already got tv spots with the 2005 Altima? Isn't it a tad bit early to break out the 05's?
The speedo and tach looked cool.
Why has Nissan......
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nametakennow
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Why is the Sentra so big? It's nearly as big as my brother's A4 (about an inch shorter, maybe a little wider, actually, which is good). All Nissans are pretty big for their class/market. The Sentra/200SX are bigger than the Civic and Corolla, the Altima is about on par with the Camry and Accord, and the Maxima is a little bigger than those.
Another problem, why are all Nissan cars (excluding the Z) front wheel drive? The Max, at least, should be RWD. IMO, all cars should be RWD for that matter, GAR!
Next issue, where are the turbochargers? More efficiency from a smaller engine, what's the downside? Most blocks are strong enough to take low-boost, and a turbo is just a little more piping anyway. Better gas mileage, more power, and the really incredibly awesomely insanely totally phantasmagorically cool spooling sound.
Final issue (for now), why are cars so insanely high? The wheel gap is painful on the vast majority of cars these days. I don't need that much clearance, neither does anyone else who drives an economy car with attitude, and it just flat out looks like butt.
This has officially become the "***** about automaker suckage" thread, yee!
Another problem, why are all Nissan cars (excluding the Z) front wheel drive? The Max, at least, should be RWD. IMO, all cars should be RWD for that matter, GAR!
Next issue, where are the turbochargers? More efficiency from a smaller engine, what's the downside? Most blocks are strong enough to take low-boost, and a turbo is just a little more piping anyway. Better gas mileage, more power, and the really incredibly awesomely insanely totally phantasmagorically cool spooling sound.
Final issue (for now), why are cars so insanely high? The wheel gap is painful on the vast majority of cars these days. I don't need that much clearance, neither does anyone else who drives an economy car with attitude, and it just flat out looks like butt.
This has officially become the "***** about automaker suckage" thread, yee!
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krazy skwerel
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Why are they FWD? Becuase it is what sells.
Why no turbo's? Because they produce good power without them and ther is not a huge demand from the majority of car buyers. Look how the supercharged Frontier did.
Why they so high off the ground? Comfort maybe not realy got anythoughts on this issue.
Just what I think are the reasons for why things is the way they is.
Also on the original subject. Cars come out august/ September. They build up a car and people are gonna want to see it. That gets them on the lot and they can potentially make a sell.
Why no turbo's? Because they produce good power without them and ther is not a huge demand from the majority of car buyers. Look how the supercharged Frontier did.
Why they so high off the ground? Comfort maybe not realy got anythoughts on this issue.
Just what I think are the reasons for why things is the way they is.
Also on the original subject. Cars come out august/ September. They build up a car and people are gonna want to see it. That gets them on the lot and they can potentially make a sell.
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nametakennow
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krazy skwerel
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EZcheese15
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Yeah, I'd say most people prefer FWD cars.
Hell, at my job, which I GOT FIRED 2 WEEKS ago (but I'm over it)....my boss HATED RWD cars. It pissed me off. I mean, I like both...equaly. I drive a Sentra...but like RWD just as much. I have no preference....but we had this 02 Corvette in the shop. He *****ed me out for "liking" it because it wasn't FWD. WTF.
Hell, at my job, which I GOT FIRED 2 WEEKS ago (but I'm over it)....my boss HATED RWD cars. It pissed me off. I mean, I like both...equaly. I drive a Sentra...but like RWD just as much. I have no preference....but we had this 02 Corvette in the shop. He *****ed me out for "liking" it because it wasn't FWD. WTF.
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krazy skwerel
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Dude what happened with the job? email me if you don't want to post it up here. or link me if you did post it up. http://[email protected]
ok I have a really serious question, I mean... this has bothered me for a long time.Altima and Maxima...WHY???so alike, so pointless to have them both, when you could just have the altima with enough options to be as luxorious as the maxima (which you can) or option it down enough to cheap as the altima's "history" is...I thought they were trying to pare down platforms and models.. well, I think you could defintely axe one of them.
if you think about it front wheel drive cars are a little bit safer. and that is what the common people are looking for. i know that my car is dangerous when it is wet, even if im not even stepping on the gas. try getting the v6 altima engine in a rwd with 245??? hp and having to pull an emergency manuver when it is wet and not spinning out. but with a front wheel drive it is a bit harder to loose control.
andrave wrote:ok I have a really serious question, I mean... this has bothered me for a long time.Altima and Maxima...WHY???so alike, so pointless to have them both, when you could just have the altima with enough options to be as luxorious as the maxima (which you can) or option it down enough to cheap as the altima's "history" is...I thought they were trying to pare down platforms and models.. well, I think you could defintely axe one of them.
Because Honda has the Civic and the Accord. Toyota has the Camry and the Corolla. You've got to compete, and you've got to give options.
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krazy skwerel
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Bubba1
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nametakennow wrote:Why is the Sentra so big? It's nearly as big as my brother's A4 (about an inch shorter, maybe a little wider, actually, which is good). All Nissans are pretty big for their class/market. The Sentra/200SX are bigger than the Civic and Corolla, the Altima is about on par with the Camry and Accord, and the Maxima is a little bigger than those.
Another problem, why are all Nissan cars (excluding the Z) front wheel drive? The Max, at least, should be RWD. IMO, all cars should be RWD for that matter, GAR!
Next issue, where are the turbochargers? More efficiency from a smaller engine, what's the downside? Most blocks are strong enough to take low-boost, and a turbo is just a little more piping anyway. Better gas mileage, more power, and the really incredibly awesomely insanely totally phantasmagorically cool spooling sound.
Final issue (for now), why are cars so insanely high? The wheel gap is painful on the vast majority of cars these days. I don't need that much clearance, neither does anyone else who drives an economy car with attitude, and it just flat out looks like butt.
This has officially become the "***** about automaker suckage" thread, yee!
All good questions. And the answer to all is one word: MARKETING. Why is the Altima so big? Marketing. Americans like having more room. My guess Nissan thought they found strong but separate markets for both Altima & Maxima despite being almost identically sized cars. And they were right. The redesigned Altima was positioned as a large " midsize" inexpensive car. Maxima, has always been marketed as a full-sized car. Not luxury, just full-sized. Luxury is handled by Infiniti. Although Max is not considered luxury, it is marketed as more upscale than an Altima.
Why is the Sentra so big? Marketing. Americans want more room, Americans like supersized fries. Nissan grew the Sentra as they felt more people would buy a bigger "small car. That also seems to be working.
Why does everything seem FWD? Marketing again. thank Chrysler and GM who for many years sold the gullible American public on the perception that FWD is superior to RWD. From better traction to more leg room (no transmission/driveline hump betweenthe seats) Of course most manufactuers now put consoles in that extra space, and most enlightened drivers know that FWD is not better, just different. If you'll notice, many of the finer european cars (Benz, Bimmer) are still RWD.
Why does everything seem so tall? Besides better visibility, if you want to market that your car is roomy for its size, it's easier to get more room by making it taller than wider. Length is also easy, but you risk moving your car up a class. IF you make a corrolla the same wheelbase as an Avalon, it ain't a compact anymore. Also a lot of buyers have also become accustomed to having a commanding view offered by SUV's and hybrids.
Just my humble $.02 before taxes
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Bubba1
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Oops. I misread your last issue. I thought you meant overall height. Wheel clearance. That's easy too. The basic reason is To give one sufficent clearance for the stock suspension, and for all ranges of wheels/tires that a consumer would buy, all of which would be bigger than stock. But it also can be related to marketing as large ornate wheels are currently in style. The gap makes makes them noticeable. There was a time when fenderskirts were poplular too.
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nametakennow
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I figured out the Maxima! Toyota Avalon, anyone? My parents used to have one, I should have thought of that.
Anyway, FWD cars aren't really that much safer in adverse conditons, the rear will still slide out if **** really gets ugly (trust me, my car slid out a couple weeks ago... albeit it was fun... but that's just cause I'm me).
Turbos pass emissions all the time, VW/Audi 1.8T and the venerable VW turbodiesel.
Upper class cars have traditionally been rear wheel drive (Mercedes, BMW) but if you haven't noticed, except for VW/Audi, all cars from Europe are RWD or AWD, and in Audi's case there are only 2 that aren't AWD, and at that, it's still available on those models (A4, TT), if I'm not mistaken.
Bubba, I'm not sure what you mean about sufficient clearance. Clearance is my entire issue, I have double the clearance I need for even the ugliest of GA speed bumps (and we have ugly ones), I'm pretty safe on potholes too.
I'm an American, I'm 6'3, AND I'm a Republican (albeit a moderate one) and I still don't like big cars, and would love it if my own were a little shorter (well... I don't need those rear doors either, but whatever, that's another reason why it mighta been better to get a 200SX SE-R).
Moral of the story, car companies' percieved notions of what the public wants are just that, percieved.There IS a need for big cars, but not all cars must be big.
Anyway, FWD cars aren't really that much safer in adverse conditons, the rear will still slide out if **** really gets ugly (trust me, my car slid out a couple weeks ago... albeit it was fun... but that's just cause I'm me).
Turbos pass emissions all the time, VW/Audi 1.8T and the venerable VW turbodiesel.
Upper class cars have traditionally been rear wheel drive (Mercedes, BMW) but if you haven't noticed, except for VW/Audi, all cars from Europe are RWD or AWD, and in Audi's case there are only 2 that aren't AWD, and at that, it's still available on those models (A4, TT), if I'm not mistaken.
Bubba, I'm not sure what you mean about sufficient clearance. Clearance is my entire issue, I have double the clearance I need for even the ugliest of GA speed bumps (and we have ugly ones), I'm pretty safe on potholes too.
I'm an American, I'm 6'3, AND I'm a Republican (albeit a moderate one) and I still don't like big cars, and would love it if my own were a little shorter (well... I don't need those rear doors either, but whatever, that's another reason why it mighta been better to get a 200SX SE-R).
Moral of the story, car companies' percieved notions of what the public wants are just that, percieved.There IS a need for big cars, but not all cars must be big.
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nametakennow
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Georgia and snow never go together, the only "snow" we get here is half an inch sometime in January and it doesn't stick to roads.
All I'm saying is that there isn't that big of a difference the vast majority of the time, maybe I should push for LSDs on all cars (yeee! I have one! yeee!) to help with the snow thing.
Beyond that, no one should live in snowy areas, it's too durned cold. Snow is for skiing and pretty pictures, not for normal life. (I'm running out of reasoning for why cars should all be RWD here...)
Wait! Solution, AWD for everyone!
All I'm saying is that there isn't that big of a difference the vast majority of the time, maybe I should push for LSDs on all cars (yeee! I have one! yeee!) to help with the snow thing.
Beyond that, no one should live in snowy areas, it's too durned cold. Snow is for skiing and pretty pictures, not for normal life. (I'm running out of reasoning for why cars should all be RWD here...)
Wait! Solution, AWD for everyone!
Most people tend to think that RWD cars are worse in bad weather, but there are a few reasons behind this somewhat of a misconception.
For one, most RWD cars are front engined, meaning that they have less than 50% of their weight over the drive wheels, whereas in FWD/front-engine cars, they usually have at least 60% of the vehicle's weight over the drive wheels, which helps the cars get started when the roads get slick. Given the same amount of weight over drive wheels with equal tires, neither a FWD car nor a RWD car have an advantage. And you can always add weight to the back of a RWD car, if you want to do that when the roads get bad . . . you can't really remove the weight from the front of a FWD car when the weather improves. :-)
Once you get moving, you'll have a varying of opinions as to which kind of drive is better. It seems that the vast majority of people prefer FWD, but I've driven both FWD and RWD in our snowy CT winters, and I actually prefer RWD; I find it a bit more predictable, and vastly easier to control. I had my 240 throughout this entire winter on AVS ES100's, and aside from being a ***** to start out on hills with when the roads were bad, it wasn't a bad car to have. I didn't drive like a moron, and I was fine. My dad, who commutes much more than me, put snow tires on his S2000, and he could get further with that then he could in my mom's FWD Olds Aurora with all-seasons.
Sorry for the relatively long rant, but I just get sick of the perception that RWD is necessarily worse than FWD in bad weather . . . it's all what kind of shoes a car wears, and what the driver knows best, I think. :-)
For one, most RWD cars are front engined, meaning that they have less than 50% of their weight over the drive wheels, whereas in FWD/front-engine cars, they usually have at least 60% of the vehicle's weight over the drive wheels, which helps the cars get started when the roads get slick. Given the same amount of weight over drive wheels with equal tires, neither a FWD car nor a RWD car have an advantage. And you can always add weight to the back of a RWD car, if you want to do that when the roads get bad . . . you can't really remove the weight from the front of a FWD car when the weather improves. :-)
Once you get moving, you'll have a varying of opinions as to which kind of drive is better. It seems that the vast majority of people prefer FWD, but I've driven both FWD and RWD in our snowy CT winters, and I actually prefer RWD; I find it a bit more predictable, and vastly easier to control. I had my 240 throughout this entire winter on AVS ES100's, and aside from being a ***** to start out on hills with when the roads were bad, it wasn't a bad car to have. I didn't drive like a moron, and I was fine. My dad, who commutes much more than me, put snow tires on his S2000, and he could get further with that then he could in my mom's FWD Olds Aurora with all-seasons.
Sorry for the relatively long rant, but I just get sick of the perception that RWD is necessarily worse than FWD in bad weather . . . it's all what kind of shoes a car wears, and what the driver knows best, I think. :-)