I cant decide which to get... their both rele great cars. both are autos.... which is faster... please everyone help me decide and be honest. give me the advantages and disadvantages of both cars.. any advice would be appreciated thanx!!!

 

manual tranny

 

4th gen. the new sentra is UGLY.

 

A 4th Gen 5spd is a hair quicker than an SE-R manual. So an auto Maxima is probably a hair quicker than an SE-R auto. You can get an SE-R auto now?

If having a new car and a warranty is something of value to you, get the Sentra. But the Maxima is roomier, much more comfortable, and still about as reliable as it gets as far as used cars go.

 

shame isn't it!!! some of the older 95+ 200sx SE-Rs for some very strange reason made as autos ...but I'd hope Nissan wouldn't make that mistake again.

 

my father has a 2000 sentra se and i got to tell you that the max has alot more room. i would go with a max.

 

my 99SE auto is faster than my brothers spec-v 6SPEED from 0-80 by about a car. He is faster from 40-100 by about a car. he is stock and i'm slightly modded.

 

but i think the spec v has far superior handling...

 

True, it does have better handling stock for stock, but the suspension designs are very similar (independant front, beam axle rear). the handling on the sentra is VERY twitchy I.E. hard to drive at its limits. With suspension mods, I feel that the maxima handles better at speed and feels more comfortable to drive fast.


Not to mention that the fit and finish on the sentra/SE-R spec-v leaves much to be desired, it's tiring to drive long distances, and you have to hate someone to make them sit in the back seat.

The engine in the SE-R/ spec-v is not really a performance engine anyway. the VTC kicks in at around 5200rpm, and fuel cut-off is at 6100rpm. so as you can see its only in its power cam mode for 900rpm. what this car really needs is a 7000rpm redline, but because the engine has such a long stroke, thats just not possible.

 

Quality control and fit & finish are two low points for the SE-R/Spec V. I dunno if QC has shaped up a bit since 02 and 03, but people are always talking about stuff falling out of place and other generic interior issues. I know there were some oil burning issues on the QR25 originally, dunno how that's faring...and tranny issues that were supposed to be fixed by 03, though that was MT and not AT...dunno why you'd even consider an AT SE-R (then again I wouldn't/didn't even consider an AT max).

On paper it seems a more aggressive suspension with better handling but a lot of reviews claim the same as slizan, that it is very uneasy.

Gotta say if you're looking for compact sport, you might want to go elsewhere (the Tiburon even beats it out in a number of the comparisons I've read, for whatever magazine comparos are worth). If you're REALLY looking for sportyness as in handling and a nimble, agile nature, the auto max might displease a bit. If 'sport' to you is more going fast in a straight line though, you're butter with the max

 

REALLY?

I've test driven about everything... The SE-R is very quick. ONLY cuz it weighs like 2000lbs. However, it's still a 4 banger. You can do a lot more stuff to a 97-99 Max than you can a SE-R.

But then again, this is a MAXIMA based site.

 

the 02-03 SE-R weigh in at about 2700-2800lbs, so they're not that much lighter than a 4th gen.

 

It only has continuously variable cam timing, not lift. There is no "power" cam. That engine is a bust if you ask me. Small bore, enormous stroke (even by V8 standards) leaves high rpm performance to be desired. When I test drove one, low-end torque was awesome but up top, it reminded me of the VQ.

 

I didn't mean that it had seperate cam lobes. What I meant by "power cam" was the portion of the power band when the cam timing is at its optimum. Sorry, I should have worded that better.

 

Get the max, the best SE-Rs were 91-93s, anything else after that is not an SE-R! Not that Im baised or anything...

 

the se-r is available with 4spd auto and 5spd manual..... se-r spec V is available with a 6spd tranny ONLY

 

Let me see. On the one hand we have a somewhat used car which happens to posess one the best V6 engines on the planet, going up against a brand new 4 banger. And this 4 banger isn't really anything to write home about. Hmmmm. Not only will the V6 be more powerful, but it will also be smoother, quieter, and more refined. The cabin of the Maxima will comfortably seat 4 6-foot adults and carry them and their big luggage in semi decent luxury. The 4 banger, well, it's a 4 banger. The Sentra cabin will be smaller, and considerably less luxurious. But it will be a new car. Hmmmm. They are both Nissans, so they have a history of being reliable. Hmmm. I'm on the fence with this one . . . .


DW

 

your brother doesnt know how to drive manual

 

 

those spec V's can move with a good driver... i raced my friends spec V and he was only about a car or so behind me at about 80 (on a top end run im sure i would pull more).. i raced one the other night and i pulled a good distance on him, so it really depends on the driver

 

um... how would you know if my brother can drive or not? I know for a fact that I can drive a stick and I can't beat my car while driving his. So why don't you stick to something that you know for sure.


Thanks for contributing to the discussion.

 

if you check around, you'll find that the most of the spec-v are running low to mid 15's stock, so maybe it's you that can't drive.


www.thevboard.com

 

think what you wanna think, i ran a 14.7 @ 97 mph on a track that had shltty traction... im not in the mood to argue, but since your max is quicker than a spec v and you dont think i know how to drive, let me know if youre gonna be in NY with your car and then we will talk

 

http://www.b15sentra.net/

 

I was at a meet this Saturday. It was supposed to me a "Nissan meet", but it was 7 spec V's and me. LOL

Well the guys there were saying how the new '04 SE-R are auto only and the Spec-V is 6spd only. The '04 SE-R have an ugly front end and rims, but the new tail lights are better. Also the Spec-V now has an available Brembo brake package they said.

I personally think the front end of the '02/'03 looks great.
One guy had his Spec-V lowered w/ Progress springs, AEM CAI, Stillen catback, and hot shot headers. His best at the track was a 14.4-14.5 he said. Not too bad.

J

 

hmmm common sense says it all here, nissan both makes these so
sentra = bottom of the line
maxima = top of the line?????????????????

 

I agree.

 

ask slizan99 hes got both in his fam.

auto 99 beats a brand new sentra manual.

 

Anything that's not a 2-door SE-R is just a rebadged Sentra on a bit of performance steroids.

My best friend has a 03 specV 6spd, I have a 97 auto.

We ran at a 1/8 track for testing purposes, but first we went to weigh the cars. Mine was gutted out (including all seats except driver's.. duh, his had full interior/spare/etc). He has AEM CAI, I have Injen. We're both on 17" rims and decent tires.

-----------03 specV 6MT-----97 Max gxe 4AT
Race weight
w/driver:----2920lbs----------3130lbs

R/T: --------- .896 --------- .757
60': -------- 2.253 -------- 2.281
330: -------- 6.389 -------- 6.525
1/8: -------- 9.805 -------- 10.004
MPH: ------- 72.54 -------- 70.76

Left 1st .0607

All of our runs were consistent with those numbers and I beat him a few times by getting a better R/T and 60' than him, but that was just me getting to the finish line first. He had better trap times than I did all night. Consider he weighs close to 300lbs and I weigh about 230lbs... a lighter guy in that car would've broken into the 9.7's and into the 9.9's in my slow AT 97. I had the drop resistor switch on and manually shifted from 2 to D (compared to launching in D, i did on average .185 better with manual shifting).

The specV is a fast car and a stock one will probably run even with a 97-99MT and probably fall a bit behind a 95/96 MT. A stock Auto Max has no chance against a stock 6spd specV unless there is crap traction on the specV's side.

 

Nissan started making the 200SX SE-R in 95 so the 94 SE-R is included.

 

I know, but the 94 had the same motor as the 95, smaller cams, thats why the 91-93s are the best...not to mention the 93-94 interior

 

I wish I could find a 91 and do the bluebird swap

 

Man, u can Fock in an SE-R, but you can have a fock orgy in the Max-
go for the maxima

 

True, Sentra is ugly. But a new car and a 4 yr old car are apples and oranges. You go into the Sentra knowing that this body style basically spent its entire life being sold with rebates, so that has to be considered in the buy equation. That car needs to leave the dealership not only below invoice but into the holdback. With that said, the car needs to be owned a minimum of 5 yrs, preferable 7. If not, just buy the Maxima but it's gonna cost $$$ if you want it to be in perfect shape (no leaks, rattles, worn out parts).

 

Alteen16, if you really want inexpensive loads of power.. then get the SRT-4... sure it's a Neon, and details about build quality aren't certain yet... but you can't say that it's not a value.

I'd get the max and just cruise around in it with some nice sounds and stuff. Performance mod prices + high gas prices = very bad for lower income car owners.