I am anti-Honda, moreso anti-Honda drivers. I found out a friend of mine bought a 2003 V6 auto. Have any of you driven the V6? What's your impression? The 6 speed would have been the model to get. Now I should be nice and congratulate him on his nice purchase. Yet I want to teach him and my other friends that Maxima is the way to go. May be I just have to go for a run on the highway.

Performance wise would the 6 speeds of the two cars be close? On paper Accord has less ponies and torque. They say if you run 93 octane the hp bumps up by 10.

 

It's a nice car, congratulate him. And if you race him make sure you don't make a mistake because the cars are matched closely enough that if you do, he may win.
did the honda salesman tell him that? ... and my .org stickers gave me 5hp each

 

I hear if you run Sunoco Ultra 94 you can get an extra 15 ponies....

 

It's true. The 2003 V6 Accord is tuned to run on 87 octane and the ECU will take advantage of the 91+ octane. It's a pretty well known fact that these motors are rated at 240hp with 87 octane. If an 03 Accord can get 15.2@93mph running on 87, then I'd imagine the car would be very closs to 15.0 with the 91+. These are mag times of course. I should note that the mags haven't been able to get any better than low 15s out of the 02+ Maximas and Altimas either SO I'd venture to the say that unless you've got a 6 speed 3.5, I'd be very careful saying you'll outrun an 03 Accord. They might not have the torque or quite the HP, but that extra gear in the tranny makes a big difference, especially from 40-80mph.

BTW, Hondas aren't the only cars that benefit from higher octane fuel. SCC mag added a high (95+) octane to a stock 350Z and gained another 8rwhp or so.


Dave

 

im sure mag times have been in the 14's but its with the 6 speed. which mag has tested a 2k2+ auto? id like to read the article if there is one.

 

I don't know, The new Accord is quick - Motor Trend has a 0-60mpg time of 6.5 seconds - and that is the automatic version of the SEDAN. Now, I know that didn't mention any quarter mile times, but I'd be willing to bet that the 6-speed coupe could outrun a stock maxima.

And what the poster said above is indeed correct, the Accord gains 10hp with use of premium fuel :P

 

Yup, its' true. The new Accord V6 engine (J30A4) will pickup 10HP/10TQ on 91/93 gas. Dyno evidence is more suggestive of about 250HP/222TQ, and a member at www.accordv6.com ran a 15.3 @ 90 on 87 gas, and then a 15.0 @ 93 (w/2.4 60') on premium a few weeks later.

It's not quite a solid 14 second car stock because of the lack of torque getting off the line, but once it's rolling it will pull just as hard as a Maxima/Altima auto. Don't sleep.


The 6spd should be good for 14.5-14.7 @ 97 or so. Possibly better if the driver can pull a better 60' time. Again, lack of torque getting off the line will be a problem.

 

Ya may want to let him break in the accord before he does any hard driving.

 

I drove it the other day. I drove the auto to compare apples to apples. My altima is an auto. The exterior is nice but does not make your heart pound. The interior is fantastic. Lots of room...Much more head room in the back seats than the maxima. Seats ate comphy and nice ..materials and quality was very good. THE STEREO SUCKED ****.

No doubt feel the difference in TQ between that and the Altima. It made great power and acceleration was smooth and linear.

I would recomend this car...except for the radio..Not sure if I would buy it though...87 octane is a big plus. I am sick of feeding the 3.5 top shelf.

 

I didn't notice the Accord having more head room in the rear when I took a friend shopping for cars. We did notice that there was a lot less leg room both side to side, and front to back in the Accord. She also noticed that the Auto V6 Accord hesitated (more than the Maxima) when she stepped on the gas! We both like the Accords quality of materials and all. It was the best of everything we drove.

She also test drove a Toyota Camry, Olds Alero, and of course the Maxima


she ended up buying a 2003 SE Maxima (auto, cloth, TE)

-vq

 

accord v6's are pretty quick. the automatics have nice gearing as well(5spd auto). i dont think a stock 4th gen maxima would stand a chance

 

Yeah, I don't think anyone else thinks a stock 4th Gen would have a chance. Considering the drivers are of equal skill anyway. Actually, the 3.5L 5th Gen Auto's are neck and neck with the new Accord V6 in straight line acceleration.

-vq

 

I was also impressed with the '03 V6 Accords. Very nicely put together, and the drivetrain is smooth as glass. It did have the advantage of the 5 speed automatic, but now that the new '04 Maxima has one as well, I'd say it's pretty mcuh even in that catagory. Gas mileage and use of 87 octane fuel are huge advantages of the '03 Accord, IMHO. Overall performance (handling and acceleration) "should" go to the '04 Max, but time will tell on that one.

 

I don't know if buddy knows how to drive easy. He had so many tickets and a friend of mine said he drove his car and took it to 130mph. Insane I say, just license to speed and make court appearances.

 

Hi Steve, I saw your posts at v6accord.com. Not here is a tough question for you. Now that the 240hp came out, do you prefer the Max or the Accord? 6 sp coupe? I find neither great looking, I like the Mazda 6's look.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by VQMAN
[B]

I didn't notice the Accord having more head room in the rear when I took a friend shopping for cars.

My bro-in-law and I went looking for a carfor him the other day. We sat in the back of the 03 max and my head was very well burried in the headliner. There was a noticable difference. He was surprised.

That kind of steered him away from the 03. Did I mention..I am only 5ft9

 

I'd take a Accord Coupe 6 spd over Mazda 6 any day.

Engine its not that great being SOHC w/VTEC, but its got a good transmission for sure. (Honda Trans)

 

yeah i have seen two so far and they dont look that bad. just wish the back was less round. the 6 is a nice car too tho.

 

I lke the Mazda a lot..looks great. Accord felt much stronger and much nicer on the inside..Much bigger inside too

 

I recently test drove an EX-V6 sedan and liked it. The car felt really refined and the interior was put together very well (if a little bit bland). I do not like the exterior, particularly the rear end, although I admit that the coupe does look a bit better. The Honda V6 was really smooth and quiet but it did not seem that fast to me. After test driving the Honda, I got back in my 98 Maxima SE and it seemed to pull almost as hard (partly because it was a 5-speed).

Anyway, after looking at the competition including the Accord, I traded in my 98 on a 2003 SE. The 3.5L VQ definately has more grunt (partially a product of an extra 0.5L of displacement) but the Honda has the advantage of a steeper 2nd gear due to its 5-speed auto.

Probably a decent race.

 

Should I expect to get a hp increase? I have been using 93 octance for past 2 years now in my 01 max....

 

Hell, teach him a lesson then and show him who's boss!

 

At work I park between 2 identical 03 Silver Accords. Damn, my Max looks even better parked between them.

 

huh???

 

I beg to differ. I'm certain a stock auto V6 Accord wont hit 14s. That said, I'm open to being proven wrong. So if any 7G AV6 owners are trolling this thread, post some timeslips.

 

I still prefer my 99 Maxima.

The 240HP is nice, but it's auto-only in the sedan, inflated prices on the 6spd's (due to rarity), and the engine is still a top-end beast (not much torque). I live in the crowded DC area so I NEED torque. Top-end beast engines are nearly useless around here, IMO.

The coupe looks like an egg, and I'm just not a 2-door guy anyways. And a 99 5spd Max is just as fast through the 1/4 mile as the 240HP automatic is, and actually faster around town.

If Honda released a V6 sedan 6spd then that would be EXTREMELY tempting. Same thing with a 6spd TL-S from Acura. I still want to wait and see the new TL-S, updated WRX, and the Turbo Legacy that's coming out before I make any trades, though.

I like the Mazda 6 also, but not the Ford Duratec engine under the hood. Sigh...

 

Where did you hear that? Do you have a link that tells its coming out?

 

I don't have a juicy link, but it's been in the mags.

Go to www.motortrend.com and go to Future Vehicles.

A turbocharged Forrester is listed for 2004, and the Legacy B4 2.5T with 260-270HP is listed for 2005.

Since the WRX has been so successful here, Subaru sees that there is in fact a market for high performance products here and is now going to bring more. The WRX was sort of a market test I guess. This Legacy looks like the WRX STi engine in a roomier sedan. Could be my next car.

 

Steve's the man!

 

do stock auto maximas get in the 14's?

-vq

 

Yes.

 

the only honda that I have ever been in that had a DECENT radio was the one in my '99 Prelude. I had a 98 accord EX and the radio in that was TERRIBLE....

Alot of my friends have hondas and almost always their first mod is a new stereo and speakers...

 

is that COMPLETELY stock...keeping the spare tire in, and not even a drop in air filter, or better tires?

-vq

 

Honda: Why spend money on a decent stereo if they either a) don't care or b) are just going to change it out anyways.



I'm by NO MEANS an audiophile, but the 6CD changer in my 2001 Accord sucked big time. But I never realized it until I cranked up the Bose in my 99 Max.

 

F23A4 ran a 14.7 @ 93 with a 2.1xx 60' completely stock, impotenza's and all. Even if he had taken out the jack and spare, keeping them on-board wouldn't have slowed him down enough to put him back in the 15's. That's less than a tenth difference - hardly even measureable. And the FSTB, RSB are just for turning, not acceleration in a straight line.

 

YES!! (see sig) The only thing not stock on my 2K2 Max are my strut bars and a rasberry air freshener. NOTE: I don't believe these strut bars contributed to my running upper 14s.

 

where were you? salt flats? sheesh! you had the potenzas on and didn't take off ANY weight? how much do you weigh? I am 250, so that helped take off a tenth of a second...at least.

what temperature was it that day?

that is a damn good run for a 4 speed automatic Maxima.

but is that normal? don't they usually run low 15's like the Accord?

-vq

 

what did you do (what rpm launch) to get a 2.1 60ft?

is the track you were at really sticky?

 

Affortable Turbo 4WD Sedan from Japan, what more can you ask for?

 

The only thing that stopped me from buying a WRX after my Accord was wrecked was the fact that the WRX was just too damned small. A turbo legacy would be just right. I'm willing to tradeoff a little speed for some additional space. I can't wait to see it!