...with a Camry.

The Max was a pretty good car, just getting up there in miles.

The Camry is kind of boring but very solid and drives surprisingly well. I just have to remember to be humble while sitting at the lights, I really miss the power of the Max.

Anybody know what the Camry equivelent of maxima.org is? I'm looking for some info on buying/installing foglights, compass mirror, etc.

Thanks.

 

http://www.toyotanation.com
http://www.toyotaownersclub.com
http://www.camryworld.com

Good luck with the Camry

 

Coming from a guy who owns borth a 96 MAX GLE and a 98 CAMRY LE.

Yah you will be missing your max very very soon.

Should have gotten a newer max :P

Good luck

 

those things are horrible, I wasted my friends brothers v6 camry with my max stock to stock, it was just for fun. Plus max is alot better looking car.

 

the max is a better investment than the camry

 

Much to the dismay of Maxima owners everywhere on the ORG, the Camry's V6 engine is actually more powerful than the Maxima's. 194hp vs 190hp, and 209tq vs 205tq. On top of that it has a variable intake manifold stock, a higher compression ratio, and there's even dyno evidence to suggest that those ratings are for regular fuel and that it will do more like 200hp/214tq on premium.

Here's a great thread to checkout.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=13519

As for which car is the better investment, lol. The Maxima has never gotten very good resale. In this segment it all goes to the Accord 1st, the Camry 2nd, and everything else after that.

Good luck on the Camry. They're great cars. Which year/trim did you get?

 

unless a Camry is knocking with lower octane fuel, how does premium fuel increase hp? And is the 194/209 engine the new 2004 Camry engine? We're comparing a new engine with one 10 years old in this case, otherwise lets compare a 2004 Maxima with the Camry, or the Altima.

 

Financially - not really. The camry will depreciate much more slowly than any maxima.

Fun to drive factor - this wouldn't really be considered an "investment".

In general, cars are never an "investment" unless you are buying a classic/collectible. Cars always lose value over time... typically you want an investment to appreciate or at least hold its value.

 

With a 10.5:1 compression ratio and two knock sensors, timing would have to be very conservative on 87 octane fuel. With premium in the tank taking care of knock, it could run a lot more timing advance and make more power. Our Highlander has the same 1MZ-FE engine as the Camry (+ VVT-i) and it's noticeably quicker with premium. It also says right in the manual that premium is recommended for best performance. No idea if the 220hp/222tq is on regular or premium, though.

And since this is the 4th gen forum, I'm comparing to the Camry of the same era. He never said which year he got. I'm not sure how relevant comparing a VQ35DE to a 3.0/3.3L Camry would be. Although I've heard rumors than the next gen Avalon will have a 3.5L V6 with 270hp. That would be interesting.

 

Wow, didn't know the Camry v6's had that much power back then. Ok, so could you get them in a 5spd?

So the Camry's ecu advanced timing based on the octane of the fuel being run? What I'm confused about is what a stock Camry is supposed to be running on the fuel it was intended to run on. I mean, no one dyno's a 4th gen Max on 87 octane and then points to the gains he got using 91 octane.

 

Yes. Read that Camry thread I linked. One guy ran a 14.9 stock, and a 14.7 with just an intake in his. But V6/manual Camrys are even more rare than manual Maximas, so they were never produced in very large numbers.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=282593

VeeTec may have "accidentally" dynoed on 87. His numbers were low. He went back on a fresh tank of known-good 93 octane and his numbers were about 7 whp/wtq higher. Looks like his file is down, but I have the dyno saved offline somewhere I think.

Here's a stock 1MZ-FE Camry 5spd on the dyno. 168 fwhp and 189 fwtq.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/stevte...E_5spdDyno.jpg

A 4g Max 5spd will usually dyno around 160 fwhp stock and 175 fwtq. In this case, the Cam has 14 wtq more than the Maxima despite only being rated at 4 lb-ft more. The dyno was done with 93 octane fuel. Unfortunately there aren't many Camry guys around that mod and dyno, so it's tough to know if this is a typical and representative dyno figure for a Camry, or if it's atypical. Hence I say there's dyno evidence that "suggests" a certain conclusion, but does not prove conclusively.

 

Thanks for the links!

BruteMax, I'm not a Camry expert but accoding to the literature the 5th generation (current) 4cyl LE and SE are technically available with a manual 5-speed, good luck finding one. With the 4th generation the 5-speed was only available on the stripped CE model.

Really appreciate you guys sticking up for the Camry's V6... ...unfortunatly I have the 4cyl. Yup, sittin behind 157hp just waiting to unleash the fury! Between the smaller motor and going to an auto tranny you really notice a drop in the fun factor. The Camry gets up and goes pretty good for a 4cyl but It's so smooth and does it so effortlessly that it's no fun... ..."oh look, I'm going 45 down a 25mph road" kind of thing.

The Toyota was a practical decision (I hate those). I'm sick of used cars and the Toyota had what I need at a price I could afford (and 1.9% too). Honestly, even if the new max were in my price range I'd probably pass. I don't like the new ones as well and my '98 had a little too much personality for me to be loyal to Nissan. I think they have some catching up to do. My '89 Sentra on the other hand, was quite possibly the best car in the world.

As far as resale goes the Nissan is still a way better investment than any domestic but Honda and Toyota are about as good as it gets. You want good resale value check out the 99-04 Odyssey of all things.

Overall I'm happy with the Camry but now I need a project car... ...maybe a 300Z.

 

...and, for '05 the V6 Camrys get VVTi 210hp and 220fp.

 

at least you didn't get an accord.
i've driven all 3 and i would take a camry over and accord any day. i just didnt like the accords that i drove. i dont see why people get so excited about them

 

gLok's 4th Gen Camry was a 1999 LE V6 5spd. CE and LE V6 could be had or ordered with the 5spd manual but I'm not sure which years.

http://www.legacytuning.com/camry1.htm

I'm disappointed that Toyota doesn't still offer a V6/manual combo in the Camry. It's not like Toyota doesn't have the money.

Actually it got the 3.0L VVT-i (210hp/222tq) for 2003.5 along with a 5spd automatic. For 2004 the SE V6 is now the 3MZ-FE 3.3L V6 (225hp/240tq) while the LE and XLE V6 models stick with the 1MZ-FE 3.0L V6 (210hp/222tq). Toyota has been busy on the 5th gen Camry.

 

that's easy. Because it's a Honda and it has VTEC

 

yup, I was always under the impression that, as far as mid-90's sedans go, Maximas are the undisputed champs. Guess that rarity makes the 5spd Camry a sleeper among sleepers! I wonder if a Camry, ever, has visited a dyno?

Despite our biitching, there's a surprising amount of engine, electrical and exhaust parts available off the shelf for our beloved 4th gen Maximas. I'd be crying foul sitting in my 5spd Camry. heehee.

As for Honda, yeah everything they do is

but at least the 2004 Accord Couple looks decent.

 

Camry guys at the time could get the factory warrantied TRD supercharger, although I hear they no longer offer it. There's probably a good number of kits available used. I was next to a 1st gen Solara SLE V6 at a light the other day. I wasn't racing, but he took off farking fast and I could have sworn I heard the whine of an S/C under that thing. I'll look out for this guy again in the future.

 

i drove a 4 cyl. (VTEC) accord with a manual trans ('99) and it had a hard time gettting up the on ramp. i thought it was going to start rolling backwards. i drove a v6 one and it had no low end at all, and then smoke started coming out of it so i took it back to the lot.

 

You freakin people get on my nerves with this BS. This is OT.