phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

I know that the last thread (about Grand Cherokees) got locked, but I feel the need to defend Jeepers. First off, my 96 GLE is the first non-Jeep vehicle that I have owned in 9 years. I have had 3 Cherokees and have driven my Brother's MJ (Comanchee pickup based on Cherokee).

I came over to maximas because I got tired of trying to make my SUV handle and drive like a car. That said, my maxima is a slug compared to my Cherokee. I ran 14s in my cherokee. My Maxima will likely never see 14s. I WAS a very agressive jeep driver, but I also rarely lost. Mustangs, Camaros, they were fun to race when I was young and immature, but imports (mostly hondas and acuras were the best b/c they had no idea that I was pushing 250 ft lb of torque and almost 225 HP through a 5 speed.

I did have an auto cherokee, and that was a waste of a good engine, but the 5 speed was nice. We hit the rev limiter at just over 60 in 2nd gear, and just over 90 in 3rd, which is how we could run a decent 0-60 and a decent 1/4. think about it: wide, torquey powerband and only 2 shifts for a 1/4, only 1 shifts for most imprompteau street races- and noone knew it was a 5 speed.

I have seen videos and timeslips of guys in grand cherokees (pre1999 models) running 12.6 or better. Some are blown, some boosted, but there were guys in the 13s all motor. Some cherokees and grands have the benefit of full-time awd, which hurts reliabuility but really helps to launck off the line, no wheelspin w/ over 300HP- find me a nissan or chevy or ford that can do that (skylines don't count!!!).

Should cherokee or grand cherokee owners be challenging us to races all of the time? of course not. We should not be doing the same either. But stock v. stock, I would put my money on a 1993-1998 V8 Grand cherokee (5.2L or 5.9L[1998 only]) or a 5-speed cherokee over a 4th gen stock max any day. And mods do equally well for both, so with the same money in bth, we are still fairly even.

The point here is that neither car is the "typical" enthusiast speed vehicle. Both owner groups chose a niche vehicle to mod to their own liking. In 3 yrs on Jeep forums, I never heard a max bashed- most of us over there lusted for the efficiency of the maxima 3.0L engine, but over here I have seen numerous jeep-bashings. Lets keep it fair and give respect where it is due.

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

Just an FYI on my specs:
1995 Jeep Cherokee Sport. 4.0L H.O. engine, 5-speed transmission.
2.5" full exhaust including flowmaster muffler and dynomax cat.
CAI intake (heatshielded, w/ airflow-blocking components removed from front of intake).
180* T-stat.
Lighter rims, smaller diameter tires (235-70-15 BFG Radial T/As).
Average 1/4: 14.89
Average 0-60: 7.1
Added weight: Roof rack, Brush Guard, Nerf bars, stereo system, full-size spare.

I figure I had over 250 lb. of extra weight on there that chould have been removed if I was really racing for time. I wanted to see what I could run in full street trim.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

I've neve bashed a Jeep, but I do rmeember reading numerous car mags that the Cherokee Sprt runs 6.6 0-60 and low 15's in the 1/4, pretty impressive I think, but this is a Maxima board so......yeah, of course we're going to be biased