Well my Maxima dealer has confirmed that my 6spd is about to board the rail car from Vancouver and should be arriving in Toronto in about 8 days. That's the good news. The bad news is that the car will not have the Helical Limited Slip Differential option. Grrrrrrr. My dealer initially spent a fair amount of time convincing me that the car would come with the HLSD option. Now I'm somewhat disappointed and have been told that the car to arrive in eight days nevertheless still comes with "some sort" of a LSD. I've heard otherwise and have been told that the initial production run will have a standard or open type LSD. I've also been given the option to wait until about Feb. 2002 to have the HLSD option. The Feb. date was given since apparently production with HLSD will not start until Jan 2002. At the present I'm very tempted to wait.

Have any of you guys taking delivery of a 6spd Maxima? Could you comment on the differential aspect?

Regards,
Rudy

 

The 6spd I drove today did not seem to have any Torque steer problems, then again I was not comming in and out of corners at high speeds. I think the max will be just fine with out the HLSD. BTW I don't think the one I drove had HLSD or LSD, I could be wrong though, I wish I checked the pedals .

 

Yeah, I'm really torn about the HLSD. Just yesterday I spoke to a friend of mine that has the Type-R Integra which has the HLSD. He swears by it. His wife has a Prelude and he says the "Beater", as they call it, torque steers like crazy. He has also driven his buddies gsr Integra and it torque steers as well. Plus he also raved on about how well the car carves through turns and how it allows you to deliver so much more power to the ground than the prelude and the gsr without getting one of the wheels to spin-up madly, say while coming out of intersection briskly. Also he says that lets say you wanted to SC the Max, HLSD is the way to put down say over 320 hp given the locking ability of the diff (this locking part I don't understand to well but, apparently it's what you need if you want to put down serious hp).

Your right about the pedals. I think that's the easiest way to know whether the car has HLSD.

Regards,
Rudy

 

my 6-spd is at the dealer awaiting me to pick it up. it arrived on monday and my dealer didn't let anyone drive it. he said people were knocking over his doors to drive it. hehe.

 

I was told by my local dealer that production of
the HLSD-equipped 6speed Maximas do not start
until the Dec 01 and January 02 time frame. The
first batch of 6speeds that he's receiving from
Nissan sometime soon (his October batch of 6spds)
DO NOT have HLSD. He informs me that he
cannot even order HLSD-equipped 6 speeds until
next month, 11/01. He also told me that I'll be
lucky to get an HLSD 6speed in January 02, but I
shouldn't be surprised if it actually came
sometime in February 2002!

Happy waiting! That's what I'm doing for now!

 

that's what my dealer told me too and i don't feel like waiting.

 

I'll have to wait till next summer/fall.

 

I've had mine for a week. The torque steer is non-existant on the 6 speed. I went to test drive and was going to hold off for the HLSD. After I drove, I decided that the standard 6 speed was great. This puzzles me. I notice instant torque steer on the automatic.

 

Wolf, is YOUR Max coming into town, or can we expect a big batch going to the dealerships? I wonder if anybody in Canada have seen the 6 speed yet. I am in Calgary and awaiting the delivery of my Max.
By the way, we have some snow accumulation today. If I wait any longer I won't be able to test the 6 speed because trying to go 0-60 in 5.9 seconds in SNOW could be hazardous to one's health.

Wolf, did you get much off MSRP? I didn't but we pay less tax here.

 

I don't think that HLSD would help on the torque steer, but rather it prevents a single wheel from spinning on launch, or the inside drive wheel from spinning in a hard corner.

Torque steer is caused by one front tire getting power before the other (assuming a flat, even road surface). Un-equal length half-shafts (or improperly sized un-equal length half shafts) were the cause of major torque-steer on my old Probe GT turbo. Uneven road surface or gravel causes torque steer as well.

Usually, a "slush-box" dampens out some of the torque steer because the launch through the tranny fluid is smoother and not as harsh as with a flywheel/pressure plate.

My 2K 5 spd loves to spin the inside tire in hard cornering - I'll test drive the new 6 spd now, but I'll be waiting for the HLSD next spring before dropping the coin.

 

My '95 auto torque steers like crazy...modded like it is. It's just something you get used to I guess.

If you really want the HLSD then it's worth waiting. If you're going to keep the car for several years, what's another few months. If they haven't made the HLSD yet, then no one knows if or how much better it will be.

Jim

 

Yeah I managed to take the dealer down to $Cdn 35.8k from the MRSP of $Cdn 36.9k for a fully loaded SE.

I have decided now though to cancel my inital order which, my dealer assured me would come with HLSD, and will have to wait for Jan / Feb delivery. Now the next problem I'll be facing though is that the dealer is going to try to hose me by charging me extra for the HLSD. Fortunately their website lists an MRSP of 36.9 and HLSD as standard.

They are trying everything right now to keep me on the initial order. He went as far as asking me how I intend to drive the car and that I would only notice a difference with the HLSD if I drove like a maniac. Further he added that if I drove the car at the limit he would have to void my warranty. Are these guys for real?

Regards,
Rudy

 

Wolf (Rudy),

First, can I suggest that you buy the car elsewhere if they treat you like that.

Second, did you try Cars4U.com ?
the price there is $34,802.00 for a fully loaded max SE (6 speed).

Tell me what you think about it.

 

If you get no TQ Steer you have LSD, if you get torque steer you do not. That is the 1st way to tell. Now take a turn and accel hard while doing it with the wheels turn one direction does your inside tire spin like mad, or a little and oyu shoot out fast? if spins like mad, you don't have it, if not, you do.

 

TQ steer drastically helps. One tire won't be fighting for traction more than the other which causes the steering wheel to FIGHT YOU, meaning torque steer.

 

34802? ARe you serious? Didn't you get your's at the dealership?

 

ITS AT THE DEALER?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!!??! Why the HELL dont you have it yet?!?!

 

Exactly what I was thinking!

Russ, thanks for the lesson on TQ steer, but I have to admit I allready new all of that stuff .

 

i need to sell mine so that i can have the difference between the loand and the price of the car. if it doesn't sell by next tuesday i'm taking out the loan for the whole amount and i will sell my car then re-write the loan once i sell my car to lower my payments. so if i sell it to the guy who is looking at it tomorrow i will be picking it up if not Nov 3rd for sure.

 

i need to sell mine so that i can have the difference between the loand and the price of the car. if it doesn't sell by next tuesday i'm taking out the loan for the whole amount and i will sell my car then re-write the loan once i sell my car to lower my payments. so if i sell it to the guy who is looking at it tomorrow i will be picking it up if not Nov 3rd for sure.

 

Yes, I got mine at the dealer (on order) for even LESS than that price (not much, 34802 is cost + ~3%). BUT, I decided to wait for the HLSD and since my lease runs out in 1 week, they will lease me a car until the HLSD arrives.

 

Who is your dealer? I stongly advise you to buy from Morningside Nissan. They will mod your car any way you like without voiding the warranty (to good to be true heh? WILL IT IS!!). Speak with Greg (Service Manager)

 

Which dealer gave you that attitude

Wouldn't be surprised if it is Alta or 401 & Dixie Nissan (specially 401)

 

When your salesman said the car would be equipped with HLSD, he may have been manifesting simple ignorance. If so, the dealership made an honest mistake for which they should accept full responsibility. At most, they should feel disappointed the deal fell through.

If the guy was being dishonest, doing whatever it took to sell you a car, well, that behavior (behaviour?) cannot be tolerated! I would not be surprised to see a dishonest salesman, once exposed as such, to resort to intimidation and threats to keep the sale at any cost.

I have heard horror stories about some car dealerships. Some of these are high-pressure environments, where the salesmen are driven *very* hard to meet quotas. They'll lie, cheat, threaten, intimidate, and in extreme cases even resort to violence to sell a car. They will very aggressively prey upon weak and ignorant folks with no self-esteem. In some cases, the entire salesforce at these dealerships are on cocaine, which puts them in the proper frame of mind to use these tactics. With each sale they close, they celebrate their contempt for their completely victimized buyer.

DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THIS GUY! Keep your head straight. I know you hate to give up the car, but that is the right thing to do. If top management is aware of your salesman's tactics, and supports him, move on and don't look back. If you have a local government bureau that monitors and handles consumer complaints, you should report your experience to them. They'll take it from there.