Maybe you have to see it in person?

I see Scion tC whenever I see the grille.

 

center console looks cheap without the wood,
dashboard has round and square air vents, this is very odd in an ugly way.

 

I agree that the (from pictures so far) the carbon fiber dash panels are lacking. But I also don't care for fake wood panels much, either. Needs a brushed alumimum option.

The ovoid outer vents look tacked on and don't fit in with anything, at least in the pics I've seen.

Overall I still like the car very much, though.

 

It looks like they are trying to make the dash similar to the GTR with the circular vents. Even the guages and the centre consol button layout has some similarites but the G35 nav consol and vents are plopped in there. Kind of a mish mash of interior features.

http://www.motortrend.com/photo_gall.../photo_41.html

If it has a similar driving postion as a gtr this might give you this Super Cockpit driving postion they are talking about. Just have to sit in it to find out.

 

This for comparison

 

The roundish vents themselves are not so bad (on either), its the little worts they are sitting in on the Max that I object to. The GT-R's are better integrated into the dash surface.

 

i don't really see it. i mean the vents are circular but the layout looks totally different. the gauge pod is different and the way the dash goes into the the shift gate is different. but i want both in my garge in the next 5 years. in blue.

i know the maxima is going to have some GT-R in it but lets hope that its in the way it drives and handles. since they were tested around same time at same track i think that can be a possibility. 4dsc= maxima Real sc= GT-R. if nissan wants the the maxima to be the 4dsc then it should handle like its best sports cars.

 

Ideally, all dash HVAC ducts would have similar shapes. But, in this situation, I sort of like the way the HVAC outlets differ in shape.

The two round ducts at the ends of the dash continue the circular theme from the steering wheel, the horn assembly in the center of the steering wheel, the control **** beneath the video screen, the lower control buttons on the audio and heating/cooliong system and the three dash instrument dials.

The two rectangular ducts on each side of the video screen keep within the rectangular shape of the center portion of the dash, as well as the top of the console and the tranny shift lever bezel.

Probably the primary reason this divergence of shapes does not bother me is because I tend to look at the interior as one overall piece, and am considering it from its overall appearence, which, for me, works.

I will readily admit I am more involved with the driving experience, reliability and exterior of a vehicle than I am the dash layout. I also understand each person has a differing order of importance of things. Were I a 'dash' oriented person, I might not be quite as happy with the '09 dash.

 

i never really though of it like that but the maxima is always unique with its dash layout. i never really look at the dash like that all i know is i like it it has style.

 

I thought the 09 Maxima's dash looked ugly with too much unnecessary aluminium all over. But after seeing the GTR dash, I feel it looks gorgeous. All I can see in the GTR dash are holes and gaps. How can a $70k+ car have such a bad finish and fitment? It seems the hey days of Nissan are over. The unfortunate customers are now left with having to choose the less worse among the many alternatives.

 

First off here is a website which has leaked images http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-...maxima/704494/

I was at the Stillen event Saturday May 17th and by no stretch am I a good photographer, but I did get plenty of pictures of the new Maxima. It's been said to have 290 HP.

PICS: (Sorry I cannot post all 25 at one time, I'm posting links to images on ImageShack)

http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0129gk6.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0127jk9.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0126go0.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0125dw9.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0124tv6.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0118sm5.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0119ku0.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0120oz3.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0121jk0.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0122qz1.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0117xk2.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0040th4.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0116bl3.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0039ye0.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0038jq2.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0115rl7.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0042pl1.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0037zh4.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0032kc6.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0041mm0.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0031ki0.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0030ww5.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0022fa0.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0021fp9.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hto0020ub3.jpg

-Enjoy

 

is that silver carbon fiber interior i see

 

It looks like it, they did not say anything about if the vehicle shown was a pre-production model or just prototype. I think it looks great.

 

so have anyone notice that i still havent seen the 4dsc badge on any of the maxima's shown other then the teaser shot. whats up with that. also ready to see what stillen going to do with the maxima. since they already have one there to work on.

 

Perhaps the Stillen sticker is over the 4DSC logo?

 

Here I thought blue would be the color of choice (for me) on the new car...now I'm likin' the red.

 

I really like how it looks. I know there are a ton of threads on here but.
290HP I like it. http://www.nissanusa.com/09maxima/in...mepage.Home.P2

 

seriously?

 

here are some pics from froggmann:
stolen from the "west coast" part of the site.
http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q...-08/?start=all

 

You know...normally, I don't like to make mountains out of mole hills, but that is clearly a fully loaded 7th gen in those Stillen day pictures...so what's up with the hollow-switch between the heated seats? Could it be a placeholder for an AWD switch?

I ask this because the Muranos have the exact same layout, with an AWD Lock switch in the middle. :\

 

I still cannot make out the button in the center. Up & down??

 

I could be wrong, but I thought that switch was for the dual sunroof and too open and close the automatic shades. This would make sense since the car in those pics do not have the dual sunroof

 

Wouldn't a sunroof switch be mounted by the sunroof? You may be right about the shades, though. I've never seen that picture above with the switch filled in.

 

the 6th gen with the "elite package" has that shade(s) button between the two window ones.

 

It's for the rear window shade, similar to what the I30/5 used to have.

 

That sounds right.

 

I agree 100%... the interior is all that does it for me, but the exterior is what counts half the time as well.

 

I carried several photos of the '09 Maxima with me on my trip to the mall today. I drove around until I found an '08 Camry and compared it with the '09 Maxima pictures. From comments here, I expected similarity. Not so. Anyone who has the least trouble distinguishing the '09 Maxima from the '08 Camry is optically challenged.

For me, the new Maxima looks better than the Camry from ALL angles. Even the rear of the new Maxima (perhaps its 'plainest' side) has aerodynamic sculpting along the lower portion, with two LARGE tailpipes neatly slotted into the bumper facia.

By the way, did the Camry do 5.8 seconds in Car and Driver's zero to sixty test? The new Maxima did.

Everyone has a right to their opinion, but it is obvious that, when it comes to automobiles, tastes vary widely. I guess that is why 12 MPG clunkers and vehicles almost everybody thinks are ugly still sell.

 

The curves of the body on the new Maxima looks nothing like the Camry.

 

^ and ^^

I 100% agree, the new Maxima looks nothing like the Camry. They have been posted side by side here a few times and never have they looked alike. I just dont see what these people who say they look alike are actually looking at. Maybe they are just going by memory and never actualy look at them side by side. So before anyone else says that they more similiar than 2 competing cars should be, go look at side by side pics before you post it

 

That is one sexy Maxima. Looks good right out of the box.

 

It appears that one manufracturer comes out with a bold new body style, it always seems to be copied. Like the new Camry, hey the new Nissan looks almost like that new Camry.

I believe this is because the new Camry was the first to enter the market looking like that, and any future vehicle could be created from a template of the new Camry.

Truth is, no vehicle on the market even looks close to the new 2009 Maxima. No vehicle has those lines and sexy curves.

 

Actually, the first hint of the currently popular automotive design "language" came about in the late '90s/early '00s with the Volvo S80 and S60, with their trunks raised above an exaggerated rear fender line and exaggerated lamps. However, the real "culprit" here is the Chris Bangle generation of BMW's. Bustle butts and curvy sheetmetal combined with jarring-to-the-eye cut-lines are all part of the now highly copied Bangle-esque look. You see elements of, and variations on, the Bangle style in a huge number of cars today. The Max is not a Camry follower... but like many others (including the Avalon & Camry), it has clearly "borrowed" some elements from the Chris Bangle school of automotive design.

In general, I have not cared for the Bangle style very much. BMW's have ALWAYS been my aspiration car... but not any more. As good as they still may be, they just don't look very attractive to me any longer. (OK... I confess, I could wear some rose-colored glasses and still enjoy an M5 if I could afford one.)

Some Bangle copies look better than others... The Avalon is a prime example of a BAD copy... that cut-line down the side of the body, with bulging sheetmetal below it, is just hideous. Others, like the Camry, are not quite as bad but still not quite my cup of tea - some of the bulges and lines are just not in the right places. The 7G Maxima is, IMHO, the best implimentation of the Bangle design language I have seen yet. Ample curves in the right places but no overly harsh or exagerated character lines in the body to spoil the curves. I would still prefer less bustle in the rump, but somehow what it has just seems to work better than the others. Now... if they just turn down the volume on the chrome and get rid of the multi-colored tail lights, I would be even more sold.

Speaking of the tailights... I'm convinced that its the large clear section of the tailghts and the hint of bustle butt that gets people making the Camry comparison... even though, in reality, there is virtually no similarity to the shapes of the two cars - or even the tail lights themselves. If the Max had solid red (or at least a much smaller clear section) tail lights, I'm fairly certain that the Camry comparisons would go away.

 

IMO looks like an updated 3rd Gen! There is hope for the Maxima after all, again IMO the last 2 have been bloated, and downright ugly blobs. About time Nissan got back to a real sedan.

 

Our resident research librarian jcalabria has spoken, and spoken well.

Unlike many here, I long ago adjusted to the multi-colored tail lights and high rump. I think the two changes that really do it for me with the '09 design are the fact the 'growing ever larger' trend has stopped, and I love the change to a shorter, wider stance, with the fender areas moved out from the body, giving a leaner, athletic look.

My son says that Nissan solving the torque steer problem, tightening the chassi and moving past the Altima in power are what does it for him.

 

i wouldnt mind if nissan copied alfa-romeo sheetmetal?

 

i like the interior.. rather than the exterior im not a fan of the headlights or shape of body ...overall ...eh

 

Libz - From the first photos I saw a month ago, I did not like the headlights, was 'iffy' about the grille, wasn't sure about the wheels, and felt the middle dash area was too busy. But in several opportunities to see this car in person for extended periods, it didn't look like the photos to me. Scales and ratios seemed different. Things that almost dominated the photos (such as headlights and grille) seemed smaller and much more in proportion to the rest of the car when seen in person. Even the strange rear edge of the headlight assembly seemed to flow unobtrusively into the side of the car when standing right beside it.

I would be interested in knowing how you (and others here) feel about this '09 styling after you have had a chance to study this car in person. You may still feel the same, but several posters on the ORG said they felt differently about the styling after seeing the car in person.

I don't remember having such a change in opinion between photos and real-life with previous generations, but I surely do with this one.

 

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT IS THis black bar for?

 

It's the cover for the flash card slot.