I'm trying to decide between an 04 SE Maxima 6sp and an 05 Altima 5sp. The performance numbers that I've seen for the Maxima are terrible. Mid to low six to sixty and late 14 in the Qtr. The new Altima has 250 horse and I've seen high fives to sixty and mid 14 qtrs from the 245 horse. The weight difference is only 200 lbs between the two. With 265 hp/255 tq the Maxima numbers don't make much sense. Can anyone explain this, or have you seen better number for the new Maxima.

Thanks

 

Maybe wait for the Altima SE-R, which is supposed to debut at the New York Auto Show in April. It supposed to have a 6spd manual transmission with 260hp. AWD is also a possibility.

 

It may raise more questions than answers but try this:

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-generation-maxima-1995-1999/278798-finally-got-some-great-pics-my-new-max.html

 

Actually your not exactly correct on the time slips. We've seen consistant 14.3's for the Maxima 6sp. Just look at some of the old posts.

 

I'm basing the times on car and driver/Motor Trend's times. I'm also not using member's slips for Altima times either, so I'm keeping it apples to apples. THe mags have the Altima half a second quicker to sixty and the qtr.

 

I'd be a little careful about 0-60 and 1/4-mile times. I have 0-60 numbers, for example, of 5.8 and 6.3 for the 6spd Acura TL (Car & Driver and Road & Track, respectively). Now, a full half-second difference is a little much to swallow IMO. Either there was something wrong with one of the test cars or there was some serious lack of skill going on somewhere there.

My point is that we all (myself included) probably put a little too much weight on these magazine test numbers. For most of us, it's about all we have to go on, I know, but the best test is a test drive.

Like I've said in another thread, most of us hardly ever drive the way it takes to get the 0-60 times you read about. Those are gathered from 4,000rpm clutch dumps, amid boiling, spinning tires and lots of drama. I doubt you do that a lot on city streets (or I hope you don't, anyway ). The more realistic measure for most of us is punching it on a freeway onramp, from a stoplight, while doing a highway passing maneuver, etc. That way, the car actually gets a chance to do its best, without having to contend with dragstrip start conditions.

Just MHO.

Mike

 

WOOHOO now we are mag racing ill take my max over the 05 alti...and you cant get timeslips off the alti site for the 05 get some 04 3.5se slips and compare them...

 

The Alti is not a 1/2 second faster. Almost all of the Magazine times show around 14.7 for both cars.

 

I know I'll perhaps get flamed for this but why buy a Maxima or Altima for performance? There are many (maybe not many but at least some) cars out there around the same price that are mid 13 sec to high 12 sec cars out of the box. I look at these cars (Maxima/Altima) as family cars with decent acceleration for passing and good safety for mishaps, at least the latest generation.

 

Gotta agree with bunk22. If you want a race car, buy a race car. Get a Mustang Cobra or something.

The Max and Alti give excellent accelleration, maneuverability, safety devices, style, braking, etc, and yet have ample room for four or five large souls to be comfortable on thousand mile trips.

By comparison, my neighbor with a new Cobra paid almost $38,000, has a vehicle with average (at best) mechanical reliability, and I certainly wouldn't want to ride in the back seat of a Cobra on any vacation trip.

Buy a car based on how you will use it. I expect solid performance, but I am not into drag racing, either on-street or off-street. I would not be getting over 200,000 miles from my Maximas (or any other car) if I did. For me, the Maxima meets all my requirements better than any other car.

 

WOW! This sure went the wrong direction. First of all, for those of you that say I have the wrong numbers. Go back and check the numbers Car and Driver and MotorTrend gave the last 5 speed Altima and 6 spd maxima they both tested. Both gave a sub 6 to 60 for the Altima and a 6.4 for the Maxima. Check the math, that's half a second. Period. Based on Power to weight ratios, the Maxima doesn't have a chance. The SE Altima actually weighs less than the Track Model 350Z. But arguing about how fast/slow the Maxima is wasn't my purpose. Like I said in the original post, I was trying to decide between the two cars. It confused my as to why the Altima was testing so much faster by the same testers, so I thought someone here could shed some light, other than just tell me I'm wrong or that I should be buying a 12 second car. I actually took delivery of my 04 black SE 6sp Maxima last night. Love the car. I traded in an 01 Quattro TT moded to 280 horse. I will miss the TT, but I needed a more comfortable daily driver, and the Maxima was it. For those of you that are telling me to buy a 12 second car, thanks. I'm waiting on my 11 second car to be finished. I'm the proud owner of Superformance Cobra #1821. The 540 horse 408 is being built as I type and the car will be tearing up the road in about 3 weeks.

have a good weekend

 

Nobody told you to do anything so relax. However, I'm curious though, what is a Superformance Cobra #1821? I take it it's #1821 out of X, of a 93-03 Cobra that's being modded to eventually run 11 secs, track and driver dependent of course.

 

This may be a clue: http://www.superformance.com/

 

Ahh, kit cars. A buddy had one but not from that company. His Shelby Cobra replica had a 289 like the original. Very nice and quick car.