How successful is Nissan's latest generation of Altima? So far, it's evolved into one of the company's best-selling models–if not the bestseller–and has spawned a variety of offshoots, including a performance version, a hybrid, and most recently a coupe.
The Altima Coupe, which was unveiled this summer, is strictly for North American buyers and was designed in the United States. It's built at Nissan's Smyrna and Decherd facilities in Tennessee and actually debuted at the Los Angeles Motor Show in 2006. Although it may look like the Infiniti G35, it's a completely different automobile. For one thing, it has front-wheel drive as opposed to rear-wheel drive; for another, it's built on the Altima sedan–or D–platform. It's suitably shortened, with a smaller wheelbase and different sheet metal, but the similarities are inescapable.
That's a good thing. One of the reasons the Altima four-door is such a hot seller is that it's one of the best-looking sedans on the market. Even now, almost six years after its redesign, it stands up well.
Available in two trim levels–S and SE–the Altima Coupe also has two engine and two transmission options. The base S comes with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder and a six-speed manual transmission, but you can get Nissan's Xtronic constantly variable transmission (CVT) with this engine for an additional $1,200. My tester had the VQ series 3.5-litre V6, and the aforementioned CVT. This engine develops 270 horsepower and 258 foot-pounds of torque in this configuration, and the V6 makes the Altima Coupe a pretty lively automobile.
However, my test car would have been even livelier without the CVT. This transmission is a bit disappointing–it's just not suited to spirited driving, which, as far as I'm concerned, is what the coupe is all about. For straight-line schlepping and around-town short hops, it's fine and works as well as a conventional planetary-gear autobox. But typical buyers of this car, who'll want that extra dash of performance and snap when they slip behind the wheel, just won't find it with the CVT. So if you're an enthusiast, the six-speed manual is the best choice here. It also costs less. Interestingly, the CVT delivers superior in-town fuel economy, but is a titch thirstier on the highway.
I might as well get my two other complaints out of the way now. Number one: rearward visibility is poor, and when you back up you can't see much, no matter how you twist around or crane your neck. The side mirrors help somewhat, and my test car had the navigation package ($2,950), which included a rear-view camera, but even so, parallel parking takes on a whole new dimension with this car, and I'm not too comfortable being at the mercy of a camera when I perform my backing-up manoeuvres.
Number two is the keyless ignition button, which won't work unless you have the key fob close at hand. Standard equipment on the SE, this is one of the most redundant features in the car industry, and it's not just Nissan/Infiniti that's guilty of overusing it. Just let me put the key in the ignition the old-fashioned way; it's not that difficult, and I won't have to worry about losing it or outsmarting the alarm system. I hate to sound like a Luddite, but this feature is a complete waste of time.
Having said that, the Altima Coupe is essentially a sports car, and allowances must be made. If you want the performance and image that go with it, there is always a downside. In this case, choose your parking spots carefully.
My tester, which was loaded, also had the $4,000 Premium package, which included a Bluetooth hands-free phone system, a rear-view–mirror compass, a leather interior, a vehicle dynamic control system, and XM Radio, among other things. I've whined about XM in the past, but I'm starting to come around. I've found some killer stations and, aside from it detracting from the act of driving the car, I love fiddling around with XM–and Sirius too, for that matter.
All of these goodies, plus a fairly comprehensive list of standard equipment–heated front seats, tilt steering, 17-inch wheels and tires, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, block heater, 60/40 folding rear seat, power sunroof, tuned suspension, et cetera–bring the price tag of my 3.5 CVT SE to just under the $41,000 mark.
In particular, the last item on this list–the sport suspension–gives the SE version a completely different flavour from the base model. There isn't a lot of forgiveness there, and it tends to magnify every bump and ripple in the road.
But that's one of the prices you pay if you want to play.
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