eccentrichiphop

So im from Frisco and on thursday nite im gonna take it on a road trip to las vegas!!! dats almost 500 miles trip!! im excited to take it out on the road and was wondering if any of u guys took yo max on a road trip dis far?? lemme know how the ride quality and comfort it was!!!

Stormzusmc

iTrader: (17)

drove a 7thgen from omaha to minneapolis, loved it...and it was a rental car lol

Marc NYC

Took mine from NYC to AC when I got it, about 130 miles each way of highway driving. Super comfortable, great to pass other cars, and best of all got 25.4 MPG going 80 with AC on.

STARR

iTrader: (1)

I will be on my way to ATL from NY, a 13 hour 1000 mile trip

PetitFrereMaxima

iTrader: (2)

I love road trips. I have done Houston (TX) to Dallas (TX) to a little town in Oklahoma. I think trip was about 800 round trip, done in 2 days.

I have but a 6th gen and it was awesome! (As I was the fastest far on the road. I will always be, though.)

So, with the 7th gen, I can only but imagine the smoothness and quality of the ride. And when you call on all 290 horses to prove their worth, they will amaze you. That car is a great car. On such a trip, I would always test how far my car can tolerate for SPEED!

traderumors

I did Madison to St. Paul and back the next day. Awesome drive. 28 MPG cruising at 73. Road noise is so minimal I just can't believe it.

lightonthehill

We hang out 'tween two meadows somewhere south of Atlanta, and so far, have made a round trip of about 600 miles (to Grandfather Mountain NC), a round trip of around 800 miles (to the Carolina beaches), and four or five trips of between one hundred and three hundred miles.

In October, we will be making a 600 mile round trip to Spruce Pine NC. In November, we will be making about an 1100 mile circular trip to several places in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. In December, we will be making an 800 mile round trip to Bunnlevel NC.

My wife and I are considering driving to visit my sister and brother-in-law next year at their home on Eagle Mountain, in Montana. That would be a round trip of over 5,000 miles. That would bring back memories of a trip we took to Wyoming (and other Rocky Mountain places) back in 1991 in a 1985 Maxima.

So far, our '09 has been a real pleasure to travel in, and has not given us a whisper of trouble.

rays01se

I too was surprised at the minimal road noise. I have taken my max from Dallas tx to virginia twice and dallas to chicago once. Solid as a rock and smooth as silk.

KillaKam

I've taken mine from CT to NY and i'll be taking it to MA this Saturday I'll have my EZ-Pass by then to so I can't wait to drive the car w/ no traffic.

BMWHIGH1

I just had bought my car in Jan '09. But i rented one from enterprise. Took a trip from Jersey to Quebec in the snow. With the VDC on this car and using the engine to brake and start in 2nd gear ( using tiptronic) you would swear this car has AWD. Even though when i left Jersey the car was black. When i got back it was completely white. I love driving the max through the Ny thru way

ANNINO

iTrader: (1)

Goin to the Big-E?

Glenns25

Just got back from a long trip/vacation on 9/22. Did the Arizona/Utah canyons tour and went 2400 miles. The best drive I have ever had! Most of the time you are on the Colorado Plateau which is at a minimum 5500 feet up. When going to pass I found the Max had more than enough power sometimes passing 4 cars at once...lol. That put my overall mileage now at 8400 and the car seems to drive much better now. Seems to have broken it in a bit.

STARR

iTrader: (1)

Did my 900 mile drive in about 14 hours, from NY to ATL, had the car loaded down with all my stuff and my brother, car did not seem weighed down at all but it was just clothes.

Averaged about 26mpg plus or minus, once you get past Maryland into Virginia you can keep the car at 80mph in a 70, I might go 1 or 2 miles faster but 80 seems like the max speed most do, your already zipping past people, usually I try to keep the car at 15 over but once the speed limit hits 70, I just keep it a mile over 80.

The car was comfortable to drive, in fact this is the 1st long distance trip I've taken that I had to stop before I even got close to empty, the DTE was hovering at 100miles left, and we stopped and filled up, the 2 previous cars that have done this drive, a V8 4Runner and a 300CAWD, the gas tanks in them drop like a rock punctured them

MaxMus

I have to admit. I drove my new Max down from Jersey to Dillon, SC and it was a very nice ride. However the CVT transmission leaves a lot to be desired on the highway. Almost no feel or connection between the car/driver/engine/drive train. It felt kind of numb. When you depress the accelerator the car slowly builds up speed, say from 75-80mph. This is okay when you're cruising, but when you want to do a quick pass you shouldn't have the coax the tranny into dropping down a bit and letting you feel the engine rev. Unacceptable IMHO. You have to little blip the pedal in order to get some form of quick speed, or use the paddles. Very odd way of programming the CVT.

This is compared to driving my friends Dodge Charger down there. The Charger rode smoother than the Maxima (this has 22" classy looking Rims), felt better (RWD), and was a lot more comfortable. Yes, it definitely felt underpowered at higher speeds, and the tranny didn't know which gear it wanted to be in sometimes, but that didn't bother me as much.

Bottom line, I think the Maxima is a great car, but I find Japanese cars are a little more harsher on the highway than american made vehicles.

ANNINO

iTrader: (1)

I beg to differ. I prefer a harsher ride than the 'mushy' feel of most american cars. I do feel connected to the road (not as much as in my Z, but still) and I think the power at highway speed is tremendous. Given, I have the bully dog but even without it I think the Max tears it up when you go to pass. Slowly building up speed? I think your max is broken because when I push the pedal at that speed the car takes off like a missile.

Stealpulse

I have to agree with Annino.

I like feeling the road under the tires! A "soft" or "mushy" ride makes me feel disconnected.

Also, if I know I am going to make a "power move", I just slide it over to Ds mode.

lightonthehill

I tend to agreee with Stealpulse and ANNINO. The reason I switched to Japanese cars (Datsun) over thirty years ago, and have owned nothing but Maximas for 25 years as of this very month is that I WANTED the firmer ride, the feeling of being connected with the road, and the feeling of being in control of the car. I never really had that feel with the American cars I drove from 1949 until 1978.

MaxMus never told us how much tire pressure he is carrying. Many new Maximas arrive with 40 psi (and sometimes more) in the tires. 40 psi rides rather roughly. The manual calls for 33. I find 33 too mushy, so carry 36.

As for RWD 'feeling better' to MaxMus, when cruising on a straight, level freeway, I don't see how it is possible for FWD to feel much different than RWD. The two are very different when driving fast on curvy mountain roads, very different on slick roads, very different when running elapsed time trials, etc. But not when cruising on a straight, level freeway.

As for MaxMus not feeling the power on freeway trips, virtually every tester that tested the Maxima brought out the point that this Maxima was an excellent freeway cruiser, with more than ample power, and was at its best when passing, because this CVT gets the car from 40 MPH to 80 MPH in an instant. I suspect that MaxMus may not yet have studied the CVT, and is trying to drive it the same way he would drive an automatic tranny. If you are a performance junkie, you need to understand how the DS mode, the shift stick manual override, the paddles, etc interact with a CVT; rather different than with an automatic. Those options are there for those who are into sharp performance.

I understand there are many fine cars on the road, and some are surely better performers than the Maxima (but at a price). But a Dodge Charger? I'm impressed the Charger could even make the trip without breaking down. They have never been known for reliability.

Let me see what Consumer Reports says about the Charger:

'The stiff ride and frequent motions make the car feel unsettled, and the light steering demands constant attention . . .' 'The reliability of the V6 is average, but it scored too low in testing to be recommended.'

At least I am not being as harsh on the Charger as Consumer Reports.

davey6693

I was driving a Charger on a business trip this week in Greenville, SC. I was lucky enough to at least get the 3.5 v6, but I was dismayed by its output. I think any engine that uses 3.5L and cannot put out more than 250hp is badly built and inefficient by today's standards. Fuel economy is another area where it's in the shadow. EPA maxima is 19/26, it's 17/25 for the 3.5 charger and even for the 2.7 charger it's 18/26.

The handling was not quite as sloppy as other cars I have driven, but the whole car seemed like it was carrying too much of its own weight (100lbs more than a Max). I thought the comfort was fine, not as good as my wife's Max.

dauntlessmax

It seems like Dodge (and like most American cars) has once again traded reliability and build quality for style.

PrntRhd

Wife and I made a 5000 mile round trip in our 2009-SV last October to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St Louis and back via I-80 out and via Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona on the return trip. We drove at least 600-800 miles per day, the driver seat was great for those distances. Averaged 25 MPG at 70-75 MPH.
CVT took some getting used to but integrates nicely into the cruise control, just had to be careful to purchase the proper octane fuel in the mountain areas.

nismomaxgtr18

iTrader: (5)

Make sure you wash it right after. Clean all the dead bugs off.