Wow, what a rush...
Finally found a highway, time & place to run like a bandit. 12AM on US-15 somewhere in Pennsylvania.
Going around 80MPH in 5th gear, I decided to cancel the cruise control and punch it. Up around 125MPH, it didn't seem to want to go any further, despite the fact that the accelerator was plastered to the floor. Damn I wish I had some OBD-II logs of that.

So now the question--Is this good? bad? average? Should I be looking into potential performance problems in my car, or is it running like a champ?
FYI, I got Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 235/45ZR17 93Y tires on there right now, set to 36psi/34psi front/rear cold-inflation pressures.

I tell ya what though, doing a hard brake from 115MPH to 80... 5 minutes later, pulling onto another highway, the brakes were still a little faded... that was interesting (plus my damn rotors need resurfacing, which they have for quite a number of weeks now... argh)

 

I dont even know what to say, 125 for a 5spd is kinda weak. Whats the elevation there? Ive pulled 130 in my auto be4 (it was a long time ago ) 5spd should be able to hit 140 w/o a problem but still is rediculous going that fast.

 

Supposedly the top speed is suppose to be around 150 drag limited. Iunno, did you try the "search" feature?

 

125 mph is ok but you could do little better. I think you could go little more than 130mph.

 

I didn't really try to go above 125, so maybe it could have done it... but it was becoming much much harder to do so at that point.

 

Did u downshift into 4th, or did u just floor it in 5th. If u didn't downshift, that's your problem. Not enough power in that high gear to overcome wind resistance.
I raced a bmw 740il on Monday and hit 140mph in my car. I think she would've went higher because she was still pulling up to that point but i let off because i had proved to the 740 guy not to try to **** all over maximas (he got owned by 4th gear)

 

I hit 155 on my 2K 5 spd. Dave Warner hit over 150 on his 4th gen

 

yep 4th gear pulls at hwy speeds. I run my 4th to about 120mph. I did a run on I-70 to Frederick once and did 135..was afraid to go any faster.

 

Redline in 4th gear should be about 140. Go that route first. Then shift.

 

Hmm, cool. One thing I considered though, is the RPM I had trouble with... a tad over 5K RPM. I'm starting to consider the VIAS here... wonder if the VIAS isn't opening right up there... actually I've been suspecting this for a while, just haven't done any experiments/etc to verify it. I'm just not hearing that "VTEC-like" sound everyone mentions when the VIAS opens up. Odd thing is, the rod does move when you rev it in neutral with no load, and I've manually actuated it using a vacuum pump and given it a test drive, and the car did drive differently... I need to do some more testing on it.

My ultimate hypothesis here is that the VIAS works fine, except the check valve for the vacuum tank is stuck open, thus making the VIAS open fine under no load, but on the highway at WOT... the vacuum isn't sufficient to hold open the power valve.
But anyway, I'll spare you the scientific talk until I've checked this avenue out

 

I love I-70, going west after Frederick. It's almost straight as an arrow and lightly traveled. At least 4 years ago when i lived in Gaithersburg. When i had my celica GT-S i hit 155mph there and got scared and let off. My kumhos were screaming. That car is governed in 6th at 120mph, but 5th goes to 130mph (weird i know). Usually it would slow down once u shift into 6th, but this once the limiter i guess was sleeping and she kept going.
Perfect place to test top speed.

 

US-15 going south from Dillsburg is where I did all this... it was wiiiide open
Some hills, some long/light curves, no cops, barely anybody out there at 12:45AM

 

Wow, just read up from the Physics of Racing link in the www.maxima.org Links section. You're right, going at it from 5th gear was definitely not the way to go

 

You must not have been driving your max properly. I've dun a buck forty five on mine before. Mind you, mine is stock, havent done any mods to it. I'm still saving up for the perfect mod.

 

I hit 140 on the highway in my 2002 maxima Gle