Hello everyone,

I just have a few questions. How much better does the 2002 perform compared to the 2001. How much better is te 3.5l engine vs the 3.0l engine? If I don't get the car with tons of options installed(this will be used and finding one around my area with low mileage with a decent price and good options is hard)will i be able to install them later? Any other advice you can give me on maximas in general or on differences between the 2001 and 2002 would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

EVERBODY will tell you the same thing. The 3.5 is the way to go. Too bad I don't have one.

 

muhuhahahaha.....

unless you wanna go S/C or Turbo.....

 

get the 2002!

 

Well, they have the turbo for the 3.5 too if you want that.

 

You live in NJ so whether you get a 2002 with HIDs or a 2001 and buy them separately to make it 'loaded', you might need to consider how safe the area you live in is. That's the only reason why I didn't want a 2k2, I don't feel like loosing sleep over my HIDs. I was wondering too if there's a big difference between the 2k1 and 2k2 perfornance-wise as far as everyday driving (not talking about 0-60 and 1/4mi times..)

 

I just bought a '02 SE. I live in a safe neighborhood so I'm ok with the HIDs(i dont even know what HID stands for but I think I know what they are)

 

HID = high intensity discharge headlights

 

02..better motor, HIDs, WAY better interior..just a better car

 

Is there a difference in the tranny ('01 & 'o2)? or they both have the same transmission...?? If there is a difference, which is better?

 

01 and 02 both offerd a 4 spd auto, but 01 had a 5 spd manual and 02 had a 6 speed manual. The 6 speed would probably be better.

 

I'd still pick a 2001 with leather, Bose and auto climate control over a base 2002 with cloth seats and none of the rest.

And what do you mean by better motor? Better engine? The VQ30 is the one that has won best V6 in its class for 9 years in a row, not the VQ35. 'Faster' would be another undisputably more appropriate definition.

 

Get the 2002, but only if you get it loaded. At least make sure you get a spoiler and leather.

 

5spd is better, there really is no performance gains from switching to a 6spd. When 6th is mega tall over drive. I hate the shifter cable shifter, it doesn't have the feel of my rod actuated shifter. Everyone here is going to tell ya go get a 3.5L, I reather turbo my 3.0L and keep my car runing for another 100K miles. I don't see many high mileage- 100K + 3.5Ls on the forum. Alot of em have tranny failures.

 

I've owned a 98 Maxima with quite a few mods It was a nice car but now im looking for a 2002 Maxima Se Automatic the 3.5 Is a very strong motor.

 

All The 3.0 Owners Will Agree Go With The 02 The 3.5 Is A Beast Compared To The 3.0 Especially If You Get The Stroker Kit And Build That Motor.

 

Before I purchased my 03 (used from the dealer) I drove the 01 and the 03. Even in everyday driving I noticed the difference in quickness. After driving the 03, the 01 felt as if it only had 5 cylinders.

As to a previous statement about very few 3.5's with over 100K miles, the statement (not the stator) is kind of silly.... how many years has the 3.5 been out on the road??

I expect to get 200K on each of my Maximas.

Mr. P

 

2002-03


done

 

Well, it depends on your budget too. It's very easy to say 3.5 is better. In my area it's not impossibly hard to find a deal on a 02, but that's not the case elsewhere. Let's say for $5k less one could settle for the 5-cylinder slow@$$ 2001. In fact the 2001 is so slow it's slower than a 2.5L 4-cyl. Altima..... j/k But my point is that if you ask a 6genner, they'll tell you the same about the '04 vs. the '03

Congrats on your new 02 SE, hope you enjoy it and that the HID theft contagion hasn't spread to your area

 

5-cylinder... :P

Let's get one thing straight, though. A 5spd 00/01 runs high 6s 0-60. A 6spd 02/03 runs about .3 quicker than what a 5spd runs. Throw a new set of tires performance tires (or just lightweight rims) on the 5spd and you'll be hanging with 6spds easily.

 

6spds run 6 to very low 6's not Mid 6's and they trap much higher in the 1/4 than the old 3.0 5spd and get to 100 a few secs quicker. Now in auto vs auto version the old 3.0 has no chance stock for stock,this is where the major difference in performance is between the 3.5 and 3.0. Mid to high 14's stock vs high 15's to low 16's stock.

 

Yeah, you're actually right. Still, the point of my post is valid:

5spd Max: 6.6 - 6.8 seconds
6spd Max: 6.1.-6.3 seconds

 

A 3.0 auto stock runs mid to high 15s. Low 16s it would reach if running in 90F, 90% humidity weather with full tank and bad traction, or any combination of the above.

I agree with you, the bigger difference is between the autos, not the manuals. But sometimes things get so distorted that because of a set of HIDs and +23hp it almost turns out that the 3.5 vs the 3.0 is like a Viper vs a Neon. And a lot of people haven't even stepped foot in a 3.0 to know the difference. I'm not attacking the 3.5, quite the opposite. But it's just the same ol' already not even latest generation Maxima, no need to rub it in that you have an extra 0.5L. Let's just all be friends and leave the megalomania aside.

 

Just figure out your pros and cons to the 01 and the 02 and see what best fits your needs the most. more Power is in the 02 but if the features are less in the 2002 then the 2001 then go with the 2001 because you can mod the 2001 to become just as quick as the 2002 but atleast you will have the benefit of the features it contains

 

hmm...something about a black 00-01 GLE with the 5spokes that I like better than any other model. I'd go with the 3.5L though if you want more power, but the 3.0L is a much smoother running engine throughout the rev range. If you modify a 3.0 to be as quick as a stock 3.5, the 3.0 developes a nasty, raspy character with a Y-pipe.

 

If you modify a 3.0 to be as quick as a stock 3.5 though it will be much noisier, gah..

The guy who originally started the thread (ledribaen I think) posted a long time ago that he already bought a 02....

What is it exactly that you like about the 5-spokers? I so hate them, I want to get rid of them and get the '02 17".

 

Nobody has 100K on an 2002 because it's only 3 years old. It's not impossible but if you're putting over 30K on a year, chances are, you really aren't beating on it. A steady 80 on the highway isn't really taxing the motor.

 

My 2k2 has been flawless..almost 50k miles...still on my stock tires even!

You just have to decide if a little extra $$$ is worth a few little extras like HID's...3.5...interior changes, etc. Condition to me is very important and previous owner.

arff

 

I agree but to be fickle the interior had alot of changes as well, as far as the power goes the main difference would be the torque esepcially since 02/03 were underatted in that area as dynos show (about 260 something vs the 246 claimed by Nissan). We should all get along your right bro I really enjoyed my 01 SE before it was totalled!

 

Your right for the 0-60 but as speed progresses say up to 100/110 or so the 3.5 is there a few seconds sooner than the 3.0. For instance I never mag race but in this case I will:

C/D for the 00 SE 5spd to 100 it took 19.5 Secs. June,1999 1/4 speed was 91
C/D for the 02 SE 6spd to 100 it took 15.7 Secs Oct, 2002 1/4 speed was 97
(6 mph difference in 1/4 speed is alot.)

So nearly 4 secs difference to 100 which is alot, the 3.5 really pulls away at highway speeds stock for stock.

 

Wow I didn't know about the torque.. anyway yes, the 3.5 looks way better inside, the steering wheel and the auto shifter/manual **** on the 3.0 are not up to par..

Performance-wise.. here's what I got from the 1/4 mi stock time forum:
00-01 5th gen
5 speed: 14.9@93mph
auto: 15.8@89mph

02-03 5th gen
6 speed: 14.6@95mph
auto: 14.8@93mph


Sorry to hear about your 01... see I was 1 month and $1900 away from buying a beautiful blue 02 SE, but alas it didn't happen

Oh... and just FYI because you called me bro, I'm one of the few maxima chicks on the .org

 

It's definitely not 15.7 for the 3.5. I've only read that number once and it was from C&D (yet another grossly low number from C&D). The 3.5 Maxima's 0-100 is closer to 18. I've seen it on multiple sources. I'll go search.

 

http://nissan.jbcarpages.com/Maxima/2002/index4.php

There's one, scroll down.

 

I dont know man, it seems most of the 6 speeds get mid 14s 1/4 mile trapping between 95-97 mph and it would be weird if it took 3.5 seconds to go the rest of the way to 100mph..

 

Its all good bro but I have seen 21sec for the 01 manual to 100 as well ( so we are deadlocked), that 15 or so is on par with 3.5 manual Altimas and G35 Sedans tested to 100. Heck the 350 manual got to 100 in 13.9 according to C/D as well. BTW we know that wasnt a good test many of us stock 02/03 auto are running 14.6-14.8 and they got 14.9 with manual.

 

Yes the 02 auto times are on par I am one of the quicker stock ones here with times a tad faster than that, and I'm sorry for calling you bro its just a bad habit wont happen again. I had just paid my 01 off and I was happy as Hel* them wam this 76 year old man tore it up in front of my house. I usually park around back but went home to eat lunch, I was ****ed about having a car payment again as much as I love my 03.

 

Yeah, I was looking at your trap time and I still find it hard to believe

Well, the 6spd '04 has a 0-100 of 16.45s, so we know for sure it's not a 15.7 but it's not as slow as 18 either...

 

http://motortrend.com/roadtests/seda...an/index1.html

Motor Trend's 1/4 trap with the 3.0 was much higher than C&Ds', meaning that their 0-100 would've been much quicker too.

 

I need to take my car out to a track and see what it can run. I'm very confident I can do a flat 7 -- I've ran against other cars in the high-6/low 7 second range and won.

 

How do you calculate it? I think you're supposed to plot your times off the timeslip on an excel graph. Then again, it's the 1/4 what counts..

My car runs pretty well for stock, I'm going to take it to the track again when it gets cooler outside. I want to try to manually shift, even though I don't believe it will help me any.