Altima taking shine off rival midsize sedans

The 2015 Nissan Altima continues to be among the top choice among family sedans, delivering excellent fuel economy and a rare blend of comfort and agility, foremost American online resource for automotive information, Edmunds.com recently affirmed.

The online resource also described the Altima as stylish, bold and aggressive with long body lines that distinguishes it sedan from close rivals like Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Volkswagen Passat and secondary contenders as Mazda 6, Chevy Malibu, Ford Fusion and Kia Optima.

Emerging from a total makeover last year, the new Nissan Altima provides customers with premium experiences and high technologies that drivers could live to remember.

Nissan says it’s simply enhancing the Altima’s package with better value proposition to keep it fresh against increasing competent rivals. The innovatory features the automaker says are designed to reposition the car way ahead of competitions such as Toyota Camry that recently underwent full model change as well as Honda Accord, Mazda 6 and the imperious Volkswagen Passat.

While many manufacturers are offering different 4-cylinder engines with hybrids and diesels, the 2015 Nissan Altima sedan goes the traditional route by offering a base 4-cylinder and a V6 as the ‘up’ engine.

The 2.5-litre ‘four’ for instance is designed for lighter weight and higher efficiency, while the 3.5-litre V6 offers improved fuel economy, adding one kmpg (kilometre per gallon i.e. four litres) to the combined and highway scores.

Both engine drive Altima’s front wheels through Nissan’s next generation Xtronic continuously variable transmission (CVT) – the only gearbox offered – which drives engine revs ahead of vehicle speed during strong acceleration and helps both the 4cylinder and impressive V6 to achieve tremendous fuel economy with fixed-ratio-simulating manual shift paddles on up-level Altima models.

Popular Mechanics, a United States classic magazine of popular technology attested to this assertion, stating in one of its recent publications that “the new Altima remains one of the most engaging family sedans, and now its fuel economy approaches 65 kmpg on the highway, and Nissan should have no problem attracting the most frugal family-sedan buyers.”

If you think you’ve heard the most outstanding remarks ever, Kelley Blue Book (KBB) recent commentary could amaze you. The Irvine, California-based vehicle valuation and automotive research company said: “The 2015 Nissan Altima offers all the ‘best-of’ benefits of a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord yet delivers excellent fuel economy and subtly cool styling is icing on the cake.”

It is no doubt a driver’s delight says UK based automotive classified website, AutoTrader. “With its Maxima-like good looks, and unique features such as its NASA-inspired zero-gravity seats, the Altima really does give shoppers a viable alternative to the Camry and Accord.

Introduced last year, Nissan has expanded the availability of its apps-driven infotainment system known as NissanConnect, making it standard equipment on Altima SV and SL models. The V6 also gets a one-kmpg bump in fuel economy.

But the 2015 Nissan Altima’s key selling point is its driving dynamics. Without giving up any of its mainstream family-car duties, this midsize sedan imparts a measure of driving fun that’s uncommon in the segment.

Its multilink independent suspension and best-in-class continuously variable automatic transmission is a testimony of Nissan engineers’ ingenuity especially when they benchmarked premium sedans like the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series, KBB affirmed.

The powerful 3.5-litre V6 is the obvious enthusiast choice, though the 2.5-litre 4-cylinder is more than adequate for light loads and level roads and so is the unique multifunction rearview camera that performs lookout jobs well and the NASA-inspired seats proved as fatigue-reducing.

Altima has indeed caressed the midsize family sedan market described as the toughest segment in the industry and accounting for a huge number of sales each year like a colossus.

So competitive is this segment that every dealership wants a slice of the pie and it may not be unfeasible for the Altima to have one of the biggest slices after the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, critics’ averred.

Not only has Nissan maintained the cool look and sports-car-like handling that made the original Altima such a success, it has done so while thoroughly modernizing the Altima in ways crucial to younger buyers.

For instance, a new Apps-based music and navigation system spearheads the effort, as does a 65-kmpg fuel economy rating for the (2.5 model) with premium materials used throughout the handsome cabin. This is in addition to Nissan’s masterful job making complex audio and navigation systems which is easy to operate and understand – something both old and young will appreciate.

USnews.rankingsandreviews.com currently ranks the the car the seventh out of 21 affordable midsize cars and this ranking is based on the publication’s reviews and test drives that took into cognisance the car’s reliability and safety data.

MIKE OCHONMA