swallac2

I was getting on a plane to New York Fri with my new MotorTrend in hand. As I leafed through it to my surprise I found my letter that I wrote after the A4 vs Max article like 2 months ago.

Sorry, I had to come somewhere and here seemed as good as place as any. My wife kinda gave me a weird look, I guess she has never met a published author !

gmc74

nice. Do you have the letter? Can you post it here?

Zog

iTrader: (1)

I read that letter the other day, and I just knew it had to be somebody on the org. You're now a published author.

swallac2

Yes, I'll be doing a book signing at Borders this weekend

Anuj

PICS! scanned ones of course

SteVTEC

Or at least a text copy of the letter and any response.

JAKE02

Steve please let me do the honors.....this is priceless.....you wanted the letter GMC .........here is Steve's letter as it appeared in the June 2003 issue of Motor Trend magazine

"After reading your comparison of the A4 and '04 Nissan Maxima, I'm dissapointed. As the owner of an '02 six-speed Maxima, I eagerly awaited the new model. Would it be rear wheel drive? Would it be the cousin to the G35? Would it match the horsepower of the Z? Well, no, no, and no. Unfortunately, Nissan has given us the Altima's overweight and less pretty sister. I understand that Nissan was trying to position the Maxima above the Altima just as it did the Pathfinder and Xterra.
This worked with the sport utilities because they are very different vehicles. The Maxima and Altima wont work as well because they're to similiar for the 7000 price difference. The new Maxima also rubs up against the G35, and as Motor Trend's already proven , the chassis dynamics of the G35 are far better than the new Maximas" end quote . great article Steve, couldnt agree with you more.

gmc74

Everyone has their opinions. There is a pretty big difference between that letter and Jake's normal posts. That letter is well written, makes sense.

I don't know if you guys are all 5'8" and 140 lbs or what, but if you are even close to 6' tall then there is no way you could have found the G35 comfortable. I do also find it funny that everyone blows past all the quirks of the G35. It has great accelleration, great sound (engine sound), and great handling, but it really has some major issues on the interior. If the interior was more like the Maxima, I would have bought the G35.

Let me break this down for Jake. If the G35's interior size and functionality didn't suck a$$, I would have purchased the G35 instead of the Maxima.

I don't know what Jake's issue is, but I am sure it has to do with him not getting enough attention as a kid, cause he sure does fish for acceptance from others.

gmc74

I really wanted to ignore this and not post this message, but I just had to.

Let me translate the above quote for you.

"Steve, I haven't been able to put a logical thought together on my own, can I please post your thoughts here? This is exactly what I would have written if I could piece a complete thought of my own together... blah blah blah"

swallac2

Easy man easy, it's a Max forum, not the Dr. Laura show

We are all entitled to our opinion. Jake was kind enough to retype the thing because I was too lazy and didn't get back here quick enough. If you want to slam someone for their thoughts take a shot at me because I wrote the letter, he merely agreed with me.

We could debate the Max vs G35 all day, but in the end (interior and all) the G35 does it for me over the 6th gen and even my 5th gen Max. (I didn't buy the G because there was no 6 speed at the time) IMO the G35 is just more of a driver’s car, while the Max more of a cruiser. It's your 30k spend it as you wish.

Oh and by the way I'm 5'9 155lbs.

MacGyver265

Isn't the G35 just a glorified Z350?!?!? Not really even comparable to the Max considering its not even Front Wheel Drive.

gmc74

My reasons for slamming Jake have nothing to do with his opinion, and everything to do with his delivery, his attitude... and his overall being...

As for the article, I agree with some of what you said. Whether or not someone likes a car depends on a lot of factors, the biggest of which is totally subjective. Another big part of it is your physical stature. I liked the 330i, but I couldn't buy one because I have very broad shoulders and they hit the pilar between the front and back door.

The G35 is a nice car performance wise, it sucks ergonomic design wise. If I was 3 or 4 inches shorter and 100 pounds lighter, I would have thought about it a lot more than I did.

1SICKLEX

R U serious. No brainer.

G35 based on the sports car 350Z platform
Maxima based on the Enterprise rental car Altima platform.

The new G35 and Maxima drive 100% opposite to one another.

carnal_c30

iTrader: (38)

its not thaaaaat bad dude 6'5" mebbe haha

glad i'm short for once!!!

gmc74

I had the seat all the way back, and I would have a bit more room. The interior was not spacious at all for me. The guy behind me had plenty of legroom, and he was 6 feet tall. I think the driver should have had more room than the guy in the back.

bonzelite

iTrader: (2)

G35/V35 Skyline coupe is on a different planet entirely than the new Max-Altima luxury pig.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I can see where you are coming from. The G35 is not known for it's roominess. But all it's other pluses are such big pluses that you're able to forgive it's other minuses. Great looking car, ESPECIALLY the coupe. RWD mid-engine platform. Killer V6 with great tranny options, 5 speed auto OR 6 speed manual. Even the Lexus guys swoon over the G35 coupe, saying it looks like the SC430, which it does (once you see pics of them together, you'll see), but way better

DW

bonzelite

iTrader: (2)

V35 Skyline coupe is far sexier than the SC430, as you say. the SC is nice, however. no doubt. the V35/G35 SEDAN is what the Altima wants to be. for me, the Altima SE is nice if it is lowered a little with upgraded wheels. and if the cheap wal mart "aftermarket looking" tail lights are customized to look more factory, eventhough they are factory!

as for the maxima. i dunno. i am mixed on it. but i ultimately do not like the direction it is currently going in designwise. i am more from the R32 Skyline GTR camp. so i do not like luxury-demographic vehicles typically. despite the sport-esque lineage of the maxima, it has gotten farther and farther away from that principle. it is a luxury car that has a little sport in it. however, many on these forums who own the 6th gen love it. so it seems car buying is subjective. nissan makes something for everyone. and they should if they are going to survive in the fickle auto industry.

long live Nissan and Nismo. 6th gen Maxima included. let us do a big family hug now.

bosssho

I am 6', an XL for clothes and I have Zero problem in any seat the new G35 has...I even commented on the roominess to my brother when we test drove one...it's not an SUV inside, but it's got plenty of room...at least for me...but like many of you have said, it's all subjective via each person's opinion.

Steve...I did read that article in MT and I thought it was the *****...especially your analogy with the ugly woman...lmao!

silverkris

Most of the auto enthusiast mags tend to place the G35 as competing with the BMW 3-series and/or Audi A4. In terms of roominess, owing to a longer wheelbase, it has more interior room than the BMW or Audi (which have really cramped rear seats), though by the standards of the Maxima, it isn't all that generous.

I think the manual tranny wasn't offered on the G35, until recently (perhaps), and I'll bet that 2/3rds of the models they send here are equipped w/ the automatic.

The interior controls still leave much to be desired, especially in the center control console---someone told me that the volume control for the stereo was on the right hand side of the console, away from the driver's reach. Reason: It was originally configured for the Japanese market, where cars generally are right-hand drive.

bonzelite

iTrader: (2)

coming from a performance perspective of the Silvia or GTR type, interior amenities do not mean very much to me. the more spartan the better. the prob is that the G35 is badged "infiniti" - luxury. i would not even care if the car did not come with a stereo as long as it handled exquisitely and had ego-satisfying horsepower. but i do not represent most of the market. i am the wrong person to address the interior issue to. plus i'm 5'-10". i fit well in that cockpit. i need only a tachometer and radar detector. and a great feeling beefy steering wheel. and manual shift.

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

i just read the letter. feels great to know it was an org member.

gmc74

Wait until you have indents in the side of your a$$ from the seat controls