Thread: Altima SE-R vs LGT vs Altima 4 cyl

Hydraulic or bust, no snapped cables or anything fun like that.

Now I know that Altima SE-R is the 350z in FWD, which has some power benefits to it, but that wasn't my issue honestly. I don't think 350z is that great of a car though either. My issue is with what Nissan has become, they no longer care about quality. I was reading about engine failure on VQ's and it's almost as high as with the QR, it's just horrible that Nissan went from bullet proof SR20's to such crap in no time.

My Legacy stock put down 100% of 200whp/200wtq that it makes in first and second gear (I confirmed with virtual dyno since car does have boost by gear). I even WOTed in the rain in first gear, nothing but grip! I bet the Altima gets a little skirmish in the rain in comparison though.

Don't get me wrong Subaru is no saint in quality, they really skimped in some areas, but they also made up for it in other areas (bringing us oem turbo AWD platforms)

I've changed spark plugs on a VQ35 once, it's definitely painful, at this point I would prefer subaru plug changing over VQ ones.



That's according to the gauge right? I wouldn't trust them, good old manual way is a ton more accurate. I like my MPG gauge in the Lagacy, but I find it to be up to 10% inaccurate depending on my driving style.

Not bad!! I've read stock Altima SE-R's put down 228ish WHP. A dude with an intake, header, exhaust, reflashed ECU, and JWT cams/valve springs put down 286WHP and like 268ft lbs of torque in his; although those mods cost nearly $4,000. And that doesn't include suspension upgrades.

And yep, the Altima spins on wet roads pretty easily. You know when your at a stop sign and wanting to turn right, and its hard to see to your left, no ones coming, so you just go, and just as you pull out you see a car coming and you step on it? If it's wet roads, you'll just spin the harder you hit the throttle.l unless you have the TCS (traction control) option, which I don't have. But I prob wouldn't use it anyway.

Well actually in the Altima SE-R, there's 2 MPG gauges. One is a completely useless gauge next to the oil pressure/voltage gauge that I never look at, but there's an option in the gauge cluster that tells you your current MPG. Its not accurate until about 20 minutes of driving after you reset it. I drove for a half hour with cruise at 64ish MPH on the highway, it came up 32.8 after about 25 minutes. If you do like 80MPH though it drops to like 27. I usually reset it every time I drive and it seems pretty accurate, its usually hovering around 20-22 city if I'm driving kind of "on it", 23-24.5 ish if I'm babying it, but the minute you hit redline in 1st, 2nd, 3rd gear, it will go to like 12.5 or something, haha.

That is pretty good stock, 15% drive train loss is nice! The very nice thing about Subaru's is flash tuners are only $150 and ECU tuning is better then what we have with Calum's stuff, but it doesn't even compare to what NismoTronic offers.

I'm at about 213whp right now with just an up pipe, I hear downpipe makes even more power. 280awhp should be fairly achievable for around $1k basically. You do start pushing the limits on fuel systems.

I wonder if Subaru has some sort of TCS, it shouldn't but I do know that I felt power being reduced when I would WOT my Forester on snow/ice.



Yeah I would pull the first gauge and put an AFR gauge or something more useful. As for the second gauge (actual MPG readout), I still wouldn't trust it 100%, it's great as an example or for side by side testing, but do compare it to your fill ups and you'll see it being inaccurate. I note down the MPG gauge and I do the traditional miles/gallons and keep it all in my spreadsheet. I noticed that my MPG gauge is 1-2 MPG optimistic in the city and 2mpg low on highway.

Yep, I have to drive 4 hours on Friday to do a live ABC broadcast in NY. I will fill up the tank completely, cruise at 65MPH and see what the gauge says compared to what my calculator says Enjoy your new ride

Good luck, I do my MPG testing mainly at 70mph, that way it's 5mph over speedlimit max usually and more realistic. At 65mpg you should get 1-2 more mpg then at 70 though.

@Storm88000 you mentioned that the car handles like a boat, the Legacy GT is exact opposite it actually handles great and is as soft as P11 over bumps, but they are nosier. As in even though going over bumps is soft, the noise of them does transfer into the cabin a bit more then on a stock p11.

My Sentra VE is crazy with the MPG. When driving on the highway (although there's no cruise I watch the tach) - with my JGY gearing set its exactly at 3500RRM in 5th gear when doing 65MPH. I get 34MPG that way, easily, because the car weighs about a hair under 2,000lbs, as I removed about 500lbs total with everything from the rear spoiler, sound deadening tar and mudflaps to major things like power steering, no sunroof etc. BUT.. the second I downshift into 3rd and go past VVL activation (mine is set at 5200RPM) forget it, lol. It drops to like 18. And going from 1st thru 3rd from a stop redlining at 8400RPM, I think I get um, 10. haha.

That's awesome. What happened with me was, I was sick of the 14MPG I was getting in my '04 Kia Sorrento SUV (great otherwise in the snow and such and actually nicely put together with a nice big V6) and I would drive 4 hours to a show that paid $400 and spent $100 just on gas. So I was like, that's it. I wanted something that was roomy enough to fit my equipment, got better MPG, and also, was fun to drive.

I looked at the Legacy's briefly but it was the extra room in the Altima that got me in that direction. They are both '05 or '06 4 door Japanese sedans, and that's exactly what I was looking at. I looked at an Accord V6, and some other stuff, but I must admit, the fact that it said Altima "SE R" on the back probably was enough to push me over the line. Too irresistible. I would have rather had the rare 2-door Altima 3.5 SE but of course, my #1 need was space.

Not surprising your Legacy handles well, a friend of mine owned a 2003 and I drove it and it had no problem with the corners. As far as the Altima, it's not the body roll or anything as the stock upgraded SE R suspension is quite stiff, I think it's just the weight distribution. I mean it weighs 3,200lbs, and I'd imagine 70 percent of that is in or towards the front. Back end comes out on a turn seemingly out of no where, so it's difficult to "push" because I've already spun around. I upgraded the tires when I went down to 17" wheels which helped a bit but when the roads are wet, yikes.