I'm thinking to sell my 3rd gen Maxima and get a 5th gen. Do you think I should go for the 2000-01 with the VQ30 or the 02-03? I am thinking about the power aspect. The 00-01 can have the SC kit bolted on, but I don't think there is one for the VQ35 yet. Any opinions? Of course, the 5.5 SE in Silver on Black looks best!

Thanks,
Mrkanda

 

My biased opinion... 3.5.

 

If you want to go FI, then get the VQ30. If you want all motor, get the VQ35. My biased opinion is also the 5.5 gen..lol

 

VERY biased opinion here too, go all motor and get the 5.5 with a 6spd!!!

 

the VQ35DE is an AWESOME engine, and has gobs of low end torque..but if you want a more refined engine, go with the VQ30...

 

I agree with all of the above Mrkanda. If you do go with the VQ30, go for the 2001 Anniversary Edition Maxima SE (aka 'AE'); it has 5hp more than the other 5G VQ30DEs (227hp vs 222hp) and arguably has the nicest appearance/trim pkg of that whole generation IMHO (VQ35DE Maxima inc.). Good luck.

 

Even though the AE has 5 more HP, it's lost with the heavy a$$ wheels that the motor has to turn...I would suggest get a 5 speed SE ( non-AE).

 

i say go with the AE... with the 5sp you can get the SC on it.. however it is only a matter of time before there is one for the 5.5 gen. or get the 5.5 and turbo charge it... i prefer turbos anyway.

if you have the money, get the 5.5 gen and turbo it.

if you dont, get the AE and SC it (or even turbo that one...)

 

how heavy are the wheels? i thought they had the same wheels just with a different finish.

 

me too...ive never heard that they are different....

 

Funny how we all talk about suping up our cars, but i read the rules yesterday and it turned out that we are not allowed to talk about racing. It is like making a nice gun and never getting to fire it...

 

Go with a VQ35 -- and this is coming from an unbiased opinion.

 

How much $ do you have to spend??

 

Well, the 2002 SE 6spd I was looking at is only $15K with 75K miles on it. It looks like it is in awsome shape. I am actually just getting a job in Sales with a local Nissan dealership (near DC) and am doing my own business with direct sales of Legal Insurance (anyone need some, let me know- Automobile defense coverage available), so my cash flow will be a lot better in a couple months. Right now, I am looking to fix my '89 GXE and have fun with it. Ideally I would like to keep the '89, fix and mod it to my liking and then upgrade to the 5.5 gen (Man! I wish they were RWD or better AWD!!!). I would say in about 6 mo. to 1 yr. $ won't be so much of an issue, at least for used cars.

Has anyone here seen the new Infinity M35 or M45!? Holly s#!%! Sexy, powerful, luxgurious, and RWD! I really like the more athletic look of the Maximas (at least 3rd and 5th gens) vs. the new Infinities. It's just too bad Nissan never got it together to bring the R32-34 Skylines over here. They are the REAL thing!

So, to answer your question, $ is not a real issue right now. I will find the car I really want and make the $ to get it. Simple as that. A man has to have goals, ya? It's better than chasing skirts ;-)

-Mrkanda

 

Did you guys see this car yet? If there is any way to get one of these over here, that is what I'll do. Otherwise, I was thinking to Mod my 3rd gen to look like this and perform as high as possible, but a good 5.5 gen sounds more practical. Have a look though! Just don't drool (too much ;-)

(P.S.S. found my DREAM car online. Only thing is its in Australia and there's no chance in hell I can bring it over here until I become a multi-millionaire. Here are some picks though. Enjoy!)

http://private.carsales.com.au/photos/321766.jpg
http://private.carsales.com.au/photos/321767.jpg
http://private.carsales.com.au/photos/321769.jpg
http://private.carsales.com.au/photos/321768.jpg
http://private.carsales.com.au/photos/321770.jpg

 

I'd say if money's not an issue get a G35, or if you can wait, get the new M45. RWD and lots of power, can't beat that. But if you're looking for a 5th gen, get the 2002+, the 3.5 is sweet and they have the HID's.

 

+9,999,999

 

correct me if im wrong, but isnt that just a 4th gen with a perfectly done skyline kit??

 

Automatic?

 

3.0L by far, just wait till your throttle body goes out for a grand total of 1200 bux from the dealer for just the throttle- on a 3.5L. Or engine eats a throttle screw and bents some valve and scores up the cylinder walls, MAF goes out to a total of 500 bux for one, trans starts to act up- 6spd or auto, your HIDs get stolen etc...

That is a ER34 Skyline, not some 4th gen.

 

are you sure thats a skyline???
ive never seen or heard of a 4 door skyline

 

The GT-R isn't the only Skyline that ever existed. There is also the more tame Skyline sold in Japan with four doors. Our G35 sedan and the 4-door Skyline sedan look very similar. The R32, R33, and R34 Skyline GT-Rs that you all think of when you hear "Skyline" are the famous ones that get in all the US magazines.

It's the same with all cars. Sport Compact Car probably won't be doing many articles on the four-door Cobalt sedans, but they will definitely be talking up the supercharged coupe. I doubt that magazines overseas talk much about the V6 Mustang, but they definitely mention the SVT Cobra.

 

We're not allowed to have riced-up threads about "that Civic I totally burned on the way to McDonalds yesterday." Street racing is stupid and illegal, so the moderators here would like us not to encourage it. We are DEFINITELY allowed to talk about legal racing. You can talk about your day at the drag strip or your last autocross event all you want.

 

I'd definitely say go for the 6 spd VQ35. I love my AE, but I bought the car for the looks, not the engine. If I was to have bought it for the engine, I would have got the VQ35.

 

3.5 auto and spray=fun times.

 

There is a Skyline wagon in Japan, called Staega 260RS, its basically a wagon AWD GT-R. There where GT-R 4 doors too, but they are very rare beasts. I for one love the ER34 2.5GT Skyline, 4 doors 280PS RWD with a manual tranny, RB25DET under the hood, its capable of quite alot of power, and it cost less than the V35 (G35 sedan) we get here. "The Monkey" drifts a ER34 with Blitz sponsorship, its quite amazing what that big sedan can do around the course lighting up tires and sliding like its a true sports car. Too bad we get all the ghey cars in US. There is a VQ30DET- which is a turbo VQ from the factory, sold in Japanesse cars like the Gloria, Cima... 280PS stock and RWD also. I for one still vote for the 3.0L, they are in THE fastest Maximas out there, and are known for better fuel economy, reliability, and smoothness.

 

Better fuel economy yes (smaller displacement). Smoothness yes (smaller displacement).

"THE fastest Maximas out there...?"

Grab a handful of stock 3.0L Maximas and run them against a handful of stock 3.5L Maximas. Last time I checked the 3.5s were just a little bit faster (like... almost 1 second faster in the 1/4 mile for the manuals and just about 1 full second faster in the 1/4 mile for the autos). Then run some 3.0L Maximas with common bolt-ons against 3.5L Maximas with the same mods. I haven't been driving a Maxima very long, but I've been around here long enough to see a few timeslips and dyno charts. With equal mods, the 3.5 tends to be a quick car.

Don't get me wrong. I love the 5th gen and the 5.5th gen Maximas. No matter which one you end up getting, you'll be happy with it. I just don't think it's fair to say that the 3.0L is THE fastest Maxima out there.

You might want to refer to this sticky:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=289125

 

he meant it's IN the fastest maxima that the 3.0 ever went into, which is true. of all the 3.0's the 5th gen was the fastest stock

 

IMO I would say go with the 3.0 because it is an extremely smooth engine and the car is DEFINETLY not slow. The only reason I say that is the 02-03 had lots of electrical parts in the engine to break as the 00-01 had more mechanical (e.g throttle body, accelerator, etc) They are great cars my 2000 just hit 100,000 miles yesterday and it runs like a champ. the interior leather on the maximas is excellent in quality (no ripping and minimal cracking) and so are the controls/air vents and buttons. After 100,000 miles the only things wrong with my car are a few small chips in the paint, I need a new MAF sensor and thats it. No other problems with it. It years to come I'd say the VQ30 would proove to be more reliable than the VQ35. I am DEFINETLY not saying that the 3.5 is a bad engine. Not at all, I just think most people prefer less computer controlled devices. Good luck and take your time in choosing (unlike me which i bought the 2nd car I saw and ended up getting good luck with it) P.S as far as power the 3.5 is going to feel more like a sports car because of power advantage...and if you add a SC to your VQ30 is DOES degrade the reliabilty quite a bit. The maxima is STILL the only TRUE 4 door sports car under $30,000!!

 

I don't need to read the stickies, I meant the fastest Maximas out there are 3.0Ls, look at the time slips and see which ones run 11s, 12s, 13s ? Yeah there are some 13 sec NA 3.5Ls, but then again there are some 3.0Ls runing 13s also. Turboed Maximas are in the 11s, and plenty of SCed ones in the 12s. Only 3.5s in the 12s are NOSed ones, and there are plenty of Nosed 3.0Ls in the 12s also. Having owned a few Maximas, been on here for quite some time, and built some sick Nissans in the past and current I have made up my engine choice when I was signing the paper work at a Nissan dealer for my Maxima in June of '01, and the 3.5L was a month away.

 

I have an 01 but get the 3.5 more power. etc..... but I love my 3.0..... If I add a SC then the 3.5 will cry like babies........j/k

 

Because they don't make one for us just yet....

 

VQ35 with a 6-speed.... TURBO!!!!

every ricer and vette in town will say

 

every vette in town, huh?

Damn ricer mentality. Give me a break.I Can turbo my lawnmower and still beat your turbo maxima.

 

In my post, I was talking about the cars when they are stock and when they have common bolt on mods. Forced induction and the addition of nitrous oxide are beyond what most of us ever get around to. I know there are a lot of fast 3.0L Maximas, and I made it clear in my post that if he gets a 3.0L he'll be happy with it. I was just looking at it from a practical point of view. A guy who is out hunting for a used Maxima has more money than a Civic ricer, but he's not necessarily made of money or knowledgeable enough to undertake heavy mods. It all comes down to what he's willing to spend and what he knows how to do, I suppose.

 

I was hunting for a Maxima to modiffy it, stock it aint my kinda ride. I like my ride stiff, cornering better than a 350Z, plenty off room, and able to peg the speedo. You dont buy a Maxima to drive it like a Buick, Camry or Accord. You buy it to redline it every day, and enjoy every mile of it. People who buy Maximas are enthusiastic bout driving their vehicles, people who buy Camrys and Accords don't care that their car runs 18 sec 1/4 miles, and handles worse than a Baptist Church Bus.

 

if you really want a 3.0 save money and get a 4th gen, otherwise, there is nothing better then a 3.5 5th Gen

 

Never liked the 4th gen, sorry. I was going from a 00 Audi S4 that I had (and blew up) to a Maxima, and performance wise the Maxima was faster on the highway than the S4. I could never live with the 4th gen interior/dash layout. Opinions are like azz holes, every one has one.

 

Improving the power output, handling, or any other aspect of the car's performance has nothing to do with racing (street or track). Many of us mod our cars for other reasons:
-make them more pleasurable for daily driving
-because it's enjoyable

Although I plan to auto-x and road course my max, I haven't done ANYTHING to the car specifically because of that. All of my mods (mostly suspension) are for the car's handling on a daily basis when I drive it.

As to the gun analogy...are you saying you only punch it when some ricer is next to you? The pleasure of driving has nothign to do with beating or impressing people...it has everything to do with one's personaly driving experience. You can mod your Max forever...but there's still gonna be the guy out there with a STOCK 911 turbo who can smoke you in a second....just remember that.

oh...and street racing is x 1 million...that's why you can't talk about it

 

Lol. The gun analogy is actually pretty good. Having a modded car is like having a nice, loaded gun. The forum moderators aren't trying to tell you to have a nice car that you can never race. They're saying that you can have a nice car that you should race, just NOT ON THE STREET. That's like having a nice gun that you're allowed to fire at the firing range or on a hunting trip. You're just not supposed to take it out in public and start shooting people on the sidewalk.

I enjoy guns, and I enjoy cars. I just try to be responsible with both.