Murph

I grabbed the option of renting a new Maxima SE at the Hertz counter in Ottawa yesterday. It had about 20KM on the clock. I drove it down to Peterborough and then back to Ottawa today. The distance is about 800 or so KM ( approx 480 miles). I had a chance to find a few backroads as well as had a chance to open it up on "The 401".

This car is fun to drive. I was expecting gobs of touque steer but it wasn't that bad. It has decent handling and the passing power at 40MPH is very good. My back did not get uncomfortable after several hours of driving. My back is an excellent judge of seat comfort as it will hurt if not supported. The only issue I had was above 130KM/hr( about 80+MPH). The car got jittery and the hood was shaking. This really surprised me. At 150KM/hr (approx 90MPH) I drew the limit as I did not feel comfortable with the suspension. This is way too low if this car has sport sedan pretensions.

Bottom line. a fine every day driver at legal speed limits.

Murph

Pyroneer

Sounds like the wheels are out of alignment.

I test drove a 2002 (whatever the year before they changed to the current body style) Maxima and I thought it was awesome. I drove the 5 speed with 260 hp and it was a blast, and no shaking occured whatsoever at high speeds.

I think it's a great car. You just have to consider is it worth the above thirty thousand dollar price tag they have.

carnal_c30

I've taken my Maxima to 110 on stock suspension... thats when it started getting a bit too floaty for me, with better suspension the car is rock solid to where I back off around 140ish