Car review of the 2011 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV, 2011 Nissan Maxima photos and pics
Nissan Maxima

Cars Home / Stuff to Buy Channel / Bullz-Eye Home

Most of you have seen the Nissan Maxima Commercial where the guy's wife announces that they're having a baby and he transforms their 370Z into a Maxima. Once you get to the end of this review you'll know how believable we found the commercial.

Exterior

The 2011 Maxima has a clean and refined look – a mixture of a sports and luxury sedan.The chrome finish around the windows and smoked HID Xenon Headlights give the 2011 Maxima 3.5 SV a distinctive look.The model we tested also sported fog lights, dual chrome exhaust with rolled edges, 19" aluminum light hyper-silver wheels, a dark chrome grille, and a rear spoiler. Basically, this Maxima looked refined and cocky, a truly modern take on a model known for its practical, real-world driving experience. The front end invokes the design of Nissan's high-end GTR sports car. That's a good thing, friends.

Interior

The exterior of the Maxima lifted our expectations for the interior and I'm happy to say, we weren't disappointed! The premium leather seats are extremely comfortable and elevate the overall experience in the Maxima's cabin. The heated leather steering wheel both looks and feels great and kept with the theme of the four-door sports car. The dashboard is well thought out and similar tohigher end Infiniti models. We found the 7" color monitor with a rearview monitor well designed. Of course, the Maxima included XM Navigation traffic and weather with streaming audio via blue tooth. The back seats are spacious and wear the superior leather used in the front cabin for a great riding experience.When driving the Maxima, I did think the paddle shifters were a bit too large. They seemed to take away from the otherwise clean, telescopic steering wheel.

Nissan 370Z Coupe

Performance

The expectations at Bullz-Eye.com were that the Maxima was going to be a four-door sports car per Nissan's own proclamations. The Maxima we tested had a 3.5 liter DOHC 24-valve V6 engine, which carries 290 horsepower, 261 lb-ft of torque and a CVT. As with all Maximas it had front-wheel drive, speed sensitive power steering, independent multi-link rear suspension, and 2-wheel power assisted vented disc brakes. There are so many other options that we could list but I want to get to the meat and potatoes here. The 2011 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV can run like the wind and handles like many more expensive vehicles. That said, don't look for true sportscar acceleration from 75mph on up, even though the jump the Maxima is all good.

Overview

The 2011 Maxima looks great and runs like a charm. There are times you could laugh out of pure joy at how fun this four-door sedan is to drive.Once you get into the sports version, the sticker price will climb upwards of $39,000 and that's not a price to sneeze at. If you're looking for style, luxury, and performance, the 2011 Maxima 3.5 SV is a solid choice and your driving experiences will be worth the price of admission.

Watch the Video

Click the thumbnails below to see full versions of each photo.

You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for content updates. Also, sign up for our email list for weekly updates and check us out on Google+ as well.