I still remember when the first Altima was released for the 1993 model year, those first models still sported a little “Stanza” tag next to the “Altima” one during that first year as that is the model it replaced. I recall going to a dealer to see it and thinking it would probably be a pretty good car to own and that Altima was a better name than Stanza. Twenty-seven years later here we are a year after the 6th generation Altima was launched and for the first time in its long lineage it now features all wheel drive as an option.
It turns out that I’ve actually driven this exact car before, it was one of the featured ones at the winter driving event I went to a couple of months back where I got the opportunity to put it through its paces in a deeply snow covered parking lot. At the time I found and reported that I rather liked the car and this week with it in vastly different weather, mostly sunny and dry, didn’t dispel that notion.
I’ll fess up and admit that last year when I was in the market for a new car a new Altima was in the running, the main issue at the time was I had zero desire to spend a lot of money but wanted a low hassle new car and with it still being a brand new generation there were no ridiculously good deals to be had (which is fine, of course). After barely being able to tell the previous three generations apart from each other, I quite liked the new styling direction that Nissan had chosen with this one, although I suppose it’s still evolutionary from the most recent one.
The styling now, a year or so later, still looks fresh to me, I actually find it to be a little (just a little) bit Audi-like with clean lines, a distinctive front grille and shapely but not weird tail lights. The hood drapes over the front fenders like an A4’s does, and the overall look is fairly long and low. While not at all a ripoff of that other brand’s design especially due to that C-pillar “floating roof” effect, just subtly evoking some aspects of it seems to work here, and let’s face it, if you’re going to even remotely be compared to another company’s design, you could do a lot worse.
Or maybe I’m thinking of that other brand due to their long experience with AWD on family sedans. Could be, but I think this is exactly what this segment has needed for a long time. Subaru has obviously had their Legacy sedan forever, and Ford offered AWD on some Fusions, but Nissan now doing so is what I think finally pushed Toyota into (re-)introducing it on the Camry line now as well. Nissan has stated that the take rate for AWD has been quite significant in winter-weather locales, my main question has been what took them so long.
I suppose that perhaps part of why they got off the fence is that mid-size sedan sales (well, pretty much all sedan sales) have been flagging in recent years (although Nissan still managed to sell about 210,000 Altimas in the US in 2019), so introducing a new model was the perfect time to engineer in a popular option that could increase sales and add some differentiation while costing little and being easy to integrate into the production line. Perhaps sales will keep sliding and manufacturers will consider adding regular station wagon versions too for the same reason. Dare to dream, I suppose.
The interior as well brings me back to Audi as a potential inspiration with the relatively low and wide dashboard. The view out is quite good with fairly slim pillars and a large windscreen, you actually see a significant portion of the hood from behind the wheel. It’s not quite 1980’s Honda-like low cowl but as close as I’ve seen in years.. The blind spots are minimal even with the kickup around the rear side windowline.
While the interior materials are class competitive they obviously aren’t Audi-grade but at a little more than half the list price, they shouldn’t/needn’t be. If Nissan decided to invest a little more money such as Mazda has been doing, they could possibly become extremely competitive though as far as that aspect goes. Then again, I’m not sure it’s really paying off for Mazda and there really isn’t any need for it, it’s plenty attractive as is.
The mid-level SV version (the range starts with S, then SR, SV, SL and finally Platinum, with AWD available in all) that I had came with cloth seats that were electrically powered as well as being heated. The leather wrapped steering wheel was heated as well, the heaters are all standard in this AWD version.
It seems that for the most part makers have finally gotten beyond horribly cheap-feeling fabrics for the cloth seats, something that afflicted many others over the last few years, and the Altima’s fabric looks and feels good. It’s not veloury and it’s not that mouse-fur-ish stuff they used to use in some trims but it’s not at all nylon-ish looking either as compared to perhaps the current Accord, whose seats on the lower trim levels come across as very (too) budget conscious. (The material here looks a bit better in person than in these pictures, the center section is kind of a “brushed” effect)
There is an 8″ version of the more or less ubiquitous center tablet touchscreen that works very well, I mainly used it for the entertainment system as this car wasn’t equipped with a Navigation option. However, I did find it simple to pair my iPhone with it (I literally hooked up Bluetooth while waiting for a traffic light to change) and used Apple CarPlay when I needed to find my way on occasion. The display is crisp and clear which is useful when in backup camera mode. The center console has both conventional and mini-USB ports in it as well as a 12v outlet but alas, no wireless charger although it has the perfect tray area for it.
Instrumentation is clean, crisp and informative at a glance. It’s simple and without gimmicks or weird fonts that will grow stale quickly. Buttons on the wheel work intuitively and a large center screen between the gauges allow one to easily cycle through various setting and information display screens. Stalks to either side of the wheel work just like you’d expect them to on a Japanese car with good heft and resistance but not reluctance.
When adjusting the wiper setting the center display changes to inform you exactly how you are adjusting the intermittent setting, not really necessary but nice to have, especially when the car isn’t the usual one and there is no universal standard for this. The display makes it obvious that you are increasing or decreasing the swipe timing and to what extent.
For the materials fetishists, pretty much everything above the centerline of the dashboard is soft and everything below is fairly hard. The top of the dash is soft as well until you get about 3/4 of the way toward the windshield then the soft pad turns to a harder surface. There are a couple of points ahead of the doors on the top of the dash where various materials meet and while the fit is fine, the material surface changes a bit too obviously from soft to hard although the molded in grain remains the same, somehow the sheen is a little different. Not a big deal and I think forgivable or at least not worthy of serious complaint in a car that starts at around $24k. The real stitching across the dash is an attractive feature though and definitely richens the cabin up.
Further, the climate controls are easily understood and the knobs for both the screen as well as the HVAC are very well done with a metal look and feel that makes them a pleasure to use. The HVAC ones especially are an excellent size and the cross hatching around the circumference of the dials is attractive and feels good to the touch.
I was surprised at how much leg space there is in the front cabin. My legs could stretch all the way out and the dead pedal is fairly far back towards the firewall with plenty of space between the door panel and the center console. Headroom too, even with the sunroof, was abundant, one of the few cars where it didn’t bother me (6’1″, 32″ inseam for comparison).
The back seat also had oodles of room for legs with about 4″ of space between the seat back and my knees when the front seat was adjusted for myself. Where the back seat fell down though was headroom. With the sunroof in front robbing some headroom when I was sitting upright my head was up against the headliner. Transporting kids would be fine, but taller adults might be less comfortable for longer distances. At least the legroom allows for a lot of slouching.
In the United States if you want an Altima with AWD, you are forced to accept the 2.5liter 4-cylinder engine. While the engine generates 182hp and 175lb-ft of torque, I initially thought Nissan is perhaps missing a trick by not offering the Variable Compression 2.0l turbo four here in this AWD version of the car.
That being said though, after giving it a chance, I came away very pleasantly surprised, the engine works well, is very, very quiet, and provides plenty if not extravagant levels of power. Even uphill and eventually cresting 8000 feet on Interstate 80 between Laramie and Cheyenne it was easily able to keep at the 75mph speed limit with power to spare.
The transmission delivered a further surprise, while an “Xtronic” CVT, it is one of the least CVT-feeling CVTs I’ve had the pleasure to drive. Even when cold it has fixed shift points, will rev well beyond the torque peak, never drones like a motorboat and made me review the spec sheet to be sure it was really a CVT. Frankly they’ve gotten rid of any CVT-like traits with the exception of fuel economy which was outstanding for an AWD car of this size.
In fact, the car is rated at 26city and 36hwy with a 30mpg average rating. In my use I drove it over 400 miles, of which 170 were to Laramie on Highway 287 (from 5000 to 7000 feet) and back home on I-80/I-25 cresting at 8640 feet (Sherman Summit, Wyoming, the highest point along the entire length of Interstate 80) and back down to 5000, city driving for about 100 miles, and a run to Denver with a sleet and rain storm on the way back for the remaining 140 miles or so while ending up with a displayed 33.6mpg overall. Not bad at all for a fairly large non-hybrid four that doesn’t include stop/start technology. I drove it like I figured a normal person would, never dawdled but wasn’t a hoon either.
I wasn’t cursing it at any point trying to make it accelerate faster, and didn’t ever really miss the extra 90hp that the variable compression turbo engine would add. Sure it’d be nice to have but is the extra complexity and cost really needed?
I’d say not for most of the market so perhaps Nissan’s decision makes sense although they really didn’t need to offer that engine in the FWD versions either then. (Full disclosure: I have not driven that engine so perhaps it would actually make me giggle like a little girl – my advice if you want an Altima is to try the regular engine first, if that works for you, don’t try the other one and be happy with this one, it’s excellent).
The AWD system is biased to be basically 100% FWD unless traction is needed, then it can send torque rearwards until a 50/50 split is reached. It does seem to do better than many other systems as far as response time is concerned, there really is no perceptible delay in transferring the power, i.e. you don’t feel the fronts spinning away and then eventually the rears kick in, without an actual back to back comparison with a locked 50/50 split vehicle I can’t be completely sure but it certainly felt better than most older slip and grip systems that I’ve tried.
As far as how it feels to drive, well, that’s where the Euro-comparison from earlier falls a bit short. It’s on the softer side, softer than an Accord too, but still well damped over road irregularities. Corners make it feel like it’s wallowing and leaning a bit however it’s still very capable of elevated speeds, it’s just that initially there isn’t a lot of confidence.
With time and experience behind the wheel of it confidence is built up and it does corner better when pushed than first impressions indicate. However its forte is definitely city and highway driving, leave the canyons for the weekend car.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m pretty much completely on board with all the safety features/assistants nowadays as frankly I believe they help far more than hurt and while I am obviously the single best driver that I know, even I can admit that it’s possible that I may have been distracted at least once. It struck me now that after driving two recent Nissans back to back that I really like their implementation of LaneKeepAssist, or at least the way it was set up on these; there are apparently parameters that are user-programmable as to the car’s actual response. However as it was set up here, should you veer very closely toward or over a painted line (or what it perceives as one), it doesn’t beep or gently try to force you back into the lane, rather it vibrates the wheel a bit – in fact it feels almost exactly like when you run over one of those serrated sections near the edges of a lot of freeways and highways nowadays. It completely makes you aware of what’s going on or perhaps about to occur in a way that is likely already somewhat familiar to people.
Driving this car in the snow like I did previously and definitely in a heavy rain and slush storm with lots of standing water on the freeway it tracks beautifully, the AWD is there to keep things going without drama when needed and the drive in any weather is simply serene.
Coupled with the very low noise levels (the majority of what little there is is due to the tire/surface interface) this is a very relaxing and non-tiring car to drive any distance. Tires this week were Continental ProContact all-seasons whereas on the snow day it was equipped with dedicated winter tires on the same wheels.
It’s kind of scary how good mid-size sedans have gotten over the last decade or so, with the current crop becoming serious competition for those Euro-brands if A) You’re at that point in your life where the badge is irrelevant, B) You will not be able to use all of the power all the time anyway, C) You just don’t want to worry about anything and D) Value is paramount.
With even base engines being similarly powerful than the up-spec turbo or greater cylinder count engines of yore everything has become so much more even, the real differences are reduced to maybe a few hundred dollars in interior materials and perhaps some nebulous notion of “heritage”. And for what? A $20k difference in price? Not worth it, at least on a purely objective level.
AWD adds about $1350 to any of the trim levels which makes it a good value, generally I believe adding it adds between $1500 and $2000 in most vehicles. While the turbo engine isn’t offered with AWD as I mentioned, in the FWD trims that it is offered in it costs between $3000 and $4000. Call it $3500 on average. Imagine a mid-level well-equipped Altima with 273hp and AWD for under $34,000. That might be a quite compelling proposition indeed.
So let’s look at the pricing here. While you can start out with a base FWD Altima for an asking price of about $24k (I assume street price would be less), and you could load the fanciest one up to just over $36,000, this particular one (an SV with AWD) starts at $29,230 plus $895 in destination charges.
For that you get everything I mentioned above, a full suite of safety addenda, a power moonroof, split folding rear seats, dual zone automatic climate control, rear parking sonar, auto-dimming mirror, two rear USB power ports, the 17″ alloys, as well as LED headlights and foglights.
Options on my particular car amounted to another $2,370 total, comprised of: $205 for splash guards; $300 for floor mats, trunk mat, cargo net, two large grocery hooks; $380 for ground lighting; $455 for interior accent lighting; $400 for illuminated kick plates; $420 for the rear spoiler; and $210 for impact sensors. I think I could comfortably live without at least the illuminated kick plates, ground lighting, and interior accent lighting and save myself at least $1200.
I’d probably avoid the $420 rear spoiler as I had to look at the pictures again to remind myself of what it was, it’s that subtle and the metalwork already has a little spoiler effect built. In any case, this one with everything came out to $32,495 after destination. The metallic paint in this case is included in the base price, the color here is called Gun Metallic, and the interior is Charcoal. This Altima was built in Smyrna, Tennessee.
These days I’d have a hard time justifying spending more on an AWD sedan of this size, no matter the label. Not that I think this is or isn’t a particularly large sum of money, just that I believe that there is a serious point of diminishing returns for a different car that may cost more than this. There simply isn’t much that any other vehicle like this can do that makes it worth much more.
Of course some people won’t be happy unless they can blitz to 60mph in under five seconds or perhaps a brown leather interior is a must have or if the seats don’t have air conditioned blowers in them then they’re not worthy of sitting on or someone likes the way their car makes them feel special, and that’s all fine and perhaps valid, I get it, but for the other 90% of the market what is on offer here could likely be more than enough if they actually tried it. I had an inkling going into this week that this’d probably be a good one, but it surprised me in ways that I hadn’t realized when I drove it last.
Full Disclosure: Like all of my test cars, the manufacturer provided the vehicle and a full tank of gas. I added a few gallons on the last day so I wouldn’t give it back near empty.
Nice review Jim. You’re certainly correct that these derided FWD economy cars have gotten very good recently.
I like your profile shot of the car perpendicular over the center line. Should’ve photoshopped the twin stacks of a tractor trailer coming over that rise, for dramatic effect, though.
Despite my poor experience with an Altima CVT, this car does seem like a genuine competitive effort by Nissan, far more so than the prior. They look sharp on the road, I like the general interior styling, they make some of the best analog gauge clusters, and your description of the powertrain behavior is very favorable.
Prior experience would drive me straight to the AWD Camry, but perhaps they’ve worked that out by now.
Thank you! That road (on top of a dam) dead ends at a small inlet and launch ramp so there is thankfully very little traffic, none of it fast-moving, and lots of notice, but it was still a bit nerve-wracking to take. I recall your less than positive experience with an older one and time will tell if that’s been corrected, but yes this seems very much less phoned-in than the last one, a few of which I looked at on the used market. I couldn’t ever get beyond the drabness of the interior so never even bothered driving one. This one had/has me much more excited. At the linked snow event I think people were looking at me as the weirdo who was loving the Altima while they were lining up for the Charger but I was just as able to get the tail to hang out in a glorious drift in the Altima…
Love the pictures. What is the body of water?
I too instantly saw Audi in the front end. I don’t really understand the bumperless fronts on many cars, but this is hardly a new development, and hey, it does look good.
Before reading your comments, I was already impressed with the seat fabric. It looks much better than the crap so many have offered in recent years – in what appears to be an attempt to force purchasing leather.
Being north of 6’1″ with a 36″ inseam a deep dead pedal is important to me, so kudos there. My experience with the Ford D3 platform has been egregious in this regard.
My pictures of the interior are all a bit blown out due to the sun. What looks gray is actually black. Yes the seat fabric is quite good, part of my own purchasing decision came down to that, and this was one of the better ones by far (with the Accord’s one of the worst this time around despite a long history of marvelous fabrics in that car).
I suspect your legs would be very happy in this car, there’s a tremendous amount of room down there.
The water is Horsetooth Reservoir, mostly the northern portion closer to Lory State Park. I used the same body of water but the southern part in some of my Alfa Giulia review last summer. Thanks for the compliment, I’m really enjoying trying to get interesting backdrops.
Part of the reason Nissan is in big trouble (aside from all of their cars being a decade or more old) is because they fully embraced the CVT. Unfortunately, their version of it has until now been junk, so they’ve had to lay a lot of cash on the hood to move their cars. If you read the other car-enthusiast websites out there, the typical Nissan buyer is someone who wants a new car but has lousy credit, and Nissan embraces those people because they’re the only ones coming into the showroom.
I have a Nissan, specifically a Juke with a 6-speed, and I love it, but I sought it out specifically because it was weird and quirky. I drove the CVT also even though I had no intention of buying it and came away with the same opinion as those I had been reading.
I mention this because if they finally got the CVT right they might have a chance at surviving. Based upon your assessment, they might have. Now all they have to do is convince buyers.
I’d like to see those other websites’ evidence in that regard to the buyers as I simply don’t hold it to be completely accurate. I believe some writers just need a whipping boy brand and seem to have trouble keeping their reviews factual without trying to impose a lot of opinion that isn’t clearly labeled as such. Unfortunately extremism and shouting seems to sell. As you may have noticed, I try to not make definitive declarations of good vs bad, I don’t view my role as getting you to order one sight unseen, but rather to explain what I am experiencing and perhaps opening someone’s eyes to taking their own look and then forming their own opinion relative to their own experience. As well as trying to offer what context I can relative to the subject’s role and placement in the marketplace.
I don’t believe the typical Nissan (actually general, not just Nissan) buyer could tell you or is aware of the difference between a conventional automatic, a CVT or a DSG and relatively few buyers actually read enthusiast websites or magazines, the ones that do often seem to have very strong pre-formed opinions. As far as embracing buyers with lower credit scores, I don’t know, if a customer walked through my door, I’d certainly see if I could earn their business. If a lender wants to offer them credit and I can make a sale, good. From my own perspective I believe Nissan has offered some products in the last decade that have not measured up or have grown stale on the vine before finally now starting to get competitively updated,never mind having offered a lot of product to rental fleets where it is then sampled by a broad swathe of the population, if the product isn’t great, people will not seek it out when they go to buy their own one day.
I owned one of the early Muranos with a CVT that was known for having issues, Nissan extended the warranty on it to 120k miles while it was still a 3yr old car with a third of that mileage. This at a time (mid-2000’s) when a conventional German automatic behind a German V8 (BMW 740, Audi A6 4.2) could be counted on to fail at or around the 80k mark more often than not and Chrysler’s minivans could and would fail multiple times prior to 100k, at least if you also read those forums geared toward those brands. Honda’s conventional was dying when behind a V6, and Nissan was one of the few to even offer a CVT in an effort to make a more fuel efficient product. Enthusisasts don’t like the driving experience of a CVT although in its purest form (and the most disliked one), that is the way to get the best fuel economy. What they are doing now seems to be a realization that by making it more “normal” feeling and presumably leaving a few MPG’s on the table will make it more palatable to all comers.
I’m glad you like your Juke, the people I know with them like them as well, but as you no doubt noticed the majority of reviewers at the time of introduction couldn’t seem to get past their own personal view of the styling, which is exactly 100% subjective as well as being irrelevant to the actual driving experience. Love it or hate it, my main recollection of those reviews was that the styling was not “right” and hence it wasn’t worthy of consideration. What a crock, who are they to tell me what I will find attractive, much less to base my decision on.
I agree with you on other manufacturers’ conventional auto trans. We bought a ’99 Honda Odyssey (first year of the big upsize) and the transmission failed about 2k miles shy of the 60k failure mark experienced by so many owners of that generation. Fortunately Honda stepped up and replaced it for free, and extended the warranty until 120k on the transmission.
We traded it at 118k; didn’t feel like rolling the dice again.
I agree with you, Jim. I just don’t understand the CVT hate out there. It took all of 5 minutes to get used to my Outback’s CVT and the ‘motorboat’ effect. Even though I have the minuscule 2.5, I have no problem doing 75-80 on our rural highways, nor kicking it in to pass as needed.
I got my daughter a Rogue to use; it too has a CVT and the car has been a great highway hauler to college and back, usually returning 28-30 mpgs. Not too shabby.
My cousin has worked for Nissan for over 20 years and he told me when I saw him in August to stay away from these cars. Replacing their transmissions and the costs of dealing with them has wrecked their business. Every day he has to deal with furious buyers whose transmissions have failed on them in the middle of their travels. Even with costs being covered by Nissan, these buyers are extremely dissatisfied.
He told me that Nissan looked great on paper, but these cars are killing their business. Sad.
I’ve got a big, Nissan NV2500 high roof van which I service at the dealer. Our daughter was looking for a cheap used SUV and kept coming back to Rogues. I asked the service manager whom I really trust. He said in a whisper, “don’t”. They’re all garbage and will have to be replaced for $$$. So, echoing what your cousin said.
Another excellent review, along with very professional pics. You are really expanding the artistic quality of your photos. They look great. And you consistently make very homogeneous styled cars look significantly more attractive. That nose though. 😕
Besides offering honest reviews, you are promoting these cars without overtly selling them. Which is appreciated. Very well done!
I agree with Petrichor, the highway profile image is especially graphic, and fun to explore. 🙂
Haha, thank you! Now try it with a 747… I may need to make that my screensaver.
My camera(phone) exaggerates the proportions depending on the angle, unfortunately, especially in the third picture. I personally consider the front one of its best angles when viewed in person.
It’s the consistently attractive composition of your pics that I find the most appealing. You work hard at it, for the right shot. It’s refreshing, given how much unexciting automotive photography is on the web. Your pics remind me of some the great images R&T, MT, and C&D used to have.
I agree, the dramatic nose is unique on its own, but doesn’t suit the rest of the car. It’s trying really hard to follow a fad.
Thanks, I used to read every of CAR magazine (the UK one) back in the 80’s and 90’s. They always had excellent photos, sort of the photo equivalent to TopGear’s video stuff of the 2000’s…
Great job Daniel! I love it.
Thanks Eric! I was going to add someone laying on the roof, casually reading a paperback with the F-35 flying over. Something Car and Driver would have done.
We need to have a contest for the best photoshopped addition to this photo. Yours will surely be one of the top ones, though.
Great review.
I was a Nissanophile in the early 90’s – a ’91 Maxima and a ’94 Pathfinder. That was it until ’08 when we bought an Altima for my wife. It handled well for a midsize Japanese sedan but was otherwise unremarkable. The CVT was ok, other than a bit of sewing-machine drone. It survived two teenage girl drivers until it finally got too unreliable in 2018.
The one thing that drove me nuts about it were the sunroof drains. There were four of them at each corner, and they all clogged, sequentially, one every few months. Instead of a plain hose they had one way valves, which eventually clogged with dust or dirt washed off the roof. I never had a car before or since with this problem; hopefully they’ve fixed it by now.
Another most excellent review and terrific pictures.
What I’m liking about Nissan is that their current styling language is both effective and distinctive enough so that it’s now easy to identify them instantly. This has most to do with the floating roof effect.
GM is totally stealing that roof effect. i.e. the newest GMC Terrain and Buick Enclave.
The fact that there was an AWD Altima (not to mention Camry as well) eluded me before reading your ice driving post a while back, so I for one am glad that I can get news as well as classics here at CC. And as a reader of road tests for over 55 years now (my introduction to the genre was Road & Track’s compilation of 1963 Road Tests, their “Annual”), I can say that yours are really excellent, Jim. I particularly like the references to real CC’s, like the mention of the Stanza and the ‘80’s Honda dashes. And your description of buyers who don’t care about brand prestige or power anymore, but do care about value, fits me and I suspect others here, to a “T”.
I am starting to wonder if Nissan’s real competition these days is Hyundai and Kia. It seems that Toyota and Honda customers are quite dialed into their favorite brands, and are like the Oldsmobile buyer of yore who would go in every few years for a new one. And IMHO each of those 3 is offering a much better product now than in the not too distant past.
I sigh a forlorn sigh wishing for a V6 and a 6 speed automatic, but nothing of the sort will be offered by Nissan in this class.
All that said, the car presents very nicely and makes an appealing proposition. An AWD in S trim is being offered on a $189/mo lease in my area.
I had the opposite experience with the Altima rental my Dad had when we all met for Christmas in Denver. I can’t quite explain it in words but the soft touch textures inside had an almost dusty fuzzy feel, very synthetic, and the fake carbon fiber inserts in various places look laughably fake and seem out of place for what the driving experience has to offer. I agree that the CVT is an improvement over what I know from past Nissan’s but I still don’t like it. Combined with the four cylinder it is a dog, the Mazda 6 has such a strong sensation of power with a surprising level of torque for relatively similar power ratings from a four cylinder engine. The 6 reminds me of V6 Maximas of the 90s, while the Altima reminds me more of a Buick with a iron duke.
I don’t hate the styling except for the “floating” roof and the buck tooth grille shape. The Altima pulls off this tacky language way better than the rest of the Nissan lineup does.
Love your assessment of Nissan’s tacky design language. And Nissan is not the only one with some downright hideous designs. I honestly don’t understand why Mazda isn’t kicking everybody’s ass in sales because the new Mazdas look fantastic inside and out.
I haven’t driven the Mazda 6 with the normally aspirated engine, but I own a 2018 6 with the turbo, and it’s a smooth, torquey engine. I also appreciate the simplicity and effectiveness of a 6-speed automatic. My experience with a thrashy 2011 Altima rental permanently soured me on CVTs, and a Charger rental I had last summer was constantly hunting, offsetting the positive impression I had of the Pentastar V6.
That’s the best-looking Altima in a long time. The last few generations wavered between boring and downright ugly, but this one looks like it has some panache, even if the handling is on the soft side, like you say.
In some ways it’s a shame that midsize sedans are better than ever, just as the take rate is slowing down considerably in favor of wallowing, view-blocking CUV’s. Oh well…
Love the shots next to Horsetooth Res. I used to go bouldering up there all the time in my CSU days, and used to love pushing my old Civic to its limits on that very road.
Nice photographs and an interesting and informative review. I was a big Nissan fan in the early 1990s, especially the Maxima and we owned a 1994 Infiniti G20 which was a great car. I felt Nissan lost their way with some interesting styling choices and some cheaper looking interiors. In all fairness, VW certainly upped the ante on interiors with 1999 Passat and 2000 Jetta/Golf which made everyone in the respective segments look cheap. That said, this Altima looks nice both inside and out and worth considering.
I saw the comment on how Honda and Toyota buyers are like the Oldsmobile buyers and I agree. As a Honda buyer, I’ve bought three: two Accords and one Odyssey but I don’t see another one in my future. I know the reviewers all love the 2.0 Turbo Accord and they rave about the interior and how nice it is but I don’t see it. I can see the “cost-saving measures” in the interior. For example the soft touch surfaces are not on the back doors, there is no light in the glove box thought the Civic has one, no USB ports in the back seat, and don’t get me started on how cheap I think the carpet looks and feels in the Accord. I cannot speak to Toyota but I strongly believe that Honda is cruising on its reputation. If Nissan were to go on the offensive and present the better value with an all wheel drive option, they could take market share from the Accord.
Another great one! Like you, I wasn’t a big fan of the most recent Altima’s – too generic, but this one looks very nice. I’ve been wanting to stop by the local Nissan dealer and try out their new “Zero Gravity” seats and see how they compare to my Volvo’s – how comfortable were they to you? Jim.
The seats were good but I actually think I preferred the ones in the Versa that I had the week before which may be a bigger compliment towards the Versa than a demerit toward the Altima. However for long distances this Altima is the more relaxing car to drive just due to the lower noise level even though that wasn’t your question.
The seats in this one were flatter than the Versa’s and a bit less supportive/cossetting but the seat heater worked just as well and there was no fatigue or soreness noted due to the seats or seating position even after extended drives (and I’m now of an age where I notice that on occasion).
Got it – thanks. I’ll definitely stop by the Nissan dealer. Kind’a interested in taking a spin with the variable compression engine also – have read both good and not so good about it.