http://www.canadiandriver.com/testdrives/02maxima.htm

Just thought ppl would be interested since most car mags reviewed the Altima 3.5SE this year and chose to ignore the Max.

Interestingly enough, the article mentions the TL-S is faster going from 80-120km/hr (50-75mph). I would not have thought so.

 

So this is where you went to. BTW, the Maxima 6 speed would take longer because there is a mandatory 2-3 shift at 65, the TL can just stay in 2nd gear to get there.

 

That makes sense. but i figured since the Max is faster off the line and should be leading, how much time do we actually lose shifting 2->3 ? Anyhow, that was such a narrow band they compared. I know from experience (having owned the CL-S) that the gear ratios are very poor .. 4th and 5th gear are both overdrive. Thus once you hit 100mph, it's over for the TL-CL-S.

 

I can shift in about .3 seconds, but then again, thats pretty long in a 3 second amount of time. Do you still post at 'the other site?

 

You're right, it can be an eternity when drag racing -- but in highway racing do you think it makes a difference too?

oh, and yes i occasionally post on the OTher site .. when it amuses me Mainly there just to perform admin functions .. too many nimrds there

 

Thanks for the link. There's a couple of things that I disagree with in that article:

1) "I was quite surprised at the Maxima's good fuel consumption: with the 6-speed manual transmission, the Maxima offers up to 11.2 l/100 km (25 mpg) in the city and 7.7 l/100 km (37 mpg) on the highway." - I've yet to see over 30mpg on all highway driving in mine (2k2 6spd with 14,000kms on it now). It seems as though that guy just quoted what was on the window sticker.

2) "In highway passing from 80 to 120 km/h, the Maxima takes just 6.7 seconds, a little quicker than the Audi but slower than the Acura." - He doesn't mention it for either car, but what transmissions were used during this test? Was the manual Max used against the auto Type S? Too incomplete to draw any kind of opinion, IMHO.

3) "Overall, the Maxima is considerably sportier and faster than most of its comparably-priced front-wheel-drive competitors and offers a lot of standard features for a comparatively reasonable price." - What does he mean with 'most'? It is faster than all the cars he mentioned. Not even close to being the best handling, but I'd put money on it being the fastest.

Albert