Nissan 3.5L V-6 Engine Again One of 10 best in the World
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,994
From: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Nissan 3.5L V-6 Engine Again One of 10 best in the World
For the 10th year in a row, the Nissan V-6 engine in the Maxima has been listed as one of the 10 best engines in the world by Wards. Rather than post the entire article, I’m posting the parts most likely to be of interest to Maxima owners.
2004 Ward’s 10 Best Engines
WardsAuto.com, Dec 10 2003
Six-cylinder engines, the most popular choice of U.S. vehicle buyers, are represented by Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s “VQ” 3.5L DOHC V-6, the only engine to win a Ward’s 10 Best award each year in the competition’s decade-long history, Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s 3L DOHC V-6 available in the Accord and BMW AG’s renowned 3.2L inline 6-cyl. found in its M3 coupe and convertible.
The Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 2004:
Engine (and tested vehicle)
Audi AG 4.2L DOHC V-8 (S4)
BMW AG 3.2L DOHC I-6 (M3)
DaimlerChrysler AG 5.7L Hemi Magnum OHV V-8 (Dodge Ram)
DaimlerChrysler AG 5.9L Cummins 600 OHV I-6 turbodiesel (Dodge Ram Heavy Duty)
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Subaru 2.5L DOHC turbocharged H-4 (Subaru WRX STi)
General Motors Corp. Vortec 4.2L DOHC I-6 (GMC Envoy)
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. 3L DOHC V-6 (Accord Coupe)
Mazda Motor Corp. 1.3L Renesis rotary (RX-8)
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. 3.5L DOHC V-6 (Infiniti G35)
Toyota Motor Corp. 1.5L DOHC I-4 Hybrid (Prius)
Five of 2004’s 10 Best Engines are first-time winners, which Visnic says symbolizes the increasing fractionalization of the U.S. vehicle market – and highlights the intense competitive pressures at work on the auto industry’s powertrain developers and engineers.
“Multi-year 10 Best Engines winners may become more rare,” says Visnic. “Powertrain-development cycles, just like those for the entire vehicle, are becoming increasingly more compressed. The effect will be obvious: We’ll see more new or revised engines coming to market more often.”
On the 10th anniversary of the Ward’s 10 Best Engines competition, this year’s winners show more diversity than at any time in the past, Visnic adds. “The spread of engine types – and even the vehicles they power – is refreshingly distinct. This year’s list includes a high-mileage, eco-friendly hybrid system arm-in-arm with several powerful V-8s. And although performance-oriented engines always enjoy a certain edge with Best Engines judges, the reality is that because most of these engines power vehicles that can essentially be considered mainstream, there has never been so much engine performance available to buyers of reasonably common vehicles.”
Visnic stresses the most relevant aspect of the Ward’s 10 Best Engines list may be that it highlights the crucial relationship between engines and vehicles that are successful in the market. “A Best Engines mantra essentially has emerged over a decade of presenting these awards,” says Visnic. “It’s simple. With very few exceptions, each and every 10 Best Engines winner over the past decade has powered a commercially successful vehicle. We are convinced that is no coincidence.”
During a 2-month test period, six editors from Ward’s Communications evaluated the engines nominated from 32 different cars, trucks and SUVs. Scoring encompassed the crucial engine characteristics of power, torque, noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), technical relevance and basic comparative numbers. All engines nominated and tested were in vehicles with a base price under $52,500. “The engines in high-priced vehicles should be outstanding,” says Visnic. “By setting a realistic base price, we ensure the awards have value and relevance to the average consumer.”
Details of the Ward’s 10 Best Engines will be featured in the January issues of Ward’s AutoWorld and Ward’s Engine & Vehicle Technology Update and in a special package later this month on www.wardsauto.com.
2004 Ward’s 10 Best Engines
WardsAuto.com, Dec 10 2003
Six-cylinder engines, the most popular choice of U.S. vehicle buyers, are represented by Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s “VQ” 3.5L DOHC V-6, the only engine to win a Ward’s 10 Best award each year in the competition’s decade-long history, Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s 3L DOHC V-6 available in the Accord and BMW AG’s renowned 3.2L inline 6-cyl. found in its M3 coupe and convertible.
The Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 2004:
Engine (and tested vehicle)
Audi AG 4.2L DOHC V-8 (S4)
BMW AG 3.2L DOHC I-6 (M3)
DaimlerChrysler AG 5.7L Hemi Magnum OHV V-8 (Dodge Ram)
DaimlerChrysler AG 5.9L Cummins 600 OHV I-6 turbodiesel (Dodge Ram Heavy Duty)
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Subaru 2.5L DOHC turbocharged H-4 (Subaru WRX STi)
General Motors Corp. Vortec 4.2L DOHC I-6 (GMC Envoy)
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. 3L DOHC V-6 (Accord Coupe)
Mazda Motor Corp. 1.3L Renesis rotary (RX-8)
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. 3.5L DOHC V-6 (Infiniti G35)
Toyota Motor Corp. 1.5L DOHC I-4 Hybrid (Prius)
Five of 2004’s 10 Best Engines are first-time winners, which Visnic says symbolizes the increasing fractionalization of the U.S. vehicle market – and highlights the intense competitive pressures at work on the auto industry’s powertrain developers and engineers.
“Multi-year 10 Best Engines winners may become more rare,” says Visnic. “Powertrain-development cycles, just like those for the entire vehicle, are becoming increasingly more compressed. The effect will be obvious: We’ll see more new or revised engines coming to market more often.”
On the 10th anniversary of the Ward’s 10 Best Engines competition, this year’s winners show more diversity than at any time in the past, Visnic adds. “The spread of engine types – and even the vehicles they power – is refreshingly distinct. This year’s list includes a high-mileage, eco-friendly hybrid system arm-in-arm with several powerful V-8s. And although performance-oriented engines always enjoy a certain edge with Best Engines judges, the reality is that because most of these engines power vehicles that can essentially be considered mainstream, there has never been so much engine performance available to buyers of reasonably common vehicles.”
Visnic stresses the most relevant aspect of the Ward’s 10 Best Engines list may be that it highlights the crucial relationship between engines and vehicles that are successful in the market. “A Best Engines mantra essentially has emerged over a decade of presenting these awards,” says Visnic. “It’s simple. With very few exceptions, each and every 10 Best Engines winner over the past decade has powered a commercially successful vehicle. We are convinced that is no coincidence.”
During a 2-month test period, six editors from Ward’s Communications evaluated the engines nominated from 32 different cars, trucks and SUVs. Scoring encompassed the crucial engine characteristics of power, torque, noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), technical relevance and basic comparative numbers. All engines nominated and tested were in vehicles with a base price under $52,500. “The engines in high-priced vehicles should be outstanding,” says Visnic. “By setting a realistic base price, we ensure the awards have value and relevance to the average consumer.”
Details of the Ward’s 10 Best Engines will be featured in the January issues of Ward’s AutoWorld and Ward’s Engine & Vehicle Technology Update and in a special package later this month on www.wardsauto.com.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,994
From: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Originally Posted by SteVTEC
nice 
The 3.0L Honda V6 is SOHC though, not DOHC
The 3.0L Honda V6 is SOHC though, not DOHC
You need to take up the Honda 3.0L SOHC error with Wards. All I did was report what they said.
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 2,761
Originally Posted by SilverMax_04
Steve,
You need to take up the Honda 3.0L SOHC error with Wards. All I did was report what they said.
You need to take up the Honda 3.0L SOHC error with Wards. All I did was report what they said.
hes starting off with you, and he'll end up with the Wards editor by Monday....
Dyno plot says I have the most area under the Administrator curve
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 7,064
Originally Posted by bixmaxxx
I wonder if it would have won as the old VQ30.
Although the 1st Gen VQ at 190hp did still beat out Toyota's 3.0 at 194hp and Honda's 3.0 at 200hp. Companies are innovating and making updates all the time. Honda's significantly updated 3.0 is now on the Ward's list, and Toyota's updated 3.0 and 3.3 engines would both blow the old gen1 VQ30 out of the water. Gotta be continually updating and innovating to stay ahead of the competition, so I'm glad to see that Nissan has never been idle on the VQ engines.
I think it would have been a really close race between Honda's 240hp SOHC V-6 and the 2nd gen VQ30DE-K with 222hp, though. I think the VQ still probably would have won.
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