Greetings, I just returned from my first long trip (3000 miles) with my 2002 4x4 sc (supercharged) w/ auto tranny and I have some questions about "normal" operation. During our trip the truck was loaded with four people, camping gear, and assorted stuff for a month long trip. We had two ski boxes on the top and a hitch mounted rack on back. My question regards shifting behavior. The truck would drop out of overdrive at the slightest throttle increase. I was turning 4000 rpm going up hills in North Carolina at 75 mph. This seemed a little high for a v-6 supercharged engine even with a heavy load. During our trip I drove the xterra without the load and it behaved in a similar way. Is this normal or is something wrong?

I have the same truck (7 years now and still loving it) and what you've described isn't unusual. These trucks aren't made to cruise at 75 mph, uphill, fully loaded. They can do it, but they're not designed with that as the center of their "comfort zone". They're engineered to provide optimum performance for 60-65 mph, one or two passengers, and not much cargo - which is where 98% of total miles will be logged for most owners. I don't find what you've described as unusual.

YellowSCX, thanks for the reply! I talked to my friend who owns a non-supercharged X and he reported the same thing. I just wanted to make sure that it was "normal" I am wondering about the knock sensor affecting performance but that is a different discussion. My gas mileage is way down too so it might be worth looking at.

Your gas milage is down because you are doing 75 MPH in a supercharged brick

I love my supercharged Xterra, but it's not a race car. Anything over 60 really starts to dent the milage...