean way more production costs, etc...

So they did all they could..Infiniti gets the VQ37 to be the true upscale Nissan. The Altima gets a V6 option but "slightly detuned" and the Maxima gets a more powerful VQ35 same as the Altima.

Now considering that only like 10% of all Altima sales are V6 nowadays, I don't see this as a big concern, plus the Maxima is a way nicer car on every level anyway.

Where the mess up happens to me is that the Maxima is an older design, so when they redesigned the Altima and made it way lighter they hurt the Maxima too much. A new Altima is not only lighter than the Maxima now, but also has a more responsive new CVT, albeit the problems they've had with those.

So to sum it all up, the new Maxima should remedy this problem. As long as they keep it sporty, lower weight, etc...We shall see

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

It's an interesting time to be a car enthusiast. How will Nissan figure this one out?

Several carmakers are/have been going through the distinction dilemna. BMW offered a 328i, 330i, and a 335i. They all had the same 3 liter straight 6. The 328 was detuned and maybe a restrictive manifold. The 330 was, well, a 330. The 335i was turboed 330.

In the Honda/Acura realm, the Honda Accord had the same V6 as the Acura TL, but the TL had variable timing and other some such electronic enhancements on the same motor which the Accord lacked.

VW went to the extreme. 1st it started with those 5 valve/cylinder engines. I was like wtf does the 1 extra valve really add? Then they started making those W engines. Very interesting engine but total marketing disaster. Most mechanics won't even touch a VW passat W8. Those engines continue to exist only in the stratospherically high end motoring like Bentleys and Bugattis, and perhaps and Audi or 2.

Nissan has completely whored out its VQ motor e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e in its Nissan and Infinity product line and the "what's next" point has finally arrived. Has any other carmaker put a version of its motor in so many of it's vehicles? Fittingly this "what's next" point has come to the Maxima.

Looking back in history, the VQ motor was born in the Maxima. That was probably because the 300ZX had died just that year before.

It's definiteley an interesting time to be a Nissan enthusiast.

Chris Alexander

dwapenyi I know right alot of these auto makers use the same engine over and over because of the benefit of cost. I agree with that how Nissan has overkilled the VQ motor. . Sometimes making things at the expense of cost is risky but if the product sales greatly then the investment pays off.

I guess it is good that they are taking the time to build the 8th gen I imagine its going to be a phenomenal car they only gave the 5th gen 4 years and rushed the 6th gen pretty much so I can understand the long wait at least we have a good idea of whats next to come this one has to be a hit it has to be way ahead of time as was the case with the 3rd gen.



95VQ30 yeah those aviationherald links saying new maxima they are the same I noticed

Hokie350Z

iTrader: (1)

"...in showrooms late next year."

http://www.leftlanenews.com/nissan-a...th-murano.html

lightonthehill

I think the 2016 8th gen Maxima will look quite similar to that photo of Nissan's concept 4DSC, but I think they may not be correct with the 'in showrooms late next year' part. The 8th gen has already been delayed over a year because of the problem with Nissan's new CVT, hence 7th gen has become the longest-running generation in the history of the Maxima.

I think May or June might be a better estimate for arrival at dealer showrooms.

denoose

While waiting for my car's oil to be changed today, I had a conversation with the sales manager at my dealership- told me he expects to have the new model in his showroom in February. He asked me if I "wanted to be on the list"- I asked him why I wasn't already, as I have purchased seven Maximas from him since my first SE in '92...

denoose

96i30azn

Well another is that the 35hr and 37vhr have dual intakes - wouldn't be practical to put that into a transverse engine and it just wouldn't be the same engine without it.

Damn their website has the 2015 altima, 2014 maxima, 2013 altima coupe - what a mess.

george__

iTrader: (1)

I'd rather buy the upcoming Infiniti Q40... It's the G37

D.Stillwell

Thats actually not a bad idea_george.

Considering its only gonna be around another few years at most, might be good time to get good deals on these...they will now be considered "lower class" than q50 and dated design...

I can see them going out the door for Maxima numbers at the end of their run.

george__

iTrader: (1)

Supposedly in the USA, roughly 1 G37 for every 2 Q50 sold right now.

D.Stillwell

Not surprising really, most people just want the newest popular sh*t.

Even tho the g37 has much better steering and comes with manual as an option...

george__

iTrader: (1)

No more manual in the future. I thought the sale ratio seemed bad for Infiniti... Reminded me more of what Nissan wants with the Maxima - Altima.