2007 Nissan Maxima -- The Four-Door Also Ran
Had the 2007 Nissan Maxima for the weekend, and thinking back it occurred to me that I haven't spent much quality time with Nissan's "four door sports car" in recent years. This year the Maxima lost 10 horsepower do to new SAE standards for defining horsepower. It also gained a CVT transmission and a new front end design. My first impression after sliding behind the wheel and escaping L.A...
for the weekend was, "Yup, still a roomy, powerful, luxurious sedan with capable handling and attractive styling."
But as the weekend wore on I realized that, for $30,000, several cars fit that description in 2007. For most of the Maxima's history it has represented a somewhat unique offering. The idea of a large, powerful, luxurious and sporty Japanese sedan -- one that clearly undercut the European competition in price -- was quite appealing. Yet today you can just as easily snag a Volkswagen Passat, Acura TL or even a Hemi-powered (rear-drive) Chrysler 300. All of those cars will offer as much or more power, luxury and style, and most of them display higher interior quality, too. Plus they don't have the overly busy center stack and tiny, horribly annoying "joystick-and-enter" control stick that actually makes iDrive seem like a good idea.
The Maxima's smooth and willing 252 horsepower V6 still rocks, and the new CVT works extremely well, though I'm further saddened by the total lack of a manual transmission option starting this year. So much for that "sports car" moniker. Now it's more like: "The Avalon with Attitude."
- Posted by
- Karl Brauer October 23, 2006, 8:47 AM
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I disagree that it's attractive. Previous generations of Maxima have been, but this one is just plain ugly from stem to stern (well, other than the wheels). The best thing about it is that nice V6..
Dude, the TSX has a 2.4L four banger with 205 hp. Did you mean the TL? I believe the TL has been SAE certified at 258 (from 270) which is a negligilbe amount over the Maxima. Perhaps you're referring to the 286 hp in Type S form but that version cost $38,125. At least we agree on the cheapness of the interior. A GM car would get blasted for producing a half arsed interior in a vehicle starting at $27-28k. Good job being fair (for a change). I couldn't believe how cheap the Max's cockpit was when I experience it for the first time. I also don't agree with this all CVT line-up. Nissan is putting it's efforts into CVTs instead of six speed autos which I guess they hope makes them distinctive amongst the competition.
It's also interesting to me how most of Honda/Toyota hp figures dropped under the new ratings while many GM's figures increased. The imports really haven't caught any heat from the press which is also very very interesting. I guess their quality is so great that they can lie to us about HP. I can't wait to see how many ponies drop from the Hemi's inflated figures as well. 340hp/390lbs ft in that Charger you love don't seem to be realistic considering it's acceleration numbers. I still don't understand how the "low tech," iron block Hemi gets so much love when GM has been producing better all aluminum pushrods since the LS1 based engines dropped in '98.
I agree. The Altima is now what the Maxima once was. For about the same money, who would choose an Altima over a G35? Avalon people, that's who. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's a fine car. But it's true, the "4DSC" name no longer applies.
Yup, I meant the TL. Fixed. thanks
The Maxima lost its sportiness when the 1995 model debuted. The 92-94 models were and still are my favortie Maxes.