2k2kev

There's a lot of b!tching about "mine's a lemon" and "Nissan sucks" and "how could they have put (pick a component) in their flagship???" Just so someone's typed it, I want to make sure Search will find a fully satisfied 2k2 6-speed owner.

I just broke 900 miles yesterday and figured "that's close enough to 1,000" and opened it up. I went 60 miles on highway and about another 15 on stop-and-go roads with traffic lights. Here's what I have to say:

Good (rebutting what I've read here):
-there is no hesitation.
-it shifts wonderfully, not 'notchy'. I'd been in an auto for 4 years before coming back to a standard and I've missed one gear twice.
-can't detect any 'extra' wind noise up to 110mph.
-Bose is very nice. Everything from Metallica/Van Halen to dance/pop crap to Shania/Faith Hill (for the wife) to Sesame Street (for the 3-year-old); good sound, no vibration, good bass, CDs don't skip.
-brakes work just fine.
-leather feels nice... and heated seats are great in cold New Hampshire.
-potenzas haven't spun unless I wanted them to. It was 33 degrees and raining last night... no slipping, no sliding, felt safe on highway up to 80mph... some wheel spin at a light because I was screwing around.
-for the first two tanks, gas mileage was about 27 to 28 (I computed) but that was with no revving over 3k rpm.
-It F-ing FLIES!!!

"Bad":
-nearly every time I get to the end of my street someone wants to race (well, it's not *that* bad).
-for this last half tank of gas, mileage sucks (but it's my fault, see immediately above).
-some torque steer...nothing I didn't expect from 255hp in front wheel drive. Also, check your tire pressure, mine was *way* off and that helped.
...that's all I can think of.

Future mods: clear bra, because I don't want to find out how much it costs to repaint a bumper/hood... other than that, everything is staying OEM until the warranty runs out. I'm happy just the way it is.

mattattax

I was thinking it was about time for a post like this

nddst

I have a Grey Lustre 2k2 Max w/ Sunroof and Bose, 6sp.

The only complaint I have (had) was the "notchy" shifter. I changed to Redline MT-90 and it runs fantastic now!

Mark me down as "Extremely satisfied at 3000 miles"

noflash

-for the first two tanks, gas mileage was about 27 to 28 (I computed) but that was with no revving over 3k rpm.

27 to 28 kilometers? Is this a Canadian Max? I hope you are going over 3k rpms now that you are past the break-in. I'm sure that will kill your mpg, but why get the 6cyl if your driving like a four? I guess I understand if this all happened during the break-in, but I hope you are getting to enjoy the full potential of your car now.

2k2kev

Haha, no. I got about 27 miles per gallon because I didn't take it over 3k rpm.

For this last half-tank, I've spent more time over 3k than below and the mileage is paying, but I'm smiling so much the wife keeps asking "What's going on? Are you cheating on me?" ... that's where the sig came from.

Colonel

My wife calls the Max "the other woman"....he he he...

I love my car but it does have some issues (wind noise ).

But I love the look of 2 Kentuckians in their Camaro (with aftermarket chrome rims) staring at us as we (3 of us in the Max) pass them as they try to out run us (in excess of triple digits) and get in front of us. I am sure it was a 6cy but their look was priceless!

I gots a 4 doo' seeedan and whoop it up on dem Camaaro boyz!

noflash

Wow! I have never gotten better than 21.9mpg ('cept for a road trip--all hwy was 24). But I have never had the revs under 3k.

02MaximizedVQ

I've sort of been watching these complaints too and the only one I have is that the Bose stereo doesn't have the high dollar sound you'd expect for the price. Other than that I haven't had a single problem with my Maxima and I LOVE IT. Shifts great, nice and smooth, if I can just get past the break in I can finally have alitte fun in it

Jesse

TimW

iTrader: (6)

900 miles isnt enough to understand anyone's position. For the record, just about everybody loves their car. If you want to do a search, you'll find that most compliants regard lack of service. To be more specific, we complain about the ownership experience, not the car. The max is probably one of the best engineered cars on the road. ALL makes have problems. However, when the dealer wont address the most obvious problem and Nissan NA wont listen, we come here and try to find a solution amongs ourselves.

I suspect you will come to understand us soon enough. In the meantime, enjoy your car.

koostermax

4500 plus miles and still getting 26.5 miles to a gallon. 70% of the miles are from highway usage.

One thing that has been of concern is the average speed readout displays a lower speed that the speedometer. I would set to cruise at 80mph and reset the average speed calculator (it takes about 30 seconds...). The resulting average speed is displayed as 74 mph even though I've been cruising at 80mph. I'm still wondering which is the more correct speed indicator.

Mine 2k2 max se 6-speed is factory stock.

Maximus1000

I noticed that as well. I set mine to 80mph on the speedo and than reset the trip computer. About a minute later avg speed was 77mph and mpg was 27.7. Very good fuel economy, considering my Prelude never broke 25mpg at 80mph.

akrus

iTrader: (1)

Don't believe that computer. I've got a 2k2 6spd with ~21,000 kms on it. I've kept track of every tank of fuel that I've put in the car. I have to tell you guys that I'm having a hard time believing that anyone is getting 27-28 mpg (US gal) on a regular basis, especially during the initial break-in period. The best I've seen in all my miles has been 27.5 mpg (US gal). Take a look at the following link to see my mileage tracking of approximately 60 fill ups.

http://www.cenpipe.com/~akrusvar/maxima/maxtracking.xls

Maybe it's our winter fuel up here? The weather is starting to get a bit better so hopefully my mileage gets better.

On my spreadsheet you will notice the date that I installed the Frankencar intake as well as when I removed it. There wasn't much of a change in the mileage if any at all.

Albert

2k2 6spd
- the longer a wise man tries to convince a fool, the harder it becomes to tell them apart.

Maximus1000

[QUOTE]Originally posted by akrus
[B]

Well, that 27.5 was only for the time I was cruising on a flat highway with the cruise set and no A/C. Usually, my mpg for a full tank of gas is around 21mpg which is about 70/30 city/highway.

see5

Love mine!

2k2kev

but I calculated the mpg, not the computer. The tank holds 18.5 gallons and was full when I started. I drove 435 miles. When I refilled the tank it took 16.1 gallons. If you round the bad way with all the numbers I still get over 26.5mpg... you do the math.

Maybe it is the winter fuel, I don't know. All I know is I drive 2 miles to the highway, then 20 miles to work and return the trip in the afternoon. I didn't accelerate hard, always shifted before 3k rpm, and I almost stop or idle during my commute.

ABS

I do not want to call you a liar, but I have hard time believing these figures as well. I also typically get 17-21 mpg. Most of my driving is highway. However, when on the highway, I'm usually in 6th gear and spinning 2500 rpms (80mph). I am sure this is part of the reason my fuel economy is low. On the other hand if I chose to set my cruise at 55 (mph) and rpms much lower, like 1850 or so, then my economy would probably go way up.

Thoughts?

Newman

iTrader: (3)

for those getting 25+ MPG, what gear and what RPMs do you usually cruise at?

and yeah, definitely dont believe the MPG calculator. i think we determined that it is always about 3 or 4 MPG too generous. i got mine up as high as 45.5 MPG but that was only for a mile or two. but why cant it stay that high if i dont accelerate at all? i wish...

nddst

I'd be interested also in how everyone drives. I usually drive around 7-75 on the HW. All my miles are highway and I have not gotten more than 23.5 MPG...

I do not drive to heavy, rarely going more than 4k RPM...

John B

Newman

iTrader: (3)

i usually shift at about 3k and i only get 19 MPG around town. when im on the highway i cruise at around 75-80 MPH in 6th (2300-2500 RPMs) and i only get about 22 MPG

ajahearn

iTrader: (3)

I've only gotten 25+ MPG a couple of times so far. It was all long, highway trips, without a lot of speed changes. Although I change gears around 2.5k. It appears that it will be a little while before Nissan has tuned the VQ35 to get good gas mileage. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have the HP.

ABS

I wonder if the high compression ratio is a factor in the efficiency of the engine. Maybe the engine requires more fuel? I also wonder if people with automatic transmissions are getting better fuel economy - it could be the the TCM tells the ECU that it is going to "lock-up the torque converter" and then the ECU enters a high fuel economy mode that's not available on the 6 speed tranny? It could also be any number of incorrectly calibrated inputs that are impacting the A/F ratio such as incorrect readings from MAF, temp or O2 sensors . . .

2k2kev

Like I said, I drive 2 miles to the highway (usually 30 to 40, no traffic) then 20 miles to work. During break-in I *never* broke 3k rpm, and took my own sweet time accelerating (a kid on a bike probably could have taken me to 60ft). I usually drove the whole way in 6th, under 2k rpm.

So, call me what you want but those are the numbers I got. Now that I'm done with break-in the mpg has decreased... significantly ... but the smile factor is *way* up.

soopermax02

I've gotten 25.6 on a trip to DC (from MA) right after I hit 1000 miles (with the automagic).

Wow, my tire pressure was off too, but only in the rear (by about 5 pounds). The fronts were ok, I found that really strange. I didn't even notice for about 700 miles, and then someone mentioned they looked low.

ABS

2k2wannabe,

Don't take my statements the wrong way - it's just that my experience has been so disparate to yours. I think we've figured out why . . . actual engine rpm at given speeds has a major impact on fuel economy. As it turns out, today there was a lot of traffic on my way into work and a horrible rain storm on my way back, so I was driving conservatively in both cases. Almost always below 2k rpm's. Currently my avg. mpg gauge is showing about 26mpg which translates to about 22-23 mpg in reality. This is about 5 mpg better than my typical rate. I imagine that on a long trip, with the cruise set at 55 mph in 6th gear and the engine spinning around 2k rpms, I'd get between 24 and 27 mpg.

The amazing thing about this is how much the fuel economy drops as engine rpms increase. One would expect a linear increase in fuel consumption, especially given that 6th gear is less than a 1:1 ration, but in fact, the engine efficiency must drop significantly at higher rpms making the increase in fuel consumption far from linear. I can only imagine how bad the engine's fuel efficiency must be after 3800 rpms are hit and the variable valve timing system kicks in . . .

Anyone have any ideas why the engine fuel efficiency drops so fast? Could it be that the engine is just running really rich and if so, who knows of a Nissan compatible "piggy back ecu" that we can use to re-tune the stock ECU to a better A/F ratio? As a side note, I think that additional catalytic converters are frequently used to hide the results of inefficient combustion in engines. . . and the new Max has 3!

Andy