i'm sure this has been covered before, but i think i missed the thread. why is it that the dynos on several maximas show torque numbers of 220+ up to around 240? this translates to between about 260 and 280 ft lbs. I saw a stock dyno on an Altima come in at 224.3 ft/lbs to the wheels... thats about 265 at the crank right? why such high numbers? maybe Nissan switched their torque and hp measurements... that sounds about right huh?

I remember reading about this a while ago. Someone suggested that Nissan was purposely underating the torque to not have the Maxima sales eat into g35/350 sales that ARE rated at 280 lbs. of torque. Don't know if it's true.

The torque is under-rated.


It's really more like 265 lb-ft @ 3200rpm, which is identical to the Pathfinder. Makes sense since they're pretty much the same engine. But peak horsepower is coming up a tad short. 255 HP is more like 240-245 HP. I'd rather have a bunch of extra torque, though.

thats kinda what i suspected. it wouldnt make sense that there is a 15% loss of hp through the drivetrain, but less of a loss of torque. so i guess their engine is just rated all screwy.... well i'd rather have the extra torque than hp any day. so now why is everyone compaining so much about the 15 hp deal? if we got like 260-265 ft/lbs of torque, well i think that more than compensates for the hp overrating... just my .02 cents

I'll gladly give up another 15 horses if I can have 30 more ft/lbs of torque.

Some people are upset because they bought the Maxima over the Altima ($3k extra or so) purely for the extra 15HP, which doesn't exist. And from looking at dynos, the Altima has the same 265TQ as the Maxima does (put down identical dyno numbers).

In short, there's ZERO performance difference between the two cars. Some people bought the Maxima just for the extra performance and are ticked off. You also get a nicer interior/exterior with the Maxima, but not all people really care about that.

had Nissan accurately advertised the HP, i probably still would have bought the Maxima. if they accurately advertised the torque, I definatly would still have bought my Maxima. regardless of either one though, i bought my Maxima and i'm happy i did so! when the engine can make 240/245 hp and 265 ft/lbs stock, thats a perfectly good engine. i'm perfectly satisfied

bigdo26...

tell me you wouldn't bring your Max to the service dept if Nissan Corporate sent you a letter appologizing for the false specs on your car and will be compensating you (and every other Max owner) with some engine mods that will make up for it..

I'd do it in an instant no matter how happy I am with the car...

SteVTEC... how's that dyno'in going on the engine that they removed?? Does it look like there still might be something like what's mentioned above coming from Nissan in our future?

thanks,
nick

It was never an issue for me. I looked at the performance times for the Max and Altima, moreso than the power ratings, before I bought my Max and didn't think 15 HP was going to make much difference in the times even before reading the Oct. 2002 Car and Driver test of the Max6sp-the only one that was done as far as I know. I figured this since the torque ratings were the same. The performance times(0-60 and 1/4 mile)were the bottom line for me. Even the six sp close ratio doesn't make any difference(except in greater highway mileage)-although I prefer it by far to the Altima's 5 sp. With the prices of both cars being relatively close and the Max having a far superior interior to relax in when I'm not beating up BMWs and Mustang GTs, I have no regrets about buying my Max.

when people ask me how much hp i have i say 245 and i say 260 tq. i wish i had the extra 15 more hp along with the extra torque. oh wait, thats a g35.