Stopped by Buckeye Nissan last night for the h@ll of it. Was shocked to find they had 10 new Maxima's onsite.

Bottom line after test driving for 20 minutes -

the Maxima with the 17 inch wheels handles much better than the 4th generation stock, about the same as the 4th with the FSTB and RSB. i threw the car around quite a bit and the body roll was really well controlled for the size of the car

Pick up is smooth and powerful from a standing start - it was an automatic so you have to play with the shifter a little bit to get best performance. i drive a stick now so i'm not really used to the auto's.

i would have to say that with my 4th gen i get similar performance - seat of the pants feel - as the 3.5L - if not better.

at highway speeds 60 to 80 passing, the 2002 did not seem to kick down and give me acceleration right when i wanted it. again, i probably would need to play with the shifter more and get a better feel for the car.

the engine looks significantly different from the 3L, it's mounted a little to the left of center, hmmm?

i was concerned about what the new maxima would look like, although the look of the vehicle was alright - the taillights would taking getting used to

looking forward to a test drive in the 6 speed

Thanks for the feedback--- can never get enough
of those!

I'm going to wait till next month before I test
drive the 02 Max. I can't wait until the 6speed
manual becomes available in October!