2013 Nissan Altima Review and First Drive

Nissan’s all-new Altima sedan is here – nice modern styling, heaps of interior space, four-cylinder or V6 power and very handily priced from just $29,990. So why are we at Phillip Island race circuit driving a car whose main rivals are the Toyota Camry, and Honda Accord?

The answer is the Altima is the ‘donor’ car for Nissan’s V8 Supercar race program – albeit the race cars are rear-wheel-drive and powered by a modified version of the V8 engine which powers Nissan’s massive Patrol SUV. Admittedly the four-car race team is an expensive way to introduce the Altima name to Australian new car buyers, but you have to applaud Nissan’s chutzpah for going head-to-head against the assembled might of the established Commodore and Falcon teams and other newcomers – the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG.

Introducing a new name? Fact is, while it’s a debutant here, in North America Altima is a huge seller (amongst the top 10 best-selling models) and Nissan has brought it Downunder nicely equipped and ready for success in the mid-size segment. In doing so, Nissan Australia has called ‘time’ on the larger V6-powered Maxima, walking away from the slow-selling large car segment to focus on greater volume with the mid-size Altima.

Nissan Altima Overview

Sales of mid-sized sedans break-down to 60 per-cent private and 40 per-cent fleet, so Nissan Altima has a four model lineup, including the entry grade ST ($29,990) which is perfect for corporate buyers and car rental companies. Altima ST, ST-L and Ti models are powered by Nissan’s 2.5-litre, four-cylinder engine, while the sports/luxury range-topping Ti-S employs the 3.5-litre V6 (both petrol).

All drive the front wheels via Nissan’s latest generation Xtronic continuously variable automatic transmission.

Amongst the extras, over the ST, Nissan Altima ST-L gains 17-inch alloy wheels and both Ti and Ti-S adopt 18-inch alloys. Nissan Altima ST-L, Ti and Ti-S also boast interior leather, satellite navigation, nine-speaker Bose audio, a rear-view camera and the Nissan Connect smartphone integration (includes Google, Facebook and Pandora radio) while Ti and Ti-S go further with an ‘Around View Monitor’, Xenon headlights and the ‘Intelligent Technology Suite’ (blind spot warning, lane departure warning and moving object detection).

The full lineup is:

Altima ST $29,990

Altima ST-L $35,890

Altima Ti $40,190

Altima Ti-S $45,390

Nissan Altima Engine

Smart move by Nissan equipping the all-new Altima with a choice of two DOHC engines - 2.5-litre, four-cylinder or 3.5-litre V6. So Nissan’s newcomer takes-on Toyota’s Camry, as well as the larger Aurion and the $51,990 Honda Accord V6L, while providing a step-up over the all-four-cylinder Mazda6 and Ford Mondeo (however the latter two do offer diesels).

This version of Nissan’s 3.5-litre V6 (exclusive to the Ti-S model Altima) delivers maximum power of 183kW at 6400rpm, peak torque of 312Nm at 4400rpm and - like all Nissan V6s (with the exception of the epic twin-turbo 3.8-litre unit fitted to the GT-R!) – is silky smooth and refined. Combined cycle fuel consumption is rated at 9.3l/100kms.

Nissan’s Altima’s similarly refined and smooth 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine provides 127kW of power at 6000rpm and peak torque of 230Nm at 4000rpm. Combined cycle fuel consumption scores 7.5l/100kms (7.8l/100kms for four-cylinder Toyota Camry, 7.9l/100kms for four-cylinder Honda Accord).

All drive through the latest generation of Nissan’s clever Xtronic continuously variable transmission with fuel-sipping ECO mode and, in the sports/luxury Ti-S model, manual mode with steering wheel paddle shifters. Nissan’s Xtronic is probably the best and most responsive CVT we’ve driven.

Nissan Altima The Interior

As you’d expect from a sedan designed for North America, there’s lots of space inside the all-new Nissan Altima and the seats look large and comfortable. In fact the front seats are very comfortable as Nissan tapped into seating and posture research from NASA (we’re not making this up!) to develop its so-called ‘zero gravity’ inspired seats (cloth trim and manual adjustment in entry grade ST, leather and electronic adjustment in the rest).

Dashboard, console and instrumentation is all very modern and easy on the eye (a five-inch colour display for entry-grade ST or a seven-inch colour ‘QVGA’ display for the others). Nissan’s usual classy-looking steering wheel adjusts for rake and reach and we like the driving position in all models.

Nissan Altima ST runs a six-speaker audio system but the rest score a premium nine-speaker Bose system and NissanConnect smartphone integration.

Rear seat accommodation is very spacious and must rival the best in the mid-size sedan league. The seat split-folds 60/40 for load-carrying versatility and the boot is massive with 488-litres of capacity.

Nissan Altima The Exterior

Nissan Altima is targeted at the North American market, so much of the ‘penmanship’ came from the company’s acclaimed design studio in La Jolla, California. Your Car Showroom correspondent has visited Nissan’s Southern Californian design centre on numerous occasions and it is without doubt one of the world’s premier automotive design facilities with a string of ground-breaking designs (not all of them automotive by the way – Taylor Made golf clubs plus vacuum cleaners, medical equipment and even a Superyacht) to its credit.

That said, Nissan’s current global styling DNA is all over the all-new Altima – including the prominent chrome front grille and distinctive headlights. Altima is complex and sophisticated with lots of lines and surfaces combining in a very contemporary look which is eye-catching and upmarket.

And it’s aero-efficient with a cD of 0.299.

Dimensionally, the all-new Nissan Altima is one of the larger mid-sizers at 4885mm in length and 1830mm in width – making clever use of its size to deliver that impressively spacious interior without ballooning the exterior.

Nissan Altima On The Road

Lots of good impressions from our day driving all-new Nissan Altimas from Melbourne’s CBD, south-east to Phillip Island. The prominent outtake from both 2.5-litre and V6 models was very impressive quietness and refinement at all speeds and over all road surfaces.

As we said, Nissan’s Xtronic is our favourite CVT and the latest generation model is even more impressive with none of the lagging and slipping of some rivals. This means both powerplants deliver nice acceleration from standing starts and good mid-range speed as well.

Over the high-speed twisty stuff, we did enjoy the Nissan Altima Ti-S with its V6 power and manual gear changes with paddle shifters (quick shift times and hearty response).

Underneath is an independent front-end and multi-link rear plus all the usual electronic aids. Nissan Altima also runs Nissan’s ‘Active Understeer Control’ which, like other similar systems, brakes the inside front wheel in hard cornering to help tuck-in the front-end.

Nissan Altima Challenges

Rear-view cameras aren’t expensive and are a massive boost for safety, especially when youngsters are around. As family buyers make up most of the mid-size sedan buyer demographic, even the base model Altima – and rival base models - should have a camera.

Nissan Altima Verdict

When Nissan wheeled-out the V8 Supercar Altima earlier this year we really liked its looks and were surprised by its size (unlike the Commodore and Falcon racers which are massively cut/bent and tweaked, the Altima racer is virtually identical in size to the road car). Now the production version is here we again commend Nissan’s stylists for a very handsome vehicle.

Nicely equipped, practical and nice to drive, there’s much to like about the Altima – it joins the Mazda6, Ford Mondeo, Honda Accord and Hyundai i40 as being a Car Showroom Favourite mid-size sedan.

Mostly handy prices too.

Nissan Altima The Competition

Honda Accord rivals the Nissan Altima for on-road refinement and also offers a V6. But it’s pricey starting from $30,340.

Ford Mondeo is one of the mid-size segment benchmarks offering a massive range of cars with German origins. Design, powertrains and driving dynamics score top marks, but the $31,490 starting price and imminent arrival of all-new models require you to think carefully.

Mazda6 is the other benchmark and, like the Mondeo, offers both diesel and wagon alternatives. We love the looks, ‘SkyActive’ is brilliant technology and you’ll have to search hard to find a better standard of manufacturing quality. But quality comes at a price and the ‘6’ starts at $33,460.

Toyota’s locally-built Camry is the king of fleet sales business. No wonder really with Toyota’s reliability credentials, massive interior space and handy equipment levels. Camry’s list price starts at $30,490 but shop around and you’ll probably find $26K is on offer.

And don’t complete shopping for mid-sizers with considering Hyundai i40 and Kia Optima. We love the i40’s European styling and in a segment with some ‘beige-ness’ about designs, the ‘in-your-face’ looks give the Optima street cred.