REVHIGH

This is the response I got from Nissan regarding the HP discrepancy:

Dear Mr. Rickey,

Thank you for contacting Nissan North America, Inc. and allowing us the
opportunity to be of assistance.

We appreciate your time and concern in contacting us. Nissan's VQ-series
engines has been selected by Ward's Automotive as one of its "Ten Best
Engines" for seven years running. It is an extremely versatile engine used
in numerous Nissan models, including the Altima, Maxima, 350Z, Pathfinder
and all-new Murano. Nissan's horsepower claims are based on factory
dynamometer testing that measures power output at the crank. Dynamometer
testing that measures power at the wheels will result in lower horsepower
numbers due to normal driveline loss and wheel slipage. Regardless, the VQ
engine is tuned specifically for each model application, and horsepower for
each model application varies based upon numerous engineering factors. In
the Maxima and Altima, the most significant differences affecting horsepower
are the vehicles' intake, exhaust and electronic control modules (ECM). Due
to these equipment and tuning differences, Nissan's testing indicates that
the 2002 Altima develops 15 less horsepower than the 2002 Maxima. You may
be interested in looking at the March 2002 issue of Sport Compact Car which
includes results of their independent dyno testing (at the wheels) of the VQ
engine in both the 2002 Altima and 2002 Maxima. You will note that their
testing confirms the difference in horsepower developed by the engine in the
two different applications.

If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail
us.

Sincerely,

Latrice
National Consumer Affairs


Any thoughts other than standard PR???

Y2K2Driver

iTrader: (1)

IIRC, the numbers they got were also higher than anything we see here. They got what one would expect from 255 HP at the wheels. Personally, I felt that that alone was enough to say conclusively that the ones we, the consumers, got are underpowered. They must have given them either a preproduction model or a tuned version. Either way, it does not represent the Maximas we buy. Either its false advertising or gross negligence in manufacturing variations.

BioMaxDDS

iTrader: (1)

I was talking to my friend tonight about this. He asked me what about the weight difference between the 2 cars? as far as I know, maxima weights 90 more lbs than altima (dealer told me). so would this be a factor too?

vito1281

What e-mail address did you send this to? I'd like to write one to them myself, and would like them to explain why non-mag people are not getting the proper WHP numbers, assuming average drivetrain loss.

REVHIGH

Sent the request via Nissan web site, a few days ago.

vito1281

Ok, cool. Now, for the record, what's the avg. wheel hp that most of us are getting? 204-207 (this is for 6sp)? I just want to make sure I tell them the correct #, but don't have time right now to do serious searching.

Thanks guys.

kramerica72

Maybe with performance times. Weight has nothing to do with how much hp is measured on a dyno, especially if is crank figures we are talking about.

02MaximizedVQ

I was surprised they mentioned the SCC article. Something smells alittle fishy...

vito1281

Right, I'm thinking the same thing. Why would they randomly plug a magazine, which just happens to have dyno'd at a very optimistic number???

There's definitely something up with that response, and that's why I'd like to email them as well, and see what they say.

BioMaxDDS

iTrader: (1)

we were thinking maybe cuz the car weight more...therefore when the wheel is spinnin' on dynometer it causes the wheel to spin slower = lower dyno #?

i don't know.....we don't know jack about dynos as u can see

max'n out

Man was his reply exactly what I said it was going to be or what?????????

Nismo87SE

Or maybe its owners that don't properly setup the cars or have them datalogged while on the dyno? For the 99 pre-fix Cobra's SVT had a list of test parameters that had to be met inorder for the dyno to be valid. Another point is lighter wheel usually show more power on the dyno. Also lets assume the VQ35DE's base ignition timing is 15*BTDC +/- *2. With Consult one could bump the timing to the edge of factory specs and run the car on lighter 16in wheels. Those 2 modifications could return 10-15whp to the max. Everyone that dyno's their 2k2+ should have each run datalogged with nissan's CONSULT.

Black VQ

The Altima is a bigger platform, and it actually weighs more than the 5th gen. The difference is only a few pounds, however.

SteVTEC

BioMaxDDS

iTrader: (1)

the GOD has spoken

Jer

iTrader: (2)

It seems that the manual and auto dyno in the same numbers at the wheel. Then again, I've said this before about 02394820394823498123 times.

Y2KMaxGXE-R

iTrader: (4)

You are not claiming that Nissan put false 0-60 times but the output of the engine. With all due respect guys, but I don't think you have a claim there. What you can do is ask them to give you copies of their dynos, and learn on what equipment the testing was made, mileage of both engines, type of gas used, etc. If you want to take this up to the court, you will need to hire an independent tester who would dyno engines with exactly the same mileage, in the same weather conditons, on the same type equipment as Nissan is using. It will be a difficult job to replicate the test, because the Nissan may not fully disclose all details. But only then, if there will be any discrepancies, you got a case. So, it may not be worth your time after all.

I wish there's someone to sue for lost value!!

vqman

shouldn't we just let the Lawyer handle this?

they're blowing smoke, but we already have someone on the case. Leave it to the Professionals.

-vq

Tripower

The reason is more than likely, as a few have infered, that Nissan gave them a "ringer" engine - balanced and blueprinted and tuned for maximum HP/Tq. Now thay can say, "See, SCC verified our numbers".

American car makers were notorious for doing this in the 60's when they sent cars out to magazines for road tests. When "Car and Driver" ran their famous "GTO vs. GTO" article in 1963 comparing a Ferrari GTO and a Pontiac GTO, some suspected that they installed the bigger more powerful 421ci HO engine in place of teh standard 389ci. If you didn't know Pontiacs, you couldn't tell the difference between a 326ci and a 455ci based on outward appearance.

Blackgums100

What a super brown noser.

tbirdrob

I searched the Sport Compact Car website, and I cannot find any articles about the Maxima or Altima.

kevinsean23

Is the Nissan curve on that chart represent the 3.0L tuned in the 2000 and 2001 Maximas?
If so, the Toyota engine looks pretty much matched up...