So im in the market for a new used car, im looking at a couple of 5speed se maximas and a 99 sentra se limited, test drove the 99 sentra and it was nice felt like it was on rails, good power too with the sr20de motor, i am a current owner of a 95 nissan 240sx se, auto, but n e way, then i test drove a 99 maxima se, and i had some trouble with the gears, everytime i was lookin for 4th i went into second, till i finally got used to it, the sentra was not hard to find 4th gear in at all, but the maxima gave me a little bit of trouble, did that happen to anyone else when driving/test driving a maxima for the first time? thanks! the reason i ask is bc if i ever race it i dont want to mis shift and blow my motor! :O

 

You just have to learn to shift correctly. The only gear you gear that should ever have the possibility of missing is 3rd.
Someone here knows how to explain how to shift into 4th correctly.
Your mis shift has nothing to do with the car.

 

well, this is the 7th mt car i've driven and i haven't had a problem till now, so i dont get it, but maybe i just wasn't paying enough attention, im used to just letting the shifter out of gear and letting it center itself then pulling down for fourth, who knows, anyway, i can't wait to get my car!

 

why is third the only gear you should ever miss?

 

Cause 1 to 2 is straight down power shift and 3 to 4 is also a powershift down...the only up and accross shift that you really have to throw good is 2 to 3...cause usually you dont have to throw 5th unless your crazy

-matt

 

The max was the first 5 speed I ever drove, and I had trouble with the 3-4 shift at first. I had to start exagerating when I pulled the shifter 'straight' back into 4th...I think just the fact that my arm is off to my right, when I thought I was pulling straight back, I"d actually be pulling just a hair towards me too, and that was enough to throw it into 2nd instead of 4th.

 

When i started racing or just shifting fast , i sometimes missed third , thats the gear most likly to miss shifted beacuse its right next to first and fith and sometimes i would just go into 5th by accident or just not go in gear at all cause id try doing it to fast . Trust by the maxima , the sentra is alot slower

 

hmmm...sounds familiar......

 

I had a similar situation the day i bought my max. I was used to driving my accord, which also was five speed. The pattern was a little different in the accord-my max has a slight notch to fourth gear. I was driving my car home, and my dad asked me to really get on it, and i dropped to third, and went to fourth at about 90 and accidentally missed-went to second. I caught it before the tach could bounce off the bottom. Scared me to death! I have learned a lot since then. You just have to get to know each car. Every car is different. Get the max-you'll never regret it.

Mike

 

That's what I've been telling him....I was with him during the test drive...he knows how to move that car boy....

 

yeah well hopefully we'll be driving around tuesday or wednesday in that maroon one

 

the best way to do the 3-4 shift is with your palm on the front side of thifter with the bottom ridge of your hand facing upwards. hope that makes sense. try it that way. I've been doing it ever since i figured out that was the best way. haven't missed 3-4 shift in a long time. -knock on wood-

 

like ur hand is backwards? not the normal position? i think thats what u mean but i dont have any idea lol

 

i had trouble with 3rd when i 1st started, and this was my 1st mt car i ever drove.

 

yeah you put your hand upside down and on the left side of the shifter instead of the normal right side way....ummmm...trying to think a better way to say it....your backside of your hand faces the drivers side door instead of normally facing the passenger door...see when you are bringing it to 4th your pulling towards yourself by accident, this is a natural movement, but doing it this way prevents you from ever pulling it to second....

BTW once you learn this always do it when your driving fast...i went to pass someone over the summer and at 3rd gear redline I put it into 2nd gear (Whahoooooooo...you dont want to hear the Maxima engine at 8000+ RPM like I did...makes you want to cry)

I almost forgot...if you are missing the 1-2 shift you need to learn how to drive stick better. No excuse for that.

 

i get it know, we'll have to try that out soon, as far as missing 1 - 2 thats pretty bad i can't say i've ever done that lol

 

So you going to test drive the red one? Let me know how it goes...

 

Of course it has to do with the design of the car, otherwise people wouldn't be missing 4th gear regularly and hitting 2nd, which they do. Learning how to shift in a different manner will prevent this, but had nissan spaced the gears out correctly it wouldn't be an issue in the first place.

I hit 2nd when going for 4th two or three times when I first got the car, it's scary as hell to do it, and I'm sure it would be a quick and dirty way to blow the motor, but I can only think of one person on this board who's had a problem after doing this (besides looking like a dumbass), they actually blew out their clutch.

The way people are describing to shift to 4th is correct, basically with your palm facing the passenger side and thumb facing down. It will feel a bit awkward at first but you will get used to it and it won't be a problem. I shift like that only when banging the gears hard, during normal driving I shift with my hand in the normal position.

 

i called the guy, someone else is going for a test drive at 1, im gonna head by around 2:30 and see if its still there and drive it and what not, if not, i think we should go for the black one, you agree?

 

i get it now, so its pretty common with you guys, i guess i'll try it out today!

 

Yeah it's common, 4th gear is further to the right than I was used to coming from owning a few civics.

 

yeah i noticed that, so does the max have a shift lock going into reverse? when ur in motion i mean, or could you accidentally shift into reverse?

 

i test drove another one and used that backwards hand technique, worked great, thanks guyz!

 

1-2: fingers down, pull straight down.
2-3: fingers up, use palm of hand to push
3-4: fingers toward passenger side, thumb down, pull stright down.
4-5: Do you seriously need to power**** this gear? :P

 

lol, im just talkin about basic shifting at this point, but i got it now after my second test drive in the red maxima, which it looks like im going to get on friday! the 4 shift with the thumb down and fingers pointing towards the passenger is the easiest way to go