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The 2009 Nissan Maxima, which world first appearance was at the 2008 New York International Auto Show, marks a return to the old Nissan flagship sedan's roots as a top-level 4-door sport car - a car that's unique in both exterior and driving feel, with renewed relevance for active and aggressive sedan buyers. Put differently, the Maxima is back.
2009 Nissan Maxima Wallpapers 8 DatsoPic 1.2 © 2007 by Andrey Datso
2009 Nissan Maxima Wallpapers 7 DatsoPic 1.2 © 2007 by Andrey Datso
Instead of continue with an development of the former extremely successful Maxima design, the creators of the 2009 Nissan Maxima stopped and rethought the whole way.
Inspired by the classified development of the 2009 Nissan GT-R supercar, they put away positioning words like "conservative" and "balanced" and focused rather on fresh concepts like "commanding", "habit-forming performance," "striking" and "powerful."
The all-new 2009 Nissan Maxima will be offered as 2 well-equipped models, Maxima 3.5 SV and Maxima 3.5 S.
"Maxima has enjoyed all of the time a certain 'duality' - a unique fusion of sedan practicality with the soul of a sport car," said Al Castignetti, V.P. and general manager of Nissan Division, Nissan North America, Inc. "In recent years, however, competitive vehicles have caught Maxima in 'sporty' looks and performance. For 2009, Nissan is reclaiming its deluxe 4-Door sport car heritage with an infusion of emotional design, driving excitement and innovative technology - creating a silky, stimulating sports sedan like no other on the road today."
"We aren't walking off the strengths of the latest generation Maxima, which was valued the top-ranked vehicle in AutoPacific's 2007 Vehicle Satisfaction Award for Luxury Mid-Size Cars and a winner of Strategic Vision's 2007 Total Quality Award? for Best Medium Car Ownership Experience," said Castignetti. "Nevertheless, complacency breeds complacent vehicles. The new Maxima demanded taking risks ready to ultimately come up with a much more exciting and rewarding car."
2009 Nissan Maxima Wallpapers 6 DatsoPic 1.2 © 2007 by Andrey Datso
2009 Nissan Maxima Wallpapers 5 DatsoPic 1.2 © 2007 by Andrey Datso
3 key arenas were separated for modification: exterior design, which needed to be more pushing, with more personality and attitude; a "superior" cockpit, creating an interior that combines a driver orientation with high quality, roominess and easy technology; and class-leading performance, raising what former generation owners named "Maxima-ness."
To further push the performance envelope, the development team challenged themselves to focus their tries on "emotional engineering" - to experience Maxima with the 5 senses in a finer, more intuitive manner, besides through CAD drawings and simulations.
Because each designer and engineer set and exceeded higher and higher targets, they understood that confirmation of the results would expect validation on the road. But not just whatever road. Members of the development team visited Germany's famed Nurburgring Nordschleife racing circuit - not coincidentally the site of much of the GT-R's performance development work - to exam Maxima prototypes. Extra attention was put on body rigidity, suspension and steering, along with perfecting Maxima's competitiveness versus a lot of well-established European sports sedans.
The designers of the brand-new Maxima's exterior also wanted to confirm Maxima's breakthrough personality - founding a "wow" level of expressive style that would clearly identify it from segment challengers.
"Maxima's exciting new exterior gives it a commanding, almost coupe-like appearance, with plenty of driveway appeal," stated Castignetti. "It is one sedan that will definitely be noticed by the next door neighbors, along with many other people."
The look begins with Maxima's ambitious stance and powerful fender volume, which isn't opposed to a lot of foreign sport cars on the market now. This deeply sculpted body/fender treatment is rarely used for mass market cars because of the engineering and constructing complexity needed to physically accomplish it. Maxima's new stance is produced by a little reduction in wheelbase and overall length, along with a wider front and rear track.
Maxima's new look imparts a strong, superior presence. The big, wraparound L-shaped headlights supply a unique dimension to the overall design, while the light surrounds suggest a powerful "turbine" appearance of energy and strength. The upturned headlight shape combines with a wide grille, large bumper opening and bulging "catamaran-style" hood to give Maxima a formidable look, setting the tone for the rest of the auto.
The powerful Maxima form continues along its profile, with careful layering of the bumper, hood and fender parting lines. The polished, elegant motion spreads from the deep-waisted rear fenders through typical Maxima-style C-pillars and high trunk lid.
2009 Nissan Maxima Wallpapers 4 DatsoPic 1.2 © 2007 by Andrey Datso
2009 Nissan Maxima Wallpapers 3 DatsoPic 1.2 © 2007 by Andrey Datso
Dimensionally, against the old generation, the new Maxima measures the same width at the doors but wider at each fender, which not only helps project a flashy appearance but as well gives up a reduction in the visual gap between the fenders and wheels and tires. Maxima's driving performance stance is accented by 18-inch and available 19-inch aluminum-alloy wheels with low-profile performance tires.
A different new styling characteristic is the available Dual Panel Moonroof, which is traditionally offered only in deluxe segments. The Dual Panel Moonroof includes a front section that acts like a normal moonroof (positioned farther forward than typical), with a very wide opening to allow an open-air motoring feeling. There's also a fixed translucent rear section that offers light to rear seat passengers. The overall design gives the appearance that the entire roof is composed of black glass. The Dual Panel Moonroof includes dual power sunshades for both the front and rear glass sections, bringing a level of comfort.
At the rear, Maxima features a new 12-LED L-shaped taillight design, with a pair of side marker bulbs for added visibility during nighttime driving.
Maxima is available in a choice of 8 exterior colors: Winter Frost, Super Black, Navy Blue, Tuscan Sun, Radiant Silver, Mystic Jade, Precision Gray and Dark Slate.
2009 Nissan Maxima Wallpapers 0 DatsoPic 1.2 © 2007 by Andrey Datso
For 5 former generations, Maxima has been built on a front-wheel drive (FWD) platform. Although there are known rewards of RWD in terms of sporty handling, it was finally decided that by changing Maxima from its former platform to Nissan's new "D platform," which was 1st presented on the current Nissan Altima Sedan, Hybrid and Coupe, the target Maxima performance could be delivered - without giving up the added FWD benefits of lower costs, lower weight and enhanced roominess against a RWD platform.
In making driving performance worthy of Nissan's flagship, the Maxima's body and chassis engineering teams did work together to create a secure feeling, virtually no torque steer during acceleration and a level of nimbleness that finally makes a car fun to drive.
A range of enhancements helped reach these targets, including increasing body rigidity and adjusting the wheelbase and track dimensions. Body rigidity was expanded by 15% and front strut mounting rigidity was increased by 100%, with all-new structures added to the engine compartment and extra reinforcement applied to the control board structure.
The 2009 Nissan Maxima has a wheelbase of 109.3 ins, a decrease of 1.9 ins against the 2008 Maxima, and width has been increased by 1.5 ins to 73.2 ins. The front and rear track measurement of 62.4 ins represents increases of 1.4 ins front and 1.2 ins rear over the old model.
There are different chassis reinforcements throughout the car, including a front strut tower brace and, for Sport/Premium package-equipped models, a rear seat panel that's said to improve torsional rigidity by 17%.
Every 2009 Maxima comes in two trim levels, 3.5 SV and 3.5 S, and are weaponed with a revised variant of the Nissan's standard Xtronic CVT with manual mode and available paddle shifters. A new "Ds mode" (drive sport) also has been added to the CVT for 2009. The Maxima development team finessed the old CVT design to improve reactivity and strike a balance between sport and comfort, finally creating a transmission that provides a true synergy between engine and transmission system, along with smooth, responsive and effective operation.
2009 Nissan Maxima Wallpapers 2 DatsoPic 1.2 © 2007 by Andrey Datso
2009 Nissan Maxima Wallpapers 1 DatsoPic 1.2 © 2007 by Andrey Datso
Compared to the old generation, the new Maxima offers more H.P. and torque, allowing faster acceleration reaction and a specific "Maxima Sound" - a satisfying, sporty sounding exhaust note. For 2009, Maxima again has a basic 3.5-liter VQ-series V6 engine, enhanced and refined to take its driving performance to new levels.
The 2009 Nissan Maxima's 3.5-liter DOHC 24-valve V6 is now valued at 290 H.P. and 261 lb-ft of torque (calculated), increases of 35 H.P. and 9 lb-ft of torque over the 2008 Maxima.
The new Maxima also uses another sound absorption material and a new "sound creator" to enhance induction sound.
New Maximas are scheduled to reach Nissan dealers across the US in early summer 2008.
2009 Nissan Maxima Videos
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Brand new cars and concepts 
