I saw a pre-production 2016 Maxima today
04-13-2015, 10:59 AM
#1
I saw a pre-production 2016 Maxima today
I was at the dealer today to have some recalls performed on my Pathfinder and I walked outside a bit because I was bored. I instantly noticed a bunch of salesmen having some sort of meeting which was being led by some dude in a red shirt (not a star trek redshirt lol). My curiosity got the better of me and I quickly noticed they were surrounding a 2016 Maxima. So I stood outside for about an hour eavesdropping on their meeting, listening to this guy explain the details of the car. And to be clear, I was trying to be respectful so I did ask one of the salesmen if it was ok for me to listen in, he assured me it was fine.
I did not hear or remember everything that was said but I will offer some bullet points. To be clear here as well I did get permission from the redshirt to share. I'm not wiki leaks, I always respect nondisclosure when asked to do so.
1. The car IMHO looks MUCH better in person than it does in the pictures. I however did not get a square view from the front of the vehicle, only the passenger side.
2. He talked about the driver awareness feature, many of you are probably aware of this. Most of the sales staff was not.
3. This car was a pre-prodution model, so some things could change before production begins.
4. He discussed differences between some of the trim levels. Most cars get 18" wheels, the SR gets 19" wheels.
5. They kept the center console and command center up high, I suppose to keep the driver from looking away form the road too much. THANK YOU Nissan, some manufacturers are oblivious to this.
6. I did like the look of the interior, what I could actually see.
7. He mentioned something about the seating and that he felt that the Murano has the most comfortable seats. The Maxima seats are similar comfort to the Altima and previous maxima.
8. This car is a bit lighter than the 7th gen and of course by now we all know it has a 300hp VQ35DE.
9. The sun roof appeared to open up and over the roof. Unlike the one in my 5.5 gen which hides away inside the roof.
10. I saw single piston cast steel brake calipers on what appeared to be the same 320mm? rotors from the previous two cars. I guess this must be for cost because the aluminum calipers are usually much lighter.
11. The classic Maxima wheel gap is gone but this is a double edge sword for some. The reason they were able to do this cosmetic change is because the 2016 Maxima is NOT certified to use tire chains. Apparently that is the reason for the 4x4 looking wheel gap on most cars. So you deep North Yankees are pretty much SOL in that regard.
12. LEDs, LEDs and more LEDs everywhere. Various parts of the tail lights, deck lid etc. I did not hear about what was in the front or inside but I assume there are some. This car did have illuminated door sills.
13. Virtually the same chassis as the 7th gen car. This was in response to a couple of questions I asked which I will now get too.
Now for some disappointing news. I really only wanted to know a couple of things that I did not hear him discuss and which is why I didn't pay as close attention as I should have.
My second question was concerning AWD on future models. His answer was that this car being of the same chassis as the last car means that will never happen. However he mentioned a possibility of one of the future models having it and he seemed to imply that Nissan was looking into it.
My first question, and this is the real stinger, I asked the guy if a manual transmission would ever be offered. His answer was essentially this:
"I'm going to be brutally honest with you and the answer is no. And it's not us (Nissan) really making this decision. It's the Federal Government making this decision for us"
He went on to explain that because modern automatic transmissions and CVTs get better fuel mileage than manuals, there will be fewer and fewer manuals offered across the board from ALL manufacturers. It's not that no one wants them, and it's not that no one is willing to make them to cater to the few of us that want them. The issue is that the upcoming CAFE standards are so stringent that basically no one can afford not to push their fleet mileage as high as possible. He explained that the fines are so bad that not even Ford could afford to miss the CAFE targets. It would literally put them out of business.
From this I gather that even the worlds largest manufacturers are terrified of the new CAFE and they're all eagerly willing to chop off a whole arm or leg of sales just to stay in business. I hope that everyone who wants to complain about Nissan's heavy use of CVTs will read this and remember it. They can't afford to care if you hate them, or you're too lazy to adapt to newer and better technologies. They're here to stay, end of story.
From this I'll also deduct the other thing most of us already know. The VQ is on death row. Yes it's a great engine that we all love but it's simply a dinosaur that will not survive in a new world. But hey, I'm willing to live with it, even as conservative as I am. I have asthma so you can imagine that clean air is more important to me than a fun car.
Feel free to ask me questions of things I leave out, I'll answer best I can IF I heard the answers. But I will admit I didn't gather much.
I did not hear or remember everything that was said but I will offer some bullet points. To be clear here as well I did get permission from the redshirt to share. I'm not wiki leaks, I always respect nondisclosure when asked to do so.
1. The car IMHO looks MUCH better in person than it does in the pictures. I however did not get a square view from the front of the vehicle, only the passenger side.
2. He talked about the driver awareness feature, many of you are probably aware of this. Most of the sales staff was not.
3. This car was a pre-prodution model, so some things could change before production begins.
4. He discussed differences between some of the trim levels. Most cars get 18" wheels, the SR gets 19" wheels.
5. They kept the center console and command center up high, I suppose to keep the driver from looking away form the road too much. THANK YOU Nissan, some manufacturers are oblivious to this.
6. I did like the look of the interior, what I could actually see.
7. He mentioned something about the seating and that he felt that the Murano has the most comfortable seats. The Maxima seats are similar comfort to the Altima and previous maxima.
8. This car is a bit lighter than the 7th gen and of course by now we all know it has a 300hp VQ35DE.
9. The sun roof appeared to open up and over the roof. Unlike the one in my 5.5 gen which hides away inside the roof.
10. I saw single piston cast steel brake calipers on what appeared to be the same 320mm? rotors from the previous two cars. I guess this must be for cost because the aluminum calipers are usually much lighter.
11. The classic Maxima wheel gap is gone but this is a double edge sword for some. The reason they were able to do this cosmetic change is because the 2016 Maxima is NOT certified to use tire chains. Apparently that is the reason for the 4x4 looking wheel gap on most cars. So you deep North Yankees are pretty much SOL in that regard.
12. LEDs, LEDs and more LEDs everywhere. Various parts of the tail lights, deck lid etc. I did not hear about what was in the front or inside but I assume there are some. This car did have illuminated door sills.
13. Virtually the same chassis as the 7th gen car. This was in response to a couple of questions I asked which I will now get too.
Now for some disappointing news. I really only wanted to know a couple of things that I did not hear him discuss and which is why I didn't pay as close attention as I should have.
My second question was concerning AWD on future models. His answer was that this car being of the same chassis as the last car means that will never happen. However he mentioned a possibility of one of the future models having it and he seemed to imply that Nissan was looking into it.
My first question, and this is the real stinger, I asked the guy if a manual transmission would ever be offered. His answer was essentially this:
"I'm going to be brutally honest with you and the answer is no. And it's not us (Nissan) really making this decision. It's the Federal Government making this decision for us"
He went on to explain that because modern automatic transmissions and CVTs get better fuel mileage than manuals, there will be fewer and fewer manuals offered across the board from ALL manufacturers. It's not that no one wants them, and it's not that no one is willing to make them to cater to the few of us that want them. The issue is that the upcoming CAFE standards are so stringent that basically no one can afford not to push their fleet mileage as high as possible. He explained that the fines are so bad that not even Ford could afford to miss the CAFE targets. It would literally put them out of business.
From this I gather that even the worlds largest manufacturers are terrified of the new CAFE and they're all eagerly willing to chop off a whole arm or leg of sales just to stay in business. I hope that everyone who wants to complain about Nissan's heavy use of CVTs will read this and remember it. They can't afford to care if you hate them, or you're too lazy to adapt to newer and better technologies. They're here to stay, end of story.
From this I'll also deduct the other thing most of us already know. The VQ is on death row. Yes it's a great engine that we all love but it's simply a dinosaur that will not survive in a new world. But hey, I'm willing to live with it, even as conservative as I am. I have asthma so you can imagine that clean air is more important to me than a fun car.
Feel free to ask me questions of things I leave out, I'll answer best I can IF I heard the answers. But I will admit I didn't gather much.
Last edited by SR20DEN; 04-13-2015 at 11:56 AM.
04-13-2015, 11:26 AM
#2
Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 129
Thanks for posting this! In the past, manuals always got better fuel economy than traditional automatics. Don't know if he was blowing a little smoke there, or not. I've accepted the fact that there will never be a manual for the Maxima. I just hope they can get eventally get all the bugs worked out of the CVT.
Last edited by phattyaltnatl; 04-13-2015 at 11:28 AM.
04-13-2015, 11:28 AM
#3
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Central Iowa
Posts: 836
As won't shock most of us - the "trainer" - seemed unprepared.
The chassis is MUCH changed over the predecessor, with different steels and 25% more torsional rigidity. And the rear suspension is almost a completely new set-up.
From Motor Trend's write up: "Perhaps even more important is a completely new chassis that sheds 82 pounds from the previous model, helping to boost performance further."
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz3XDPSYxtZ
The chassis is MUCH changed over the predecessor, with different steels and 25% more torsional rigidity. And the rear suspension is almost a completely new set-up.
From Motor Trend's write up: "Perhaps even more important is a completely new chassis that sheds 82 pounds from the previous model, helping to boost performance further."
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz3XDPSYxtZ
04-13-2015, 11:47 AM
#4
As won't shock most of us - the "trainer" - seemed unprepared.
The chassis is MUCH changed over the predecessor, with different steels and 25% more torsional rigidity. And the rear suspension is almost a completely new set-up.
From Motor Trend's write up: "Perhaps even more important is a completely new chassis that sheds 82 pounds from the previous model, helping to boost performance further."
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz3XDPSYxtZ
The chassis is MUCH changed over the predecessor, with different steels and 25% more torsional rigidity. And the rear suspension is almost a completely new set-up.
From Motor Trend's write up: "Perhaps even more important is a completely new chassis that sheds 82 pounds from the previous model, helping to boost performance further."
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz3XDPSYxtZ
At least that is the way I interpreted what he meant. I'm not sure to say who's technically correct here. You, him? Perhaps the both of you??
I could not steal away much more of his time for specifics. He did seem eager to discuss with me and answer any questions I had but he was there to train sales staff, not shoot the **** with me.
Last edited by SR20DEN; 04-13-2015 at 11:50 AM.
04-13-2015, 12:19 PM
#6
Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 290
We did discuss the lighter vehicle and the use of stronger and lighter materials. So while many specifics had changed on top of and some underneath the car, this car shares the same basic chassis design as the previous car and to which there is no room or design for an AWD system to be put in place.
At least that is the way I interpreted what he meant. I'm not sure to say who's technically correct here. You, him? Perhaps the both of you??
I could not steal away much more of his time for specifics. He did seem eager to discuss with me and answer any questions I had but he was there to train sales staff, not shoot the **** with me.
At least that is the way I interpreted what he meant. I'm not sure to say who's technically correct here. You, him? Perhaps the both of you??
I could not steal away much more of his time for specifics. He did seem eager to discuss with me and answer any questions I had but he was there to train sales staff, not shoot the **** with me.
04-13-2015, 12:25 PM
#7
That is a great question that I wish I had gathered the answer to. Unfortunately I did not get to visit the inside of the car and even if I had, I did not have my sons rear facing Recaro car seat with me to test.
04-13-2015, 11:03 PM
#8
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: a meadow south of Atlanta
Posts: 8,143
Thanks for posting this! In the past, manuals always got better fuel economy than traditional automatics. Don't know if he was blowing a little smoke there, or not. I've accepted the fact that there will never be a manual for the Maxima. I just hope they can get eventally get all the bugs worked out of the CVT.
And the CVT reliability talk is quickly moving from the world of reality to the world of urban myth. Sure, several here had problems with the 6th gen CVT, and a few here had problems with the 7th gen CVT. But, according to CU reliability tables, other that a significant problem with the latest Altima CVT, Nissan CVTs are now more reliable than automatics.
04-13-2015, 11:08 PM
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: a meadow south of Atlanta
Posts: 8,143
We did discuss the lighter vehicle and the use of stronger and lighter materials. So while many specifics had changed on top of and some underneath the car, this car shares the same basic chassis design as the previous car and to which there is no room or design for an AWD system to be put in place.
At least that is the way I interpreted what he meant. I'm not sure to say who's technically correct here. You, him? Perhaps the both of you??
I could not steal away much more of his time for specifics. He did seem eager to discuss with me and answer any questions I had but he was there to train sales staff, not shoot the **** with me.
At least that is the way I interpreted what he meant. I'm not sure to say who's technically correct here. You, him? Perhaps the both of you??
I could not steal away much more of his time for specifics. He did seem eager to discuss with me and answer any questions I had but he was there to train sales staff, not shoot the **** with me.
04-13-2015, 11:17 PM
#10
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: a meadow south of Atlanta
Posts: 8,143
SR20DEN - Thanks for this very comprehensive coverage. Much here to think about.
The Driver Awareness system is one of almost a dozen things that are available only on the Platinum.
Production has already begun, and new Maximas are piling up in the northeast lot behind the Smyrna assembly plant. But there are often changes during the first few months of production, especially if a problem is uncovered. Nissan needs to have a thousand or so on hand before they begin delivering them to Nissan dealers, of which there are many. I have 23 Nissan dealers within an hour and a half drive of my home.
The roof that appeared to be 'up and over' is the double panel panoramic roof that has been standard on the 7th gen with elite package since June of 2008. It will be standard on the SL and Panoramic on the 2016.
I appreciate that you mentioned that the car looks better in person than in photos. This has been the case with virtually all Maximas since the intro of the 2nd gen.
I'm sure most lights on the 8th gen will be LED. I replaced most interior lights in my 2009 7th gen with LEDs years ago. LEDs are brighter, use less power, and last far longer than bulbs.
All Nissan dealers should have at least one 2016 Maxima available for training between now and mid-May. If anyone here is anxious to see one in person, they need to find out when a 2016 will be at their dealership for training.
The earliest an AWD Maxima would be available would be generation 9, and, although possible, I am not sure we would see one then. This would require a complete chassi redesign, and would add a big bump to the MSRP. Many folks are gradually becoming aware of the many drawbacks of AWD.
The manual is an anachronism that stopped selling on the Maxima around 1998. Forget about a manual Maxima.
The Driver Awareness system is one of almost a dozen things that are available only on the Platinum.
Production has already begun, and new Maximas are piling up in the northeast lot behind the Smyrna assembly plant. But there are often changes during the first few months of production, especially if a problem is uncovered. Nissan needs to have a thousand or so on hand before they begin delivering them to Nissan dealers, of which there are many. I have 23 Nissan dealers within an hour and a half drive of my home.
The roof that appeared to be 'up and over' is the double panel panoramic roof that has been standard on the 7th gen with elite package since June of 2008. It will be standard on the SL and Panoramic on the 2016.
I appreciate that you mentioned that the car looks better in person than in photos. This has been the case with virtually all Maximas since the intro of the 2nd gen.
I'm sure most lights on the 8th gen will be LED. I replaced most interior lights in my 2009 7th gen with LEDs years ago. LEDs are brighter, use less power, and last far longer than bulbs.
All Nissan dealers should have at least one 2016 Maxima available for training between now and mid-May. If anyone here is anxious to see one in person, they need to find out when a 2016 will be at their dealership for training.
The earliest an AWD Maxima would be available would be generation 9, and, although possible, I am not sure we would see one then. This would require a complete chassi redesign, and would add a big bump to the MSRP. Many folks are gradually becoming aware of the many drawbacks of AWD.
The manual is an anachronism that stopped selling on the Maxima around 1998. Forget about a manual Maxima.
Last edited by lightonthehill; 04-13-2015 at 11:34 PM.
04-14-2015, 05:09 AM
#11
I assume you're metaphorically speaking here. If so that is probably about right if not earlier. The last actual car to get the manual option was the MY 2006 (A34, 6th Gen) Maxima. The 2007 MY was the beginning of the CVT for this car.
04-14-2015, 05:03 PM
#16
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: a meadow south of Atlanta
Posts: 8,143
Many Maxima fans were bothered by the dropping of the manual and automatic and the introduction of the CVT with gen 6.5, but my dealer was very happy. He said the CVT might be a hinderance with some buyers, but he would still be able to sell them at a nice profit.
Last edited by lightonthehill; 04-14-2015 at 05:05 PM.
04-14-2015, 07:20 PM
#17
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 28
The A35/A36 Maxima and the L33 Altima are underpinned by the Nissan D Platform...which interestingly enough also underpins both the Z51/Z52 Muranos as well as the R52 Pathfinder and as we all know, both the Murano and the Pathfinder are available with AWD. TBH I don't know, it could be a packaging issue with Nissan's passenger cars that ride on the D Platform or it could be that Nissan simply doesn't see enough of a demand for AWD with the Altima/Maxima, I tend to think it's the latter.
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