2014 Nissan Altima (updated) , 2013 Nissan Altima SV

[regfootball]

Tested 2013 Nissan Altima SV sedan 2.5, MSRP roughly 25k

Had to. Drove the Accord last week, the midsize segment is on fire with new entries. As you know, the Honda failed to win my endorsement due to NVH issues. But the 13 Accord has a new CVT...that was not the problem. Honda still makes their cars too loud and noisy, etc.

The 13 Altima in nearly every way, shape and form is the most analogous to the new Accord. And the Altima itself is a market juggernaut. Sales and leasing, the Altima has been in the top of the sales charts for several years now.

For 2013, Nissan chose not to mess with success, but did concentrate on worthwhile improvements all around the car to make sure it stays with the pack.

The new sheet metal is instantly comparable to the previous version, without the hokey taillights that that one had. However, the Altima design has gone off in an elegant direction, in a way, to mimic its Inifiniti brand. Infiniti on a budget. Taking shape in the front is a new grille shape that is the signature of Nissan's meat and potatoes lineup.

It all works together nicely.....a certain amount of style, and the car does have an elegant look. Not particularly youthful, or sporting....but Nissan has evolved in the direction to try to take on the Toyotas of the world with vehicles that are a little more appliance like. The look mostly works but at least for me, the greenhouse has a little too thick of chrome. To me, the Infiniti remake look on a budget does lose a bit in translation as well. It can be a bit hokey, like the latest VW's and their cheaper Audi looks. The front end and fender shaping is a bit strange.....but overall the car has an identity its own.

I had driven a 2010 Altima for 900 miles on a rental once, so I wanted to see how different the 13 was, considering the engine itself it pretty much carryover. The CVT is new though and immediately it seemed improved to me. However, there is a hint of rubberbandiness to it yet. The 13 Accord's CVT is better, but not by much. For most drivers this CVT is a great transmission, and what else is different is how it has wider ratios for better acceleration, and lower rpm cruising. This Altima was content in many situations to run at ridiculously low rpm's while cruising....which also should the fuel economy and is no doubt a major reason for the 38 mpg highway rating. This car should have no trouble putting up great FE numbers. The 10 Altima ran pretty high rpms at high speed so the improvements Nissan is claiming are very real.

So the car had decent scoot and the CVT was pretty responsive. Even with the carryover engine, power was very good for such a large car. I would estimate acceleration vs. the Accord to be a draw. Where the Altima had an advantage was quite simply less drone. The Altima was quieter at cruising speeds, and also during acceleration. Not by a massive amount.....but what seemed grating in the Accord is more of simply a nuisance. The noise from the Accord's din was bad to listen to. The ALtima sounds more like something inbetween ducks honking and hair dryers in a busy salon. And the time it offended you most was pretty much only under hard acceleration. This is again, not a CVT problem.....it's a noise insulation and NVH issue. To the Accord's credit, it does not let the rpms sky to 5000 and hang there like the Altima still does. But for most driving, the Altima will be responsive enough so the drone will merely be an annoyance.....not a deal breaker.

Ride and handling were benign. I think the car has gotten a little cushier...it's not a slug, and it's not sloppy. But it is biased for comfort. There is no leaning towards sport, nor does it lean towards puff cruiser. It sort of occupies a pleasant inbetween. It would probably be a good road car. It feels big, big, big, and very stable. But don't expect tons of fun.

The interior in my opinion is done nicely, with good materials and accents, and soft places on the doors. The seat cloth is more velourish than burlapp.....consistent with old Altimas. It's a 'warmer' interior than the Honda. But it also looks like you've seen it before. It sort of has a little bit of a dated feel, again, maybe a cheap luxury theme too. It is though, a good step above the 2012. There is tons of room inside and in general there was nothing of note to me regarding features or controls that stood out, other than some gauges and displays looked a little cheap. Visibility from the cabin was pretty good. I think it would be a tossup among a lot of folks as to overall whether the Honda or the Nissan had the nicer insides. (I might lean a little to the Honda there although the Nissan does feel softer and less cold inside).

Trunk was big. This car would excel as a family car I think too.

In the end, driving the new Altima was kind of like one of those moments in life that you just spent a bunch of time doing nothing particularly significant. It went by, it was ok at the time, it passed, and you don't have a bunch to say about it. But it didn't let you down, or draw attention to itself as being out of line. The new Altima is improved over the old one, and will continue on being what it is. It had just enough style and flair so as not to be lumped in as being a Toyota like in it's duty as an appliance, and it also came off as more amenable and refined than the Honda.

HIGHS

Wise refinements to the Altima franchise
Big mpg boosts
Nicely improved CVT
Room and space abounds
Good acceleration, cruises effortlessly
Soft and warm interior with some hand me down luxury feel
Stable and secure ride and handling
Decent noise isolation when the rpms are down
Lots of features and tech for the price

LOWS

The honking ducks and vacuum cleaners under the hood when you rev it up
Just a bit of rubber bandiness left in the CVT
Bit of a dated feel already, some faux luxury feel
Some styling elements a bit awkward
Starting to feel less youthful, 'softened up'
On a path to a lack of identity
Doesn't excel.....or fail.......at any one thing.
Is the car trying to do what Toyota has done for so many years? (i.e. inoffensive appliance)

SUMMARY

I really am having a hard time finding a way to be telling in a quick line about this car. But the truth is that the car will be well received and will sell a lot. Nissans used to have a little bit of an edge to them....that is how the 03 (or was it 04) plus Altimas became so popular. This new look with Inifiniti lite on a budget makes sense perhaps. But the car has lost some swagger. Maybe not all just yet. But plenty enough that it too has gravitated into that somewhat androgynous place....the one where your car is just along for the ride too.

Really to me, between the altima and the accord, it's six of one, half dozen on another. 100 people would drive the two cars, and 52 would choose the Honda due to the H, and the rest, the Altima. I think the end result is similar.....cars that offer a lot, and have most bases covered, but have some NVH issues. Where I separate it in this case is, i think I would not be bothered by the Altima's drone near as much as the Honda's. Nissan vanilla personality makes it an okay B (higher than the Honda due to less and less grating noise.

Edited September 25, 2014 by regfootball

[A Horse With No Name]

For the same basic coin, Verano or focus ST still.

Better cars exist for people who care about driving.

[Lamar]

For the same basic coin, Verano or focus ST still.

Better cars exist for people who care about driving.

You lose a lot of passenger volume for that same basic coin... which is super-important in this segment.

[regfootball]

I have in my possession for the weekend, a Nissan Altima S rental. After a day with a dreadful 2014 Jeep Compass.

[Drew Dowdell]

The biggest issue is the 2.5 liter.  Fixing that (by a complete replacement) would fix most of your complaints about the powertrain. Nissan should do something like a DI 1.8T with a light turbo on it instead.

[regfootball]

We took it for ice cream just now. Tomorrow is the road trip. It's amazing, under acceleration, it's lack of refinement (the 2.5) is masked extremely well. Sit at a stop light and you hear the buzz and the floor and seat vibrate. Lots of Asian brand cars do that. Hondas do it too although the Altima here is bad. The jeep , don't even get me started. The story was when I got back to swap the car tonight I was prayin for a Malibu. When I pulled in, there was a Malibu there! But it was being held. So I got stuck with the Altima. It was either that or a Chrysler 200 (not the new style). At least I knew with the Altima I would have back seat space, the kids already think it's a limo back there. So that is a plus over the Malibu. Just the little bit I've had it, my initial impressions above seem consistent. I could've downgraded to a Fiat 500L. That would have been a hoot but man go read Fiat message boards. The 500L is definitely a fix it again tony. I'd hAve no confidence taking a family trip in that.

Edited September 20, 2014 by regfootball

[regfootball]

Well, after getting rear ended , I am on to a Dodge Grand Caravan.......the Altima had high marks from the passengers until it occurred.

 

Will try to get an update on here later tonight.

Edited September 25, 2014 by regfootball