why i bought one
By Duke Ionescu, 04/01/97

Hi guys. I am writing this 'article' to document what I went through before buying my current car, hoping it will make interesting reading for Maxima enthusiasts. First of all, let me tell you what I drive - I bought a brand-new 1997 Maxima SE 5spd, Super Black w/all options, including the 200W Bose CD/CASS/AM/FM about 2 weeks ago. I did not go for mud guards/nose mask since I do not like their appearance. Before I got the Max, I used to take my Silver 87 MB 190E 2.3 5spd to the Max. It was a great car which I truly enjoyed every second I owned it. At an age of 9 it would still do 122MPH with its non-FI 4-banger. It felt rock solid, almost tank-like, on mostly every type of surface and everything about it felt just right. It sported a driver airbag, seat-belt tensioners, power everything, leather, ABS, the works. What really dissapointed me was the fact that there weren't many aftermarket performance upgrades made for it here in the states, especially since one would think it would've been the perfect up-scale 'tuner' car - it had all the neccessary qualities: relatively inexpensive, pretty light on its feet, solid construction, etc. Other than buying a 2.3-16 (16V), there wasn't much you could do to improve its 130bhp/140 lb.-ft. torque. And I feel the need, THE NEED FOR SPEED!

So, why did I pick a Max? The Benz was long out of warranty, and although nothing serious would EVER break, the little things went after your (my) wallet. For example, the power pass. mirror quit moving up/down one day. The power pass. head-rest (!) would not move down anymore another day. And MB doesn't repair a motor, they replace it at lux-car prices. To fix the head rest I would've been $400 poorer. I did want to stay German, but I made a pact with myself that my next car would be a new one. The C280 Sport looked pretty appealing, so did the 328ic. At about $40k nicely loaded, they were both within my reach. Another interesting prospect was the M3, but after having driven an Euro-spec in Italy, I realized that I would never be happy with the US version. And the C280 Sport wasn't available in manual, a big no-no in my book. I drove a C220 in 95 all the way to Florida and back (to NYC), and liked it very much. In fact, just as much as I did my 190E, but with slow auto tranny. The E420, a car I will one day own if I'm not a millionaire in which case I would get the Brabus E, was too expensive at this point in time for my blood. So I decided to look for a car that would be in the $30k range that would last me for a couple of years, something I would not get attached to as I would to a German car. I went nuts, got a ton of car mags, visited all the sites with the latest surround-video on the interior, etc. Performance was very important, as were looks & reliability. I hesitated to even peek at American cars, as I never had the neccessary confidence in them. But hey, I'm only 21 and a Mustang Convertible wouldn't look too bad on me. So, lets look at the stats. 3.8 V6, in 5 speed trim, 0-60 in an amazing 10.2 seconds*! Ouch, that's fast! At a WWII 39.5bhp/liter, I could already see the guy in the Hyundai pull away from me when the light turned green. Sure, there would probably be a nice-looking blonde in my car, but not for long :-) And with a top speed of 109 MPH how could you go wrong - talk about active restraint systems! The Camaro had much better figures, 200 bhp at the same litrage, but was MUCH uglier. The high-end versions of these cars were not bad, but very inneficient - the Stang's 4.6 V8 only produced 215 bhp and took the heavy dinosaur to 60 in 6.8 seconds (hint, hint ;). Sure they are American icons, but I don't buy free advertising (read: don't believe the hype) Eagle Talon TSi? I don't think so. Impala SS? Uh.. Uh.. Nah.. Lets move over to Japanese cars. When you take your Benz to the dealer, they're supposed to give you MB loaners while your car's in the shop, free of charge. They did, but once they gave me an Acura Integra GS-R auto. I was quite impressed with its lively 4, which loved to rev and eat the pavement. However, the quality of workmanship/materials looked very ordinary and the car was too small for me. I almost bought a Mitsubishi Diamante because it looked pretty good, but since they don't sell that many of them I realized they can't possibly spend enough mula on R&D to be up to speed. A proper car that has gone through at least a couple of generations appeals to me because at least some of the problems have either been eliminated or re-thought. The Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX was yet another consideration. Great figures, looked real good, AWD, 210 ponies. But I've also made another pact not to buy another 4 as long as I don't have to and again, it was petite for me. And at my age, insurance cost IS a major consideration. So, to make a long story short - the Maxima seemed to have everything I was looking for. I also use my car for business, so a somewhat serious look was also of slight concern (the Benz fulfilled this one nicely). I found Stillen on the web and will buy most of the stuff he makes for my Max.

First impression: well, what can I say - the car is all its cracked up to be. The interior is simple and smart, the outside has clean lines, the engine is a gem. The only thing I did not expect is the slight lack of power-on-tap under 2-3k RPM. There is virtually nothing available under 2000, despite reports of most of the torque being available at as little as 1600. Take it past 3500 and the engine feels its neccessary to make sure you understand that you're controlling a 205 lb.-ft. sports car in disguise, regardless of the fact that it doesn't have the proper vocabulary to tell you its a derivative of the legendary Z's powerplant. Minor complaints are that the shifter takes some getting used to and the speed-sensitive steering is over assisted at any speed. Do NOT drive this car thinking its a RWD car, since you can easily cut a corner in half and smash into the wall. But once you learn what the control differences are, you will be astonished at how easy it is to maneuver. And although I can't stand winters, when it snows you'll be grinning looking at the 'other' people pushing their cars while you enjoy the commodity of heated seats. I was planning to swap out the stock wheels immediately with 17" Niche Runners, but they atually look better in real life than in Nissan's brochures so I think I'm gonna keep them for a little while, if not longer. To do: drive. To install: strut tower brace (mine too seems to have the clearance problem), cross-drilled rotors, steel brake lines, K&N filter, Stillen CPU, Stillen exaust, Stillen AeroKit. I'm happy to report that I am Enjoying The Ride, and it looks like this one will grow on me too, something I was hoping wouldn't happen. These darn things!

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* According to Daniel Heraud