I know this question has probably been asked too many times, but a search didn't come up with anything: Does the 2007 Maxima really have 10 less horsepower than 04-06 models, or is it due to different testing standards? I'm sorry to bring up such a common question, but I'd really appreciate an answer, thanx!!

 

Yea, the test was different. Pretty sure the power has remained the same. I know some people will want to the crap out of you but I have asked a few common ones in my day and didn't appreciate it one bit. Hope this helps.




Alex

 

But I find it weird that the 07 Altima has a 270hp engine while the 07 Maxima a 255hp. I assume the test was the same in determining the hp. Why would Nissan put a less powerful engine in a higher-end bigger and heavier car?

 

Because the Altima is now the "4DSC"

Everything is being worked towards the Altima.

And yes, the books say 255 for 07' and 265 for 04'-06'

Some guy raced his brothers 07' vs. his 04'-06' (don't remember which one exactly) and both were stock. From a stop it was dead even and around 80 m.p.h. the 04'-06' started pulling, probably because of the CVT in the 07'.

In the end, "performance" has been geared more for the Altima now and the "luxury" scene is more of the Maxima now

 

Even if luxury is geared more for the Maxima, that does not mean performance has to be compromised. I believe the SE is still sporty while the SL luxury in the Maxima but both have the same 255hp engine. Is there anything different in the engine of the Maxima as compared to the Altima that does not allow 270hp?

BTW, I test drove an Altima and a Maxima and did not find much difference. But I am no car expert and a 15hp difference cannot be figured out by a non-expert in a 15 mins drive. However, this issue still intrigues me.

 

The Altima has the newer VQ while the Max has had the same 'old' VQ for several years now.

 

Don't make me start posting those links again :

 

yes im sure they are waiting on the new VQ for the redesigned maxima..to make it exclusive. Like said above the new altima has the new VQ while maxima has the "outdated" VQ (although it is such a freaking amazing engine)

 

What's the purpose of the question? Are you in the market for a new Max?

 

Allblackmax - The purpose of the question is to compare the power of the '04-'06 Maxima VQ35 vs. the '08 Altima coupe VQ35...it's part of my research behind my next car. I just wanna make sure that my research leaves no stone uncovered.

I surmise that if the '07-'08 VQ35 Altimas were rated based on the same standards of the '04-'06 Maximas that it would be rated at 280 hp?

 

IMO, ratings mean nothing. It's what the car actually puts out is what counts.

 

Plus you have to look at the torque which is only 6lbs apart between the Alty and Max. CVT vs CVT it would probably come down to who steps on the gas the quickest. LOL

The Altima is cool but I think the Max still commands more attention and has much more presence on the road. IOW it looks prettier going fast

 

When the new rating standards were published, there was a listing of what the changes would convert to, one of the few cars on the list "the Nissan Maxima" remained at 265hp.

Oh and I agree with another members post, you can read the numbers or you can post them, almost every Nissan Altima is underpowered compared to a Max with only the SE-R giving it's closest comparative numbers...

I respect our little mass produced Alti brothers but in no way will it ever be a Max...

 

probably, that might be correct.

but as of both 07 models of maximas and altimas with the 3.5 in them, they are both up to date with the new SAE standards. the new altima does make more power than the updated maxima. nissan decided to change up some things with the motor in the altimas, so the altima is sporting a fresh new VQ35DE making 270hp at the crank while the maxima continues on with its older gen VQ35DE making only 255hp at the crank.

 

For the 04-06 that would be 265hp at the crank!!!

 

Under which standard?

Here we go.

 

So the 07 has less hp than 04-06 if measured by the same standards?

 

well if you were using the older SAE standards that would be true, BUT!!! Nissan was forced into getting all of their motors up to the new SAE standards that were put out in 04 so the same motor that is in the 04-06 is the same one that is in the 07+, so therefore technically all the 6th gen maximas make the same amount of power which is 255hp at the crank. nothing was changed, not the motor, not the tune, so how can the 04-06's have more power.

nissan actually cheated customers like yourself into getting you thinking that 04-06 6th gen maximas made more HP than 5.5gen maximas when in reality nothing was updated for it so there was no way it made 10 more hp. the only older gen VQ35DE that i would actually believe it actually makes the power that it does is the VQ35 thats in the 05-06 SE-R Altimas, because nissan did add a different exhaust setup, and i think they gave it a more aggresive tune from the factory, i might be wrong on that part, but i know the exhaust is different from the rest.

 

nope the both make the same amount of hp @ the crank if you use the same standards for both.

 

Food for thought. VQ35HR dyno:



My dyno:



Point is, get yourself a full exhaust and tuned AFC and you'll have the full power(and more) of Nissan's latest VQ35 engine.

 

And I'm not done yet.

I'm lookin forward to the following upgrades:

Technosquare L-spec tune
IM spacer
Kinetix Intake
AFC-retune

No cams for me, I don't wanna hurt my torque numbers. I'm hopin' for just 10hp per mod. Question is, where will it add the 10hp; may not be at the peak. We'll see.

 

'07 Altima is on a new platform, while the '07 Max isn't. The revised VQ35DE doesn't fit in the old platform, so the '07 Max gets the old version.

 

isnt torque what accelerates a car anyway?

 

And if you put those same mods on an HR powered car what happens?

 

Well thats what happens when you post stupid/lazy questions. If the OP would have looked down the very first page of this very forum he would have found his answer.

 

Wow! Here we go down that same '07 Maxima vs '07 Altima path yet again. We still have many posters here who confuse their apples and oranges.

As many have mentioned here several times over the past six months, it is not very meaningful to compare a platform which was designed in 2001, tested in 2002, began its assembly line run in January of 2003 and which has been on dealer lots since March 2003 (6th gen Maxima) with a platform which is new for 2007 (Altima).

That may be of interest to those few who cannot wait six or seven months for the 7th gen Maxima, and must decide between the last year of the 6th gen Maxima and the first year of a new Altima platform, but should be rather meaningless to others. The inevitable resulting 'Why would Nissan . . . ' are even more meaningless.

The only really meaningful Altima/Maxima comparisons would be either between the 6th gen Maxima and the '04 thru '06 Altima, OR, between the new platform Altima and the new platform Maxima, which arrives this coming spring. Everything else is . . . mixed fruit.

 

Good question. Does anybody know? I haven't seen that yet.

 

I don't totally agree with this logic. We compare older and newer versions of the same car all the time. We compare the 6th Gen to the older Gens all the time. It's ok to compare different platforms because sometimes they improve it sometimes they DON'T. LOL

 

Different dyno machines/models/brand = Invalid comparison.

 

It will rip a whole in the Space-Time Continuum and end life as we know it.

 

 

Stock 4 stock, I have yet to hear of an 07CVT Max being able to outrun a 04-06 Max. And as for the new SAE standards, when recalibrated, not all cars lost power, some actually increased!!! Anyway HP isn't that important to me, I care more about 1/4 mile track times...

 

+1 on track times...

U can have 300 hp and run a 16.5 if u cant drive hahaha

 

AllBlackMax - I totally agree it is normal and meaningful to compare different generations of the same model. I have been doing that with the Maxima for six generations.

But I still feel comparing a very old design of one vehicle with a brand new design of a different vehicle proves very little. That is like comparing a Dell personal computer designed in 2002 with a Gateway of the latest design; totally meaningless.

When the 7th gen Maxima arrives this coming spring, would it be meaningful to compare it with an Altima that was on dealer lots in spring of 2003 (as the 6th gen Maxima was)? I wouldn't think so. But that is in essence what comparing the new Altima with the long-in-the-tooth and soon gone 6th gen Maxima is doing.

Just my opinion.

 

From a technical point of view, what you are saying is well taken. But when a person, not so technically knowledgable about cars (like most people are), wants to buy a car, he will compare all cars that are within his budget and have the features he is looking for. It so happens that the 07' Altima (3.5 V6) and 07' Maxima are very closely priced (especially when Nissan is offering $500 cashback on the Altima and $2500 on the Maxima) and share a lot of features. Hence, a potential buyer is bound to compare them and eventually purchase the one that he likes more. From that perspective, wanting to know whose engine is more powerful is quite meaningful. If a 2002 Dell and a 2007 Gateway were competitors, they would have been compared too by a customer irrespective of which generation of Pentium processor they are built on. But unlike the 07' Altima and 07' Maxima, they are not competitors.

 

Most Altima buyers buy 2.5's. Besides, I see plenty of 07 Max's on the road; although 07's are only sold in a few states.

 

Any idea which states? Apparently mine is one of them.

 

I read that they only sell then in 8 states. Maybe they were referring to the 08's. I have to find the article.

 

bb700092 - Of course one has the right to compare two cars he may be considering buying, even though they may come from designs of different eras. My remarks were primarily in response to your comment in the third post in this thread, in which you 'FOUND IT WEIRD' that the newly redesigned '07 Altima had more HP than the '07 Maxima, which is basically a design from the very early part of the decade. I was simply trying to explain why there was nothing at all 'weird', but simply a situation where the Altima redesign took place before the Maxima redesign.

Additionally, the only Altima which has the horsepower referenced is the 3.5, which is the premium upscale version, and which accounts for only a small portion of Altima sales. It isn't like the average '07 Altima (2.5) would have any chance against the old design '07 Maxima in any realistic comparison.

I suppose my remarks also stem from an innate feeling that, when the playing field is truly level, an Altima is not the car a Maxima is. Period.

 

I totally agree with you that in the same playing field, an Altima cannot outperform a Maxima. But it is weird that Nissan is upgrading the playing field of one of its lower cars (07'Altima 3.5) before its more illustrious flagship car -- the Maxima. I would have expected the opposite from Nissan, that it would upgrade the Maxima before the Altima; or at least upgrade both at the same time.