3%

Which corresponds to what my dealership told me when they said only one in three Maximas they sell are manuals. The three percent comes from page 38 of the March 2001 Road & Track where they polled a few makers of "sports sedans" to find out what percentage of their models sold in the US were maunals.

Audi A4 1.8T.........42%
Audi A4 2.8..........30%
Audi A6 2.7T.........12%
BMW 3 Series.........40%
BMW 5 Series.........15%
Lincoln LS V6.........3%
Mercedes-Benz C240...10%
Nissan Maxima.........3%
Saab 9-3.............50%
Saab 9-5.............20%
VW Passat............24%

So on the one hand I think its cool to be considered beside those cars. But then it looks like we as a group are in with all the grandparents and their Lincoln LS's which is kinda sad...I knew that manuals were uncommon for Maxes but 3%?!? Looks like the Audi owners know where its at...S4 for me in a few years maybe. And Saab is high too...buit hey they're still Saabs. :P

 

1 in 3 is 30% not 3%. I find it hard to believe that only 3% of the maximas are 5spds. Maybe 3% was a misprint.

 

I wonder what's the % manual I30 Infiniti sold. Probably 0.03%!

 

thats true, 1 in 3 would mean about 33%, its probably a misprint or something, cause most of the people on this have manuals.

 

I could believe 3%, I don't think this board even makes up 1% of drivers and after all the max is a family car not a sportscar sooo... it does sound low, but I can believe it.

 

Maybe the numbers have something to do with how Nissan implemented the manual on the Maxima. I've spoken to other Maxima owners about how "un-fun" the 5-speed was compared to VW, Audi, BMW and Volvo manual trannies, and they pretty much felt the same way I did. It's why I ended up getting the auto - I just hated the way the manual felt and drove. (and I test drove 3 different cars at 3 dealers)

I sure I'm in the minority, but I prefer a slightly notchy shift and a clutch that's more aggressive. The Max clutch was just a bit too mushy for my taste.

I think most of the Japanese clutches are mushy so that there is less jerkiness for passengers, while the European clutches are very grabby.

I guess the Maxima clutch and shifting can be modded to feel like Euro cars...

 

I thought the I30/Max clutch was mushy too, until I drove a 5 speed Solara. Now that's a mushy clutch!

 

3% may be correct. My dealer has one manual for every 30 automatic Maximas'. When I visit the local VW dealer, about 40% of them are stick.

 

How many Max's are 5sp? The world may never know....

I can agree that the clutch is a bit soft, but the Max was still the nicest car that I found for under $30K. When I can afford it in a few years, I will probably go the Audi route too... But for now, plan on enjoying my Max, because it is still waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than most other cars out there!

 

today, i was searching for a manual tranny for my friend's max. he has an auto and looking for a tranny swap..
i looked at almost every junk yard in the united states(copartfinder.com) and out of 170 maximas found, only 5 of them were manuals...either people driving an auto gets into accidents WAY too often than the manual drivers, or there are just not that many manual tranny maximas out there!

 

You have to look at WHO the consumer is of the car model before you judge the percentages of the tranny selection against each other. Most Saab drivers like the stick and most come in stick. Like VW...AUTO is STILL NOT standard. Audi as well...most people who drive them know their quality with a 5 speed. I don't know about anywhere else, but on the streets of NYC, I see lots more people in Maxima GLE's and GXE's that are either old or older...not MANY young people with Maximas (therefore they choose automatics). Maybe the insurance rates? So I think the people who drive the cars on a WHOLE have to come into consideration for those tallies. Just look at the difference between the Audi A4 2.8 and 1.8T...there's evidence right there. Most "older" people wouldn't opt for the 1.8T because the difference means nothing to them...therefore choose automatic.