I just bought a 2003 SE...Whats the benefits of it being a 4 speed automatic? I've been wondering why it hasnt shifted passed a 4th gear lol...I've just never heard of a 4-speed auto before till now...Comeing from a 98 5-speed manual this seems very strange to me...

 

Most automatics were 2 and 3 speeds when they first came out. There were some 4 speed automatics in the 50s but they didn't become popular until the 80s.

No idea why Nissan decided to continue with the 4 speed automatic in the Maxima when they upgraded the engine to the VQ35 even though they did use a 5 speed automatic in the Altima.

Only real benefit...well, really can't think of any since I had a 5.5 gen with the 4AT and now I have one with a 6MT.

 

The benefit is that those folks who like to be lazy don't have to go through the labor of shifting through gears themselves. That's about it.

 

Damn that sucks...It feel wierd driving. I used to get like 350-375 miles on a full tank on my 98 5-speed manual...i filled up the 03 max for the first time friday..and have a bit more than 1/4 tank left...and drove only 170 miles...that sounds horrible that i'm only going to get like 250 miles if that on a full tank....

 

if youre into quarter mile racing auto is better because you can manually shift without releasing throttle+pressing in the clutch, you can just floor it and manually shift

4spd auto+overdrive is similar to a 5spd in the way that 5th is the overdrive gear on a 5spd

 

none

 

Somethings wrong then bc that means ur getting like 14 mpg.

 

yeah dude, 12-16 mpg's you're getting haha.. take an easy on the gas petal.. it's a 3.5 so speed gradually

 

i was getting 285 prior to my tune :/

two fill ups in and im sitting at 335 a tank so far

 

It's just too bad the drivetrain hp/tq loss more than negates that extra tenth or two by auto shifting. LOL

 

I use to drive my maxima pretty hard, getting around 12-13 mpg.
Now I drive like a grandma since gas prices went up....21 mpg city.

 

What are the best things you can do to get better gas mileage other than driving like a grandpa? I mean, as far as mechanically? Any parts that can be changed which directly effect fuel consumption? I have 65k miles on the car...

 

If you drive your car hard, your mileage won't be good. Simple as that. Take it relatively easy, save the hard acceleration for on-ramps and you should get 19-22 in the city.

 

I totally agree. I'm not a hard drive and do take it easy...It's not worth it considering gas prices..I drive no more than 65mph if that at all times...I was just curious since I just bought this car, if there were things that needed to be changed (updated/upgraded) to better my gas mileage considering the car is 8 years old.

 

mine is almost 10 years old with 96k no tune up yet. i still get 22mpg city. used to get 24 2 years ago. check your tire pressure, liquids, tight gas cap. if you do not use synthetic engine oil then use it. change your trans fluid. that helps.

 

The only answer I can come up with for my Maxima's discrepancy with others' reported fuel economies is: You all have strange definitions of city mileage! I get a MAXIMUM 20 mpg 70% city/30% highway, but my record low was 16 in pure city conditions. I'm talking, commute to work was ~10 minutes of traffic-light after traffic-light, maximum posted speed limit 45. 1->2->3->4 coast, clutch-in, N, stop, rinse, wash, repeat. I'd hit 5th if I was lucky and 6th if I was on a serious roll. I'm talking, super-easy acceleration, maybe flooring it once a week, and my fuel economy ranged from 19-20.5, consistently, for a year. 245/45s at 40 PSI, 225/50s at 36 PSI... No difference. New air-filter, new engine-oil, new gear-oil... No difference. Seafoam in gas, Seafoam in intake, MAF cleaning, MAF SWAP... No difference.

Changed jobs, now I commute ~40 miles a day and get 24 (!) pure highway with a little stop-'n-go rush-hour action.

Anywho, rip out your 4-speed and drop in a new 6-speed automatic. Huge fuel economy gains come with them. My wife's crap-tastic '07 Camry with a 5-speed has a EPA estimate of 30 mpg highway (observed fuel economy is pretty much the same), when the '11 Camrys with the same body, weight, and 4-banger gets 2 more mpg in both city and highway with a 6-speed auto.

 

Air filter, synthetic oil, check tire pressure, clean MAF, injector cleaner

 

I love driving a manual transmission, but my commute sucks. 1 hour of stop-n-go traffic is no fun with a manual transmission.

 

comfortably eat my cheeseburger

 

Quick question.. How much does it cost to swap my auto tranny for a 5sp?

 

it depends on what you're looking for. i've been thinking about doing the same thing, but it all comes down to the price of the transmission itself along with the stuff needed to transform your car into a lean, mean, power shifting machine lol

 

Well its a good thing that they didn't because the 6th gen guys are having tons of issues with that 5spd auto, tons of threads about tranny issues and failures with that tranny in the 6th gen forums!
http://forums.maxima.org/6th-generat...-problems.html
http://forums.maxima.org/6th-generat...ssion-fix.html
http://forums.maxima.org/6th-generat...rticipate.html

and many more thread!

 

Yeah.. I have seen Used transmissions go for 200-300 but all the other "stuff" is what scares me.. But I would LOVE a manual tranny

 

We have valve body issues with our 4AT as well, thats why so many have the soft or slipping 2-3 upshift when it is cold.

 

Is a valve body issue a major concern? Has anyone experienced problems with their automatic transmissions? Thats one of my bigger worries when buying a used car...At
65k miles tho I'm hoping the tranny is ok and the previous owners have taken care of the car. It's all stock and I plan on keeping it like that and doing my best to keep on top of all maintenance...

 

Some of us do, but its no where near as bad as what they are going through with that tranny (failuresssss even at relatively low mileage, wont shift out of drive, bad shifts if it shift in all gears etc etc......) Its just a bad tranny, Altimas included that have it!

 

Driving in traffic Extra hand for whatever...coffee cig etc
Faster than A manuel always

 

Don't smoke, don't drink coffee and since I've had both a 4AT and now a 6MT, I can tell you the 6MT is noticeably quicker.

 

Never have problems multi tasking with a manual. The car has enough torque to higher gears after first if I'm not in a rush.

 

Although I didn't agree on that sometime ago , but now I can say you're God damn right Scott about that , I hate driving my wife's 03 GLE now

 

First test drive I took in my 6MT, I was like when I got on it in 2nd gear at around 40 mph.

 

Aaron has the worlds fastest NA Maxima and its automatic and nobody makes fun of him

 

@ what RPM you were travelling 40mph on 2nd ?

 

Oh yeah, 1st gear is ridiculous, on the whole trying to conserve gas, 1st and 2nd ripping so hard is sooooooooo tempting.

Benefit for a 4AT.......... not needing 2 feet to drive?