Time for me to upgrade!

me thinks this might be the spec-v. those wheels look kinda suspicous as does the disc brakers. as for the hood bulge? im thinking nissan has literally put ponies under the bonnet. little tiny ones that eat carrots. probably something about meeting the new CAFE standards.

A to C pillars / roofline look pretty similar...Bimmeresque butt end, alien bursting out of the hood, nice rims.
Based on the pics, to call this remake a severe face lift seems like a stretch, Oil of Olay not reconstructive surgery from the design dept. But...I always liked the Maxima for what it is, a powerful, well appointed, smooth handling sedan.
Hope they ditch the slit sunroof,

um i thought this thing had already received a redesign(or maybe I was wrong and it was a "facelift"?)?

it was a sad day when the V6 6MT "option" went away. a 6MT diesel might be just the ticket for Nissan.

Long live the 4DSC!

ah, the maxima...I remember many summer days in Smyrna, TN...Nissan plant is pretty big there! Anyway, it's hard to tell from the camo but the whole proportion looks good, well balanced, and slick. Kinda reminds me of the Citroen C6.

I just paid off my '02 Max 6MT w/ [factory] HLSD. I enjoy it much more now that I don't have to pay monthly. Not sure if this is enough of an upgrade to make me commit to another half-decade of payments. I'm secretly waiting for a Max sportwagon 6MT diesel. Yeah, I know... I'm going to be secretly waiting a long, long time.

They really need to add FWD biased AWD...

Too bad with all of these "improvements" they still havent fixed the ass-end squat so many Maxes have. TBLUEMAX Awesome color (Have a T (W) blue max too) and I wish I had your transmission, 6MT FTW!

@zolielo: YES! YES! what he said. FWD and 3.5L (3.7?) don't mix!

@Simpsons-Movie-ruled: indeed. the Maxima is one of those cars where every time they announce a restyle or redesign, you're pretty sure they just did that last year... and two years before that...

looks kinda like it has an ugly, GTR-inspired front end. yay.

I have a weird liking for the Maxima. I guess because they've always had sweet engines...

I have a 2000 GLS in Sterling Mist
yes its an automatic

@smokyburnout:
Yeah, that's the first thing that struck me as well--although I don't think the GT-R could possibly challenge the Maxima for the mantle of ugly (especially before the recent refresh).

Perhaps it's a case of revised pecking order. The Maxima used to be Nissan's flagship (outside of Japan anyway). Now the GT-R has stepped in and just about doubled the reach of Nissan's pricing. You could argue that something like the more expensive Armada was it's flagship, or maybe the more sporting 350Z, but somehow the Maxima has always held it's nose up at those Nissans the way an Infiniti would.
-
Unfortunately when the Altima went V6, it just about killed the Maxima's reason for being. Currently the Altima is more attractive, cheaper, nearly as big, and more powerful.

@Froggmann: I'd like to think I'm a performance junkie, but I went with the 6MT because the 4-speed auto was less fuel efficient (and you could only get the HLSD w/6MT). My Max is just now at 23,000 miles and I bought it new March 23, 2002. I have a feeling I'm going to be keeping this one for a long time.

@smokyburnout: i think i've found out why i get that feeling... each generation of Altima seems to be the next logical evolutionary step, styling-wise, of the previous-gen Maxima, and vice versa. or something.

@smokyburnout: Agree. They havent actually changed anything really radically.

Also, could this be the closest we yanks get to a french diesel???

Also, i second the spec-v comments. I think thoes wheels give it away. Very similer to sentra (?) SE-R.

It may look a bit more radical when the camo/foam blocks come off. The car is on an all new platform so there shouldn't be any carry over.

The front end is supposed to be inspired by the GT-R, which IMO is one of the most awesome cars available. The arch of the roof is very similar to the current car, but appears to stretch back farther/lower on the car (judging by the guy's head in the back seat).

Looks to have maintained the about the same size overall, which is good. A co-worker with a G35 sedan was riding in my '04 SE on the way to lunch and remarked how much more roomy the Maxima is. It's that 1/3 size bigger than the Altima that really matters.

Hopefully, AWD will be part of the plan. Its feasible given that the car is based on Nissan's global D platform shared with the new 2009 Murano.

I'm headed to Chicago this weekend for the Auto Show, wish I was going to NYC in March instead.

Wow, nice call smokey!

just another 4 door barge pushing more horses in front of the cart.

almost looks like a dodge charger front end.

blah sells, and they can't break the formula.

4 doors and sport don't do it for me, when I see these in WRC Championship podiums I'll take note, otherwise, I'm blind to this segment of autos.

Did you just call the Maxima midsize?

The current beast is gigantic, and I can only imagine the next one will be at least as big.

The Altima (3.5 and/or SE-R) is really the heritage of the 4DSC. The Maxima has been in a floaty barge no-mans-land for a few years now.

My boss paraked his Maxima next to my GM and his bosses Avalon yesterday and there was as less than a foot difference between the big cruising cars. Of course my car is more fun to drive being rear wheel drive than the others although all are great models.

Wow... my bulge is also just foam blocks.

I guess that Nissan, like many people, must have insecurities about its "endowment". Padding is the oldest trick in the book. Those phoneys.

Looks like they're taking the thirteen year old punk in the back seat to the mall for a Wii.

she looks pregnant with that bump on the grill.

This is such a cheap spy shot. This photographer was literally standing outside of the lobby of the Nissan HQ probably just cherry picking this.
Spy shot, my ass.

that better be just a test mule cause otherwise it's gonna look exactly the same.

I cannot say how but I have seen an actual picture of the 2009 Nissan Maxima without the Camo! It looks great! I can tell you that the CAMO is hiding not a lot of the front end but the actual look is much different than can be seen. The interior looks pretty good and roomy. I did not get to see the specs of the vehicle for this was just a quick look at a brochure. It seems to be a little bigger and more sporty than the last generation. I think everyone here will be well pleased in about 15 days when this thing is unveiled at the New York show. I am a Nissan fan and have a 1996 Max with a 5 speed. I think those of us who are the real drivers on the road will be rewarded well for our wait! I am saving my money now!!!

I have owned four generations of the nissan maxima and loved everyone of them. From the spy phot, I am loving this one and I will love it more once I drive it. Time to trade in my 2006 charger to the all new nissan MAXIMA.