i have asked some higher ppl at work and they have heard nothing of it

 

i wish my car was a 6speed

 

Confirmed????????????????????????????????????????? ??

http://jalopnik.com/396228/2010-niss...it-stick-shift

 

i hope they make a manual, they might not want to go right out and say it will be out for 2010 so ppl dont wait

 

Yeah not really considering the link at the bottom:
"2010 Nissan Maxima Diesel Transmission Rumors Shift, Now Automatic-Only"

http://jalopnik.com/396482/2010-niss...automatic+only

Hey, remember that rumor from Automotive News about the 2010 Nissan Maxima Diesel getting a stick and nothing else? According to Motive, Nissan engineers have told them that, for now, the Maxima will likely only come in automatic form... but that they could throw in a manual.

 

The only way Id even consider one is in manual form.

 

Thats pretty cool, Hopefully Nissan will make a sportier version of the SE. Like the SER trims for the Altima and Senta. IT only makes sense for them to do that and put some cool badges on it and maybe increase HP? I would love! to see a Maxima coupe@ 300HP with RWD... Now that would be sick. IT would basically be like a G35 coupe but with a maxima twist. lol

 

I wouldnt think they would make a coupe OR RWD maxima. but seriously though... a 6 speed might be en route. since they are "bringing back the 4DSC" right? whats a sports vehicle without a manual transmission option atleast?

 

frankly i'm too realistic-minded of a human being to litter these forums with "ohmygawd can it be RWD" and "ohmygawd can they make it manual" and all that other wishful-thinking post-wasting bull**** that half the members in this forum seem to cling do. NO you can't have RWD and currently NO you can't have manual. For the price and the hassle if you want RWD MT that damn much get a G35/7. The Maxima has, since 1985, been FWD, and the trend of the retarded driving population of the US is leaning toward automatic. Deal with it.

My only question is why the hell can't Nissan just a) make up their minds about what will be offered and then b) TELL US THE TRUTH!!! Speculation is for retards with nothing better to do (i mean seriously there's plenty of lonely girls at your local bar.... go make some girl's night). We don't need anything but facts and all these dumb threads about manuals and RWD and coupes and crap like that are just as bad as the guy who waltzes into the 6th gen forum asking for a writeup of pinning an R34 drivetrain under a maxima...

 

Sorry, but that will never happen... they wouldn't want to "hurt" the sales of the G37.

 

The capedcadaver (what a name!) may come across as very brusque. But from his position perched atop his open coffin, he speaks the truth. The Maxima is what it is. It is a four-door sport-luxury FWD CVT-powered very well appointed sedan of which Nissan plans to sell 70K copies. At that volume, there isn't a lot of room for major variations without cutting into the bottom line.

Nissan makes cars in every desirable body style and power arrangement. Those different body styles and power arrangements have different maker plates and different model names. It isn't feasible or practical to have them all be variations of the Maxima. So we need to deal with the cards actually in the deck.

 

hated it in pictures...absolutely love it in person...If they released a 6spd manual tranny I would take an sv with the sport package all day in black/black...as soon as word is released my 300c is on craigslist...any nissan reps or product planners here??? if you want maxima loyalists you gotta bring back the stick and if you guys are here is this gonna happen and if so when can i put in my order?

 

Or find another game.

Nissan has made it abundantly clear at this point that they have no interest in the traditional sport side of the market for the Maxima. Add features that have nothing to do with driving, isolate the driver still further from the manner in which the car actually works, and reduce his involvement in the actual task of driving instead. 1960's Cadillac attitude, albeit spoken with a different accent.

I'd at least look at the '09's if a MT was available in some trim level, even if that involved a mild price premium (flipping the traditional MT/AT pricing upside down). Sure, the CVT car may be able to put up the performance numbers (so could your average brick and a rope for locking the steering straight ahead . . . I digress). But it'll never duplicate the experience of driving an otherwise identical car with MT, and that's where the deal-breaker is for those of us who really do care.

Guess I'll buy a little time in all of this by ordering those struts for the 20AE.


Norm

 

All i know That 4DSC Badge is going to THE 09 TL.. AWD BABY... Sorry but all the New maxima can do is compete with a Whack Camry...

 

eyecon7 - Would you be interested in a TL Type 'S'? My son is trying to dump his. On his third tranny in fairly quick order, and the thing rides like a buckboard.

I thought there weren't many TLs around where I live, but in looking closer, I do see quite a few. With those ugly chromy grilles, I had been thinking they were all Fords.

The TL looks more like a Camry than the Maxima does. If the TL is a sports car, then I'm not interested in sports cars.



Edit - I hope you know your Acura dealer and your banker very well if you are considering a TL AWD. We're talking MONEY, baby.

 

Back to the matter at hand.. i love the car and all, but i am also in love with driving manual, and unless a 6-spd is offered i will do what i can to keep my car running until i move to an 03 MT, if they never put a MT in something newer i will be forced to find something that does.....

 

T_Dweyer88 - I don't blame you. Manuals may now be less efficient in both elapsed time and fuel economy than the newest '09 Maxima CVT, but many of those who have grown up with manuals will just not feel the same about the CVT, even with the 'sport' option. Folks used to the manual feel the CVT removes part of the control of the car (and much of the fun) from their hands.

I had that same problem when almost all family sedans changed from manual to automatic back in the early 1950s. And believe me, those early automatics were nothing short of slush boxes, with more slippage than a barrel of banana peels. At least this '09 Maxima CVT is a very efficient tranny that so far seems to be performance-oriented. I think I will like it very much, and enjoy learning to maximize use of the paddles. But, despite all the variations and operating modes, paddles, etc Nissan has given it, it is still not a manual tranny.

 

I think it's about more than just the issue of who's in control. It's also about being aware of and in tune with what the engine is doing and what it might want for a developing road situation.

I hear you about the older slushboxes - somewhere in the mid-1960's I owned a 1957 Pontiac, 347/4-barrel/automatic. It wasn't that old at the time, but I only found out for sure that the tranny had 4 forward ranges (and that all of them would engage) after I installed solid-core plug wires and non-resistor plugs and turned the AM-only radio into an auditory tachometer.

Please post your driving impressions after you have a few thousand miles on the car in this thread. Just because I'm unlikely to buy any automatic tranny car, let alone one equipped with CVT, doesn't mean that I'm not interested in learning more about how well they work in the real world.


Norm

 

Norm - I went from manuals ('49 Stdebaker and '53 Chevy 210 sedan) to automatic ('55 Pontiac Star Chief) about the same time you did. I didn't need any equipment to know when my tranny shifted; everyone in the car (and probably anyone standing nearby) knew only too well.

I haven't gotten my '09 yet, but I know exactly what options I am getting, and have narrowed the exterior colors to Radiant Silver and Winter Frost. All that is left is for my dealer's Internet Manager to come down near invoice.

With a new generation, I normally wouldn't expect that to happen before this Christmas. But the economy is tough, buyers are flocking to 4 bangers, and I have bought all my Maximas through this same Internet Manager since back in the 90s, and she knows I will not go much above invoice. I'm thinking maybe late October? It also helps that I personally know the dealer and the service manager, have ALL my service done there, and have sent other customers there.

In the meantime, I read every detail of every report from every poster here who has either bought or test-driven the '09. The one big thing I am looking for in those reports is to find out exactly what their experience driving the CVT was like. So far, I have been very imprerssed. I bypassed the '07 because I was not convinced the CVT was ready for the Maxima. I think this new '09 CVT may be ready.

I can hardly wait to own my '09, and when I get it, I will do my very best to report here honestly and completely how this new CVT is working in my car.

 

I drove the 09 Maxima SV without the sport package. For most of the drive I was in manual mode. Now I have driven MTs exclusively until I bought my AE (black/frost MT wasn't available at the time). I love MTs because, as you say, there is a feeling of being connected. My AE is okay in most conditions, but still not an MT. The 09 with the CVT in manual mode was far superior to my AE. You can upshift and downshift (just touch the shifter forward or backward) anytime and the shifts are immediate, so if shifting up and down for different conditions helps you feel in control, then this tranny isn't bad. At my age (geezer) the CVT will give me a reasonable compromise between convenience and fun. When the time is right, I will upgrade to 09 SV with Sport Package.

 

2k1seae - Thanks for an excellent report. You mentioned the same thing others are noticing about the '09 CVT: any 'shift' the driver makes with either the stick or the paddles takes place instantly. No lag whatsoever. No thump or slip or any loss of accelleration/decelleration.

This is an area of CVTs that has been a big 'downer' in earlier versions. This is what had to be right if the Maxima was not to become just another nice car with a sloppy tranny.

As these fine reports continue to be posted here, I feel better and better about the experience I am going to have with this '09 Maxima.

 

The '08 I drive has absolutely no lag at all when "shifting" using the manual mode. The question is, why on earth would one want to "shift" a CVT manually?

 

reb - the 'shifting' of a CVT in the various modes Nissan has given us in the '09 Maxima is sort of a way of giving drivers who take the trouble to become really good with it a way of having more control over their car.

This 'shifting' of the CVT can be used to simulate a 'virtual' 6 speed manual tranny, actually gaining a few of the benefits of real manual trannys, have that 'virtual' tranny operate in normal or sport mode, used to hold RPMs in a curve so they will be right where you want them coming out of the curve, used to take advantage of engine compression in braking to save wear and tear on the rotors and pads, and several other things. We can do these things either through the console stick or the steering column paddles.

Best of all, if we are so inclined (or our shiftless spouse is driving), we don't have to touch a thing. Just start the car, slip the tranny in 'drive,' and let the CVT take care of everything.

 

this model may actually come out next year...I say that because Nissan just released the same "SR" trim level on the Sentra...its essentially a sports apperance package but hey just makes you think the trim level could make it over to the Maxima and bring us some of the things we were promised

 

We have been given everything we were promised in this '09 Maxima. It is a terrific vehicle that impresses more drivers every day. This redesigned CVT is the best CVT ever made. The only change Nissan promised for the '10 is a diesel version. But this very depressed auto industry has deferred the diesel, as well as almost every other manufacturer's changes, other than possibly working toward hybrids, electrics, etc.

We can dream, but the '09 SV with Premium package is essentially the new SL, and the '09 SV with Sport package is the new SE. The Maxima is now a luxury car in everything but name, with a sales target of only 70K units, which will not be approached in this economy.

The manual tranny is now an anachronism from the past; a plaything for drivers who have not yet moved into the third millenium. It is not efficient enough to put in this 7th gen Maxima, is not an option desired by Nissan's target audience for this car, and would remain less than 2% of total Maxima sales were it available.

Nissan, as other nameplates, is bleeding money at every turn. Factory shifts are being dropped, and workers laid off nationwide. I will be absolutely stunned if the '10 Maxima has more than very minor tweaks - probably nothing more than minor cosmetic changes on front and/or rear, and I suspect even that will probably be deferred to the 7.5 '11 edition.

If a miracle happened soon, and we had somewhat of a recovery of the auto industry, and if Nissan were to come up with an 'SR' version of the 7th gen, I feel it would be more about aerodynamics such as front lips, a larger spoiler, stylized rocker panels, blackened grill, window frames, door handles, etc, but no manual tranny under any circumstance. But this would be no sooner than the 2011 7 1/2 generation Maxima, as the '10 is pretty much locked in by now, with production just three or four months away.

Yes, we can dream. But those dreams must be kept in contex with the reality of the situation and the times.

 

wait and see wait and see,
with this market it would be best to plan for new models that come out in the next few years rather than attempting to introduce something in a downturn like this...

I agree that expecting a 6mt would be a bit much at this point, if anything I see an SR as being a package with slight exterior changes and maybe slightly firmer suspension or different style wheels.

and after driving the '09 again for a good amount of time... I love the car but still miss the 6MT

 

Let me try to shine a different light on this. Those who think a car is only a transportation module and nothing more are hereby forewarned.

Has the direction of car design gone so far in removing control from the driver that enjoyment of the actual process of driving itself is not only being lost, but actively being forced out of relevance? Is the availability of all kinds of electronic driving "assistances", in-car entertainment and other gadgets being allowed to supersede the driver's conscious awareness that he is actually operating a machine? Why would any intelligent person think that's necessarily a good thing?

Are the times changing because not nearly as many people get their own hands dirty with any sort of mechanical work any more? Because their childhood exposure to things automotive was yuppie daddy's push toward symbols of luxury and success? Video games instead of building real downhill buggies? Sound bites instead of thoughtful discusion? Or because "being connected" is more important than anything else? (cue John Fogerty's "Nobody's Here Anymore").

Perhaps the current vision of "reality" is misguided, and I am a bit sorry to think that many of you may not even get to choose whether or not to experience some of the automotive things that were part of everyday life for people like me. I truly believe that you'll be poorer for it. Feel free to take a potshot at me as another anachronism - I have no problem with the fact that I was born a couple of years before the midpoint of the last century. What will your wisdom of hindsight be when you're a sixty-something?


Norm

 

And all the satisfaction of flipping a momentary-contact toggle switch. Not an accomplishment that I'd be at all proud of.

Missed this in the above post.


N

 

Norm-

How exactly is the CVT removing control from the driver? In D mode I can make the car do EXACTLY what I want. If I want to keep the rpm at 3k while accelerating from 0-60, it will do that. If I want to pass someone on the highway and need 6k+ rpm's NOW, it will do that. If I want it to save gas and use a little rpm as possible to travel, it will do that.

And that is with D mode. With Ds the car will give me the power i NEED to accelerate as fast as the 290hp will let me. You take shots at the manual mode, which I will admit doesn't have nearly the connected feeling that my 5MT eclipse, or 3MT 67 mustang have, but it's still there as an option.

This car in D mode is, I'd say, as connected of a driving experience as you can get. If you want it do something, it WILL do it. Give me a manual that can keep me at a solid 3krpm while accelerating and I'll consider switching back.

 

to right this topic back on to some track from the original topic. an SER or SR version of the 2009/2010 Maxima would be a bad decision. One of the major reasons I chose my Maxima is because of the CVT (Great gas mileage with 290hp, and I don't have to wear out my left leg with a clutch in traffic). I know that if I wanted to, I toss the car in to manual and I can fool myself in to thinking the car has gears, but heck ... I'm okay with that .. because when I'm crawling at 20km/h on the highway during rush hour ... I'm just sipping the fuel because of the great transmission.

 

Because it is not you that is really doing the job. The logic that actually makes things happen is buried in some electronic module programmed by somebody else half a world away according to criteria that may not match yours and which can not know the exact driving situation that you are individually in at any given instant. You aren't anywhere near operating what mechanically gets the job done.

I guess you do understand, at least sort of. I expect (perhaps demand is a better word here) the same level of involvement with all of my cars.

That is precisely where we differ. You're apparently happy enough with issuing an electronic command so that some module can issue the instructions to the mechanical device so that it can then do its thing, and you're satisfied when everything follows the programmed logic exactly.

I'm not. I enjoy the tactile feel of working the controls and the awareness of the mechanical bits that comes with that. I want to be able to say to myself "I got that shift damn near perfect" knowing that it wasn't something committed to the atoms in a little inanimate silicon wafer that should be getting the real credit. Even "I screwed that one up" is preferable, as it's a reminder that none of us is perfect at anything. I can live with that. Whether it's a CVT or a conventional automatic is immaterial.

Know what? I don't care if I'm giving up a little ultimate measured performance. Or even a lot, for that matter. I've thought a bit about this recently, and if somebody was going to give me a car that I had to keep and had to drive - and I was given the choice between a 15 second manual tranny car and an automatic tranny car good for any ET you'd care to name, I'd pick the MT car. Every . . . single . . . time. I really am that hardcore.


Norm

 

Why would having an active choice be a bad idea? It seems to be working for BMW.

Suppose it was the other way around and an automatic (of any sort) was unavailable? Life was like that, once. Would the lack of choice still be a non-issue?


I'm not opposed to cars having automatics or CVTs for those who actively want them. What I resent is not being given the choice.


Norm

 

I'll take this discussion as just two different opinions on the matter. I do understand where you are coming from with the feel that YOU got the shift right, not some computer. I understand that feeling, I guess I'm just happy with a car that responds to my commands as I want it, without the need to shift.

In the end what came down to taking a car with CVT over a manual was the feel I got on the highway. I've never really liked downshifting to pass on the highway. It never worked out exactly how I wanted it to, but with the CVT it does what I want, when I want. I'd say that is where we differ. I'll admit I miss the feeling of shifting through a turn, and the MT mode is a bit of a joke(i've used it maybe twice), but it is by far the most fun an automatic can possibly provide. I guess I'm just ok with the tradeoff's. I hate driving with manual in this area because of the traffic, or just really stupid drivers everywhere. But if I want to I can just hop in my 67 mustang when the trafic is less... stupid... and actually enjoy the MT.

The great part about the CVT is it is ALWAYS fun... perhaps not quite at the level of an MT, but the MT is just a pain when there is trafic(which is most of the time around here)

 

Fair enough ... I can understand why you would want a choice ... but is it marketable for the company to create that choice? This is where aftermarket companies make their cash.

With regards to the transmission:

Quite honestly I do agree with what you have to say Norm. I have a 5spd right now and I know it's my logic and my 'feel' with the car and the RPM and the gears. Ultimatley I was looking for a DSG gearbox. It was the closest way I could still have a 'manual' without it being an automatic. There were only three or four cars at the time that really had this option:

Audi A3 and A4
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X

The problem with them was price and personal satisfaction. At this point in my life, I'm willing to give up that control to an automatic tranny ... and have the creature comforts available on the Maxima .. than the DSG and the lack of a lot of creature comforts I get with my Maxima purchase.

My line in the sand is this: If I want ultimate control I'd go Ferrari F40 style. All mechanical, no TCS, ABS or Power anything to be had with a 6 speed on the floor. Ultimate mix of man and machine working together.

For my daily driver ... give me some comfort and technology so I don't have so many cases of road rage during traffic :P

 

There wont be any Maxima pushing 340hp with a manual....Infiniti is where you get that for a few more dollars. Thats what I think.

 

Performance version of Maxima = NOT HAPPENING
Performance version of Altima = NOT HAPPENING

 

if your left leg isnt engaged youre arent controlling anything...

 

Holy Post necroing batman!!!! Nothing like reviving a post from July 2008.

 

it was revived with potentially important information not by a naive noob

 

Seems we have a few here (very few, thank goodness) who are still living in the old 'manual dream world', where the manual tranny version of anything was the only version that satisfied the driver's ego.

Those days are over. I repeat: THOSE DAYS ARE OVER. Manual versions of any vehicle these days may be fun for those who are using the vehicle as an ego-boosting plaything, or live where there is less congestion, but are now less efficient than this latest CVT, and are increasingly less fun to drive as gridlocked traffic is becoming the norm in ever-widening areas.

But all that is subjective. THERE IS A VERY COLD REALITY HERE that those 'I'm old enough to shift for myself, Mother' types seem to have conveniently forgotten. Nissan faithfully built a manual version of the Maxima year-in and year-out every year from 1981 until 2006, and the buying public increasingly ignored it.

By the time Nissan finally gave up the manual with the '07 Maxima, manuals had dwindled to around TWO PERCENT of total Maxima sales, and most of those were let go below invoice by dealers trying to free up space for a Maxima they could sell. Nissan dealers told me they hated having them on their lot. The manual had become a continuing money-loser for Nissan in a time when losses were crippling the industry.

So for anyone to come here and try to wrap that same old manual albatross around the Nissan Maxima's neck is more than disingenuous; it borders on industrial espionage. Nissan is barely staying afloat financially, and adding a manual to a now upscale, near-luxury, low-volume Maxima which nobody would buy just might be the straw that ended Nissan and the Maxima we love.