Well i am looking to get my first Maxima as those of you who visited my last thread know about. I myself hate stick shift when it comes to just flat out driving. Can't really relax, take a drink, ect. It can make driving frustrating and I don't really want that. I would like an automatic and I would like the 190 horsepower in it instead of the gxe 160 horsepower. This is kind of a problem though because i can't really find any SE automatics. Do the Automatic SE's have the same gauges (0-145) as the manual or no. Also, they do have the 190 horsepower still I take it. I am looking to pay between $4000-$5000 for the actual car and then put around $2000-$3000 in modifications. Sad enough to say this will be my first car, so i would like to enjoy it with an automatic and make it look like a mix of speed and luxury. Not really going for the "fast and the furious" edge as most others do. I think the car itself with a stillen body kit, lowered some, ok rims, and a good tint, has a Lexus meets Impala look. Thats kinda what i would like to go for. (pretty much exactly like the 1994 GXE blue one on maximaclubca.com cept in a gunmetal color or a darker blue. Well thats what i'm thinkin, give me some suggestions.

 

You can't find a VE SE automatic? Those things are like flies on ****!

 

ummmm, where are you that all you can find are VE 5 spds? that'd be a horrible problem to have!

www.autotrader.com

 

Automatic = da suck

 

Automatic w/ 190 horsepower = Deez nutz in yo mouf

 

Wha? Buhahahahhaa! I HOPE you aren't saying the VE 5-sp is inferior to the autotragic.

If you want an granny shifter fine. But saying you can't find an automatic VE is

 

Nah it's not that i CANT find them, its just there are very few compared to the gxe and 160 horsepower isnt very appealing to me. Yes i want an automatic cuz that stick **** gets annoying when you comin to a stop or a turn ect, ect. I would love to have a stick one for racing and such later though. I'm just sayin i want a cruiser that packs a punch. Something that looks luxury but even though its automatic could smoke hondas and all those other inferior pieces of *** cheese. And also too many people have 4th and 5th gens. I want somethin that stands out and thats where the 3rd gen comes in. I hardly see 3rd gens, and if i do they are just stock (not like mine will be, stillen bod kit, great system, eiback and shocks, cold air intake, gunmetal paintjob, ect.) What i would like to ask is if the automatic SE's are still a good deal fast, like such to out run a honda or other such nonsense cars. I am still deciding between a 3rd gen max, a dodge avenger (suped up of coarse) and a pontiac grand prix. Was thinkin of older diamante for a while, hard to find a body kit for it though and i hear they are less reliable. alright so keep replyin

 

Yeah, modded 3-gens are pretty rare. VE auto is actually pretty good vs most of the 4-banger stuff out there. Nice rims/nice drop/stillen bodykit would make for a sweet ride. Good luck with the search. If you put on some blangin' spinners or some huge wing, we will hunt you down you

 

Haha oh hell no. I'm a white boy. Like to keep it simple to a point where i'm not considered a wigger or some wannabe asian. 3rd gen with just a stillen body kit, 1000 dollars into performance, gunmetal paint job, good sound system (love my metal), and a nice set of chome (but not too shiny) rims will make it real sweet. Cant make it look too good cuz im movin back to St. Louis. They eyed my dad's 1989 buick park avenue...what you think they gonna do to mine!?!?...thats why im getting A. a good alarm system, B. puttin a metal bat or some blunt object near the seat, and C. If it gets bad enough, a gun. I'd rather lose my car in a race or totalling it than having some welfare punk put a 22 to my head as I am leaving work. I'll do what the suspected white person do...act scared out of my mind and say ok here are the keys...ducks and pulls out 38...who da **** you think you playin with?? BANG...or at least thats the way i imagine it...

 

A VE automatic will be almost as fast as a VE 5spd. To answer your questions, yes, the VE automatic will have the 145 speedo. It is odd that you can't find one to meet your liking. When I was looking for my VE, all I could find were autotragics. Unless you are stations on the far side of the moon in some obscure crater, you should be able to fine one essily. Have you looked on Autotrader.com? You may have to do a little bit of traveling, but they are definitly out there.

Good luck with your search and welcome to the 3rd Gen family.

 

if you buy an auto start saving for the $2000 rebiuld unless its already been done it would suck to make it fast and look good and then have no money to make it move and ive never been frustrated when driving my se 5spd or had problems coming to a stop or turn sounds like you dont have much experience driving a stick you may want to test drive one alittle more and not make a desicion you regret down the road like getting smoked in your modded auto buy a stock 5spd

 

I believe the autos are a good .5 sec slower than their 5-sp brothers. Also the autos do NOT have the varible intake manifold. That might make a good difference also. Mostly in the lower rpm ranges. I've driven a VE auto with the tranny resister plug pulled, it ran pretty strong. Shifted like hell though.

 

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that a stock VE Auto can whoop a lot of cars on the road. Well, I have a VE Auto and it use to be stock. It was a DOG in the summer time. I would get walked on by alot of non-vtec Civic 5speeds. It only runs 16.4s when it has a cool motor. But when it heats up, expect to run low 17s the same day.

I have done a few mods to my VE Auto and it will beat a lot of cars on the road. Check out my website. Just dont expect to get in this stock car and be FAST! But a stock VE Auto can hold it's own versus other 90-95 automatics on the road.

If you want an automatic, get one. Everybody in this world thinks ALL automatics are slow. That's why I had to prove them wrong by doing a few mods.

 

You have got to be kidding me... These are your choices. Max hands down. If you buy a freakin dodge avenger, I will smack you myself. Believe me it experience talking here. A 1996 Dodge Avenger was my 2nd car, and by the time I picked it up at 32k miles the car had already been through 3 sets of brakes. While my aunts avenger locked up the first day she had it. GO WITH THE MAX.

 

i have seriously been considering just getting the 5 speed se but just after seeing my dad with a stick, my uncle, and then test driving my uncles and then this other kid i know from school's...and video games (haha) I seem like i might get kinda ****ed after a while sinse you ALWAYS have to be on the ball. light turns great, cluth clunk gas, clutch clunk gas, it just seemed jerky me...maybe that was cuz of my dad's being a 93 nissan truck. Although my uncle's didnt seem too jerky (91 civic) i think...****in things got over 200,000 miles on it and has had no major problems yet. crazy ****. I dont know if i should get the auto and just be a cruiser but still have power, or get the 5 speed and go all out on performance and just make that thing a speed demon (all basic performance mods, NOS, maybe a turbo, you name it)...bottom line is that i want this car to last me about 5 years (last two years of high school and then for a few years after that til i start getting my graphic design and programming or music engineering career started and make some okay money. Of all of you...what do you think would be the best way to go?

 

another thing...yall can take a drink with a stick right? i want to be able to at least take a drink while i drive. My dad used to drive in the snow with the wheel in one hand, and shifting with the hand he had his coffee in. HAHAHA. almost **** my pants on a few close ones. but anyways yeah need some insite from you guys!

 

Friends don't let friends drink and drive.

 

haha **** you know what i mean...(soda, coffee, ect.)..idiot..i break off your arm!

 

Seeing as your the only time you might have a problem with drinking soda and shifting would be in the city, and your'd normally shift around 3000rpms and you have another 3500rpms to go, I dont think its much of a problem at all

you dont need your whole palm to shift, you can use your nuckles or the back of your hand, or you can use the can to help shift from a 1 - 2 and 3 - 4 shift.

Besides I'd be worried more about whats happening to the drink when its open and not in your hand, than shifting when it is in your hand (ie, drink go flying).


Good luck on the purchase. just one word of advice, If you buy the Auto, save yourself some trouble and put a transmission cooler on it, It will help prolong the life of the transmission.

 

Dude I wouldnt be freaking out about the hassle of a stick. I kinda felt that way when I first started driving sticks like you have to be 'constantly on the ball' and whatnot.

But seriously, when you get used to it, it just comes natural. I can eat, drink, talk on a cell, mess with the radio, anything you can do/need to do with an auto you can very well do on a 5spd. You reach a point where it doesnt even cross your mind and you dont have to think about it at all, whereas when you're a beginner you're all like 'ok, clutch in, in gear, ease on gas, ease off clutch' etc. You just have to get used to it and it becomes automatic. You'll also find yourself hating driving an auto afterwards

I gaurantee you if you get an auto later on you'll be kicking yourself that you didnt get a manual

 

Go with the manual, I eat lunch in my car while driving every day, I always seem to have errands to do during my lunch break, so i hold a sandwich in one hand and drive with a couple fingers on the wheel on the left, and only take the right hand of to shift, so...it works.

I can polish off a sandwich, chips, cookies, a soda and some sort of fruit, bananas are easiest, but you really have to be at a stop light to peal an orange.... its all good though...

Just remember to vacuum often if you eat in your car.... keeps the ladies happy.

I just got my 1992 VE 5-spd 3 months ago with 124,500 miles, now it has 126,200 and i have only had to replace the original clutch, and then did my mods/upgrades.

I got hit twice in 2 months....need to replace the bumper and the drivers rear door. The spoiler on mine flaps if i drive on the highway. So i got a GXE trunk that i am installing soon. Got a door to replace the dented one, and getting the bumper within the week...

Good luck on the search.

Brian

 

I agree. Take it from me. If you are AT ALL thinking about performance... and you definitely are. I can tell... GET A 5 SPEED!!

If I was a 5speed today, I would be busting high 13s right now at the track with traction. Maybe mid 13s. Instead, I am only doing high 14s and I always think... "boy what could have been". A 5speed swap is not worth it when you are attached to your car and don't want to buy another one.

James is right. Don't let the fact that you don't know how to drive a 5 speed well.. hold you back. In 2 weeks of driving a 240SX 5spd daily, I was ragging it out. I get back into my Automatic maxima and press the clutch in by habit when I just hit my dead pedal. It WILL become 2nd nature to you. I guarantee that everyone on the org that drives a 5spd will agree.

If I had to go back to Aug 2001 when I was looking to buy a car... I would have ONLY settled for a VE 5spd. But, I got an auto b/c I wanted one. If only I would have taken the advice of others... just like you should.

 

I agree with all of the above. If it was up to me I would have a 5 speed also. But I'm married. I have a brand new 2003 Trailblazer that the wife drives, but come winter time she won't step foot into it because its rear wheel drive and hence the reason I have an automatic. My last ride, or actually two rides ago I had a GST Eclipse 5 speed, and I loved it. I still drive down the road and pretend to shift, believe me, you get use to it and then it becomes a need. You get addicted, like crack. (I know you know what crack addiction is like!!)

 

just to let you know the gxe haves a single over head cam engine and the se haves the twin cam engine. p.s get the stick auto suck for racing!!!!

 

not cool man, keep talking like that on here and you'll get banned.

 

 

oh calm down...i didnt mean anything by it and thats past the point...im talkin about the car...dont care about that nonsense

 

my cousin told me to get a stick when i was 15 and i trusted him so i told my parents i didnt want a car unless it was a stick and i got my way twice. now i get in my parents cars and hate driving them because there sooooooooo boring i even messed up my moms auto shifter alinment in the villager buy shifting manualy. get the 5spd trust me you wont regret it

 

thanks for all the help guys

 

yeah get the stick, its way more fun and it will become second nature once you drive it for a while... So far I've managed to never drive an automatic, my family doest have any automatics, our driver's ed car was a stick(that was scary the first week), and I wouldn't buy a car that wasn't a stick... I might break down and drive an auto if I want to drive my Uncle's 1969 GT500 though....

 

Tell you what...I'll make it easy on you. Find a decent VE 5sp, and let me know. Be glad to trade you my 90 GXE auto, with a FRESH tranny rebuild...how about that??

 

i guess many peeps have swayed your opinion on the tranny choice, but if u do get an auto and its got around 110k or more, make shur the tranny has been rebuilt. or just look for that when buying an auto. it will save you some cost in the long run.

 

A rebuilt tranny is not always a good tranny, so stop recommending a rebuilt one.

The only cars I'm glad I dont have a 5spd in are the 98 Durango (as the 5spd tranny isnt built up enough at the factory, the Autos are beasts, being electronically controlled over driven TorqueFlight 727's) and in My Mustang, Yeah it would be very easy and very very cheap to put a 4spd Manual in it, but the 3spd C4 I have has many many more performance upgrades and can be fine tuned to shift like no ones business. I was thinking about putting in either a T-5, T-3550, or a T-56, but decided to save the money for something more useful and keep the 3 speed auto instead (note the T-56 is a 6spd manual ).

anyway, I recommend you test drive them both, spend some time on a manual, then decide what kind of transmission you want, that way you wont have a doubt in your head that you made the right decision.

 

Just thought I would post and tell you how fast my 5 speed is

It was soo cool in SoCal tonight and my car is running absolutely tops right now, so I spotted an old man in a brand new convertible red M3 (thats right) I put it in 3rd and raged up on him from 80-100 in a second, got him all ****ed we started from 80, I was even with him til around 95, then it pulled like a bad out of hell.

Oh well...I am still fast.

 

I would seriously consider a 5-spd. Once you learn how to drive a stick, you will hate an auto every single day you are driving it, except in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

There is nothing better (well, in driving anyway
) than rowing through the gears as you blast by some chump in a civic on a wide open freeway or carve corners in some canyon out in the boonies.

 

go stick, omg!!! I have an automatic GXE and am going nuts for a 5spd!!!!!

 

I guess I will be the only one that says I love my auto. That could be because I got a maxima for comfort and little performance and not for sports car performance like some here have.

I just want to get in and go. I do love 5spd cars but only in 2 door sports cars. I want luxury, looks, and comfort. not luxury, looks and performance. The good thing about the maxima is that you can have it either way and some will say that you get luxury, looks, comfort and performance with the VE5spd but you get my point.

I would also say that if treated right (not racing, change fluid regularly, trans cooler) that the auto will last as long as you need it to. I had close to 200K on the 90 i recently sold and had no trans problems at all.



BUT for most young guys I would say go with the 5spd since it is fun to drive and youre going to be rough on it anyway.

 

I kinda regret my five speed when I'm cruising around sometimes, but when I think of the plans in the future, I'm glad I converted after all.

VE auto = da suck

Just playing Aaron. Smoking one of them kinda has got me confident about that. Your car doesn't count though.

VE five sepeed = just plain outrageous

If you are having any doubts about whether or not you are going with the performance angle, just get the five speed. You'll get to the point where it is just second nature, and the ride will be very smooth.

Bottom line, get the VE five speed if you can find one. If you just hate it, sell it and get an auto.

 

Well, I have the luxury of having both an auto and a 5spd. I am 36 years old and I drive the f*ck out of my 5spd. As a matter of fact, my GXE now sits for 5 to 6 days out of the week. Go with the 5spd. Like everyone else has said, it will become second nature. Even with me, I rather have a stick in traffic. It is just something about having FULL control over the car. With an auto, you loose some of that control. Makes all of the difference in the world. The only time an auto will come into serious play is if you get injured--like a broken arm or a sprained left ankle.

 

I think it is VERY safe to say that the VE 5 Speed is the daddy of all???