Ma><iManiac

I was driving home last night trying to think about all of the mods that I would eventually like to add to my car. Then I realized something... If Nissan had the intention of making an SE Maxima, then why didn't they go all out? It seems like the most basic of mods that most people add are at the very least FTSB and RSB. Why doesn't Nissan automatically install that on their "sports" edition? I mean it wouldn't bring the price of the car up at all, relatively speaking. Does anybody know their thinking behind this? Maybe I'm missing something...

Lloyd

Y2K2Driver

iTrader: (1)

Increasing costs are not a manufacturer's friend and there aren't enough of us, "enthusiasts", for Nissan to justify making a limited production sport model that would cost more. Knowing how things are done around here, my guess is most people would just opt to do there own mods even if Nissan offered them to us.

Ma><iManiac

Yeah, I guess you're right. I just would think that to Nissan a FSTB/RSB wouldn't cost them much of anything, and considering that it's a pretty minor mod, you'd think that most people would just leave that one on there. I mean who doesn't like tighter handling, enthusiast or not?

asu174

iTrader: (11)

My dad.

Young04

i second that. my dad believes that the ride on his buick is smoother than my mother's lexus. his reasoning? floatier equals smoother.

he slows down to 10 mph for every turn he takes, no matter what car he is driving. why would he ever care if a car could do the same turn at 40?

Ma><iManiac

On the same train of thought, why would your dad ever buy a Sports Edition car? I'm talking about people that are in that market. Not American "Luxury" Cars.

2k2kev

how many org members? 16k? There are about 200billion Maximas on the road and 199,999,984,000 are driven by people who never know the difference and don't care to.

So what makes sense to Nissan... sell the car the way it is for the price it's at, or add $100 in parts/cost to every car just to make 0.1% of the people "happier"? ... and not to mention, half the people here (I'm not including myself, even though my FSTB just came UPS today) would somehow come to the conclusion the FSTB/RSB nissan used aren't "as good" and replace them. And if you don't believe me check out the "should I replace my Addco RSB with the new Place/Cattman" posts.... here

Ma><iManiac

That's cool, I believe you. I'm just wondering what made Nissan decide to make a sports edition, yet at the same time only change the suspention enough so that it's a stiffer ride, and that's about it. I guess I was just raised to believe that if you do something, you should do it "right". Not saying I don't like the Max, I'm just saying that Nissan should market the GLE to the people that don't care about DRIVING, and if they make an SE, it should be a true SE, regardless of a price difference. I know that if my SE would have cost $100-200 I still wouldn't have blinked.

Ma><iManiac

That should have said $100-200 more.... Sorry.

2k2kev

I agree with you...they could have done more. But if you check out the old people driving Maximas, for some reason they're all driving auto SEs, not GLE/GXE. It must have something to do with the options.

I think they should have put all the "goodies" in the 6-speed Max and left everyone else to fend for themselves, but that's flame-bait so I'm not saying more than that.

Ma><iManiac

Good point, I totally agree with you.

Blackgums100

what about this so called Nismo, why the hell are they not offering a Nismo'd Max, kinda like Ford does with SVT. I mean they did a good job on the AE cosmetic wise all they need to do is the same and hop it up a little: Say lowered, RSB, FSTB, Intake, exhaust and better rims and tires and they would sell a ton.

Ma><iManiac

I don't know about "weak". The Max is still in a class of it's own as far as I'm concerned. The Max is a freakin sweet car. I just brought this up as a sortof "I wonder why.." sort of thing. I'm by no means complaining.

grey2002_ny

Could you imagine FTSB or RSB made by Nissan. Hopefully it wouldn't start cracking like the Wind Deflectors.

Ma><iManiac

That's stretching it a little far. FTSB or RSB are items that HAVE to be safe. When you have to bring up a cracking wind deflector as a cars flaw, I'd say that's a pretty big compliment to the manufacturer. I mean think of all the parts that AREN'T giving us problems. Like I said, comparing FTSB safety to that of a piece of plastic exposed to the elements is a bit extreme.

simpleMax

I was reading a review of the 2k2 Max, and a marketing person at Nissan was quoted as saying that the Max is marketed to men 40-44 with a household income of over $80K.

It's a freakin' mid-life crisis car! It's not built or marketed to be a car that teen agers mod. It's a nice six cylinder automatic that fits the family but is fun to drive on the way to work.

Now, you kids get off my lawn before I call the cops.

GMAN01SE

FWIW, my wifes 2001 Altima GLE has a FSTB. Go figure.