Redesigned Nissan Altima has a more powerful road presence
The Nissan Altima has been a mainstay in the mid-size sedan segment for two decades, with thousands on Canadian roads.
For 2013, however, the Japanese automaker didn’t rest on its laurels with this staple vehicle, bringing an all-new model to market — one of several being introduced by Nissan this year.
Right off the bat, the changes for the Altima are striking, with a new design that gives the vehicle a much more powerful road presence.
That is done thanks to its wide stance and a really nicely redesigned front end that grabs your attention with its grille design, seamless bumper and projector-type headlights.
The vehicle’s silhouette has also been revamped with a longer sloping rear roofline and a raised trunk that give the Altima a more fluid appearance.
There are very l arge wraparound tail lights and a l arge trunk opening that makes for easy access to a fairly spacious trunk (15.4 cubic feet).
The Altima 2.5, which has a base price of $23,698, comes with standard items like Bluetooth, air conditioning, a continuously variable transmission, remote keyless entry with push-button ignition and a tire-pressure monitoring system with easy-fill tire alert.
I tested the Altima 2.5 S, which starts at $24,898 and adds things like Nissan Intelligent Key with door request switch, heated outside mirrors, auto headlights and dual chrome exhaust tips. There’s a $135 charge for the Brilliant Silver metallic paint that, when combined with freight charges and other fees, brings the final price to $26,862.20.
There are two available engines, the smaller of which was the one fitted in the 2.5 S. As you might imagine, it is a 2.5-litre four cylinder engine with 182 horsepower and 180 foot-pounds of torque.
That is plenty for a sedan this size and the CVT set-up on the Altima is quite good, unlike some other of these transmissions that have left bad impressions on me.
Its fuel efficiency is rated at 7.4 litres per 100 kilometres in the city and 5.0L/100 km on the highway.
During my time with the Altima, I averaged 8.3L/100 km, which may be higher than the estimate, but is still a pretty impressive figure.
The other available engine is a 3.5-litre V6 which provides 270 hp and 258 ft-lbs of torque. That one is offered on the 3.5 SV and 3.5 SL models.
The refinements for the Altima continue on the inside, where occupants are welcomed into a comfortable cabin that feels decidedly more upscale — even with the standard cloth seats.
I found the new gauge cluster — with the centre-mounted multi-function display — to be well done. Easy on the eyes and simple to understand, it presents the essential information clearly.
The centre stack on the 2.5 S is neatly organized, with large buttons and knobs to easily control all the functions.
My one major complaint about the Altima 2.5 S I tested was the fabric used on the seats.
I felt it was very grabby, and by that I mean that it acted kind of like Velcro with my cotton sports jacket, making it uncomfortable to reposition myself at times. With other cloth seats, I’m usually able to slide around a little bit without my jacket being stuck to the cloth.
That being said, though, the seats were rather comfortable, probably because Nissan teamed with NASA to develop a seat that helps reduce fatigue behind the wheel.
Nissan explains that it accomplishes this by using a new seat shape with continuous support from the pelvis to the chest, and the distribution of localized deformation characteristics, to create “zero-gravity” Altima seats. The automaker claims these seats will help reduce muscular and spinal loads, and improve blood flow — thereby helping reduce fatigue.
One thing that I won’t get tired of is seeing the new Altima on the road. Its new design really impressed me, and a week of driving around Montreal in it further enhanced that feeling.