Reason for 15HP difference between Maxima and Altima
 

A friend of mine that is a respected insider for the performance industry gave me some info on the power difference between the Altima and Maxima VQ35 outputs.

Apparently, there IS a real world difference between the 2 cars. This is due to different ECU programming and a less restrictive exhaust design for the Maxima.

I assume this will be confirmed as time goes on and dynos start to trickle in for both cars.

I trust him and he would know, so I would say that this is accurate info. But take it for what it's worth.

Also, if the Altima isn't threatening to the Maxima in the next year or 2 when the new Maxima comes out, the ECU could easily be reprogrammed and the Altima may gain a few MORE horses, not that it needed them.

Re: Reason for 15HP difference between Maxima and Altima
 

Soon as they minimized the torque steer in the Altima.

Re: Re: Reason for 15HP difference between Maxima and Altima
 

the supposed "torque steer" has only been exhibited on the auto..and only in Car and Driver I belive...edmunds tested a 5-speed and reported no torque steer whatsoever...

Re: Re: Re: Reason for 15HP difference between Maxima and Altima
 

Yeah, in the auto.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Reason for 15HP difference between Maxima and Altima
 

gotcha :) I totally agree

So upgrade the exhaust and use a Maxima ecu and bam(!), 15hp?!

Tweaking ecus for the 2000+ Nissans has proven pretty hard so far, so unless JWT gets their *** of the chair, I wouldn't count on to much in that arena.

"Reason for 15HP difference between Maxima and Altima"

Marketing!! The 240hp Altima vs the 255hp Maxima is just like the C5 being rated at a higher hp than the F-Body. GM says it's the C5s better exhaust. BS!!! We all know the F-Body is putting out the same power. If Nissan rated the Altima at the same hp as the Max, hardly anyone in their right mind would buy the Max. The Altima has cleaner lines, slightly larger interior, IRS, and a lower price. Many say the Altima interior is cheap. I found it no cheaper than the Maxima. I think most people that take a sit in a Altima are sitting is the cloth models. Cloth always makes the interior feel lower scale.


Dave

No offense, but do you really think that Nissan would take on a risk of false advertising. I think there is a power difference, and unless someone will be nice enough to dyno their new max, we won't know.

????

false advertising???, its not wrong to market the Altima with less HP than it acutally has (it is wrong to market a car with a higher ratting than it actually has). Other cars have came underrated from the factory, like the LS1 Camaro/Fbird example.

I to doubt there is a HP different between the Altima/Max until I see it on a dyno, b/c I've driven both cars.

also vw has been knwn to underrated the golf gti, its not bad just say they are being more modest than they shld!!:)

Re: Reason for 15HP difference between Maxima and Altima
 

Less restrictive Exhaust?? Funny, last I checked, the Altima had dual exhausts, yet the Maxima doesn't ;)

The ECU I can beleive. Marketing probably had a major hand in that one.

DW

Re: Re: Reason for 15HP difference between Maxima and Altima
 

Well, then you didn't check very hard. The Altima has dual tips, but is not a true dual exhaust. :rolleyes:

And I was referring to the exhaust system, which includes everything behind the block, including exhaust manifold, cats, y-pipe, b-pipe, muffler, etc. There are a lot of parts to that equation.

Hey, like I said, take the info for what it's worth at face value.

I really doubt there is much difference in the Altima's exhaust vs the Maxima's. I'm pretty certain that both y-pipes all the way to the cat would be exactly the same. It would be stupid for Nissan to have developed a completely different and more restrictve Y-pipe for the Altima simply because of "hp wars" sake. In this day and age, automakers strive to trim production costs. Making two seperate Y-pipes would be very expensive from a production and emissions standpoint. From the cat on back is where the Altimas exhaust is probably a little different. More than likely the Altimas exhaust pipe goes the length of the car thru the middle and under the IRS until it splits into the a "Y" for the dual mufflers. The Maxima's exhaust on the other hand goes down the middle, turns to the passenger side of the car (before the gas tank), goes around the gas tank, up over the beam, and back down into a single muffler. Both the Maxima's and Altima's exhaust pipes make some pretty strong turns therefore I doubt either is better than the other (the Altima may have a straighter path). If you really believe a "varible capacity" muffler makes more power, I've got some stickers to sell you that give you 10hp.

What is so intriguing about the 3.5 VQ in both cars is the fact that they both have the same hp and tq peak ratings yet are rated at different hp and tq. I find that pretty much impossible. They both have the same compression ratio, variable timing, and variable intake. Visually they look identical straight down to the colored connectors. Does anyone else find it painfully obvious that the Altima 3.5 is indeed the same motor as the Maxima's. BTW, there's nothing wrong with underrating a motor. You're giving the consumer more for their money.


Dave

Re: Re: Re: Reason for 15HP difference between Maxima and Altima
 

My bad. You're right. It looks kinda easy to make a true dual mod for the altima though.

DW

:rolleyes:

Sorry to say Altima guys but the difference in HP rating is because the Maxima is using the exhaust system or many of the exhaust system parts from the Skyline GTR... It is in fact less restrictive.. I'm sure any of you who have modified the exhaust on your max, ypipe, muffler, etc., will agree there is a definite horsepower gain, not much mind you but some... That is the only difference between the two cars.. The torque ratings on the two cars are exactly the same, the only difference is the peak hp number.. To illustrate the Altima Auto 3.5SE ran something like 0-60 in 7.2/7.3.. The 2K2 Maxima auto, as well as Infiniti I35 ran 0-60, 6.8/6.9. So maybe there is something to the Max's less restrictive exhaust after all.. The weight can't account for that much difference, both cars are too close in weight...

Haha..you're buying into the "GT-R technology" too, huh? That "trap door" muffler does JACK for performance or hp. It's a gimmick. The Y-pipe on the Max isn't borrowed from the GT-R simply because the GT-R is a inline 6 twin turbo. The cat on back piping is nearly the same as the 4th gen Maximas. It's the same shape, diameter, same turns, exit point, etc.

Magazine times are pointless.

Nissan Altima 5 speed:
5M 0-60 6.3 1/4 14.7@96mph Motor Trend
5M 0-60 5.9 1/4 14.4@100mph Motor Week
4A 0-60 7.2 1/4 ? Car & Driver

Infiniti I35 0-60 7.0 15.3@91 Motor Trend


See what I'm talking about?



Dave

Actuall you could only compare the I35 to the automatic altima, since the I35 doesn't come in stick...and it does look faster.

I find it hard to ignore that the 3380 lb I35 ran .3 faster 0-60 mph then the 3361 lb Altima. The I35 ran .3 seconds faster in the 1/4 mile too. Also keep in mind both of these car's were tested on the same test avenue and likely the same driver. The stats from car and driver are below.

Infiniti I35 0-60 6.9 15.3@92 Car and driver
Nissan Altima 0-60 7.3 15.6 @ 91 Car and driver

I'm no rocket scientist but I can clearly see one is a bit slower then the other here, whether it is beause of a HP difference I don't know.

Once we get some real world dynoes in we can set this straight, once and for all.

Ethan, are the gearings the same?

Why wouldn't they be? Would Nissan develop two different 4 speed automatic transmissions for the same VQ3.5 engine? Doesn't sound cost effective.

DW

Yep, their 0-60 and ets are .3 off one another, but the trap speeds are nearly identical. It looks like the I35 got off the line a little better (LSD?). It's too hard tell though. If the Altima is suppose to have less power, I don't understand how it can nearly trap out at the same mph. Unfortunately we don't know if these cars were broken-in or how hard they've been beat on. We also don't know if they were tested on the same day or track. Like you said, once we start getting some more numbers (dyno and track) then we'll see if Nissan is yanking our chain.


Dave

Wait a minute. Given that the I35 and Altima and 2K2 Max have the same VQ3.5, the only difference being the ultimate HP, shouldn't we expect them all to have very similar accelereation numbers?? I mean, torque determines how fast you accelerate, and power determines top speed. Since they all have the same torque, the differences should only be due to weight and/or different tranny (LSD) only, which seems to be the case. The altima will have the lowest top speed. At 240 hp, that should be somehting like 145 mph. Hell, I could live with that low top speed:)

DW

No, they have the same HP and torque at 4400 RPM. That's where the similarities between the two end. At 5800 RPM the Altima has 217lb-ft of torque (and 240HP) and the Maxima has 231lb-ft of torque (and 255HP). They do not have the same torque curves. The Maxima has less torque rolloff than the Altima. As a result it makes sense the Maxima accelerates faster.

Stereodude

The altima and max are both rates at 246 lb's off torque.

Dave the Altima had 3379 miles on it during the photo shoot for car & driver, I am not sure about the I35 though.

No, they have the same 246ft-lb of torque only at 4400RPM. Beyond that point the Maxima has more torque (can't make any speculation about before that point). HP and torque are mathmatically related by the RPM. At 5252RPM any engine has the same amount of torque as it does HP.

HP = (Torque x RPM)/5252

That's how the two are defined/related. Unless the two cars have the exact same HP curves they will not have the same torque curves. Since we don't have anything else to go on other than Nissan's numbers they will have to do. From these numbers at 5800 RPM the Altima has 14 ft-lb less of torque than the Maxima.

Stereodude