Let's here about your Maxima summer road trips!
 

With summer in full swing, it's the best time to hit the road with the Max! I just got back a couple a weeks ago from a 4hr trip up northern CA from LA with the family in my wife's SUV.
Now it's time for the adults to have fun. The wifey and I are heading to Vegas baby! Can't wait to cruise the Max down the strip. Let's hear about your summer adventures with the Maxima!:D

well, lets see.. went to six flag, then Delaware, then upstate and then Atlantic city. summer is not over for me yet so still thinking of where else to go..

My wife and I are retirees, so leave summer mostly to those who have kids in school and have little choice but to take their vacations in summer. We take our long trips in the fall, winter and spring.

Having said that, about a month ago we took a trip to Florids (beach wedding of a cousin), Alabama (check out property, visit wife's parents graves, etc) and Mississippi (casinos, driving and walking along beach, etc). The Maxima makes trips so easy and pleasurable.

Some advice: Atlanta has greatly increased traffic fines. If you are stopped doing over 85 on the Atlanta freeway system, the fine is $724 plus $200 tacked on under the new 'superspeeder' law. This evidently makes enforcement more lucrative, as I am now seeing many more vehicles pulled over for speeding in Atlanta than at any time in decades.

WOW!!! Are you serious? They call them 'superspeeders'? I don't blame them. Since people like us take 70 to mean 90 on the freeway. Well, there goes my license. Though I am in Texas and I don't know of such law, that is enough to warn me about the constant 90 plus that I do. Thanks for mentioning such. It is time to keep to speed limit.

Hopefully this new laws would keep our higways safer.

I am planning a trip to the Great Canyon. Maybe I can stop by and ask you for the best places to visit while out there.

this summer... hmmm.... Adirondack Mtns (NY), Atlantic City (twice), Philadelphia, Providence (RI), Binghamton (NY a few times), Gettysburg, PA, Meadowlands & Bear Mtn (NY), New England Air Museum (Hartford CT), Battleship Cove (MA), Vanderbuilt Mansion (NY), Catskills - Kaaterskill Falls (NY), FDR Library (NY), Hunter, NY (Catskills), Mt Greylock (MA)

There are more, just can't think clearly now, I'm tired

I wish I had more time to do some road trips. My friend might come up and take a road trip with me to his families estate in New Hampshire, but that's currently undecided.
I was going to go to Columbus, OH and then to Cedar Point and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the end of June, but I'm starting a new job on Aug 9th so I won't want to take extra time off so soon.
I neeeeed to drive somewhere though! I love road trips and haven't gone on one yet this summer. The last one I went on was to DC the weekend after I got my car (back in April)

PetitFrere - The new 'superspeeder' law is a GEORGIA law, not a federal one. But you still don't want to be collecting points on your driver's license, so drive carefully.

You mentioned the 'Great Canyon'. Since I lived in Arizona for a few years in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and visited the Grand Canyon many times back then, I haven't been back since. Too many other places I haven't seen yet.

Back then, I drove my car all the way to the edge of the canyon. I understand that is no longer possible, and that vehicles are now left in Williams, and folks are carried to the Canyon by bus (affordable) or steam train (more expensive, as you are paying for nostalgia).

I have subscribed to Arizona Highways magazine for 53 years, and it is available at all major book stores. You can get lots of ideas by picking up a copy or two. The latest issue (August 2010) discusses the 50 best places in Arizona to visit. Check it out.

My '09 SV Premium/Tech/Nav is my 4th, and BEST Maxima. Since picking it up in September '09 my wife and I have put 22,500 miles on. A trip last Fall up the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive for the colors, then another trip to Norfolk, VA to visit the wifes daughter and son-in-law. The last two weeks of June we did a western tour to the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Durango, Silverton, etc. LOVE the max for road trips. Our problem now is deciding what vehicles to take. We have always toured on our Harley's, but now it is a very difficult choice between the Max and the bikes. We are leaving tomorrow on the bikes for Hot Springs to the State HOG rally and the beautiful rolling hills and winding roads of Arkansas. A great break from the flat lands of Houston! But I am sure our next road trip will be in the Max. Any suggestions?

Took one trip from Atlanta to central Florida several weeks ago. Now taking a second this weekend. My Max was a delight on the trip and made it real easy. At one point on an open road I was cruising at just below 80 when I decided to gently roll on the gas so my daughter would not notice. Seconds later I asked her how fast she though we were going and she said about 70, but the speedo had hit triple digits - smooth! (I quickly backed off after that)

I did notice on the first trip that when I was careful I was getting upward of almost 30 mpg average for the trip. Then when I put on the cruise control that dropped down to between 25-26. Quite a difference for using the cruise. Total for the trip with stops was about 25.5 mpg. I'll see if I can do better this trip as the car now has 3200 miles on it. The less I use the cruise, the higher the mileage.

YES, if you are going through or near Atlanta beware!!! The local news here is that in a effort to raise revenue they are putting speed traps everywhere! The number of cops I see pulling people over has drastically increased in the past weeks. They claim that just doing 5 mph over the limit warrants a stop. So beware!

New Orleans and hit the Tabasco factory on the way by. :)
Do some French Quarter historical tours and the garden district walking tour. #1 tip, don't go further away from the river than Bourbon St. VERY bad element/dangerous to tourists

I'm taking the Max to Tail of the Dragon in early Sept. gotta see how she handles the curves with upgraded suspension. :cool:

Keith...thanks for the suggestion of NOLA. As luck would have it, I consult for a New Orleans company, and spend a lot of time there on business. Have also stopped in at Macelhenies tobasco plant on the way over a few times. Really interesting! You will have a blast on the Tail of the Dragon, just be careful! We did that on the bikes a few year ago. Be sure and stop and take a look at the "tree of shame"...bits and pieces of motorcycles that were scraped up off of the road and hung from the tree...pretty sobering. I see you are from the NE. Would you recommend a Fall trip to the Adirondacks? Thanks!

I went to the Dragon last year with my Civic Si... GOOD times! :)

If you are looking for leaves/fall colors, that is not always the easiest to see. They change further north first and the colors eventually move south.

Do a search on "Fall Foliage maps" or similar. Some forecasts say mid-sept to start.

I recommend getting to Lake Placid. If you can swing it, Ft Ticonderoga in NY. Also, the wineries in the Finger Lakes on NY are a worthy stop. If you are feeling adventurous, Mt Washington road in NH, but that may be closed by that point. Mansions in Newport, RI. There is so much to see/do in the NE region, it will depend on what your interests are.

Cruise control is a fickle thing. On long, open, level roads, it can virtually duplicate the MPG we would get by driving without it. In fact, the way some drivers drive, cruise control would beat their non-cruise control MPG.

But in rolling country, or where other traffic is involved, cruise control takes a real toll on MPG. Cruise control cannot even take advantage of the oldest trick in the book - letting the car pick up extra speed on downhills in order to have extra momentum on the upgrade that follows. Neither can it take advantage of the second-oldest trick - allowing the speed to drop as we approach the top of a hill rather than raising the rpms and sucking gas just to keep from losing a little speed.

My girlfriend and I will be making the annual trip down to Portland, OR this weekend. I split it up over two days going down and rough it out in one day on the way back. It's a 14 hour drive!

This year on the way down we will be staying in a little town called Ponderay, Idaho (Population around 700 I believe) in the always luxurious Howard Johnson. It's funny because on the way down taking the highway 95 through British Columbia and Idaho (turns into US-95 I believe) it's a really beautiful drive but just after Spokane on the I-90 (aka US-395 if I remember right) it's a very desert and desolate drive which reminds me of Highway 2 through Saskatchewan (our Prairie province which is litterally as flat as a pancake). It's quite the odd and nostalgic transition. Also something of note is how mild and relaxed the drivers on the I-205 are. That is quite the break from the crazy aggressive speed demons that rule the streets up here.

The reason I go down there is because that is the location that my parents currently reside. It is always nice to take a week off to see my folks. Also gives me a reason to go on a Maxima road trip.

This is the drive were I got my Personal Record of 32 MPG.

we are taking our girls to sea world in San Antonio next month thats about it for us

well let see from NC to NY to MA, to NH, Main to Vermon then Montreal then back to MA then back to original starting point in NC in 1 week ;):D:):p

love the car and dam it so fast when tried to pass the 18 wheelers...

Beautiful Tybee
 

In Tybee Island off the coast of Georgia and its awesome. I love this place since its not a commercial paradise like Myrtle Beach, etc. I wish I could match the mileage you giys are getting. I managed around 22 but then I like to keep my foot in it :)

Hey, just drove to Mohegan sun in CT from brooklyn NY durning the whole ride i heard cracking sound from back windshield to my side window... is there anything i can do to whats the word...."fix" it?

This is the first time I have seen this problem here on the ORG. Nailing down spurious noises can sometimes be very difficult, especially when they come from parts of the car where nobody else had had such a problem.

You may have to put someone in the back seat and take them for a ride and let them listen and feel around and push and press on things until thay can pin down exactly where the cracking sound is coming from.

I was just browsing the site before heading to bed...yeah at 5am.. oh well. any ways when I wake up in like 3 hrs I'm heading from Long Island to Great Adventure Six Flags in New Jersey. Then to Philly to get some cheesesteaks ;)
Gonna be a fun Sunday!!

thx for the reply.

i rolled down my side windows and it makes cracking sounds going up & down it also appears to make the sound when it passes the middle... and i had my friend drive a little on the way while i sat in the back n i heard it comming from the back left it might of been because of the sunshade...but the side windows are definitely making cracking sounds..

Unlike with intermittent sounds, the cracking noise from the rear door windows seems to be a case where you would be able to easily duplicate the sound for your service manager. I would let him hear it, and turn the fix over to him. I say that because, even if you were able to pinpoint the exact source of the noise, it would probably have to be fixed by the service department removing the door upholstery and getting inside the door anyway.

If you have a separate noise from the rear sunscreen, he could work on that at the same time. I have no noise from either the rear sunscreen or the rear door windows, and neither should you.

Kk! thanks im going take it to the dealer asap.