i was at a dealer in philly and he told me to google the 2009 maxima and i will see a picture of a teal one only thing i found was the intima then i looked at the spy shots and got to thinking. they share some of same lines other then door and tail light flip so maybe it is what you think?





plus you got to admit when you first saw this concept first thing you saw was maxima

 

I honestly do not like that Intima. It's just too much. It looks to me that the spy shots of the new Max are good. I can't wait to see the finished product!

 

yea the intima was over the top version but production wise it has some of the same lines just curve the bumpers in back and front

 

I see the Intima concept lines as classically Oriental, clearly designed in Japan.

I see the Maxima in the spy shot as a cross between American and European style, with the rear reminding me of a BMW.

I much prefer the latter.

 

Did they borrow that trunk lid from a 7-series?

 

i bet you will see some intima in the 09 maxima next month

 

Next month? Does it debut at an auto show somewhere?

 

yup the new max will debut at the NY autoshow (3/18-19)but pics and specs should start leaking in a few days before then.
the new max is pushing 290 and still has the cvt (tlked 2 an insider)

 

well i suppose Another Repost about both should be all in one REPOST

 

suicide doors???

 

Cant wait until March.....

 

Grand hustle17 - Not to worry. Suicide doors are not legal in the U.S., and are just one of many things on that 'Aquamobile' that would never be considered for the U.S. designed Maxima.

The Aquamobile is purely oriental, and not connected to the American designed and Smyrna-built Maxima. In exactly three weeks (March 19), if not sooner, I will be able to prove that to you.

 

Since when? You do know there are and have been production cars with them

 

At 290, is that the highest FWD output for a car out of the factory? I wonder if its been moved up to 7.5" or 8" -wide wheels...

 

when was the last production year you saw a suicide car? laws change.

Well seeing that the 6th gen already had 7.5" wheels since 2003.... I'd say extremely likely. And I believe other FWD cars have already hit 290 or higher.

 

Oh ok. My 6th gen knowledge is uhh... limited.

Yeah I have now looked up some older Italian and American cars that were >290 and FWD.

 

kzoosho - I'm not sure when suicide doors became illegal. I know I rode in quite a few cars with suicide doors during the 1930s, but I owned, drove and viewed quite a few cars during the late 1940s and the 1950s, and I don't recall any American production cars with suicide doors during that time period. I don't know whether the demise of suicide doors occurred before regulations were passed, or as a result of regulations. At any rate, you can forget suicide doors on any American production car for eternity.

 

Mazda RX-8, Saturn coupe, pickups, etc......those are all suicide doors. Even the sliding doors on a minivan are rear-opeining doors like suicides (though they slide rather than hinge).

I don't see any reason they would be illegal. But they'e stupid IMO, since front and rear passengers getting out in a tight parking spot would be "trapped" between the doors, lol....

 

but would those be considered full doors that open independently?

 

why does it matter? regular doors have secondary safety catches, so it's not like they'd fly open.

the argument is academic though. On a sedan with full-size doors, suicide setup is impractical because the "traffic jam" effect when all front and rear passengers are trying to exit at the same time.

 

I'm talking FOUR DOOR SEDAN doors. Just like in the picture that started the thread. Our pickups in our auto storage shed out back have rear doors that open at the front, BUT they cannot open until the front doors open. In NO WAY could they (or any other 'half-door') ever be considered 'suicide doors.'

Suicide doors are NOT simply an opening that hinges at the back; they are a full size door that opens independently of any other door, and also hinges at the back. I still insist we have not seen those on any American sedan in decades, and never will. Regulations would not allow anything so dangerous.

 

NOT ILLEGAL!! just rare and also considered a high luxury!! You wont see this on any car as a full sized door under a 100K!!

 

Or on any four door sedan made in America at any price. Ever again.

 

well the idea of "suicide doors" came from somewhere. There have been many cars made that had "suicide doors". And most of the cars in America might be assembled here but the idea and design of them come from else where. actually we Americans invent almost nothing, our ideas are adaptation from other ideas. But ill tell you this, in automobile history there are many cars that had these" suicide doors" in our great country. You might not have seen them with your eyes but none of us have been around to witness all history.

Read up buddy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_door

 

so i horribly incorrect respost turned into a fountain of misinformation...

the rumored maxima in camo is the first pic.

the intima is the second.

suicide doors are not illegal.

 

Kof - Had you read my posts earlier in this thread, you would be aware I rode many long miles in American made four door sedans with suicide doors throughout the 1930s. Suicide doors were fairly common at that time.

The wikipedia article you referenced did make me aware there were a few lower-volume sales American four door sedans still using suicide doors in the 1960s. I had thought they disappeared in the fifties. I agree with wikipedia that the term 'suicide' is not a totally appropriate name for these doors. They are more inconvenient than standard doors, but not really all that much more dangerous.

The application of the term 'suicide doors' to such things as extended cab pickups, where the very short rear door cannot even be opened unless the front door is open, is a clear misuse of the premise of the original meaning of the term 'suicide door.' Wikipedia is correct that the term is now in general usage in that manner, but that doesn't make such usage correct. But then English as spoken in America has never been a model of correctness.

 

If you don't mind me asking...how old are you to have been driven around in 1930s?

 

that is sick. looks like a MB CLS..

 

NYPD-Arnold - I was a depression baby (born the first part of the 1930s), and remained depressed all my life until I saw my first Datsun Maxima in the early 1980s. I have been an optimist ever since that first glimpse of a Maxima. That optimism has me very excited about the 7th gen Maxima, 4DSC or not.

I remember being jammed into the back seats of cars with my sibs (there were six of us) many times as a very young tyke. No seat belts in those days, so we were a raucous, intertwined, roiling ball of noise in the back seat, as our parents drove along mostly dirt bumpy roads over and around the Blue Ridge Mountains of western N.C. to visit one or the other sets of grandparents or one of many aunts and uncles.

No air conditioning in those days, and heaters somehow didn't warm the back seat area. I remember the rear doors on some cars opened at the front edge, and some opened at the back edge. I didn't understand why that was, but didn't worry about it. I never heard them called 'suicide doors' until probably the late 1950s.