Man is this a sweet car ammenity wise. Performance wise its blah....

1st impressions:
The 2k1 and 2k look better imho. The grill is too big and so is the emblem. The glass fogs look really good and i love the headlights. The tail lights are a little bugly on every color. I looked under the hood at the headlight housings and yes rewiring is gonna be a *****. They look hard wired in the electrical system so i think some re wiring or extensive testing is neccesary for a retrofit but im down for that!! The hids are whiter and yellower than my panasonic lights were. In the housing they are a brilliant purple but the reflection on other cars is whiter and not as blue or purple.. I drove the car near sundown so i didnt get to see the lights full power... But for 400 bucks these lights are definitly worth it and gonna be my next mod!

The interior on these cars is nothing special except for the nav. The car i drove was loaded with nav, 6 disc changer etc... The nav unit actually folds down to reveal a cd slot. There is a standard 6 disc changer in the trunk. The system sounds just like ours, nothing special. The bose unit is smarter though. IT shows you the name of the station you are on and you can select stations based on what kind of music they play... The guages are good looking but again nothing special.. The gated shifter is very nice but the shifter is too low down for people who like their armrest up and rest their hand on the shifter.
The cloth on the unloaded SE's is crap!!! The 2000-2001 cloth is way better!!! our cloth is suade like and the 2k2 is more like a chevy or ford cheap cloth. Hated it.

Performance:
Blah. for 255hp the top end sucked.. It definitly has some low end ***** though. That is the main difference between the 2 engines. It pulls hard in the low end. but seems to be running out of breath per-see on the high end. Based on the speedo and butt dyno our cars are equally fast in the top end...

PRice for the car i drove was 33.5K!!!! For that much i would definitly be looking elsewhere like infiniti or acura. An unloaded se was 26k.

In closing i liked the car alot but wouldnt consider trading mine in at all. ITs too much like ours and the power is not worth trading it. Its there but nothing dramatic. The hids are sweet though and im buying a set soon as alex figures out how to wire them up..

p.s. I drove an auto and compared it to my auto.. The 6spd is not out till mid year according to the salesman. He also said nissan is working on an SC for the engine as an upgrade for the 2k3 models!!!! Im thinking 300-310 hp

Adam

 

You can get that much power and more by just adding a simple supercharger. It would defientely cost less to just add one of those, than to upgrade to the full-fleged 2002. That's how I see it.

 

Can you say M5/S4 killa?

 

Nothing simple about a supercharger! If I may say so. People have all sorts of trouble even after a professional install, from what I hear!

But IMHO, the 2002 Maxima looks like an old-fart car... cadillac-esque.. it kinda looks like the new infiniti Q45.

 

Hey Adam ... coupla questions ...

I'm confused .. is it white or yellower? How can it b both?

my sisters Z24 has this!

tkx A!

 

I was at a Nissan dealership today as well (bought mother-n-law an Altima). I looked at the 02' and I thought it was nice. I like the headlights, not the tails, like the side skirts they have, and I like the Leather seating surface. I am not impressed with the wheels though.

FYI, anyone looking for a new 01' SE 5 speed (Black/grey cloth 17" wheels) let me know. I am friends with the Finance Mgr at a dealership and we were talking about working out discounts for people on this site! So if your in AZ and looking let me know.

Overall the 02 is nice but I am with Adam, I will keep my 00'!!

 

(bought mother-n-law an Altima)


01 Altima or 02? just wondering if the 02's are available.

 

Interesting, the only changes are really the front bumper and the lights all around.

 

2000MaximaSE: BTW, thanks for the detailed review. It's always better hearing it from a Max owner than a magazine.

I hope Nissan is serious about the SC...that would be awesome!

 

Thanks for the review..

 

 

I didn't mean it like that. Just that it makes more sense to add a supercharger than to pay $35k on something with less power than a supercharged 2000-01 Maxima.

 

I half a good feeling Nissan will add a supercharger to the Maxima. It might be there NEW thing to add to there cars and trucks, since no other manufacturer has them. Look at the Frontier and now the 2002 Xterra. They both have superchargers, maybe Nissan will start going this way.

 

Wonder if that supercharger is going to fin on our cars?? hmmmm

 

Ya too bad the SC Frontier can't keep up with it s competition even with the SC. If Nissan makes SC cars please make them faster than the comp, ya know?

Mark

 

i wish they would make turbos...

 

Forget about the turbo...I want those cloth 17" wheels!

"FYI, anyone looking for a new 01' SE 5 speed (Black/grey cloth 17" wheels) let me know" - 2000 SE
J/K no flames.

 

Man I forget a comma and I get called out by a Lurker!

the car is Black w/grey cloth, and has 17" wheels

Hey by the way, start posting!

 

2000 SE,

Here some real questions

1. Significant difference in low end. Is this due to continuously variable valve timing?
2. What the hell is speed sensitive volume control? Use?
Higher mph --> louder music?
3. Is that a VQ30DD same as Skyline?
4. Any changes in platform? XVL?

 

The audio system is supposed to adjust its volume in accordance to the noise in the interior. In that case, yes, it would turn up when you're on the freeway and etc.