The thing that interests me the most is if its really as fast as I've always heard. Anyone who has ever driven a 4th gen auto has always told me how incredibly fast the car is, so I figured the 5 spd must be lightning fast plus the claimed 6.6 0-60 time really sticks out in my mind. Reason I'm even asking this is because I saw a post with some people saying the 4th gen auto/5 spd was actually very slow compared to expectations. Some guy wrote that his 89 5 spd feels faster. Normally I would dismiss that but since I've recently driven a 2K SE( No options) for a lengthy period of time, I found that car almost disgusting when it came to performance. So just looking for all kinds of input from current owners.

BTW, the car is a Forest Green 96 SE 5 spd, tan heated leather power seats, moonroof, BOSE double din, Konig Villain 17 inch wheels, spoiler+fogs, tint, aluminum dash/pedals, aftermarket shift ****, performance muffler, 67K miles. I'm pretty sure it has every single option possibly available Its missing a piece of pinstripe on the left fender and has a tiny dent in the center of the hood (almost inside toward the grille). I'm gonna testdrive it real soon, any problem areas to look for?
Oh and the performance differences between 95-96 and 97-99, are the earlier ones really faster cause of less emissions?

BTW, I currently own a 94 GXE so comparisons from people that owned/have driven both are welcome.

 

I've driven both automatic and 5-speed 4Gen Maximas. The 5-speed car is only slightly faster than the automatic.

A manual transmission is not the best choice for someone in a stop-and-go urban driving environment such as New York City. Constant gearshifting is a nuisance and the clutch won't last long.

My own Maxima is a 5-speed and I like it... but I would have made a different choice if I lived where you do.

 

Your right but I've driven stick in the past, sometimes it got a bit annoying but sometimes there's just no substitute. People like my father are not affected by traffic or any other circumstances, its stick 4 life no matter what. Also, for the price I'm gonna pay for this car, I could drive it for at least half a year, see if its a drag and get back a grand more than I payed for it.

 

The price of the car you're looking at sounds good--FULLY loaded and w/ the cold package as well--I'd definitely look into buying it, esp. if you can drive it for 6 mo and still make money on it.

I had a 3rd gen SE before I bought my 4th gen. I can tell you this, although my 3rd gen seemed to have better handling, the 4th gen has a much more refined and more rev-happy engine (and 30 more HP than the 3rd gen GXE to boot).

The 4th gen handling seems a little softer, even when I replaced my whole GLE suspension to the SE suspension (struts, shocks, springs, strut mounts, etc.)--however, if you looked at MT numbers on the 3rd gen and 4th gen models you'll see that the handling of the 4th gen SE through the slalom had an exit speed of about 65 mph (close to the exit slalom speed of the C5 Corvette), whereas the 3rd gen SE had an exit speed of about 62 mph. Thus, while "feeling" softer and having more body lean, the 4th gen SE actually had better track numbers than the 3rd gen SE--on the same track, on the same day, by the same MT drivers.

As for problems w/ the 4th gen, the rear O2 sensor has been ocasssionally giving some people problems. It's about a $130 repair. Everything else is pretty much solid, at least from my experience.

I don't think you'll be disappointed in the 4th gen SE. Let us know how it goes.