I passed 1200 miles during the work week, and decided to take a road trip to Vegas. To say I was impressed with the road manners of the Maxima would be a severe understatement.

During a little spirited negotiation of US-93 between Kingman and the Hoover Dam, the Maxima really shows its strengths. The car was flat and stable through the twisties. Body roll was minimal and front to back balance just kind of dared me to go faster. No push, and certainly no oversteer. I wasn't exactly pushing it to the limits; however, it felt like the harder I pushed it, the more stable it felt. It reminded me of my VFR800 in that regard.

Uphill power was abundant, and downhill speed management is a cinch with a flip of the paddle.

The interior shined too: Perfectly comfortable in the driver's seat after 4+ hours on the road. On nice surfaces, the cabin is surprisingly quiet. I'd say it's as good or better than the 2007 BMW 530i I traded for this car. From day one, the BMW moonroof rattled and presented audible wind noise unless the shade was drawn. Not so with the Maxima, just dead quiet up there.

I think this car is a remarkable balance between a sedan and sports car. It's obviously not at the top of either class, but it sure as hell blends the categories well. Ya, I'll keep this one for a while.

To top it all off, I made $100 playing Roulette--so free gas money for the trip and I get to enjoy the spectacular Southwest highways again for four more hours tomorrow. Life is good.

 

What part of PHX are you from?

 

Sounds like a good time. I plan to drive mine from Akron to Sarasota in October.

 

Wow that does sound fun. Im actually getting prepared for the mother of all road trips at the beginning of July. Gonna put my 09 sport sv to the test. Starting out from Bham, Al and heading west west west! Ill mention just a few stops...Vegas, San Fran, LA, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and on and on. Gonna round out about 7000 miles total in about 3 weeks!! Hope she does me good.

 

i drove my SV Sport from Buffalo NY to Myrtle Beach SC around Easter time.....approx. 825 miles each way. I was also surprised and the overall comfort and feel. My wife loved it she put the seat heater on low and slept a good portion of the way....Thru the hills of the Virginia's the car was great and I found myself not being as fatigued as previous shorter trips in other cars....surprisingly decent gas mileage as well

 

I have had mine thru the smoky mountains a couple of times, on US441, over the top of ole smoky, love driving it around all the twisties, ups and downs and using the paddles on the long downgrades, really a lot of fun driving it,

 

I just drove from ATL to NYC 900 miles, car drives great no issues what so ever, hated the last 200 miles but that is normal, except for the crappy gas mileage, not really what can you expect from a car with the cruise set to 82 most of the way

 

You're in for a real treat. So many great roads in the West.

Peoria.

I've spent a lot of hours riding my VFR and my Harley on the Blue Ridge, and Ole Smoky. I've stayed in cabins on the Pigeon Forge side and motels on the Cherokee side. There are so many awesome roads in that area. I'm sure the Maxima shines in that geo too.