I'm considering making the upgrade from 4th to 5th gen. Has anyone made this upgrade, and if so, what are your thoughts?

 

I drove my cousin's 4th gen with Stillen stainless exhaust and pop-charger.

i can honestly say my DE-K is faster.

one thing though - our turning radiuses suck and our cars cannot handle better than 4th gen with equal mods.

 

I went from a 95 to 2002, Love the power increase, ride, all the luxury amenities and looks, but it doesn't seem to be as reliable and the turning circle sucks, but lthe uxury stuff makes up for it!

 

I had a 97 SE, and I missed it. I was forced to leave it behind after a bad accident that totaled the car. Now I have a 5.5 gen, and don't take it for granted like I did the last Max. I would have to choose the 5.5 gen over any 4th gen now after owning both, there's just too many highlights that surpass what I had. I would only have a 4th gen as a daily driver to rack miles or for it's boost abilities if I had to make that choice.

 

I had a 97 SE 5-speed and now have a 00 I30t autotragic. Because of the tranny, the SE was much faster and more fun to drive. The I30 is more luxurious though.

 

I also had a '97 SE (slightly modded). Some idiot without enough insurance - that's Philly for you - totalled me. I now have an '02 GLE, purchased 3 months ago.

1. Everybody is dead-on about the turning radius, it's much wider than the 4th gen. handling is better on the 4th gen. winner: 4th gen
2. fuel consumption is about the same. I got slightly better mileage from my 4th gen, but i like the extra 60 stock hp. winner: 5th gen
3. luxury: 5th gen feels sturdier and better built.

 

I just replaced my 95 with a 2000 and I love it!
Its definatly an upgrade, all of the little things inside the car that could have been designed better, have been, one touch up and down driver window, one touch open & close sunroof, better automatic AC controls, better Bose stereo, better looking shifter console, cruise control on/off button moved to wheel where you can reach it, Auto headlights, 60/40 fold down rear seats, shrimp gumbo, shrimp & potatos... I guess thats it.

Its a much better car. It even looks cooler.

 

I went from my 97' SE to 2002 SE like everyone says the power is awesome the luxury excellent the ride comfortable but the turning radius dam near sucks ***.

 

what kind of turns are you guys needing to do? I mean how often is needing an extra foot or two in a u-turn a problem?

 

totaled my 96 5spd SE

got a 2000 5spd SE, i like it a lot.. in terms of power id say a slight increase

handling, well not fair because i found out after i bought the car that it has springs and struts, also has very nice tires on it, so the handling blows the 4th gen's away

looks, much better

 

went from 97 se to 02 se. so glad i made the decision to sell the 4th gen. the 5.5 out weighs the 4th gen in so many ways. not to mention going from auto to 6 speed!

 

95 - 03.. can you say torque?

 

It's actually 5 more feet to turn - mostly because of the wheel/tire combo.
1997 16" 34.8ft
2000 16" 35.4ft
2000+ 17" 40.0ft

 

I went from a 96 GXE to a 2003 SE 6-Speed.

Things I miss about my 4th gen:
Nice tires
My Custom Stereo
My Custom Suspension
Turning Radius

Things I don't miss about my 4th gen:
All the rattles
The 0-60 time
The color ( stupid beige )
The Automatic


Things I love about my 5.5 gen:
The 6-Speed
The 255HP from the factory
The Luxuries ( one touch everything, leather, heated everything, power everything )
The sound of the car under full acceleration
The colour ( Metalic Grey )
The OE Wheels
OE HIDs ( even though they suck comapred to projectors )
OE Fogs
The Automatic Climate Controls

Things I don't like about my 5.5 gen:
Turning radius
Hood flutter
Road Noise ( I had a s**t load of sound deadening in my 4th gen )

Over all, I love my new Maxima and think it was money well spent. Would I do it again, yes I think so. I love the looks of the 5.5 gen Maximas as well. If you're thinking about making the jump, I say go for it!

 

I went from a 98 SE to a 5.5 gen 03. And basically I stand with infiniteecho on everything. And yes it was def. money well spent. I would do it again also, even with my cars 93k, it runs like new. Go for it!

 

I went from a 95 SE to an 02 SE. I like everything about the 02 except a couple things. Not sure if others have this problem, but I always manage to hit the center console with my elbow while shifting so it pops up. It's very annoying. I don't like the feel of the shifter. Feels very notchy. I also don't like the drive by wire. There's a slight delay in acceleration. In the 95, I liked how while I was in 5th gear on the highway, it still had enough power to pass with ease. Can't say the same while in 6th. I would need to downshift to atleast 5th to get the same passing power. All the pluses were already mentioned so I won't mention those, but overall, a very nice car for the money.

 

95 GLE-01 SE

Fit and finish seems better on the 01 plus I like the interior design better.

 

96 to an 03. The torque is amazing in the 03. There are so many improvements on the 5.5gen. There are also a bunch of stuff I don't care for. The turning radius- **** poor. I hate parking in a tight lot or U-turns. Mine is white and the paint is chipping away so badly. The metal under the foam that goes around the door frame is rusting badly. No idea how that started. Those are just the things that bug me. With the exception of the rust, had I known all this before I got the car, I still would have bought it.

 

I had 98 SE and now have 03 GLE.
Do lots of driving daily and I can also say that paint sux on 5.5 gens. It probably looks on the same level as my 98 did.
Radius does suck but you just have to get used to it.
After putting aftermarket suspension in, I wasn't impressed with handling. About the same as 4th gen, if not worse.
On my opinion, 4th gen brakes are much better.
Overall, I would stay with 5.5 gen because of power and newer looks.

 

The only reason the turning radius sucks is because of our wide tires. My uncle's 03 GLE was able to make U-turns easily -- but my SE can't make them for sh*t. Having said that, the guys claiming the 4th gens handle better are on some bad crack. 4th gens are absurdly floaty and sloppy. The 5th gen SE stock is quite a bit tighter than a 4th gen stock.

 

Wide tires? My 4th gen with 235's and my friends 95 with 245's up front have a much tighter turning radius than comparable 5th gens.
Purely subjective.

 

99SEL 5spd to 01 AE 5spd, opinions... more power, more weight, more heads turning, more space needed to make a u-wey, more room, and a higher car note. Boy i love maximas!

 

How is handling purely subjective? If a car rolls less...then it rolls less. No opinions about it. I've driven my cousin's 4th gen SE a number of times back when my 01 was also stock -- and the differences were quite noticeable.

 

Data > driving impressions. There's no proof that either car handles better than the other so we can leave "how it feels" out of it.

Edit: I seem to have found something

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...nsmission.html

 

Well it aint proof but its strong evidence. The 5th gen owns the 4th gen in chassis ridgidity, and after putting my SFCS on I can tell you a ridgid chassis does make your car handle better.

But the 4th gen is lighter. I would say the 5th gens are prob a little better on a track, and 4th gens are prob a little better in an Auto X type enviroment.

 

well 98 se auto and 98 se 5spd to 02 se auto. the 02 is definately faster then both, i like the interior design more, exterior looks about the same

Pros:
-hid's
-power and torque
-interior design
-how the 02's tires fill the wheel well and looks a lot lower then my 98
-the exhaust note when modded

Cons:
-turning radius sucks ***** and yes it gets annoying when a simple u turn on a 2 way street turns into a 2-3 point turn
-torque steer-probably one of the worst in any of the stock fwd cars ive been in (tl, 6th gen maxima)
-dash in my SE is dull as hell, needed to come with bright LED's from the factory
-how you cant go from neutral to park without having your foot on the brake
-i wished the steering wheel controls were illuminated


most of the cons are just little things, other then that i LOVE the car, still my 5spd is more fun to drive. but a 5.5 gen 6spd would be even more fun!

 

my 2000 just seems like a better quality car. The 95 felt "cheaper" more like a sport compact car. Although both are(were) great cars.

 

Since we all b!tch about the turning radius, has anyone ever thought to do the 'fix'?

 

If someone has done this and posted about it, I would deff be interested in seeing the post

 

You have search, use it.

 

blah blah....

 

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