2004 Nissan Maxima Revisited - OK, Now I'm Impressed
OK, I'll admit it. My previous 2004 Maxima preview was almost pure speculation based on what little information I had pre-NAIAS and the odd educated guess. How close did I get to the real thing? I'll have to let you decide now that the actual car is unveiled and initial press material made available. In case you like what you see and are concerned that specs may change before production, stop worrying, the first bunch have already rolled off the line at the Japanese company's Smyrna, Tennessee plant. They're here, they're real and they're hot.
Let's get the engine specs out of the way immediately. I was wrong in guessing its 3.5-L V6 would produce only 260-hp, based on the belief that Nissan wouldn't let its lesser nameplate model eclipse its new Infiniti G35. It seems Maxima fans can rejoice in the knowledge their baby will up the ante by 5 horsepower, for a total of 265. That said the Nissan will be down on torque compared to the Infiniti, 250 lb-ft compared to 260 respectively. This move, however, may have been an engineering fix to quash dreaded torque steer mind you, the bane of front-wheel drive cars and one of the only complaints with the previous Maxima.