Sunday Drive: 2014 Nissan Altima 2.5 SV
The 2015 Nissan Altima is not only Nissan's best-selling vehicle but also one of the top-selling cars in the United States - thanks to its distinctive exterior and interior design, rewarding driving experience and innovative, driver-focused technology.
The 2015 Nissan Altima is not only Nissan's best-selling vehicle but also one of the top-selling cars in the United States - thanks to its distinctive exterior and interior design, rewarding driving experience and innovative, driver-focused technology.
The 2015 Nissan Altima is not only Nissan's best-selling vehicle but also one of the top-selling cars in the United States - thanks to its distinctive exterior and interior design, rewarding driving experience and innovative, driver-focused technology.
The 2015 Nissan Altima is not only Nissan's best-selling vehicle but also one of the top-selling cars in the United States - thanks to its distinctive exterior and interior design, rewarding driving experience and innovative, driver-focused technology.
The 2015 Nissan Altima is not only Nissan's best-selling vehicle but also one of the top-selling cars in the United States - thanks to its distinctive exterior and interior design, rewarding driving experience and innovative, driver-focused technology.
The 2015 Nissan Altima is not only Nissan's best-selling vehicle but also one of the top-selling cars in the United States - thanks to its distinctive exterior and interior design, rewarding driving experience and innovative, driver-focused technology.
Last year Nissan did a total redesign of the Altima, and it has continued to be one of the best selling midsized sedans in the country. Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan, wants to capture at least 10% of North American vehicle sales this year. Since Altima is one of the top 5 selling vehicles in the market, it will be the key to Nissans success. Having to compete with the ever popular Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, and Toyota Camry, this is indeed a very lofty goal, and will come down to individual dealers giving out the best deals to consumers interested in the Altima.
Last year before the official release of the Altima, we had the chance for a first drive with a preproduction vehicle, but it was the V6 version in the 3.5 SV, so pretty much the same car but with more power adding 188 horsepower, but paying for that on the gas mileage side, and shedding 6 mpg from 31 to 25. Once again “fun” comes at a price!
While doing some pre-research on the Altima of what we could expect from our 2.5 SV, we came across a little know fact, at least one that we had not thought about since finding out about the upcoming drive with the Altima. That was. …What the number one selling car in America in 2013? That would be the Toyota Camry everyone knows that, but what is the number 2 selling vehicle? We really hadn’t thought about that as we are sure many of you have not, is it a Honda, Hyundai, or Kia? No, it quite frankly is the Nissan Altima, which should be some good news for Mr. Ghosn and his 10-market share goal.
This fact in and of itself got us really enthusiastic to have a chance to drive this vehicle again for a week. Questions that first came to mind were, what made it such a popular car, was it a comfortable family sedan, and was it enjoyable to drive, or is it just a way to get the family around and get mom to the store and back?
Since having the V6 motor a year ago, it was fun to get the more affordable 4 cylinder format that still came with a respectable 182 horsepower and 180 ft.-lbs. of torque. Throughout the week of the test drive, we never felt as if we wouldn’t have enough power to get into traffic or on to the freeway. The Altima would not throw us back into the seat, but it had adequate power when needed. We didn’t get a chance for a long journey to try it in an 80 mph zone, but felt it may have struggled fully loaded trying to pass a that higher speed.
We were a little concerned about the CTV transmission, which means a continuously variable transmission that Nissan is now putting in their vehicles. So instead of the normal transmission with 5 to 8 different gears that can be used at different speeds, and you can physically feel when the car shifts between them, Nissan has gone a different route with a transmission that really has an endless amount of gears. Using a pulley and steel belt system the CTV shifts seamlessly through an endless array of what you might call gears or gear ratios as you speed or slow down. It feels different, it sounds different, and it really is something different than what most of us are used to in our normal driving experience.
But does it make a difference in a good way or a bad way? The answer to that question we would say is in a good way. First off, it is lighter than a normal transmission and second, since it has an endless amount of ‘gears’ or ratios, as we would call them, and it gets better gas mileage. Most importantly we never had to feel that momentary loss of power as the Altima shifted from one gear to the next. Nissan has been at the forefront of these CTV designs, and has set the standard that many other manufactures are now trying to perfect in their vehicle for the better gas mileage.
Nissan has lightened the weight of the new Altima by almost 54 pounds, and has cut the drag coefficient by 5%, leading to a class, and leading performance in miles per gallon. We were very impressed with our tester vehicle that came in at 32.1 mpg for the week, which included everything from a trip to Salt Lake, to running to the grocery store, above what the EPA said we would get.
Inside the cabin was also very nice, coming standard with the 5-inch touch screen that is available on most Nissan vehicles at this time. There was also a keyless entry intelligent with an intelligent key that allowed a push button opening of the door, and also a push button start. Bluetooth phone and audio streaming were also standard on the SV model.
We have come to really enjoy the voice activation that Nissan uses on their vehicles, once we became accustomed to it. Most of the questions can be skipped with just the push of the voice activation button, then after asking to call a certain person on our phone list, the car would automatically call without asking the final question of “do you want to dial”? It has always seemed to us that if we went through all the trouble to call up a name then “yes” we did want to call them, and asking us if we wanted to dial was redundant.
The instrument cluster was very clear with a speedometer on one side, and tachometer on the other, with a 4-inch LED display in the middle that was easily changeable to show many of the different functions of the vehicle.
We did receive a couple of very nice upgrades on our tester vehicle in the Convenience Package and the Technology Package. The first added a nice moon roof, fog lights, and rear AC vents. The tech package was nice as it increased the size of the touch screen to 7 inches, navigation, blind spot monitoring, lane departure and rear cross path detection. These are all upgrades that we highly recommend as it adds a huge amount of safety to the vehicle.
From the outside the Altima looks a lot like its cousin the Infinity, and most folks would not really be able to tell the difference at first glance. In fact we would have to agree that the Altima really is a 4-door sports car, great looks, superior performance and handling coupled with a very comfortable interior. So for about half of what its cousin costs, you can have something just as good looking and fun to drive!
What is yet to be seen is if Nissan will find a way to gain the number one sales spot with this new and improved number 2 selling Altima. The base Altima comes in over $500 cheaper than the Camry, it has more attitude and is faster. It really a nicer family car all around, gets better gas mileage and has front seats that were inspired by NASA designs! We the public will be the ones that ultimately will make the new Nissan Altima number one in the land.
The Altima definitely needs to be on your to drive list if you are looking for a new family sedan, check them out at Ken Garff Nissan in Orem, 285 West University Parkway, 801-494-8686.
Base Price: $24,180
Price as tested prototype: $27,615
