Nissan Maxima 350 Ti 2009 Review

Nissan Maxima 350Ti

Road Test

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $46,990
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): nil
Crash rating: TBA
Fuel: 95 RON ULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 10.2
CO2 emissions (g/km): 243
Also consider: Honda Accord V6 (more here), Skoda Superb Elegance (more here), Toyota Aurion Presara

Overall rating: 2.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 2.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 2.5/5.0
Safety: 2.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 2.0/5.0

About our ratings

The Nissan Maxima is your dad's car. Even if you yourself are a dad (or a mum) it's still your dad's car -- not that there's anything wrong with that.

As we stated in our launch review for the latest ('J32') generation (more here), comfortable and generally well-packaged as it is, the Maxima is incomparable in the opinion of those who like to spend their lives in a lounge room -- even when on the road.

For the rest of us, the Maxima offers two outstanding features: the 3.5-lite V6 and the continuously variable transmission.

The engine has a growl to it, but is subdued at open-road speeds. Indeed, the Maxima is such a quiet car that it's the engine that is the principal source of NVH on the freeway. Even then, it's a minor vibration at the very threshold of hearing.

As a powerplant, the Maxima's V6 has plenty... Power, that is. The problem there is that does bring with it its own penalty -- fuel use for the week the car was in our possession was 11.7L/100km, but that has to be balanced against driving the car mostly around town and some lower speed work out in the country. All the same, it doesn't compare well with the figure of 10.9L/100km we achieved the week before in the Toyota Aurion Sportivo ZR6 -- over the same terrain and distance.

At any rate, this is a hard-working unit right up to the redline and the CVT operates very well in combination with it. There are six 'speeds' that can be manually selected by means of a sequential-shift plane to the right of the standard automatic shift detente. The first of these 'steps' is quite a high ratio, but that means the remaining five are quite closely spaced, allowing the driver to call on extra engine braking when needed.

Manual 'changes' are ridiculously smooth and swift. We had forgotten how good CVTs can be in this regard and the Maxima is among the best. It will allow the engine to run up hard enough for adequate torque and power, but then pulls higher ratios sooner, once the car is under way.

This aids fuel economy and also scotches the CVT 'illusion' that the car is not accelerating because the engine note doesn't change. The fact that the Maxima's engine note is falling back when it should be rising is neither here nor there. At least it's not holding steady. This is in line with what we were told by Nissan about their work on CVTs at the local launch of the Dualis in January last year (more here).

The Maxima's straightline performance is not matched by either its cornering or its ride comfort. At times, the soft suspension feels underdamped. There are arguably better ride and handling compromises around, even if you prefer a bit more 'bounce to the ounce' (thanks, Frankie J. Holden).

The soft springing and damping can especially be felt in the less than optimal body control at the rear. To the Maxima's credit though, the rear suspension delivers reasonably high levels of grip. On the one occasion the back-end did let go -- with some provocation -- it was predictable and quickly pulled back into line by the VDC.

There's a large reserve of grip at the front end, although it's easily overcome by the power and torque from the engine. No torque steer was detected, but power-induced understeer was out in force on a wet night in Melbourne.

Steering provided better feedback than anticipated and turn-in was better than merely adequate for a car that's not really intended to be a sports car. All that aside, the Maxima can lack any sort of consistency of 'flow' in the steering. It's better with power on through a corner, but on a trailing throttle the driver is constantly correcting the car's line.

As a package, the Maxima is a large car -- alas space in the cabin and boot is not utilised as well as it could be. For example, the boot space extends forward a long way, but seems relatively narrow between the wheel arches -- and not as deep as expected. Rear-seat legroom is very good, but not so rear-seat headroom, which is sorely compromised for adults of average height by the need for a lower headlining to accommodate the standard Ti-fitment sunroof.

Nissan is playing 'Where's Wally?' with the switchgear in the Maxima. The seat-heating switches are in the storage bin under the centre armrest and the VDC (stability control) disable switch is to the right of the steering column and down.

Seats were flat and not especially comfortable initially, but proved more supportive than first impressions indicated. The major instruments are easily read and it's quite simple to find a comfortable driving position, because there's plenty of flexibility and adjustment in the seat position and the steering column -- contrary to the concern expressed in our launch review here.

Switchgear for the infotainment systems (including satnav) is not to the liking of this reviewer. Situated on a nearly horizontal plinth in front of the screen, they're not easy to reach and slow to use for such things as setting a destination. It's the rotary dial principally at fault.

We wish Japanese car companies would read the script where it comes to two-stage/lane-change indicators. The Maxima is yet another Japanese car without this facility.

One of the niggles of operating the Maxima comes with the remote controls on the steering wheel for the audio system volume. Usually a useful and convenient feature, it's plagued by insuperably large increments between the settings. Reducing the volume with one press of the button will leave the level too low, but one point up will be too loud. So if you want finer volume setting, there's no real option other than the knob on the left of the audio head unit -- and like a lot of things in the Maxima, it's not easy to reach.

A reversing camera is fitted as standard in the Maxima Ti, but there are no sensors for acoustic guidance. Call us demanding if you will, but a car with a reversing camera but no parking sensors is like a car with airbags but no seatbelts. If you reverse using the mirrors, the acoustic guidance sensors are handy gadgets to have. That said, the Maxima seems a relatively easy car to park. It's narrower than its interior space would indicate and backing down the tight driveway at home was surprisingly straightforward.

The Maxima leaves us with two flaws that would stand in the way of buying it. Firstly, at the Ti-level price of $46,990, it's right up against the Honda Accord V6 Luxury -- and depending on the buyer's situation, the Honda might be the better choice for resale and badge cachet, among other considerations. Also, as we discovered with the Aurion ZR6, this is a large car that is up against some other very capable large cars and a veritable cornucopia of 'mid-size' cars that approach the Maxima in size but frequently offer better driving dynamics or better specification for a lower price.

Secondly? On the monopoly board of life, it's never going to win a beauty pageant.

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