Goodbye Group! Goodbye Maxima! It was nice while it lasted.

You gained what, 4 MAYBE 5 mpg? And for half the space.

Actually a lot more (and less!) than that.

Unfortunately my 00 & 02 Max's NEVER gave me better than 21.5 (usually less) highway mileage, even when driving like granny. At least I got

23+ in the 93.. and enjoyed driving that car more than the 00&02.

The Supercharged MINI 'S' is rated 25/32, and while I might not achieve that, MPG matters because I often make 200-mile round trip drives for work while carrying only myself and a laptop. Now the wife has the family/cargo vehicle (RAV4). I told her I needed a more economocal car, but don't you believe for a minute that MPG was the primary reason for the change!

The MINI's handling is 100 times better (MORE FUN!) than the 5th gen Maxima, which went downhill when they opted to leave out an independent rear suspension.

I've had 3 Maximas over 12 years... it was just time for me. The MINI is a different car for different reasons, don't knock it until you've tried it!!!

I'd still take a Maxima over any other family sized sedan, anyday!

IMO it wasn't the lack of independant rear that hurt the Maxima's handling, just sheer size. The Maxima just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I wish they stayed around the size of the 95-99 year.

Not a bad choice with the Coooper S, supercharged lil bad boy:)

CD

Thanks.. In my current commute there's a nicely curved exit ramp with an unbroken but washboard surface. It aggravates me every time I drive over it, the rear end hops like mad, even at relatively low speed. I doubt there's anything wrong with the suspension.

I'm still quite partial to my former 93SE, which allowed me to 'throw' it all over the place while sticking to the road nicely. It deserved to have the 4DSC sticker!

***P.S. I have the following parts, unused but out of the box, that I'm going to sell cheap. Anyone near north of Boston, feel free to make an offer!***

- Stillen RSB

- Custom Maxima FSTB, silver chrome

P.S. my handle used to be 'Pat@BostonHarbor' , forget why I changed it a while back.

In my opinion, the best Maximas made were the '92-'94 SE's. Plenty of power, but still had the independent rear suspension. The '95-'99's were nice too, but the handling just wasn't as good. Plus, I think the 3rd Gen is still the best looking of all the body styles (especially with the BMW headlight mod!).

I wouldn't even think about another Maxima at this point. The 3rd Gens are too old, and I don't like the other's looks.

Until Nissan comes out with an AWD car, I'm probably moving to some mini-SUV or maybe a Subaru, Audi, or BMW 330xi. I need AWD here in the upper part of the glove of Michigan, but still want (need) some performance in my car.

Bill G '91 SE Auto

some times it's the car, some times it's the driver. Not really sure what I'm supposed to get out of this video. He's not driving a Maxima, he's not driving in snow ...

Your point?

Bill G

point was some times it's the car that limits some times it's the driver, that guy driving up pikes peak could out drive me in a Chevette, even if I was in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII. The maxima with snows on it performs quite well. yet there are other cars with better drivetrains & weight distribution if you are planning on drifting through the corners. I found that on gen 4 maxima's 50 lbs in the trunk seems to help me in the winter. I also have a spare set of rims & studded tires for winter duty. you might want to look into eBay for some inexpensive rims and some good tires before you abandon the maxima entirely.

> some times it's the car, some times it's the driver.>

Your point is well taken but doesn't really apply here..

I've no problem admitting I'm not a 'great' driver.. no driving school or anything like that, but I've driven lots of different cars including 3 new Maximas (93SE 5sp, 00SE 5sp, 02GLE Auto) and have had my share of both intentional and unintentional road acrobatics. I've spent years in the forums and consider myself 'aware'.

In this latest Maxima (the 02 GLE) I probably drive it less hard than it can be driven, at least on corners, because it just isn't any fun. Granted, it's not an SE, but I have 4 recent Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, very slightly oversized. It's great in the snow, but the rear suspension can suffer a lot of wheel hop.

I have an uninstalled RSB and FSTB that I never got around to, had hoped this would improve things.

In any case, I'm reverting to a new car (MINI) which will be closer to a former love, my 87 Nissan Pulsar SE. Now that car stuck to the road!

"john" wrote:

Then why didn't you just say that? Who cares about someone driving up Pikes Peak, it was totally irrelevant to the discussion.

And actually, I've found the Maxima to be only adequate with snows.

Now, my sister's Sube and my other sister's Honda CR-V are fantastic in the winter. The CR-V got some Nokians late last winter, and I'd take that car anywhere. The terrain is actually quite hilly up here, and I don't want to get stuck. I'll be driving about 100 miles one way to school every other weekend, and cannot miss a class, and just don't trust the Max in bad weather, snows or not.

Thanks for the tip, but I'm still going to get an AWD vehicle. There's simply no comparison to a FWD vehicle when the weather turns crappy.

Bill G '91 SE Auto

>> some times it's the car, some times it's the driver.>>

I completely understand the hopping issue. I used to attribute it to the beam suspension, but I've also experienced it in 96 and 98 Altimas. A little less so, but the shakiness was there, and they've got independant rears. I think its a matter of suspension tuning, and maybe Nissan did it on purpose. The hopping rear is just like oversteer, so if you think of it that way, you can deal with it better by accelerating a bit to plant the tail down.

CD

Your point is well taken but doesn't really apply here..

50lbs of sand in a sack helps, and you can shovel some under the tire if you get stuck. I run Goodyear's in the summer and some studded cheep Korean knock off's in the winter I bought a spare set of rims on eBay for $100 and the dedicated tires really help out in the snow belt.

I had one of those pulsars, dang nice car. I put some general XP 2000 tires on it and it did nice. I'm not fond of the newer maxima's.... they seem to Honda accord-ish to me... they handle well and all but just not as fun. my dad picked up one of the bmw-mini's and it is a nice ride. he got the convertible and it is a nice all around car. the new mini does seem clunky compared to the old Austin versions but it is nice to have power window power steering power brakes, air conditioning.....ect. so far I haven't found any new cars that strike my fancy so I'll just keep driving the old stuff. john various toys land sea & air.