Review: 2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport is a lot of car for a lot of coin

[ZilviaBot]

12-14-2009 10:57 AM

Filed under: Sedan (http://www.autoblog.com/category/sedans/), Nissan (http://www.autoblog.com/category/nissan/), Reviews (http://www.autoblog.com/category/reviews/)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/2010maximasportreview_03_opt.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/2010-nissan-maxima-3-5-sv-sport-review)2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport - Click above for high-res image gallery

Front-wheel drive is a funny thing. When originally introduced during the Thirties in the Cord 810 (then later in the awesome supercharged 812) and the Citroën Traction Avant, FWD was hailed as a major breakthrough, a wondrous technological innovation that allowed for lower ride height and greatly increased passenger space. Postwar consumers got a taste of the wonders of FWD with the iconic Citroën DS. At the top of its game in the Sixties, General Motors reintroduced FWD to American consumers with two remarkable luxury coupes: the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado. Come the Seventies, Citroën produced what is arguably the greatest GT coupe of that decade, the impeccable (and FWD) SM.

It's not that RWD is always better than FWD. Only in this case, it is.
Roll the clock forward to the Eighties and suddenly everything was being tugged around by its front wheels. Honda (http://www.autoblog.com/make/honda/), Toyota (http://www.autoblog.com/make/toyota/), Nissan (http://www.autoblog.com/make/nissan/), General Motors (http://www.autoblog.com/make/gm/), Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/make/ford/) and Chrysler (http://www.autoblog.com/make/chrysler/) all jumped head first onto the FWD bandwagon and, for the most part, they haven't looked back. Granted, Cadillac (http://www.autoblog.com/make/cadillac/) has rethought which wheels get driven, but with the exception of a dinosaur livery-mobile, there isn't a single rear-wheel-drive Lincoln (http://www.autoblog.com/make/lincoln/) to be found. Even Volkswagen (http://www.autoblog.com/make/volkswagen/) got in on the transversely-mounted engine madness. This left only the Germans - namely Mercedes-Benz (http://www.autoblog.com/make/mercedes-benz/) and BMW (http://www.autoblog.com/make/bmw/) - to seriously carry the rear-wheel drive passenger car torch for nearly a decade. Sure, Lexus (http://www.autoblog.com/make/lexus/) and Infiniti (http://www.autoblog.com/make/infiniti/) brought out some heavy hitting RWD sedans along with a raft of FWD offerings (M30 I30, G20 anyone?), but Acura (http://www.autoblog.com/make/acura/) never bothered.

The average gearhead hates FWD for all the right reasons (weight distribution, steering feel, the front tires being asked to both propel and turn, etc.), and during a recent discussion we had with a half-in-the-bag PR guy, [NAME REDACTED] exclaimed, "Front-wheel drive sucks!" So, how can a technology go from the penthouse to the doghouse like that? One answer (of many) comes from the Minnesotan economist/social philosopher Thorstein Veblen and his book The Theory of the Leisure Class. Here's a quick, ten-cent Cliff Note version: When electric lighting first appeared, only the rich could afford electric lights. As such, electrically lit dinners were considered romantic and desirable. However, once electrification trickled down to the unwashed masses, only the rich could afford both bulbs and candles. Hence, candlelit dinners became en vogue. Which - believe it or not - leads us very nicely to the 2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport and its $38,384 asking price.


Gallery: Review: 2010 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV Sport (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-nissan-maxima-3-5-sv-sport-review/low/)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/2010maximasportreview_03_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-nissan-maxima-3-5-sv-sport-review/low/)http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/2010maximasportreview_04_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-nissan-maxima-3-5-sv-sport-review/low/)http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/2010maximasportreview_01_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-nissan-maxima-3-5-sv-sport-review/low/)http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/2010maximasportreview_02_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-nissan-maxima-3-5-sv-sport-review/low/)http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/2010maximasportreview_05_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-nissan-maxima-3-5-sv-sport-review/low/)

Photos by Drew Phillips (http://www.drewphillipsphotography.com/) / Copyright (C)2009 Weblogs, Inc.Continue reading Review: 2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport is a lot of car for a lot of coin (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/14/2010-nissan-maxima-sv-sport-review/)

Review: 2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport is a lot of car for a lot of coin (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/14/2010-nissan-maxima-sv-sport-review/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).



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[ronmcdon]

38k is well into Infiniti G37 territory, which starts @ 33k ish.
A very well equipped G37 awd sedan w/ sports pkg (incl brembos, etc),
can be had for around $40k.

I really don't understand the appeal of high $30k non-premium make family cars.

[Future240]

^Thats actually one of the points they make.

For our money, we'd take an Infiniti G37 sedan with the six-speed manual and pocket the extra $2,000. It's not that RWD is always better than FWD. But in this case, it is.

[ronmcdon]

^^^
thanks for pointing that out.
I didn't read the full article, my mistake

Far from a four-door sports car (sorry, Nissan), the Maxima SV Sport is a roomy, nearly-luxurious, semi-athletic steed. If we woke up tomorrow and (somehow) discovered we owned a copy, we'd be happy. But would we pay $38,000 for one? Short answer: No. There's nothing really wrong with the car, save for its sticker. Who then would consider a Maxima spec'd out like our test vehicle? Best we can figure, an Accord owner who is quite happy with his/her car but just wants something a little nicer, a little quicker and a whole lot more good looking. Then again, they might not. For our money, we'd take an Infiniti G37 sedan with the six-speed manual and pocket the extra $2,000. It's not that RWD is always better than FWD. But in this case, it is.

[Future240]

^^^
thanks for pointing that out.
I didn't read the full article, my mistake

Far from a four-door sports car (sorry, Nissan), the Maxima SV Sport is a roomy, nearly-luxurious, semi-athletic steed. If we woke up tomorrow and (somehow) discovered we owned a copy, we'd be happy. But would we pay $38,000 for one? Short answer: No. There's nothing really wrong with the car, save for its sticker. Who then would consider a Maxima spec'd out like our test vehicle? Best we can figure, an Accord owner who is quite happy with his/her car but just wants something a little nicer, a little quicker and a whole lot more good looking. Then again, they might not. For our money, we'd take an Infiniti G37 sedan with the six-speed manual and pocket the extra $2,000. It's not that RWD is always better than FWD. But in this case, it is.

Welcome, I read it due to the fact I currently own a maxima. 1988 Shitbox, but Maxima still. It saddens me the car is only CVT. I honestly would drive it FWD, but the CVT is just too much. I enjoy so much dropping the cluth and taking off up to 4K rpm in 1st gear and then slamming it into second in my current car. CVT seems like it would take the soul of the car away.