First Road Trip With the Maxima
02-20-2012, 07:41 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Strong Island
Posts: 55
First Road Trip With the Maxima
So, I decided to take a long weekend with the family and head up to my Aunts Ski House in the Berkshires in Mass. I couldnt decide if I wanted to take my beast of a pickup (which my wife hates cause its very loud and noise with mud terrains) or the Max. I decided even though I make take a chance getting stuck on a snowy dirt mountain road I would risk it so I could test out the max on road trips.
I immediately missed my Armada when packing our luggage especially since my wife and I tend to over pack and with the wacky temperatures this winter we empties our drawers into two giant duffle bags and some smaller luggage for toiletry and my sons toys... 2 my surprise everything did fit snug but it worked out now that we do not need any strollers or packnplays...
I filled up the max with Hess 93, reset the trip odometer and fuel mileage gauge and off we went. I figured it would take around 3.5 hours non-stop with no traffic through the city. We only stopped once and cruised around 75 mph the entire way.
Being a big guy I thought on a long trip I would feel cramped but it was completely opposite. This was the first road trip I have been on in my adult life that did not include driving a full size SUV or full size pick up. I must say this was much easier navigate and zip along the interstate with ease. The car rode with minimal road noise. Its a pleasure passing slow moving vehicles with ease and visability was very good. I also noticed alot more comfort in with the climate control in this car versus my previous vehicle. Normally on road trips I am always adjusting, hot, cold etc. but with the max I was comfortable the entire way. I wish the lumbar would extend further but the seat extender was cool.
I averaged around 26 mpg on my way up when we got to the mountain the house is on, it navigated the frozen dirt road much better than I expected. Without that much snow it looked like I took the maxima offroading. I was panicking that I didnt want anyone to brush against the car and scratch the paint.
The best part of my trip was going to pick up groceries in Town about 30 minutes from the ski house. I went by myself and for the first time let the Maxima really go hard. The windy mountain roads were awesome and for the first time in my life I truly felt like I was driving a sports car. On a few stretches I got it up going quite fast and had to back her off worried about some animal crossing the road... It was the best hour drive I ever took. I felt like I was in one of those Suburu commercials on the radio. I didnt want to go back to the house.
On the way home from the trip I took her easy and with half a tank left reset the fuel mileage and averaged a whopping 28 mpg (coming form SUVs that was unheard of in my history). When I got home I filled her up with 89 to test out the difference. Even with only 16 miles to empty as indicated she only took about 17 gallons... Still a mystery there on fuel tank size...
Below are some of the dirty max photos...
Ahhh, much better all clean. Took her in the backyard to wash her so I didnt dirty the driveway with mud. It was really caked up in the wheel wells. Need to drive her around in a good rain to clean the undercarriage.
I immediately missed my Armada when packing our luggage especially since my wife and I tend to over pack and with the wacky temperatures this winter we empties our drawers into two giant duffle bags and some smaller luggage for toiletry and my sons toys... 2 my surprise everything did fit snug but it worked out now that we do not need any strollers or packnplays...
I filled up the max with Hess 93, reset the trip odometer and fuel mileage gauge and off we went. I figured it would take around 3.5 hours non-stop with no traffic through the city. We only stopped once and cruised around 75 mph the entire way.
Being a big guy I thought on a long trip I would feel cramped but it was completely opposite. This was the first road trip I have been on in my adult life that did not include driving a full size SUV or full size pick up. I must say this was much easier navigate and zip along the interstate with ease. The car rode with minimal road noise. Its a pleasure passing slow moving vehicles with ease and visability was very good. I also noticed alot more comfort in with the climate control in this car versus my previous vehicle. Normally on road trips I am always adjusting, hot, cold etc. but with the max I was comfortable the entire way. I wish the lumbar would extend further but the seat extender was cool.
I averaged around 26 mpg on my way up when we got to the mountain the house is on, it navigated the frozen dirt road much better than I expected. Without that much snow it looked like I took the maxima offroading. I was panicking that I didnt want anyone to brush against the car and scratch the paint.
The best part of my trip was going to pick up groceries in Town about 30 minutes from the ski house. I went by myself and for the first time let the Maxima really go hard. The windy mountain roads were awesome and for the first time in my life I truly felt like I was driving a sports car. On a few stretches I got it up going quite fast and had to back her off worried about some animal crossing the road... It was the best hour drive I ever took. I felt like I was in one of those Suburu commercials on the radio. I didnt want to go back to the house.
On the way home from the trip I took her easy and with half a tank left reset the fuel mileage and averaged a whopping 28 mpg (coming form SUVs that was unheard of in my history). When I got home I filled her up with 89 to test out the difference. Even with only 16 miles to empty as indicated she only took about 17 gallons... Still a mystery there on fuel tank size...
Below are some of the dirty max photos...
Ahhh, much better all clean. Took her in the backyard to wash her so I didnt dirty the driveway with mud. It was really caked up in the wheel wells. Need to drive her around in a good rain to clean the undercarriage.
Last edited by jjklongisland; 02-20-2012 at 07:45 AM.
02-20-2012, 10:03 AM
#4
Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 148
The fuel tank size isn't really a mystery, the tanks are designed to keep a few extra gallons around to keep the pump cool. If you were to run it dry you would risk damaging some expensive stuff. The real mystery is where the car decides to call it "empty". Occasionally my empty is 15 gallons, other times it is 17 gallons and can be anything in between. I have noticed that it started higher, 17 gallons when I first bought it, and recently has dropped between 15-16 gallons, I am now at 52K on a 2010. I wouldn't worry to much about it. When it is "empty" according the guage just top it off and trust the mileage calculations based upon how many miles you drove and how much gas it took to fill it up instead of what the car says.
02-20-2012, 10:41 AM
#5
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Strong Island
Posts: 55
The fuel tank size isn't really a mystery, the tanks are designed to keep a few extra gallons around to keep the pump cool. If you were to run it dry you would risk damaging some expensive stuff. The real mystery is where the car decides to call it "empty". Occasionally my empty is 15 gallons, other times it is 17 gallons and can be anything in between. I have noticed that it started higher, 17 gallons when I first bought it, and recently has dropped between 15-16 gallons, I am now at 52K on a 2010. I wouldn't worry to much about it. When it is "empty" according the guage just top it off and trust the mileage calculations based upon how many miles you drove and how much gas it took to fill it up instead of what the car says.
02-20-2012, 10:54 AM
#6
I hear ya, I read a little about it on the other posts... Its just odd. Never heard of a false empty reading to protect the fuel pump from overheating... So what you are saying is anyone that actually runs out of gas in this car has to be a complete imbecile since there is still 5 gallons in the car even when it says empty... sounds fishy... lol
02-20-2012, 11:35 AM
#7
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Strong Island
Posts: 55
The closest I came was when I was in high school and my 87 Cutlass ran out of gas at the top of a hill. The motor quit and it just made it over the crest for me to coast into the gas station... So technically I never ran out of gas...
02-20-2012, 08:03 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: a meadow south of Atlanta
Posts: 8,143
For those of us who like to run their tank down to the last two gallons or so, take my advice and DON'T DO THIS. Younger drivers may not have endured the experiences us older drivers have (I have been driving since 1944, legally since 1949), and I have sometimes posted the details of several sagas here on the ORG that would break your heart. These resulted not from letting my car run out of gas, but simply from letting the tank run low.
Without repeating all those sad stories, I will just say we should always keep in mind that gas pumps do not work during power outages, and power outages are becoming more and more frequent as our weather gets progressively wilder. Also keep in mind that if you get stuck overnight on a snowy highway with temps below freezing, and only the car heater to keep you and your family from freezing, having only two or three gallons of gas in the tank is not comforting.
02-20-2012, 08:28 PM
#9
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Strong Island
Posts: 55
True. I found my '04 Maxima SL was set up this same way, and was glad. I never intend to let my tank get below 1/4 tank, so appreciate the early reminder.
For those of us who like to run their tank down to the last two gallons or so, take my advice and DON'T DO THIS. Younger drivers may not have endured the experiences us older drivers have (I have been driving since 1944, legally since 1949), and I have sometimes posted the details of several sagas here on the ORG that would break your heart. These resulted not from letting my car run out of gas, but simply from letting the tank run low.
Without repeating all those sad stories, I will just say we should always keep in mind that gas pumps do not work during power outages, and power outages are becoming more and more frequent as our weather gets progressively wilder. Also keep in mind that if you get stuck overnight on a snowy highway with temps below freezing, and only the car heater to keep you and your family from freezing, having only two or three gallons of gas in the tank is not comforting.
For those of us who like to run their tank down to the last two gallons or so, take my advice and DON'T DO THIS. Younger drivers may not have endured the experiences us older drivers have (I have been driving since 1944, legally since 1949), and I have sometimes posted the details of several sagas here on the ORG that would break your heart. These resulted not from letting my car run out of gas, but simply from letting the tank run low.
Without repeating all those sad stories, I will just say we should always keep in mind that gas pumps do not work during power outages, and power outages are becoming more and more frequent as our weather gets progressively wilder. Also keep in mind that if you get stuck overnight on a snowy highway with temps below freezing, and only the car heater to keep you and your family from freezing, having only two or three gallons of gas in the tank is not comforting.
02-20-2012, 08:33 PM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: a meadow south of Atlanta
Posts: 8,143
By the way, nice trip report. After reading it, I almost felt I had just returned from a great New England vacation. It was interesting to read of the transition of an SUV-type driver to a sporty sedan. There is quite a difference in those two vehicles.
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