It boasts the best highway fuel economy for any non-hybrid midsize sedan: 38 miles per gallon.
Perhaps more than most people realize, the
Nissan Altima
is a hugely important car here in the United States. In 2011, it was
the second best-selling car in the country (trailing its classmate, the
Toyota Camry), and with the launch of this fifth-generation Altima,
Nissan
appears to simply be going for an evolutionary enhancement rather than
completely reinventing its successful midsize sedan formula.
That said, this step forward for the Altima should make it more
competitive than ever in one of the most highly shopped segments of
North America's automotive marketplace. Nissan has not only been able to
shed enough weight to make the Altima the lightest car in its class, it
now boasts the best highway fuel economy for any non-hybrid midsize
sedan: 38 miles per gallon when paired with the 182-horsepower 2.5-liter
inline-four. Combine that with a new rear suspension setup,
class-exclusive driving aids such as Active Understeer Control and a
slew of new infotainment functionality, and Nissan's midsizer looks to
have what it takes to keep running with the segment's best.
Scroll down for an in-depth look at what's in store for the 2013 Altima.
It's actually 79 pounds lighter than the 2012 model.
The 2013 Altima rides on the same wheelbase as the outgoing model,
though this new car is 0.8 inches longer and 1.4 inches wider. It's not
much taller, though the C and D pillars have been given more aggressive
rakes to give the impression of a much larger sedan. Nissan says it
wants the Altima to seem like "a class above" the normal midsize sedan.
High-strength steel is found throughout the car's body, as well as an
aluminum hood, meaning that despite its larger dimensions and added
onboard technology, the 2013 Altima is actually 79 pounds lighter than
the 2012 model.
From a design perspective, the 2013 Altima falls right in line with the
rest of the revamped Nissan stable. Much of the new sedan's design was
previewed by the
2010 Ellure concept, though we think the production model speaks more of
Maxima influence than the swoopy showcar. Up front, the pinched – or as
Lexus
would say, "spindle" – grille is flanked by large headlamp clusters
pulled back over the fenders, and while the new fascia is certainly more
aggressive than the outgoing car, it should still be sedate enough to
appeal to a wide variety of consumers. There are plenty of additional
Maxima cues around back, including more angular boomerang taillamps that
wrap around the sides of the car and a long, aggressively raked rear
backlight that meets a relatively short decklid.
The 2013 Altima's cabin boasts a clean, simple interior design with what
looks to be an easy-to-navigate center stack and an organized
instrument panel, complete with a four-inch color TFT display in between
the speedometer and tachometer. Here, drivers can see things like
turn-by-turn navigation information and blind spot monitoring, as well
as other vehicle functions like tire pressure, audio data, trip
information and so on.
It has a more solid, comfortable, well-appointed cabin than any Altima that came before it.
We had a chance to sit inside a pre-production Altima recently, and
while we weren't blown away with an aura of ultra-luxurious refinement,
it's certainly a more solid, comfortable and well-appointed cabin than
any Altima that came before it, and the whole environment feels more
than class competitive. All of the touchable surfaces are nicely grained
and use high-quality materials, and generally speaking, the interior is
a comfortable place to be. Nissan assures us that we'll feel the same
way after long stints behind the wheel, what with the car's NASA
research-inspired seats. Nissan says these chairs reduce pressure points
and improve bloodflow, so drivers should feel less fatigue after
extended periods on their posteriors. They're cushy, nicely bolstered
seats, and we're eager to see how the cloth interior feels (the
prototype we poked around in was fitted with leather). There's ample
head- and legroom for rear seat passengers, and by moving the C and D
pillars back, ingress and egress to the rear seats is easy-peasy even
for the tallest of folks.
On the technology front, the 2013 Altima features the automaker's new
Nissan Connected infotainment platform that incorporates things like
navigation, Bluetooth (a standard feature), Pandora, Google
point-of-interest location and even hands-free texting with a reply
function. The available large infotainment screen serves as a rear-view
camera with moving obstacle detection, as well. A key point to note is
that while other automakers rely on a network of bumper sensors,
Nissan's system uses one wide-angle rear-view camera to control the
blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning and moving obstacle
detection systems. Nissan says this setup works just as well as other
systems with lower complexity and cost.
As for powertrains, the 2.5-liter inline-four and 3.5-liter V6 carry
over largely unchanged. The big overhaul for 2013, however, is the
Altima's revamped Continuously Variable Transmission. As much as we
dislike CVTs, Nissan still makes the best, and this second-generation
unit with an extended gear ratio range and 40-percent reduced internal
friction certainly piques our interest. A new electric power steering
system chips in to reduce fuel consumption as well.
Nissan acheived class-leading four-cylinder fuel economy without the use of direct injection.
The base 2.5-liter four now produces 182 horsepower (up from 175) and
180 pound-feet of torque (unchanged), and the 3.5-liter VQ V6 carries
over with 270 hp and 258 lb-ft. Mated to the new CVT, Nissan estimates
that the four-cylinder Altima will achieve up to 38 miles per gallon on
the highway, besting published numbers of the 1.6-liter
Ford Fusion and
Chevrolet Malibu Eco.
Four-cylinder city fuel economy is a respectable 27 mpg and the V6 is
good for 22/30 mpg city/highway. What's really remarkable is that Nissan
was able to achieve class-leading four-cylinder (non-hybrid) fuel
economy without the use of direct injection. Would adding DI improve
things further? It's hard to say, but this is a huge win for Nissan.
We're told that a new hybrid model is in the works, and while it won't
be ready for the 2013 model year, it will arrive within this
generation's first cycle.
For a long while, rumors had been circulating about a turbocharged
inline four-cylinder engine for the Altima, and while that hasn't been
100 percent ruled out, Nissan spokespeople tell us there are absolutely
no plans to introduce one at this time. Simply put, the 3.5-liter V6
accounts for a large enough amount of Altima sales that Nissan didn't
want to stop offering it. That, and Nissan says their V6-equipped Altima
is actually lighter than its turbo-four-powered competitors, namely the
Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima.
Nissan assures us the new Altima will be much more of a driver's car
than the outgoing model (which itself wasn't half bad), thanks to
enhancements like a new multi-link rear suspension setup and a feature
called Active Understeer Control. This new system offers
predictive
– Nissan could not stress that enough – braking for the front wheels
that reduces understeer while cornering. No warning lights will flash,
no alarms will sound, and instead, the driver will just receive improved
control through turns – the whole system is said to be so subtle that
99.9-percent of drivers won't ever know the technology is at work. We'll
be driving the new Altima in the very near future, so we'll see just
how good the whole package is.
The 2013 Altima will arrive at dealers in July priced from $21,500* for
the four-cylinder base model. S, SL and SV trims are available for both
the four- and six-cylinder models (the V6 cost of entry is $25,360*),
and a top-trim SL V6 slides in at a cool $30,080* (*all prices subject
to a $760 destination charge).
According to Nissan's own projections, we are in the middle of seeing
the entire midsize sedan marketplace churn to all new models in just an
18 month period. That means the
Hyundai Sonata,
introduced just about a year ago, will soon be the segment's oldest
offering. It may not be a revolutionary step forward, but Nissan is
banking that the 2013 Altima will help keep it atop consideration lists
in this rapidly changing segment
Hwy MPG:
34