Quote Originally Posted by atilla_the_fun View Post
The Axiom engine was redesigned, and should not (no mention of any similar problems anywhere) suffer from the same issue.
Let me mention one then, I've said it before but probably not in any of the pertinent threads that Sue lists above. I have an '04 Axiom and it burns oil like a mother ******. So bad that I brought 5 quarts with me on our trip to Wisconsin (~2K miles round trip). Now an '04 is different from an '02 in that it features direct injection, but my understanding is that the pieces that were "redesigned" for '02 are carried over into '04 (except the DI option).

Bottom line is it's just a troublesome engine period. The ideal option for me (and this is from a not-very-mechanically-inclined arm-chair mechanic) would be a Nissan VQ series engine (3.5, 3.7, or 4.0) mated to Nissan's ATTESA AWD system. The VQ engine is the V6 that Nissan uses across their entire lineup, and it's won awards as a Top 10 engine for something like the last 15 years in a row. Bulletproof as they come, doesn't burn a drop of oil and has a great power to MPG ratio (depending on vehicle weight of course). The AWD system is like TOD for the 21st century, and it's used in all of Nissan's AWD vehicles including the GTR.