Maybe the reason why there is a picture of an Altima, because of the similarities is looks between the Altima and the Maxima. Our eyes can tell the difference.
I do agree that it seems Nissan doesn't care for the Maxima. It has lost a name for itself. They are racing Altimas in Austrailia, That should be Maximas.
Their website combine their names in the heritage page
Nissan Heritage
In some way, I do feel like Maxima is going behind the curtain, similar to I think a VW exec wanting to scrap his predessor's car. (I wish I can remember which car were involved.)

What the author on the site was getting at is that the Maxima doesn't offer much advantage compared to the other cars due to it's recommended Premium gas, and trunk space for its price.

Time will tell of once time gets to the repairs of these cars to determine if they are worth it or not.

 

I'm comparing the CVT to the 7sp auto that comes in the Infinitis, manual >>> any auto for sports driving enjoyment. Unfortunately it's really really hard to find a car with 1. Power 2. Space 3. Refinement 4. Under 40k 5. A manual transmission. Trust me, I know, I tried to find one and all I could find new was a WRX.

So yes, compared to the auto the cvt is no question cheaper, lighter, and has absolutely no gear hunting associated with it. You press down the throttle, the rpms jump up, since there are no gears it puts you right where you want to be in the RPM range every single time you press the throttle, no hunting, period. The Q50 will hunt very easily, I've only driven one auto that I had a hard time making hunt (still would occasionally) and that was an Audi TT. The shifting in the CVT is no better (or worse) in manual mode than any other automatic.

Yes, the CVT is "Weaker" as in you can't turbo the car, you can't bore out the engine, but as a stock car or one with just bolt ons, it is no "weaker" than any auto.

You clearly have some misconceptions about the CVT in this car.

 

I've done some testing on this. The restriction before 30 is essentially the computer creating a first gear for you, it makes you rev through the rpm range just like a geared transmission. If it wasn't for that, your rpms would be at 6k at 2 MPH and you would essentially be red line launching every time, no transmission could handle that over and over again. The 5.6 second 0-60 is on par for a FWD, 3,500lb, 300hp, automatic transmission vehicle. The CVT is not slowing the car down when launched.

I've only gone up to 100 and I haven't noticed any loss of power after 85, if it's there it may be noticeable after 100. I won't hit 100 on the road course I go to, there is absolutely no reason why I need power over 100 mph.

 

Look harder.
EVO is $35K. 291hp, turbo, AWD, 5sp, sedan.
WRX STI is $35k. 302hp, turbo, AWD, 6sp, sedan.
Dodge Charger R/T SCAT PACK is $40K. 485hp, n/a, RWD, 8sp auto, sedan.
Taurus SHO is $40K. 365hp, twin turbo, AWD, 6sp with paddle ****, sedan.
IS350 is $41K. 306hp, N/A, RWD, 8sp with paddle, sedan.

I have seen many turbo engines with CVT.
And they are weaker, till you make more than 1000hp with CVT, STFU. They are not a transmission for power.

As for hunting, my current 6th gen maxima doesn't hunt for a gear. When I hit the gas, it downshifts and takes off. I driven my uncles 7th gen, hated it. What is funny, he loves the car to drive to work, but has more fun driving his old falcon.

CVT are for **** and women. They are not fun to drive.

 

Zillafreak said:
CVT are for **** and women. They are not fun to drive.

I bet your mother is real proud of you after that statement.

 

He said with a manual transmission. Which according to your list adds one car: the Mitsu EVO which is being discontinued.

 

You've listed two cars (one of which I mentioned, the other I couldn't find within 150 miles of me to test drive) that come in a manual, all the others are autos with a manual option which is NOT the same. Anyone that thinks an auto with a manual shift option gives the driver anywhere near the experience of a manual is clueless, which I guess may be you since you clearly have reading deficiencies.

So what I gather from you is that the CVT is terrible because it can't handle 1000 hp, got it, when I'm shopping for a car to mod to 1000 hp I won't get one with a cvt transmission

 

I'm not sure about "Chicken or Egg" but it might be because the Impreza is rumored to be discontinued too.

 

Personally, I think the recall is the biggest problem with the 2016 sales.

 

No reason to speak like that. Either keep it civil or excuse yourself from this thread.
Thanks.
Mr. Moderator

 

I became interested in the CVT over twenty years ago, because it makes so much sense operationally. I suppose that is the physicist in me. A tranny that does not have to shift, when perfected, should have several advantages over shifting trannies, one being fuel economy. With current rising efficiency requirements, fuel efficiency is very important for manufacturers.

But I knew from the beginning that there would be a prolonged period of gradual development during whuich CVTs would not be a solid product. That period has been a little longer than I anticipated. The CVT that appeared in the last few years of the 6th gen was, in my opinion, not truly ready for a car at the Maxima's level. The CVT in the 7th gen was much better, and it was that 7th gen CVT that won me over. The CVT is now my preferred tranny.

Yes, I learned to drive on manuals back in the 1940s, and drove manuals as recently as 1984 (in my 1978 Datsun with 5 speed manual). But today's traffic took all the fun out of the manual for me. It is NOT fun driving a manual over an hour to and from work each day when you are seldom above 20 MPH.

As to the CVT not handling highly hopped up engines or doing well over 100 MPH, that is NOT sports car territory; that is TRACK country, and the Maxima makes no pretension of being a track vehicle. By definition, Solid ROAD HANDLING is the primary focus of a sports car.

 

I thought the CVT was an innovation, and a great thing to have in a car. I knew nothing about them because I havent really driven any "new" cars in a long time. I went from a 2003 Pontiac Grand AM SE2, to a 2011 MaxSV. When I first drove it, I was surprised at the way the CVT worked. I would always prefer a manual tranny in almost any car, especially a Max. I wasnt super pleased the way the CVT performed the first few weeks I drove it until I figured it out and learned to drive with it. I love it. I love it better than other auto trans I've driven. Still really wished they would have gone 6-sp manual in the 8th gen but oh well.

As far as the price dropping, I hope it does! I only have 47K on my Max so it will be at least a couple years until I'm ready to buy again...by that time the 2018s-2019s will be out, and I could prob get a sweet deal on a '16 or something.

 

Absolutely, I'm an engineer and the CVT concept just makes sense. I wish someone would take the time to design one for track use that could withstand the power and abuse. Very few automatic transmissions can handle the abuse of a high powered track car for long and the ones that can are very expensive to produce. Not a transmission you'll ever see in a stock car under $40k.

 

Yes, but just because it makes sense from an engineering standpoint doesn't mean it is useful, desirable or usable.

I have to drive one to see. However I am seeing the same issue popping up here on a 36-40K car that my Fusion has. Kinda muted my desire for the time being until I see how people fair.

 

Well not really, a sports car is car that does everything well performance wise aka balanced. For the most part they have; great handling, good firm stable ride, quick acceleration, good braking and brake feel, great steering feel and feedback. Its all about a perfect balance for a sports car. Most good sports cars are pretty good at all, ex. C7 Vette.

 

Not sure where you heard that but it's far from the truth.

 

Magazine, but it probably was misinformation/misinterpretation. I looked it up and the Impreza was going to end sales in the UK
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/subaru/...and-impreza-uk

 

Sorry, but I have agree with the original poster. Almost $40K for a new max with no manual trans option -or- spend @ $42K on a 10,000 mile used Audi S4 with a sweet 6-speed manual....the answer is easy to me. Also, before everyone labels me some type of Nissan hater know that I have owned 2 Max's and a G37S, loved them all.

Sorry, the new max looks nice, and I like the ventilated seats, but other than that it is just another automatic transmission sedan....like a Camry or Fusion. If you like yours then more power to you....that is why they make lots of different cars, so everyone can be happy.....but not for me.

Also, side note, what is up with no sunroof on an SR. Bad form for a supposed 4DSC.

 

They claim its to keep "structural rigidity" down....but we all know most all good "sports sedans" out there have sunroofs. Maxima SV Sports/SE's did fine in the past with sunroofs! They did another gimmicky thing with the 7th gen SV Sports, "Rear-seat trunk pass-through (replaces 60/40 split fold-down seats)" to help with rigidity..... No its back on the Sports edition for 16......

 

Not saying the SR shouldn't have a sunroof, but in order for the sunroof not to decrease structural rigidity, it would need a good amount of extra reinforcement. Extra reinforcement equates to additional weight over what the the extra weight the sunroof requires anyway. As we all know, extra weight is bad, extra weight on the roof is really bad.

Granted, I doubt most people would be able to tell a difference on public roads anyway.

 

What on earth are you talking about? Making sense from an engineering standpoint is exactly the same thing as useful, desirable, and usable.

Good engineering is always about making the right design decisions for a certain use case. In this case, it's a family sedan. Good fuel economy, reliability and comfort, are the points that they tried to hit.

 

Or you could take pointers from manufacturers that know how to make the happy compromise between the two, even guys from its own corporate brother Infiniti. When they do add the sunroof to the SR I'm sure that it will be basic sunroof from the 7th gen that does not nearly compromise "rigidity" as the dual panoramic sunroof on the SL/Platinum.

 

That is in the UK, doesn't apply to the USA.

 

Hmmm...reading this article sounds like the 2016 Max is not what you would call a family car. Is that a negative?

 

What gives it away?

 

To those who have always been 'on top' of the Maxima situation, not much about that car says 'Maxima.' To casual bystanders, that grille is totally different than the Maxima grille. Also, the sculpting and headlights and other aspects are different than the Maxima. The 8th gen Maxima is very edgy, with lots of 'sharpness', while the Altima is generally less edgy, less 'avant guarde', and looks more like the average car we see on the road.

All those differences are why the Altima is not a 'head turner', but the 8th gen Maxima gets looks and even talk everywhere I take it.

 

The phrase is "all said and done"

 

Why would you want to be limited to only 7 ratios when a CVT is unlimited rations. 3 speed auto used to be the norm. They keep adding ratios. CVT already has that.

 

Mine pulled hard to 130, when I had enough.

 

The 8th gen drives fairly different than the 7th in terms of the CVT- it feels better- its not an 8 speed auto- but its got a good sense of the road to it.

 

It's interesting this thread originally died out almost a year ago. Right around the time professional and customer reviews were really starting to pour in. While very few agreed with the "4DSC" moniker, almost across the board they consider this CVT to be a highly capable and lively engine. Often said to be the best CVT they've ever driven. I've test driven and I hope to be behind the wheel of one soon.

 

Everyone has there own opinion of the 2016 Maxima now going to be 2017 Maxima. Well I think this is one great car. One comment I received about my 2016 Maxima Plat. says it all, your car looks like its going 80mph standing still !

Also from what I can tell sales are on target or meeting Nissan's expectations.
I have been monitoring monthly sales figures since car has been introduced June 2015. Nissan Maxima sales climbed to 5,990, up 44 percent for July 2016
and has seen a YTD increase of 97%. Nissan has been targeting around 65,000 to 70,000 units per yr. So if thats a failure so be it. I for one love my Max.


Randy

 

Agree. Those lamenting that Maxima sales are 'down' from the Maxima they loved back in bygone days somehow missed the well-publicized fact that Nissan announced almost fifteen years ago that they were taking the Maxima upscale, adding more luxury, making it the Nissan flagship, putting it in a higher price category, and aiming for around 70K sales per model year.

There will always be naysayers on anything, but it tells me something when Motor Week, which has never been a fan of FWD or the CVT, nevertheless picked the 2016 Maxima as their sports sedan of the year, saying Nissan had negated most of the shortcomings of FWD and the CVT in this vehicle, and that this was easily the best Nissan sedan they had ever tested.

 

That picture is definitely not a Maxima. I love my Platinum. And as an aside, I lived in Philly for many years, still follow all of their teams religiously, but think the Inquirer's online website is garbage.

 

I drove a Altima home the night before i got my Max and there is no comparison outside the Nissan badges. This car is balanced, cant take car reviewers word for it, if i did i would be in something else. I test drove them all but ended up with Max because it made the most sense. If you plan racing the car , racing on public roads you might want to get something else. Normal driving and occasional stepping down on the gas will be just fine in this car. Plus women love it standing still and when women love your ride, things seem to go well for you when you park it.

 

i love my platinum and dont need validation from inaccurate news articles [/QUOTE]
DITTO!

 

I have had my 16 Platinum for over a week and I'm very content with it. The options are a little much (I didnt WANT the platinum but the deal was there) but it drives great- like the infotainment system- its comfortable.

My only complaint is the color- I went with the super black and thats the one color I didn't want due to the issues with keeping it clean. It LOOKS great- but will it hold up over time? Hopefully.

 

Hey MLS277 when you say too many options can you explain?? I am looking at a Plat and a SL tomorrow and just trying to gauge if the PLAT is really worth the additional costs.

 

anyone install navtool interface mirroring in maxima 2016 ?
i need more information about pluging wires
thankyou

 

Well HA HA on the misinformed guy who wrote this article (well his praise points are deserved anyway). The Max is back in '19, unlike about 80% of the "competitors" mentioned (some way over the price of a loaded Max). They are being eliminated 'cause they ain't got what the Max got! I just love my "sport luxury" mobile.