invaderr

Whats up guys, just this past weekend i went camping to Pensylvania, had a fun time, and got to learn something about my 97 SE. The car was loaded with crap in the trunk and in the back seat with me 140lb, my friend 150lb and my other friend 220lb. There car would seem to pick up speed at a decent paste once on no hill, but as soon as i would start climbing up a not too steap hill at all, the most i would get is 40mph on my speedometer. I would floor it too and the most i would get is 40, kinda felt emberassed infront of my buddies, having a 40 year old dodge pick up honking at me for going so slow. So is it really that 190horses are just simply not enough for this car, or do i need to do some serious maintanence on my baby? What do you guys think?

blizz20oma

iTrader: (1)

What were you carrying in the trunk??? Did you accidentally run over Oprah and threw her carcass in the back out of impulse??

invaderr

Nah bro, i looked at the car with out me in it, -140lb, and it wasnt much lowered at all, there was much more room to go, the trunk was filled with clothes and camping ****, not too heavy, sleeping bags and **** like that

97GLE

Your car has problems unless you forgot to mention you were climbing Pikes Peak. No wait, your car should go faster than 40 even up that but you would be dead.

First off, do you have any "idiot" lights on. If you do use the stickies and decode it then search about your problem and tell us.

If you don't have any lights, do this. Get a buddy with a stop watch and time how long it takes you to go from 0-60. If it takes much more than 8 seconds, get a tune-up then try again. Not very scientific, but it seems effective. Chances are you need a tune up anyway.

And if you seem to be picking up fine remember, the Maxima is a car, not a truck. When its loaded up with stuff, it's gonna feel like it.

invaderr

Nah, dont have no 'idiot' lights on, i dont really know what you mean by that.. but i drove at night and during the day and the car seemed to be doint the same thing. I got a tune up about three weeks ago, also had my idle adjusted in the Nissan Dealership, while i was there they test drove it, said it runs fine and accelerates fine, i remember them saying it because i asked them if i needed to clean my Throttle Control and they said no. Anyway, i guess next time we'll take two cars...

JustTry

He meant the check engine light....

invaderr

No check engine lights, sorry

97GLE

Sorry about that, I always call them idiot lights. My dad always called them that. He's of the "they don't make cars the way the used to" crowd.

Nothing directed at you.

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

Dont worry. It was the 400lbs of friends and gear you were carrying.

Okay, lets assume that you and your max weight 3200 lbs together (this is probably close to correct). This makes your weight to HP ratio 3200 / 190 = 16.9 pounds per HP.

Add 400 lbs opf friends and stuff:
3600 / 190 = 18.9 pounds per HP

That's an increase of 12% so expect all of your perfomance figures to drop at least that much. Even more when going uphill.

A 12% in crease in your normal 7.5 0 - 60 time ends up being 8.4 sec. That'sa big difference.

Dont sweat it, your car isnt that weak, just heavily loaded that day.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Naaa I thnk he's got a problem. Probably a clogged cat. I had 4 big guys with me luggage and all. We went up into Canada, 80 - 100 MPH all the way. Up hills and all.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I would change the feul filter and the air filter. The Maxima VQ has got alot of torque all over the rev band. No way you should be stuck at 40 mph on hills. No way.

DW

deezo

iTrader: (3)

I drove to Oklahoma a couple of years ago with my Max loaded down with luggage and 4 adults climbing the steep inclines in PA and Missouri. 85 all the way with the cruise set.

alexamparo

yeah definetly something wrong i have a warehouse in my trunk (cus of my job) and i occasionally go out with four friends and i'm not going up hill or anything but my car is still fast as hell. and i only feel difference in acceleration not top speed.

alexamparo

i dont wanna scare you but where were your revs doing 40 mph maybe your tranny wasnt shifting. I've had my car loaded pretty heavily with 4 dudes in the car and it still was fast. all i felt a difference in was acceleration not the top speed the car reached. i wasn't going up too many steep hills though but 40mph is ridiculous.

blizz20oma

iTrader: (1)

heh, yea...I don't think your top speed should be held down (at least at 40mph!) in those circumstances. I used to have to load my little 1.8L acura up to the brim for my job (plus the stereo in there) and run around the city, and even that thing made it around OK with 120-something ft/lbs of torque.


Nobody even snickered at the Oprah joke, I guess everyone's a big fan of the show

rmb

Where do you live? Colorado above 10,000 feet?

If not then there's something very wrong.

Last week I had in my car(in CT at sea-level):
Me - 180lbs
Fat Dude #1 - ~250lbs
Fat Dude #2 - ~210lbs
Big Black Dude#3 - 310lbs

The trunk held about 50 pounds of gear.

I've got a 98' 5spd with 80k on the original clutch. No power mods.

Felt a little slower accelerating but really not that bad considering and I definitely had to shift lower on steep hills. But there was no problem cruising at around 75mph going up a veerrryyy steep hill I was attempting to scare them on, and it was still pulling.

-RMB

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Se right? 5-sp? Try downshifting? Even the auto should have kicked down 1-2 gears if you were flooring it.

Anachronism

I drove to Florida a couple months ago with the Wife, two kids and the trunk absoulutly jammed with luggage (back end was seriously sagging) and I never felt like I had any problem accelerating or maintaing speed, even on the hills. Get your car checked out.

invaderr

No my i remember my tranny would shift but the last gear would do it slowly cos the car would be accelerating slowly

FJC

What does his being black have to do with it? Are fat dudes considered white unless denoted as blacks?

Dave B

Seriously, are you going to turn this into some kind of racial argument? I read "Big Black Dude = 310lbs" as implying tall and well built.


Dave

invaderr

C'mon guys, lets not go there, i highly doubt it was meant to be said in any racial way... Lets not get off the subject, im glad all of you's fly like rockets up the hills on your healthy maxima's. The funny thing is, is that when i had my 94 GXE it would do exactly the same thing, it would really hate hills, i think this one hates them too... You guy have any idea what it could be, i did a tune up recently, air filter, fuel filter, platinum spark plugs, also adjusted my idle control...

FJC

Who's arguing? It just seemed a little off...

MaximaMan

Hahahhah it this comment gave me the good laugh!

FJC

Finality

Shouldn't matter too much. A few weeks ago we piled in with a full trunk. Must have been about an extra 1100 pounds in people + stuff in the trunk. Took the hills without any problems. Still accelerated as well (way past 60) thought not as fast as it normally did.

Maxima Velocity

Even with all the weight in your car, 40 MPH has to be caused by something else. My guess would be that you have a clogged catalytic converter or a clogged gas filter. Either of those things would cause your car to perform poorly.

Good luck determining the problem. I hope you don't have too much hard-earned $$. Ernie

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I think RMB got it. You live at what altitude above sea level?? That may be it. NA cars like the Maxima will lose power up there. Something like 40 hp just vanishes into thin air.

Turbo and SC cars can make up for it b/c they're BOV or wastegate will still open at the same pressure, so they will open later, giving the car pretty much the same boost as at sea level. Therefore the same power.

DW