Hey, I just bought my first Maxima...a 2011 SV. I love it so far. I've only had it 4 days and I'm new to the CVT. Its technically a 1 gear tranny??? How does it work in layman's terms? Forgive my ignorance to all the pros here. I'm not completely ignorant to cars, but I've never owned one this new, or this technologically advanced. Can ya'll give me some driving advice for this engine, and CVT. I love fast cars and driving somewhat speedy. I dont drive like an A-hole though and dangerous. When I pulled off the lot and onto the interstate, I was instantly impressed with the engine! Nice accel and feels like good torque too! There are lots of hilly, curvy roads where I live and the past couple days have been a blast driving. Also, I've always put K&N air filters in my cars. Will it affect any warranties in any way? How do you feel about one in the Max, for those that have one? Thanks in advance for any info/advice ya'll can give me.

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cvt.htm
A K&N filter will not void your warranty. Welcome to the group.

 

Welcome aboard! As stated, you'll be fine with a K&N. I just installed the drop in filter with the OEM intake. I took off the Stillen intake I previously had. Car is quieter, which I missed, & seems to pull better off the line.

 

The transmission takes a LONG time to really sort out. It does take a long time to really get used to and figure out its ways. One thing that I have learned - if you really want impressive acceleration, hit the pedal down about 2/3rd to 3/4ths of the way quickly, hold there for just a second or two, then floor it. This is when driving around 30-50mph or so. With normal driving, the torque converter on these cars lock up at 11mph (slightly higher sometimes). If it's unlocked, revs bounce up sharply with very little throttle input. Others think it's just the worst transmission every built. I love it and I think it's the best transmission I've ever came across. Play around with manual mode, temp manual mode and Ds mode. If you really want a boost, put it in Ds, shift into 1st, hit it to the floor and just when it gets to redline, smack the shifter into D. It will hit a true 6500rpm. At 140,000 miles, I've not been nice to my 2010 Max SV, but it's been the most reliable car I've ever owned and cheapest on maintenance.

You can spend the extra money on a K&N filter, it probably will not pull in any extra dirt or grime, but realistically, there is absolutely no difference in performance or flow rate between K&N filters and even paper filters. I.e., the K&N will not make a difference in power.

 

Just to clarify.....I also agree that the drop in K&N filter does not really make a power difference. What I posted about was the difference between the Stillen intake vs the stock intake. The stock intake feels better off the line.

 

Never had a problem adjusting to the CVT. I like it quite a bit and always drive in D mode. Heres how it works:
If you want to accelerate slowly just push the accelerator down a little bit
If you want to accelerate quickly push the accelerator down even more
If you want to go fast, mash it to the floor!!!

The K&N is a matter of opinion. No power to be gained, and it will not filter as well as a paper filter. My opinion is they dont offer any benefit to a well tuned passenger car.

If your building a race engine and every bit of air counts then yes, a cotton filter like a K&N or BMC will help make more power...

 

Am I the only one who keeps his car in ds mode? Just find it as more of a traditional auto With the shifting of gears. Btw rs-r springs are the ****!!!

 

I put in Ds mode at times. It's fun while driving around the winding roads in the local mountains.

Glad to hear the springs are working out!

 

Hmm...I'm not sure what a "modes" I have, but I thought I only had the traditional "drive", then if I wanted it in the clutchless manual, you can push it left into the manual mode...which I havent tried out yet. Am I missing something, or are there just two drive modes.

It is taking me some getting used to with the CVT. I do love the acceleration at higher speeds. Yesterday on the way home on the interstate, I passed someone going 60 in the left lane and prob looked like an A-hole the way I shot by them and back over.

 

Ok - get ready for a long read. This transmission has 4 modes. Drive, temporary manual mode, sport mode and manual mode.

Drive - speaks for itself - put it in D and let it go. The torque converter on these transmissions lock up at 11mph (if you aren't aggressive on the throttle) and unlock around the same speed. You may feel a slight jolt when coming to a stop, sometimes - normal. Going down hills, this transmission has a SUPERB downgrade logic. In D mode it will rev the engine up so that it is "gearing down" or in truth, lowering the ratio to keep you from speeding up using engine braking. The opposite applies when going uphill (regardless of throttle input, engine revs increase when going uphill). Up to about 40mph, when easy on the throttle on mostly level ground, you'll be revving about 1250rpm (sometimes lower).

Temporary manual mode - if you are in D and you use the paddle shifters, the transmission will SIMULATE gears - you can shift from 1st all the way to 6th gear, back and forth, depending on speed. I use this ALL the time. For example, if you are getting off an exit on interstate and slowing down, I downshift to (simulated) 5th gear to help slow me down. In temporary manual mode, it will stay in the "gear" you put it in temporarily. IF you are going uphill, downhill, or are somehow jacking around with the throttle, it will stay in the gear you select as long as you are fiddling around with it. However, if you are on level ground and being easy on the throttle, it will hold the "gear" you selected for about 5 seconds and will automatically go back into D mode (watch your dash because it will tell you). What I'm saying is that it can tell if you really NEED or WANT it to stay in the "gear" you have selected. If the computer can tell that you DO NOT need for it to remain in the gear you have selected, then it will default back to D mode. I have no idea how they figured this out, but Nissan nailed it. You need to just play around with it to understand.

Ds (sport) mode - If you slip the shifter to the left into Ds mode, the dash will say "Ds". It simulates gears, also. If you are accelerating quickly, it will simulate gears and give you the feel of a traditional automatic shifting. If you are really driving the car very aggressively, this is where you need the transmission. It will do odd (kind of cool) stuff, such as rev the engine higher to around 3000-4000rpm if you plow on the brakes, corner aggressively and obviously accelerate quickly. This is NOT the fastest mode for off-the-line acceleration. D mode is always best for off-the-line WOT acceleration because it gets to redline (actually just off-redline) and stays at that rpm (about 6200rpm) for peak HP. Ds is super for city-driving. Throttle response is much crisper - if you smack the throttle down quickly, revs bounce up faster and acceleration is better. I just don't use this mode for interstate driving because D is best, but anything up to around 60mph and lower is good improvement in acceleration for part-throttle acceleration.

Manual mode - If you put the gear selector into Ds and leave it, then refer to above. However, if you select a "gear" with the paddles or with the gear shifter by moving it up or down (same difference) then following applies. It will stay in the "gear" you have selected permanently (unless it "upshifts" because you are going too fast for the "gear" you selected). You need to just play around with this. If you are accelerating normally and you aren't aggressive with it, then you can "upshift" and there is no feeling or sensation of shifting (that is, accelerate from a stop normally and just pull the "upshift" paddle over and over and over again....you'll see how it does). That is, the transmission just smoothly ratios up like you're in drive. I use this mode sometimes, but not frequently. I really don't use this mode, much. It works as desired and it's fun sometimes. If I am using the paddles, then it's in TEMPORARY manual mode usually. The paddles do the same thing in manual mode and temp manual mode, but temp manual mode will default back to D after it has decided that you are done messing around with it (and it's pretty damn good at knowing).

These transmission are manufactured by JATCO (Japanese Transmission Company). We have the JATCO JF010E http://www.jatco.co.jp/ENGLISH/products/cvt/jf010e.html

Great transmissions, but the programming by Nissan is what makes it stellar. There are over 700 "shift" algorithm's programmed by Nissan.

Hope this helps!

Late,
Travis

 

That was a good read....good info. Thanks. I dont have paddle shifters on my Max. Its a CV, but not the sport package. I just have the plain **** shifter. I didnt know the Max made models with paddle shifters. That's cool. I did check out the Ds mode and the manual mode over the weekend. The Ds mode felt like it retained higher RPMs going through curves at about 45-60mph while braking and accelerating. I did notice that in plain D mode, that if I'm just in normal traffic at a light and Im not pushing the gas down much, it seems to be very unresponsive starting out....at low speed. It seems stagnate like its getting "hung up" or something. It makes me want to push the gas down so I dont have such a slow start. I guess its the CVT I just need to get used to?

 

Also, I was getting on it a bit this morning. Hauling some azz, but nothing over 4-5k rpms. I was going about 75-80 on the freeway, and when I came to a stop at a redlight, I got this smell in my car....kind of like a burnt peanut/electrical motor burning/chemicaly smell. Nothing that I'd compare to a sulphury/rotton egg smell. I did a search in the forum and all I could really find was the cat, precat issue. This is a little different.

At the next light I could smell it again. The air is on fresh, A/C off, heater off. I thought it might be some cars in front of me I was sucking in their smell, but when I turned into my parking lot, I could smell it again when I parked. Its not real strong, but I just bought the car 9 days ago so its bothering the hell out of me. I'll go back out and check it out again on my much break. Anybody else gotten this before?