My friend just picked up a loaded 03' SE auto with 12k miles on it and he swears that his car feels slower than my Base auto 02' SE(no sunroof,no passenger powerseat, Nav,leather,etc.). We swapped cars and to be honest with you all ,his car felt slightly less responsive than my base SE. I thought maybe he was sick in the head , but his car actually felt a tad slower but it felt like it rode better and was a tad smoother than mine(maybe the extra weight). We ran them both against each other and my car edged him out by a car length. We even switched cars (me driving his and him driving mine) and with him driving mine he still edged me out by a car length with me driving his car.

A car length is nothing to sneeze about ,but non the less it is very puzziling.

Any numbers on non loaded SE, vs loaded SE's? Stock config only.

how much weight difference?

'feel' is no way of telling which is faster. My car 'feels' like a rocket compared to my friend's SLK320 but our times at the track were 0.01 seconds off...but both of us agree my car 'feels' much faster even though I only won by a few feet in the 1/4m.

There is a weight difference, but I can't imagine it would be very significant. He may have minimal engine issues to account for the slight loss of power.

I assume you're both running on 91/93 octane.

the weight cant be that diffirent. maybe 10 pounds total. throw a brick in your trunk and try it again. if you have the same results he has some engine problems he needs to take care of (spark plugs, etc)

No two cars are the same.

Back in the day I had a friend with a BONE STOCK Mustang LX 5.0 who ran low 13s all day. Those cars on average ran a low 14 so I agree that no two cars are the same.

I agree

I asked him the same thing, wether or not he put 93 gas in his Max.
He said he did. Does anybody have actual stats on weights of both vehicles?

I also agree that every car is diffrent.Strange though...

You will not find accurate weights unless you take both cars somewhere and do it yourself.

How much of an effect would a difference in gas octane be in performance? Say the difference between 89 grade and 93 grade?

or maybe...
when he first got the 2k2 max...he thought it was fast....then he got used to it and now maybe he thinks it feels slow now...
I know when i first got my max... iwas like holy **** this car is fast...and now i am like umm...wheres the power

The car is basically new, no extra stuff in the trunk , his car is basically a loaded SE. Mine is a semi loaded SE. I am sure there has to be some weight issues at play though? Could tires have an effect on acceleration? He has the potenza XXXX and i have perrelli's wrapped all the way around.

Maybe like most of you are saying, no one car is alike coming off that assembly line from the same manufacture ....

yes but did he (or the previous owner) break it in properly?

makes you wonder why the previous owner sold it... (thought about that with my car myself... though the previous owner probably got ****ed from the warped brakes and the malfunctioning moonroof which I fixed with a simple power-cycle of the battery)

ya too many other factors are involved. weight reductions alone do decrease 1/4 times. if you take your passenger and rear seats out, your car will be quicker due to weight reduction. but another car runs differently, and can't be compared directly by weights

take a shyt and you'll be lightr and fastr

We all know the 3.5's are very inconsistent from the 350 to the Altima to the G35 from the factory, so I am not suprised at all. Some of the ones I have driven feel strong others on the low side and some mid, but most are strong. He also might need to do the ECU reset since it has 12,000 miles and whomever had it before him might not have been an aggressive driver so it has adapted that style,also look into the ECU reprogramming/MAF deal that might help it also if it hasnt had that done

Well since no one else seemed to answer your question with sheer numbers, let me be the first to give it to you.

A base 02/03 Maxima GXE weighs 3233 lbs
The SE (auto) weighs in at 3274
The GLE weighs in at 3289

As you know the GLE is loaded. So you can see the difference between the stripped GXE and the completely loaded GLE is 56 pounds.

The difference between the SE and the GLE is a mere 15 pounds.

I'm not sure if these weights for the SE are loaded, but I'd estimate they are an average. Since an SE can have every option on it that the GLE comes with I'd guess with every option on the SE it would weigh identical with the GLE (give or take a pound or two).

Keep in mind the GXE comes with lighter 16 inch wheels, no fog lights, etc etc.

So, again, the difference between the entry SE and a loaded one might be 20 pounds at best.
Not enough to make any difference noticable power.

My guess is, what everyone else has concluded is, his car might not have been broken in as well, might not have had proper oil changes, you could be using a better (lighter weight) synthetic oil to his heavier weight oil. The gas you use might be a bit better than the station he filled up at.
You said your tires are different. That alone could make a difference in traction and launching ability.

Add it all up (including his extra 20 pounds) and you could easily have your car length advantage.

Thanks again for the weight specs. I knew the GLE wasn't that much heavier than the SE. So his ride wasn't going to be so much heavier than my car . Also you are right,i am using 5w-30 Amsoil , he still has whatever is in his ride when he brought it. I'll break the news to him , he was getting down over the matter, he's **** like that!

To answer the question of 89 vs. 93 the difference would be a few percent at most, but there will be one. The car asks for 91, so anything above that is a waste of money, but I find it difficult to get 91 locally so I just buy 93.

Some people put 89 in the max and use its knock sensors to keep them going, but I don't get that. If you're gonna cheap it might as well put in 87 and save even more money (there is a small loss of MPG as you decrease octane though). I would hate running my car on 87 or 89 though knowing that i"m not giving it the juice it needs!

You should do what I used to do when I wasn't in a hurry.
Back in the day when California had 93 octane (why or why did it have to go?)
I used to swipe my credit card and put in 1/2 tank of 93, then end that transaction. Swipe the card again and then put in 1/2 tank of 89 octane. This way you get your 91 octane for everyday driving and you also "save a buck" or so at every fill up.

We now get only 91 octane (but of course still get charged the same as we did for 93 octane, about .20 cents above what regular costs) Those damn oil people, wanting to make more and more money and claiming it's for cleaner air....whatever. That excuse is as good as the one Subaru used for not putting a stereo in the STi!