The Altima is a mid-sized, mid-priced, front-wheel-drive sedan available with both four and six-cylinder engines. Prices start at $19,900 for the base 2.5 model equipped with a four cylinder engine and $24,520 for the V-6 powered 3.5 SR, subject of this review.
A coupe version of the Altima is also available but it is different enough from the sedan that it will be covered later as a separate model. The Altima sedan is also available with a hybrid powertrain and likewise that model will be reviewed separately.
The Altima's front end has been slightly restyled and the optional GPS navigation system has been upgraded with a larger LCD display and real-time traffic updates. Stability control is now standard equipment on all trims.
The V-6 SR version offers as much or more power/performance than V-6 versions of higher-priced competitors from Honda, Mazda, Ford and others - and significantly more front seat head and legroom, too. More of a driver's car than the comparably powerful/comparably priced/comparably roomy but not-the-least-bit sporty Toyota Camry.
Altima buyers can choose either a 2.5 liter four cylinder engine (175 hp) or a 3.5 liter V-6 (270 hp). Both are strong performers. A four-cylinder Altima can reach 60 mph in about 7.5 seconds; with the V-6, the time drops to 6.9 seconds. The Altima's gas mileage matches its excellent performance.
With the four-cylinder engine, 32 mpg on the highway is possible. City mileage is listed at 23 mpg. The highway figure is outstanding for a family-sized sedan capable of comfortably carrying five people. And both figures (city/highway mileage) beat the four-cylinder Honda Accord's (22/31), the four-cylinder Ford Fusion (22/31) and the four-cylinder equipped Mazda6 (20/29). The four-cylinder Camry beats the four-cylinder Altima on highway mileage (33 mpg, best in class) but the Toyota's city mileage (22 mpg) doesn't quite match the Nissan's.
The V-6 cersion of the Altima does well on fuel economy, too - with an EPA rating of 20 city and 27 highway. That's slightly better than the Ford Fusion V-6 (18 city/27 highway), noticeably better than the Mazda6 V-6 (17 city, 25 highway) and pretty much dead-even overall with the V-6 Camry (19/28) and V-6 Accord (19/29).
The downside - if you'd like a manual transmission - is that you can't get one in the Altima, with either engine. A Continuously Variable (CVT) automatic is the standard and only transmission that comes with both four and six-cylinder engines. Competitor models like the Fusion, Accord, Camry and Mazda6 all offer a manual transmission with their standard four-cylinder engines.
Last year, Nissan offered a six-speed manual in the Altima sedan - and with the V-6 engine, too. That made it one of the few mid-sized sport sedans in the under-$25k price slot that could be so equipped. Nissan says the manual option was pulled from the roster because of lack of interest, but it may also be that a six-speed, V-6 Altima for around $25k undercut sales of the Nissan Maxima - which has the same basic engine, accelerates, rides and handles very much the same - and has just about the same interior space, etc. - but which starts at $30,460
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