NASHVILLE, Tenn. – WardsAuto has named the 2016 Nissan Maxima's new 3.5-liter VQ-series V6 engine to its annual "Wards 10 Best Engines" list for 2016, a prestigious honor that has been a staple in the automotive industry since it first began in 1994. The honor marks Nissan's 17th Wards 10 Best Engines trophy and the auto company's 15th for the VQ-series V6, the most awarded engine in 10 Best Engines history. The Maxima's 300-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 engine will be honored at the Wards 10 Best Engines banquet on Wednesday, January 13, in Detroit.

In selecting this year's winners, WardsAuto editors spent October and November evaluating 31 all-new or improved powertrains available in vehicles on sale in the U.S. with a base price under $61,000 for 2016. No instrumented testing was involved – simply driving to and from home, work, school, and everyday activities. Factors considered include horsepower, torque, comparative specs, noise attenuation, fuel economy and the application of new technology.

"When the 2016 Maxima hit dealerships in May, our team believed this redesigned 3.5-liter V6 engine would be an important piece of the puzzle,"said Pierre Loing, vice president, Product Planning, Nissan North America, Inc. "To be included in Wards 10 Best Engines list is a tribute to the outstanding design, performance and value of our new-generation Nissan Maxima flagship sedan. We thank everyone at Wards for this significant recognition."

Full article can be read at this url:
http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/u...-list-for-2016

Randy

 

Nice catch. Thanks Randy. I sense the same feeling they do with this new Maxima engine. It is so very responsive.

 

It's nice to see the VQ back in the Ward's auto top ten.

This statement in the article has me like

"And we can't recall ever getting 30 mpg from this engine long ago.”

Surely the increase in MPGs of modern cars is mostly due to the number of ratios they can stuff into the gearbox. Case in point, the orignal VQ30DE maxima mated to a 6 speed swap from a 2002 Maxima gets MPGs in the mid 30s. Go figure

 

The new VQ35DE engine is very refined. I do a lot of stop and go driving, my engine isn't past break-in yet and I'm still getting 24mpg. Hit 30 on the highway. It just pulls and pulls, never do I feel like I'm lacking power. Hits the speed limit with ease and fairly quiet too.

 

this. my 01 AE cruises at 3100 RPM @ 80 mph in 5th and just guzzles. now if it was 6 speed then it'd be much lower I still feel the DE-K was the best of the VQ series in FWD platforms

 

The original VQ35 made the list too. Hopefully these newer ones don't burn oil like a sumofabetch.

 

I had a 2000 5 speed with y-pipe, exhaust, cold air intake, and under drive pulley and that thing was fun to drive. The engine was so smooth and pulled all the way to redline.