Is this going to happen? Ever? What's the whispers? Nissan is saying and hinting. No one is even discussing it. The XX Anniversary edition is the perfect release, but someone help me out here.

 

The Maxima is already one of the best performing cars in its class. I don't think Nissan has much of an incentive to make a Nismo version. I'm basing this on the competition.

 

But they did the Juke and the 370?

 

unfortunately there's not a market for it, a lot have changed in the past ten years in the advent of crossover, where everyone is flocking to. Right now I think Nissan is only offering the Midnight edition if you have noticed on the website. So real performance is not really a priority for Nissan. More glam and flattery is seem to get people to catch their attention.

 

So I'll wait for the 2020 anniversary edition and have fun under the hood. It would've been a sight to see!

 

They probably did nismo on juke because it's the ugliest car ever built, looks like a frog.

 

I think it performs pretty well as is... IMO, AWD should be an option, because 300hp to the front wheels is something to get used to. To me, AWD is the only other necessity to make this truly a performance car.

 

I'd take AWD too but that would require a totally different platform.

 

how so?

 

Yes, Nissan could convert he Maxima to AWD.

But FWD and AWD platforms and power trains differ. There would be significant engineering changes to PROPERLY convert the Maxima to AWD. But the REAL problem is that converting to AWD would raise the MSRP of the Maxima, and the Maxima is already edging over the point at which Nissan feels it loses its market edge. Another reason is that few Maxima drivers south of the Mason-Dixon line would be interested in an AWD Maxima (just something else to go wrong). I know I would have zero interest. The miniscule 4.5 inch ground clearance of the Maxima means it will not do well off-road or in snow, with or without AWD.

If I really wanted AWD, I would go with the long-proven Subaru platform.

 

Nissan's AWD system, being primarily FWD until the front wheels detect slippage, wouldn't have to change the fundamentals of the drivetrain any substantial amount. And of course, I'm referring to AWD being an option... Not necessarily standard across the board. Like all other Nissan products (minus the GTR).

The biggest "hump" would be creating space for the driveshaft to reach the rear axle.

Off-road definitely isn't what I'm talking about. I live in NYC. Unfortunately, despite its ground clearance, I'll be driving my Maxima in the winter. AWD will definitely help in those instances. Regardless of ground clearance or anything else... AWD will do better than FWD.

But my main reasoning for mentioning AWD in this thread was from a performance standpoint, AWD will really make this Maxima perform in a bit of a higher echelon. I love the way the CVT puts the power down in an extremely smooth fashion, and this car has gobs of power for what it is.... The biggest downfall of this vehicle is the torque steer. AWD will solve that problem, and really make it perform more like a "4-door sports car".

 

Now I understand. You are speaking more to overall 'driving performance' than to offroad or even snow performance.

Going with AWD would enable Nissan to boost the HP of the Maxima, which would be a little 'iffy' for a FWD only Maxima.

 

Yeah... AWD will definitely make the Maxima better in the snow than it is in FWD form, but I was mainly talking about overall traction and power distribution to the ground in more high performance situations. Remove the Torque steer and wheel spin by putting the power down to all 4 wheels, and this car will really feel like a "4DSC"

 

On the current platform, they cannot.

 

There's no reason why they can't. It's not about the platform. The only things physically different about the car would be a physical driveshaft from the front to the rear, and a rear diff. Not much else. This platform could support that if the space would allow for a driveshaft, or if they made any proper adjustments to allow for it. Other than that I don't see any issue with this platform and AWD.

 

Isn't that the point, that the current platform probably doesn't have space for the drive shaft? Rather, that was the intent of my earlier post.

 

Oh, well in that case you definitely have a point. But I'm sure they can hollow out the bottom slightly more if they need to, somehow, rather than redesigning the whole platform...

 

It wasn't physically designed for anything other than FWD. It's already a low volume car, it would cost too much to make the modifications necessary for AWD, it wouldn't be worth it.