wrj

I certainly not a racing expert but Consumers Report showed the '04 Acura TL faster than the '04 Maxima (by the slimmest of margins). Am I missing something? The '04 Acura TL weighs about 100 pounds more than the '04 Maxima (3575 vs 3473). Yet the TL has only 5 hp more (270 vs 265) and much less torque (255 vs 238). (I got these numbers from the manufacturers web pages).

Looking at ratios of hp-to-weight and torque-to-weight, the Maxima comes out better in both cases. Wouldn’t that make the Maxima a faster 0-60 and quarter mile car?

tcams

You're exactly right. With the power to weight ratio, and more importantly, the higher torque, teh Maxima's numbers should be a lot better. I asked the same questions two months ago, when I was trying to decide between the Altima and the Maxima. No one had a good answer then either. They just got ****ed at me and told me to go buy a race car if all I cared about was performance numbers.

ethorn

There is something more to add to the equation... Reading automobile, the TL is running lower RPMs at a given speed. Therefore there should be even more strain on the motor to go the speed. The only thing I can think is that they have less loss (slippage) in the transmission and Diff.

Automobile says the same as consumer reports. Part of the problem is that we are on 18s and they are on 17s. 17s are inhearently easier to accellerate with.

wrj

good point about 18" vs 17" wheels impacting acceleration. I believe I read previously that the larger tires help handling but has more resistance to get moving.

95Max

Plus the 18s are heavier...adding unsprung weight

joffy

I still have my 17 snow tires and rims on. Haven't had time to change back yet and the car is definitely lighter and quicker. Also less of that howling road noise.

bluemaxx

What's the final drive ratio of the TL?

wrj

From Acura website TL final drive 4.428 (auto), 3.285 (man.)

MaximamixaM

One of those tuner shows had an interesting dyno experience-they went to larger rotors, not necessarily heavier, and lost hp on the dyno. It was because more of the mass was farther from the axis, which took more power to spin-something unexpected to them. Another point seems to be "revability" because it seems like some engines just rev quicker-but I can't exactly pin point that to HP or gearing...

VTmaximaVT

even if mags showed that TL was faster than maxima, that doesn't necessarily mean every TL is faster than every maxima. They have very similar numbers in
performance, some TLs will be faster than some maximas and some maximas will be faster than some TLs in reality.

there are many factors that will make your car slower or faster. for example,
tire pressure can effect 1/4 mile time. I'm pretty sure mags don't check tire
pressure before testing the cars...

by the way, if you just bought your maxima, check your tire pressure. when I
picked up mine, it had 50 psi in 4 tires....(just came up to my mind)