BTW- i found this on MotorTrend.... Quoted exactly:

"2004 Toyota Sienna: Redesign. Sienna replacement expected to be bigger to compete with Honda Odyssey and Dodge Caravan. Drivetrain to feature 3.5-liter V-6 with available all-wheel drive."

I never heard anything about a 3.5V6, i thought it was a 3.3V6. Maybe typo?? But all wheel drive will be something new.

MotorTrend Article

And if you look around on the other pages there, they say the Lexus's i.e. ES300/RX300 are getting the 3.3 so the Sienna must be getting that as well. And they give 240HP to both the ES/RX. So expect the Sienna to be in that range, as well as Camry/Highlander etc....

 

I'm very doubtful it will have AWD if it will come with the "magic" third row seat. I know a friend of mine who works as an engineer at the Chrysler plant that builds their minivans. The reason why Chrysler can not replicate Honda's innovative third row seat is because of the AWD option. The hole where the third row seat drops down into restricts the AWD drivetrain in the rear axle. The only way to add AWD with the "magic" third row is to raise the clearance (ala' SUVs), other than that, it is very difficult to do properly. But until I see AWD and "magic" third row seat confirmed, I don't believe it.

 

i hate these smilies, because it can be so offensive sometimes eventhough it wasn't meant to be offensive.

 

Why is the 5HP increase so magical? Could it possibly be a better flowing intake? It doesn't take much to gain 5 HP from a 3.5L.

Nissan always make the point that they have "Class leading HP" because they want to regain their image as a performance oriented company. Through the mid 90s, they were trying to be a me too Toyota.. i.e. bland. Before this period, their image has always been performance. Like the Z legacy, and the infamous SE-R in the early 90s (double wish bone suspension with a 140HP for a mear $11k). They're just returning to their root, which is performance for a bargain price. To do that, you need HP and good gearing. Either you spend more $$ on one or the other. BMW decides to spend it on tranny and Nissan decide to spend it in HP.

 

Really? I had no idea? Thanks for pointing that out. I guess you did not read in to the sarcasm of my "magical" comment...next time I will lay it on thicker. It is just funny how Nissan had to add 5 HP when the Accord came out...can't they sell the car on its own merits? Also HP is not the only thing that makes a car a performance car...and for Nissan to make that the one issue that is so important to them is simpy sad.

 

Sorry if I can't read your sarcasm. It's really hard reading sarcasm, if you know what i mean. Their goal was to have the leading HP in all the classes they compete in, and that's exactly what they're doing. What's wrong w/ that? What do you mean its own merits? Its merit is that it's the most powerful car in its class. Did Nissan specifically stated that they're raising the Altima HP to 245 because the Accord is 240? So how do you know it's because of that? A car gets improved every year. Right? A car company see where they need to improve and they improve it. It doesn't matter if it's the performance that they improve or the interior that they improved. Bottom line is they decide to increase it 5 more HP. What's wrong w/ that?

I've never said HP is the only thing taht makes a car a performance car. But HP is one of the ingredient in determining which car performs better. What's so sad about a company that wants its car to have the most HP? I can turn right around and say its sad that you market a car as sporty and not give it a manual transmission (Accord V6 sedan and the TL-S).

 

i'm pretty sure car companies don't announce things like that. "yeah our competitors car has more hp now, but we're bumping up the hp in our cars for next year"

how do we know the altima's hp was bumped up because of the new accord? how do you know it wasn't? just because nissan doesn't announce it doesn't mean anything. hp changes usually affect torque as well. the altima's torque didn't change. don't you find that strange?

 

since torque is directly related to hp, very strange. bleh, maybe they did add 5hp. who knows.

 

Sure the peak tq didn't change but could it possibly mean that the tq @ it high end increased? Only dyno chart can tell you that. The RPM where tq peak & where HP peak are different so it could possibly mean that it gain more power on the high end? Hence, higher HP but peak TQ stays the same. It's quite logical if you know that HP is a direct relation to TQ like you said.

With your argument about the Altima change their HP because of the Accord, then I can also say the Accord hit that 240HP mark because of the Altima. We'll never know exactly why they chose the value they did. We can only speculate.

 

for your second comment, thats a different thing. the accord got an increase in hp in the new generation with a reworked version of the J30, and honda make it clear how they got the extra hp out of it. on the other hand, nissan sneaks another 5hp into the altima right after the accord specs are announced.