PHATMAN5050

I visited my local nissan dealership today in hope of sitting in a 2k4 maxima again. My dad and I have been researchin the 2k4 max and the 2k4 murano for him, so I decided to go see them both up close and personal. After speakin with an assosciate of mine at the dealership, i got the keys to both of the cars.

Maxima - Incredible power difference between the 00-01 maximas. Handling is much more stiff but the steering was not to my liking. One thing I did not like at all is the vertical sun window. I call it a window because it cannot be opened. It was my understanding that it opened up, but since it is just glass on the roof, I saw no point at all. Other than that, this car is incredible.

Murano - significantly less power than the Maxima. I was not impressed with that cam thing it has on it, where you do not feel it shift. I love the feel of flooring the pedal, and feeling that push in your seat as it changes gears and the torque throws you back.

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

tell your dad to get an 03.

skandalouz

iTrader: (2)

or that qx45

Galo

a CVT or 'Continuously Variable Transmission'..basically two pulleys with a chain belt between them...as the car speeds up the driving pulley (small in diameter to start with) increases in diameter as the other (the driven) pulley becomes smaller.

Think of it as a continuously variable derailure on a 21-speed bike..you have seven gears in back and three in front...as you engage the larger front gears, you get a lower gearing and so forth.

The first automobile application was by a Dutch company called DAF sometime in the early seventies, now this one -and we'ld better get used to them because they indeed are the auto tranny of the future...much more efficient (not fast, but efficient) than regular trannys, and much more reliable....no clutches, complicated valve bodies, etc...

nismotech

NT2SHBBY

I think u mean FX45...and that truck is bada$$!!!!!!!!!1

definitely wanna trade in the 99 Pathfinder next year for one!

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

thanx for the good reply on the cvt. i knew it was cvt because audi has it already but i didnt know more much about it to give a worthwhile explanation.

PHATMAN5050

Yes, my bad, you are right Galo. All I'm saying is that it did not make that suv fun to drive. Both of the cars are comftorable as hell, I could fall asleep in the driver seat of that maxima, but I would also expect more from the 245 horses on the Murano.

Galo

on the CVT thing...I had forgotten about them!.
Phat...I know how you feel...i drove a Murano as well and still havent decided if I like it or not.

I gotta think that new tranny has to be the main reason why the Murano is so well-rated for mileage...did u see the numbers on the window sticker?? 20 mpg city and 28 on the highway?? Thants gotta be like 20% better than a 4-runner, Acura MDX, etc!

Now, when I drove it it seemed like the maximum RPMs the car would achieve is like 4000...that's way less than peak HP but close to peak torque....I wonder what would happen if one tweaked that tranny to under full throttle, peg at 5k RPMs and stay there....can we say 0-60 in seven seconds??

Hmmnnnnnn......

2001SE

lol, yeah, that cracked me up too hehe

max2k1SE

Wouldn't a CVT try and keep the RPM at a constant number - and the "gears" keep slipping ( so to speak ) to get optimum power there ?

Maybe I'm confused

Young04

you're right. that happened when i test drove the CVT A4. it's a pretty weird feeling...when you go full throttle, it feels like a car that is never shifted into second, except the you're accelerating.

Galo

design RPMs it's programmed to reach and then it just sits there, at that RPM until terminal velocity. Weird thing....

What I meant to say is that it's rather obvious the tranny is 'set' to reach about 4k RPMs -and then it sits at those RPMs, gradually building speed until terminal velocity. And, while 4k RPMs are good for torque, 4k rpms is not where the HP peak it, and that overall rate of accelation would be improved if the tranny would be programmed to reach and maintain 5k instead of 4k -of course on full-throttle starts.

Better now??

Young04

sorry, i didn't misunderstand you, i was addressing the post above. when i drove the audi, i noticed the same thing, except the audi revved closer to the HP peak. perhaps since nissan engines are known for torque, they set rpm of cvt more reflects this, whereas audis have NO torque, and therefore go closer to the HP peak?

4 grand does seems a bit low, even for an SUV. it would be cool to program on the fly from your dashboard...if you're racing, set it to max torque for take off, and then once you're going, shift it to max HP, and you're gone

PHATMAN5050

LoL. This is an SUV we're talkin about here guys, so not many people need a honda-civic-like vtech controller. haha Every murano i've seen had a middle-aged woman driving it, the max and altima are made for the MEN.