Nissan introduced its first V-6 engine in 1983 in the 1984 300ZX. It later saw use in 1985 in the first front-wheel-drive Maxima. Nissan's V-6s have always delivered strong, smooth performance, whether in normally aspirated trim or in twin-turbocharged, 750-bhp guise, as in the rearwheel-drive GTS 300ZX IMSA racing car. In the Maxima's latest iteration, Nissan engineers sought to quicken the engine's throttle response and to improve its fuel economy with lightweight internals and various low-friction modifications, and we think they've found the ideal combination of response and smoothness. This engine gets you away from a stoplight with irresistible momentum like an American V-8, cruises with perfect refinement like a Japanese V-6, and rushes to redline for peak power like a European in-line six-cylinder. Its combination of strong torque and quick-revving acceleration makes the power band feel especially broad, something we noticed while accelerating in fifth gear. "A little bit of extra pressure on the throttle is met with an instant goose of acceleration," deputy editor Jean Lindamood wrote in our logbook. "What a sweet engine." Weisz found the same reward while driving two-lane roads where passing power is crucial: "I went from 70 mph to 110 mph in the space of a straight-away on a two-lane road in northern Michigan which is to say, not too much space at all." We chose to match this remarkable engine with a five-speed manual transmission, and it predictably gave the Maxima an added dimension of BMW like performance. In addition, no one complained about this car's shift-for yourself requirement, which suggests that the Maxima spans the gap between manual-transmission compact car and fully automatic luxury sedan in a way that makes it appealing as anyone's first adult-rated sedan.

This is the fourth generation of the Nissan Maxima. The firm Maxima, which was introduced in 1981 as the luxury variant of Datsun's 810 sedan, was rear-wheel drive and had on an inline six cylinder engine The second-generation Maxima arrived as a 1985 model and was powered by a V-6 driving the front wheels. The third iteration of the car arrived in 1989; the previous Maxima's SOHC V 6 fingered, but the sedan now hod an athletic, sculpted body and a roomy cabin. In 1992, a 190bhp DOHC V 6 was installed and eamed the car comparisons with the Ford Taurus SHO. The current car is a development of the 1989 theme, with a new lower-friction drivetrain. It was introduced in May of 1994 as a 1995 model.

All was not perfection with this transmission, however. The light effort and long throw of the clutch pedal frequently proved difficult to coordinate with the equally low-effort throttle pedal. As a result, we often lurched and stumbled while driving around town, as if we'd skipped the last two weeks of driver training class. Executive editor Rich Ceppos said, "Like previous Maximas, the clutch travel is so long that it forces you to move the seat up so that you can get the pedal fully depressed, which puts too much angle in your throttle leg. Meanwhile, the steering wheel is a long reach away. This is not the most comfortable driving position I've ever experienced, and I fiddled constantly with the electric seat to find a comfortable position." One further consequence of the clutch pedal's clumsiness might have been reports of graunching the shift into first gear, which followed this car from its first day with us. By the end of the Maxima's term, gear changes didn't seem as slick as before, and, as contributor Ronald Ahrens noted, "The clutch engages with a sort of abused whispering, like the murmurs of an unhappy stepchild in the attic."

Aside from the powertrain, the revised Maxima's other important improvements lie within the passenger cabin, especially the rear seat. The new car's additional two inches of wheelbase and almost four cubic feet of interior volume were reflected in numerous logbook entries that boasted of 700-mile travel days. Not only is the Maxima spacious, but it's the right kind of spacious, featuring seating positions front and rear that help real human beings feel reasonably fresh after a long drive. The interior of the Maxima also met our stringent style requirements. Associate editor Mark Schirmer liked the feel of the steering wheel, the utility of the stereo and climate controls, and the big, solid, easy-to-use control buttons (well, he really likes buttons, okay?). Schirmer was also glad we specified cloth seats instead of leather, since leather is cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and squeaks year-round. We had a moment of doubt about the cloth when some crayons melted on the back seat, but we gave $25 to the guys at Auto Appearance in Southfield, Michigan, and they fixed it. Meanwhile, the Bose sound system met the (temporarily) acute auditory needs of younger staff members, and Lorio noted that this in-dash CD player proved to us all that such a system is superior to any kind of trunk-mounted CD changer. "You'd need a fifty-disc magazine in the trunk to give you the same spontaneity in music choice," Lorio said, "and who'd want to cycle through all the selections each time to find the right music?" The only downside to the interior was a persistent, rattle squeak behind the dash that appeared on the first day and proved to be a terribly annoying traveling companion, despite Schirmer's attempts to thump it into submission with his fist.

The Maxima's exterior didn't work the same magic as its interior. Apparently sales pressure in Japan is so intense that Nissan designers are unable to take chances stylistically. Maybe that's why the mix of Altima and Sentra themes makes this car look painfully generic. Even the sporty rear spoiler rubbed us the wrong way. As Ahrens said, "The exterior styling is bland, bland, bland. And then they add a rear spoiler. The next thing you know, Amish women will be wearing bikini tops over their dresses." We held our collective breath when Nissan substituted a beam-type axle for the Maxima's previous independent rear suspension. But as it turned out, the Maxima is still quick on its feet, as Kathleen Hamilton, our former executive editor, discovered when a pallet of porcelain commodes cascaded off the back of a truck in front of her and she managed to dodge the bouncing bowls without incident. As advertised, the beam axle's predictable geometry actually does improve the car's handling, while noise isolation is also better at the price of ride isolation on broken pavement. Our only objection to the Maxima's highway manners focused on its all-season Toyo tires, which seemed to be calibrated for a soggy ride and low rolling resistance not our priorities at all. We quickly grew tired of their lazy directional changes and squalling protests to sharp turns, and we installed a set of Pirelli P4000 Super Touring tires, which Pirelli calls its first high-performance all-season design. This simple tire change gave the Maxima a whole new high-performance personality.

For years we've been hoping that the Nissan Maxima would become a kind of poor man's BMW 5-series, but after four seasons with this car we have to grudgingly admit that Nissan was correct to dispense with its four-door sports car image. This is a classic road car, more like a Ford Taurus SHO than a BMW 530is featuring a spacious cabin, pleasant highway manners, and an engine that will never let you down. What kind of stuff will a classic road car do? Well, take the experience of Glenn Paulina, a photographer who contributes to our magazine. Last fall he transported a wedding cake $2000 edifice of spun sugar created by his designer-chef brother to New York City. On the way back, he spotted a prototype of a 1996 Pontiac Bonneville going the opposite direction on a Detroit expressway. Paulina's spy-photographer instincts kicked in, and he did a U-turn through the median, quickly accelerating through the gears to 100 mph in third gear, and closed on the Bonneville's tail. With the Pontiac in the cross hairs of Paulina's camera viewfinder, the Bonneville driver braked fiercely, trying to dodge out of the way. Paulina nailed the Maxima's brakes and stuck right with him. "I could hang back a bit, use a little zoom action with my lens, and basically disregard his erratic driving," Paulina reported. Around our office, this is the kind of real-world performance we understand.