Nissan Maxima reviews

1999 Nissan Maxima Driving Impressions

The 3.0-liter V6 is responsive, and so smooth-running that you think it's a larger engine at times. It feels gutsy, sounds good, and never loses its thrust through its 6500-rpm rev range. In spite of its good manners, the Nissan is slower to accelerate than a V6 Camry or Accord, both of which offer slightly more power. If you accelerate while turning, you can feel the torque-steer effect, a tugging on the steering wheel that only Audi and VW have successfully exorcised from their front-drive mid-size sedans. Traction control limits wheelspin on our automatic-equipped test car; traction control is not available with the five-speed manual transmission.

The electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission shifts invisibly. But when you downshift from third to second gear, either by moving the lever or by flooring the throttle when you're in third gear, the engine howls for a second before you detect much forward motivation. While the Maxima is not a dragstrip champion, you never tire of using all of the engine's potential.

On challenging roads the Maxima SE is fun and extremely capable. It will give most luxury cars a dash for their cash in the mountains. Handling is quick, with fast, even turn-in and a lot of grip. Ultimately the Maxima plows in fast corners, but not until you're at the high end of its limits. If you want, however, you can get the car to drift in a neutral attitude by decelerating momentarily and shifting weight onto the front tires. Nothing bad or surprising happens, and the car just tucks in tighter. All of this sport sedan behavior translates to extra confidence when you're entering a 75 mph highway from a tight ramp.

We drove our test car on twisty Appalachian two-laners in the country, and had almost as much fun as we've had in sportier coupes on the same roads.

Bumpy roads don't upset the car. The rear suspension was redesigned in 1995 with a new rear beam axle in place of its former independent setup. This design takes up less space, which can be used for baggage and rear-seat passengers. Careful tuning allowed the Maxima to retain a good ride quality on rough roads.

All Maximas come standard with four-wheel disc brakes, which provide good braking performance. Anti-lock brakes come standard on the SE and we found the system works smoothly on slick and dusty road surfaces. The nose of the SE doesn't dive excessively during hard braking; its tauter suspension provides more precise handling control than the softer-sprung GXE and GLE models.