I was looking at the specs of the pathbreaking
VQ30DE engine which first appeared in MY '95
Maxima and noticed that there were minute
adjustments made after either the '95 or '96 model
year. e.g. Intake Cam Height on '95 engines is
43.955-44.145mm, whereas on '96-'99 engines it is
43.940-44.130mm. Main Bearing Clearance on '95 and
'96 engines is 0.035-0.053mm, but on '97-'99
engines it is 0.012-0.030mm. Minor stuff (from
what got publicized and not held back), but one
wonders why they had to make these changes at
all...

Also, with so much software governing functions,
it may be advisable to avoid v1.0, and to let the
software get debugged by the engineers before
plunking down your cash....

 

i heard that the 95 maxima has this special thing in their engine that they took off of the rest which makes it faster than other maxima's but environmentally worst. Something about bringing out more gas or something...i heard someone talk about it on this site, but the 95 maxima is supposed to be the fastest maxima out of the 95-99 (4th generation)....i forgot who told me but i was real happy to hear.....

 

one reason the 95 is the fastest, if i'm not mistaken, is the fact it is the lightest...i don't know by how much though

and granted, not everything can be perfect the first time around, at least nissan got around to making changes for which they felt it was necessary

 

So what you are saying is...you have no idea what you're saying.

Some people think the 95 is the fastest because it has the fewest emissions control devices of all the 4th gens. But this doesnt work out in reality.

To answer your main question, there is no reason to avoid the 95. They are not known to be more problem prone than any other year.

 

i dont think that 95 has more problem prone then any year at least not that i know of

 

I have an early '95 GLE (manufacture date of April '94) and the engine still runs great with 105,000 miles.

The higher lift intake cams would have slightly better performance than the lower lift cams because they would have higher flow. Look at the exhaust cams and see if there is a similar difference as this would also be slightly better performing. The only disadvantage to a higher lift cam is that the valves would tend to float at less RPM than the valves with a lower lift cam if the valvespring rate is the same for both engines. If the spring rate is higher for the earlier engines than this would not be true.

Mainbearing clearance is one variable in the equation when it comes to oilflow in the engine. If the oilpump has the same pressure/volume and if the oil passages are the same in both engines the decrease in clearance at the mains would increase pressure in both the main and cam bearings but would decrease the volume of oil flowing through the mains. It would also increase oil temperature. With only .012"-.030" clearance the pressure would have to be higher to keep the crank from coming into contact with the bearing. This is even more true for boosted or sprayed engines because of the increase in pressure exerted on the crank.

Nissan must have had a reason to change these specs but who can say what the REAL reason is.

 

Confuscious say: "When a company changes a specification in a product, any product, it's usually for a reason."

Vedy intahrrrestingg. . .

All things being equal, I'm very happy w/ my '95, which just crossed the 86k mi mark w/ no major problems. Still pulls like a banshee, er, I mean, a n/a banshee.

 

My car is officially 7 years old today - YAY!!!!!!!!!! - got it with 8 miles on it, and now it has 53K

 

I thought 96 GXE was supposed to be the fastest because it is the lightest, althought I could be mistaken.
Jules

 

my car went through nitemares of problem for like 5 months in a row, but i bought it used, from a small dealership with a woman as the past driver(dont mean to me prejudice, but majority of woman dont appreciate a 5 speed well enuff), it only had 46k miles on it and this was like year and a half ago, she only used it for school so it was a city driven car, which means wear and tear. honestly i used to think it was finding the lowest mileage possible. its not. if its an older car with light mileages, its all city driven which means, more wear on the clutch, brakes, etc. funy thing is after i put the mods i havent had a check engine light in who knows how long, i dont regret buying it at all, just treat it like buying any used car, be suspicious.

 

Congratulations but you make me sick; my 95 SE has 131,000. J/K My car still runs great though. I've only raced it at the track once and got a 15.00 flat. That was 4 weeks ago. To keep this relevant to the topic; I bought my car after careful consideration of many things. I looked at all makes and really didn't think I wanted a Max. I'm glad I bought the Import Car of the Year back then. I am a devoted Nissan fan. Can't wait for Nismo stuff over here, if I only had a newer Nissan.

 

I'm just over 110k with absolutely NO PROBLEMS EVER. The only work I've had to do is routine maintenance, normal wear-and-tear. This is the best car I've ever owned, especially for the price (loaded at $23,500). I think the 95 model started Nissan's trend of not introducing lemons in the first year, unlike the ever persistent VW.

 

Mine's 6 1/2 and it has 37k......can she come to the party?