G37X is 0.4 seconds slower than the RWD. To some that's "considerable", to others it'not. I would say coupe and sedan perform the same, but what does that have to do with Maximas? There is more to a sports sedan than a 0-60 times, unless you are a devoted light to light racer... LOL

 

It baffles me why anybody would buy a Nissan Maxima over a G37S sedan IF the person is looking for something sporty. ESP considering they are damn near the same price.

Lets see here.
Nissan Maxima
290hp
CVT
FWD
Same interior room as the G37 Sedan. (Give or take)

G37 Sedan
328hp
6mt or 7at
RWD
About the same iinterior room as the Maxima.

The interior quality is similar, but the G uses slightly nicer materials, and looks are subjective. I DO think the new maximas look sharp, but I prefer the classier look of the G37 Sedan. Plus, performance?? There is no comparison. The G outruns the Maxima in the quarter mile by 1.3 seconds. That's an eternity! I have not checked on the braking performance, but I would assume the G also bests the Maxima in that category as well as slalom and speed.

FWIW, I traded in a 1999 Nissan Maxima 5 speed on my G. Lol.

 

They are not that different:

Motor Trend

G37S
0-60 - 5.0 Seconds
1/4 Mile - 13.5 @ 105.3 MPH

G37xS
0-60 - 5.4 Seconds
1/4 Mile - 13.9 @ 100.5 MPH

The G37xS was using Dunlop Sport Maxx all-season tires while the G37S had Bridgestone Potenza summer tires. Use the same tires and the results would be even closer.

Maxima 3.5SV Premium
0-60 - 6.1 Seconds
1/4 Mile - 14.7 @ 96.1 MPH

 

Yes, I agree, it's just that that's one of those things that is more relevant to the average person than say, a 1/4 mile time, and it's one of those things about a car that is quantifiable rather than subjective. As far as Maximas, the guy who posted that said that Maximas felt sportier indicated that her had only driven 7x sedans, and that's what he was comparing against.

 

My last car was a 2004 Nissan Maxima SE. It was a new model year. Finally they made the rear end lines more appealing. However I will never buy a new model year maxima ever again. There were so many recalls and problems with this car that if you look at CR's maintenance history on it you will say omg they had a problem year. The warranty was not as good. The car cost me 3g more than my g37xS and Nissan dealers are far from the quality of Infiniti dealers.

This is not going into performance or features at all. No one is buying the Maximas from what I can see. I've seen 20 plus g37's on the streets and not a single maxima. However I did get pricing from my closest dealer which I refuse to go to for service any more. It was priced more. They wouldn't even get close to invoice where as Fields went 1k under so my price was 36.7 w/o taxes, title, etc...

performance and feature wise there are not any features that I think could justify the Maxima. To my understanding the G37s (not the X model) has fully ventilated seats. RWD is so much better. There is never any torque steer and its much more balanced all around. CVT? On a performance luxury sedan? The Maxima isn't that. its an upscale family car.

Throw in road side assistance, loaners, and etc...

 

It would be nice, but that is not the case.

 

Buy my TL Type S for cheap.

 

I test drove the 09 Maxima and 09 G37X sedans, interested in something that fit a 6'2" driver, has some power and handling, has FWD or AWD due to snow, is styled nice, etc.

The Maxima was nice -- quicker & better handling than several standard V6 sedans I drove, nice exterior styling and balance, very smooth CVT, lots of technology options (if you like or need that for the high option cost), decent interior quality, some sporty dash cues like big oval HVAC duct grilles. The Maxima is available with a lot of high cost options (seats, panoramic roof, cooled seats, etc.) to place it at the top of the Nissan 'food chain' and similar in price to the G37.

The G37X, however, has personality -- it is just fun to drive. The 7AT is dynamic -- you know when it shifts from 1st to 4th, the exhaust harmonic is clear and sporty, it is blistering quick from any normal road speed (20-40mph) to any speed you need. It handles exactly where you point it with minimal body roll and effort. The ride is solid and quiet on the Nissan FM chassis, but stiffly suspended (sporty), even with only the 17" wheels (I live in the land of Illinois potholes, so hesitate to try 18-19" wheels, which have been known to break). The interior is simple, elegant, and fits like a cockpit and the view over the"W" shaped grille seems like a classic sports car -- all very engaging (what Japanese call Kansei Engineering).

The G37 does drive significantly different with RWD, stiff suspension, and the dynamic JATCO 7AT -- I actually test drove it three times to see if I really wanted the 'sporty' shifting and snug cockpit interior -- in the end, it was just too much fun to drive.

 

nopers dont look alike to me

 

"Not that different?" A 5mph difference in trap speed is huge

You can't say that without knowing the 60ft time.

 

I was considering both of these cars as well as the Acura TL SH-AWD and I obviously ended up getting the G37xS. At first I didn't really like the styling of the new Maxima but it grew on me because I think it looks very aggressive. Edmunds.com had an article comparing the 2009 Maxima and the G37 but it seems to have been pulled off their website. I'm guessing that Infiniti/Nissan had something to do with that. The article basically said to save a little money and go with the Maxima. I'm leasing so I believe the leasing cost is very similar between a loaded Maxima and Infiniti because I think the Infiniti has a higher residual percentage. I went with the Infiniti for a number of reasons.

• More horsepower (328 versus 290)
• 7AT versus CVT
• AWD versus FWD
• Longer wheelbase/shorter length (i.e. less body overhang)
• Incentives from Infiniti (I was returning a leased M45 Sport)
• Car & Driver 10 Best and Consumer Reports best upscale sedan

There are a couple of things that I wished were included in the G37xS. My 2006 M45 Sport had both cooled and heated seats and someone mentioned that cooled seats is an option in the Maxima. I wish it was available in the G37 especially now that it's summer and I have a graphite interior. Also, the Maxima side mirrors have integrated turn signal lamps. Considering that Infiniti is supposed to be more upscale than Nissan, they should have included these on the Infiniti. The Maxima also has an optional panorama roof. Again, since Infiniti is the more upscale division, this should also be an option on the G37. Lastly, (and this might seem silly so don't flame me), the Maxima has fog lights in the front air dam. I think it would have been nice to have fog lights in the G37 air dam and there seems to be a place for them but I guess they're integrated with the headlights so it's not necessary.

 

Sam I think most of us would agree with what you said

 

The difference in the G AWD and RWD is not tires, it's weight and driveline loss. The AWD weighs more and put less power to the ground. On a drag strip, the AWD uses all four tires during the launch so not having summer tires isn't going to matter. Does an AWD G suffer from wheels spin? I don't see how.

 

A 5mph difference in trap speed across the 1/4 is a pretty significant difference.

While summer tires help a lot, they mainly help on the launch. The launch doesn't affect the 1/4 trap speed as much as you would think. Usually the car with the better hp/lbs ratio will have the higher trap speed. There are exceptions to this obviously but if you were to graph everything and have a regression line made, this trend would be apparent.

 

13.5 and 13.9 (as above) are just two numbers from two different magazines ...

Real world will probably have the xS and the S sedans very close .. with the xS occasionally (not consistently) beating out the S in the 1/4-mile.