I was really excited to find out about the 2003 maxima getting a bigger engine with a lot more horsepower, around 270 or 280. yesterday I found out some bad news though. Nissan is coming out with a new entry-level car to replace the sentra, and they are bumping the rest of the cars up. The sentra will be replacing the altima, the altima will be replacing the maxima, and the new maxima will be the size of the Q45. That kind of sucks because it will probably weigh about 4000 pounds. I don't know how reliable this info is, but you never know. Will this website have to change its name to Altima.org??? I hope not.

 

old news...that's not definite yet but it looks like things are going to pan out that way...

 

Ya.. appears that Nissan didn't think this one through (or I'm missing a piece of logic here)..

Nissan Challenge : Want to produce a bigger car... what shall we call it??

Solution #1 :> Rename ALL OF OUR CARS, moving each one a step up, and adding one to the bottom...

Solution #2 :> Just give the NEW bigger car a NEW name, and leave everything else where it is right now.


Turns out that #2 was too simple of a solution... some people just like doing things the hard way...!!!

 

Read about this subject in an article. Good ole Japanese marketing. They have been planning moves like this since the 70's. Look at any Japanese car importer and the habits of each. The models always start small and qradually get bigger and more expensive.
IE.....Civics accords maximas z's galants eclipse diamante
camry's.

As you mature so does your taste and so you think you will want the altima but you will end up in the maxima again. Even though it has a V8 rear sun shades and HID's.

 

Exactly. Maxima is their flagship. They cant just up and rename their flagship! I hope its like the new q45 because that thing will rape any max on this board!! (except for you sc guys)
The new altima is gonna be sweet though. It should be light like a 4th gen max but powerfull like a 5th gen or even more so with rumors of 240hp from an optional v6!

Adam

 

What? All the names are getting bumped up adn the max will replace the Q45? Im glad i have a 99 then. Maybe i'll "downsize" adn hit up the altimas then huh?

 

i read somwhere they might stick the new 3.5 240 hp into the max. i am just waiting for the new z car . so what r they making the altima 200 hp? the new q will have 345 hp with optional 18 inch wheels. i hope they dont make the max into a big fat sedan that will suk.

DEBO

 

They just might make the max into a big fat luxury sedan cuz they might be thinking that they don't need a sporty sedan anymore cuz they got a real sports car coming back here, the Z.

 

If you read freshalloy.com it looks like the maxima will indeed become a big fat luxo sedan but that's okay... it's natural evolution. The important thing is that there will be a car to fill the current Maxima's spot and it looks to be the Altima. Looks really really appealing and will outperform the current Maxima.

tomz17: The Maxima is Nissan's flagship - they can't just introduce a new bigger car and say "here! new flagship!"

Chris

 

Sucks they're gonna screw with the maxima like that, but from a marketing standpoint (which is my job), it makes sense. Any new car will usually be tough to sell at first. People have to feel like the name has been around for a while and the bugs are worked out. So, which model would Nissan rather give a new name to and endure struggling sales? The $10-15,000 small-markup compact or the $30-40,000 luxury cruiser?

 

Why not???... I vote for the name "Titanic"... :-)

If the new altimas indeed are as light (they won't be, remember they're set to take the place of the maxima), and with 200+hp v6's, those things will fly..!!

-Tom

 

Supposedly the 3.5 VQ will go into the Maxima for one year prior to the upsize. Car and Driver, R & T, and Fresh Alloy are reporting this. If this is true, I will consider a trade.

 

No "Japanese marketing"... it's the american market. If you look beyond the US, in Europe for example... they purposely make cars taht are smaller than cars for this country. For example... Honda's European Accords are smaller in Europe than in the US... why cause people in this country like big cars. Not marketing, but market.

-Shing

 

Well, you can't blame the Europeans... They undoubtedly like big cars too.. but they are just so damn impractical over there...


We complain about gas prices here, but in reality, we pay next to nothing for gas!!!! (a gallon of bottled water used to cost as much as regular gas... remember?)
Especially, if you consider that the average income here is so much higher than in Europe, and the average price of gas is SO MUCH LOWER, big cars start to look GOOD!!!

-Tom

 

I dunno, but if the new Altima has 240hp, VLSD, and independent rear suspension AND looks like this:

http://www.freshalloy.com/cars/nissan/altima/main.html

I wouldn't mind owning one.

 

I think I like the looks of that better than 5th gen maxes....IMHO

 

It's also supposed to have more interior room than the current maxima...

phat...

Go Nissan!!!

 

The Sentra is here to stay and is not going anywhere.....they might come out with a smaller car though, the Sentra is no longer a subcompact like it use to be, its just a compact.

 

don't forget tho, in 2007/8 the altima will swap sizes with the maxima, and supposedly it's going to be the opposite.. altima big, maxima back to "sport sedan" size...
well from what i've "heard" from rumors from my AutoEngineering Magazine.

 

i want the new z car, anbody seen any pics from it.

DEBO