Automotive Reviews
Posts tagged Nissan
2002 Nissan Altima
Jul 21st
The Nissan Altima has long been a decent car with a weird size. The family sedan was smaller than comptetitors like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, but too large to compete directly against the Corolla and Civic. The Altima’s only other “in-between” competition, the Ford Contour, bit the dust two yeas ago.
Luckily, the Altima’s precarious market position wasn’t overlooked during Nissan’s ongoing rejuvenation. For 2002 the bread-and-butter sedan from Nissan is larger and sportier, and it’s finally ready to do battle with the big sellers from Honda, Toyota, Ford, and Chevrolet.
The Altima has been redesigned from the tires up, of course. No longer a wallflower, the new Nissan strikes an impressive, aggressive pose on the street. The only element to carry over from the previous car is the steeply sloped trunklid, which helps the car to cut a unique shape in the fairly unexciting family sedan crowd. Up front, flush-mounted headlamps flank an charcoal-colored grille, and the front bumper barely protrudes. At the rear, the flat look continues, with distinctive round taillights under clear plastic and a unique, steeply raked rear end. The look is similar to Mitsubishi’s “geo-mechanical” design, but without the silly-looking strakes and bulges it’s much cleaner. 17″ wheels fill the fender arches nicely, and are standard equipment on the Altima SE. It’s much better looking than the dull, family-oriented offerings from Honda or Chevrolet.
Inside, the Altima looks like a more expensive car. It’s not until you start touching things that it begins to feel like a more affordable car. The instrument panel flows away from the front seat passengers, improving leg room and space. A broad, flat console is easy for both driver and passenger to use. The gauges are housed in deep, sports-car style pods and backlit in orange. The plastics used in the dash feel less expensive than they look, and we wondered about their durability. It’s family-friendly, too, with extra power outlets, large cupholders, and available side-impact and side-curtain airbags. A Bose sound system is available, with an in-dash six-disc changer. Nissan has also taken a hint from German luxury manufacturer Audi, and offers the Altima in a series of uniquely-accented and colored interior “atmospheres.” Wood trim is available too. Our only complaint inside the Altima was its gated automatic shifter, which didn’t always navigate its pattern smootly and resulted in the occasional struggle to get into Reverse or Park.
The heart of the new Altima is its 3.5 liter V6, which is standard on SE models. Nissan’s been winning awards for this engine in its various guises for the past seven years, and it’s easy to see why. With 240 horsepower, the Altima feels as eager and sporty as the Maxima did, back in its “four door sports car” days. A dual exhaust underlines the sporty-engine’s purpose in life. It breathes life into the idea of what a family car should feel like. Mated to a four-speed automatic, the V6 is powerful on the freeway and in traffic. A 175-horsepower four-cylinder is also available–as is a five-speed manual transmission, with both engines. Closet gearheads take note; it’s rare to find a family-sized sedan that offers a version with a clutch pedal.
Navigating the Altima around town is also a breeze, thanks to a light, aluminum-intensive front suspension which improves responsiveness. Of course, the big wheels don’t hurt either. The Altima uses a multilink suspension in the rear that’s similar to the one used on the big, luxurious Infiniti Q45. Instead of the common strut units, the shock and spring are separate units in the Altima’s rear end, improving freeway noise reduction. Traction control is available on V6-powered, automatic transmission-equipped Altimas, as is an anti-lock braking system.
The Altima is available in four flavors: three grades of 2.5 four-cylinder models and the 3.5 SE V6. Our test car was an SE, with the optional side and curtain airbags, Bose sound system, traction control and a sunroof.. Fully loaded, the Altima stickered for $26,963. More affordable models start closer to $21,000.
Specifications:
All specs are for the 2002 Nissan Altima SE, which we tested.
Length: 191.5 in.
Width: 70.4 in.
Height: 57.9 in.
Wheelbase: 110.2 in.
Curb weight: 3273 lb.
Cargo space: 15.6 cu.ft.
Base price: $23,149
Price as tested: $26,963
Engine: 3.5 liter DOHC V6
Drivetrain: four-speed automatic, front-wheel drive
Horsepower: 240 @ 5800
Torque: 246 @ 4400
Est. mileage: 19/26
Fuel capacity: 20 gal.
2000 Nissan Sentra
Jun 19th
It’s scary; entry-level cars are getting so nice that first-time buyers might start assuming they can’t afford them. The best little cars don’t look or feel cheap any more, even if they are. The 2000 Nissan Sentra is the latest economy car to get the high-quality treatment. Completely redesigned for 2000, the Sentra shares a platform with some Japanese and European models, but the car itself is unique to North America. It was designed at Nissan’s California design studio. Looking like a smaller-scale Altima, the new Sentra is a small car that looks larger than it is, but is larger than it looks. Got that?
Stay with us. The newly redesigned Sentra is definitely a Nissan; it shares a strong front and side family resemblance with its stablemates the Altima and Maxima, although it lacks the aggressiveness of the Maxima. The new Sentra’s longer, taller, and wider than its predecessor, but looks less chunky than past Sentras. Up front, a blacked-out grille is broken by a horizontal chrome bar, like that of the two larger Nissan sedans (and less jarring than that of the Maxima), and the shape of the greenhouse matches that of the Altima so closely that the Sentra looks larger than it is from even a short distance. The “big-car” cues are there; expressive side moldings, round integrated foglamps, and a rounded tail which appears to slope thanks to downward-curved taillights. The Sentra doesn’t look like an awkwardly shrunken Altima, either; it’s an elegant design overall.
Those big-car looks hint at a spacious interior. The Sentra feels as spacious inside as high-roofed compacts like the Toyota ECHO and Ford Focus, but without the tall roof. A handsome instrument panel looks and feels like it’s a class or two above the standard economy car fare. There’s a handy cubby in the top of the dash, and even handier holders in the front door pockets big enough to carry 20-ounce bottles. The steering wheel could have come from a Maxima, but that’s a good thing. Our gripes were limited to low seats which were a little uncomfortable for long legs, and a sound system whose buttons were far too small to operate easily.
Only one thing doesn’t feel elegant about the Sentra, and that’s the 1.8 liter, 126-hp engine that powers the XE and GXE models, which we tested. It’s quiet in town, but on the freeway it’s reluctant to downshift and sounds more labored than it ought to, being an all-new engine. It’s got more power than the previous motor, and is mostly let down by the transmission. The four-speed automatic transmission does a lot of hunting and ratio-dropping to stay at 70 mph on a moderate hill. We’d recommend the available manual, instead. A Sentra SE model is also available with a 2.0 liter four-cylinder, and makes 145 horsepower. Also available is the Sentra CA, which is the first gas-powered vehicle to meet California’s super-low emissions vehicle (SULEV) standards thanks to emissions-reducing equipment in the exhaust and a “smog-eating” PremAir radiator coating.
The new Sentra’s road manners are impeccable. The ride is as smooth as the big-car looks suggest. A front independent suspension and multi-link rear make for friendly handling around town. On the road, it feels like a larger car, thanks to softer suspension bushings and a stiffened body that give the Sentra a solid, confident on par with that of its big brother the Maxima. A Multi-Link Beam suspension at the rear and larger stabilizer bars offer predictable front-drive economy car performance when the road gets twisty. No, it’s not a car-guy car–it understeers too much–but it’s more than competent enough to satisfy the more practical drivers among us. Four-wheel disc brakes are available on the sporty SE model, and ABS is optional on the GXE and SE.
The Sentra’s big-car looks and accoutrements come at a surprisingly ordinary small-car price. The Sentra range starts with a bare-bones XE model, followed by the limited-production, high-economy CA, with GXE and SE as the upper ranges. The GXE adds air conditioning, cruise control, power mirrors, and other things to the standard equipment list, and starts at $14,299. Side airbags, a sunroof, and several sound systems are available. Our test car stickered for $15,697, once the folding rear seat, keyless entry, 15″ wheels, improved sound system, and and map lights had been added. The SE features the larger motor, bigger wheels, and a sport suspension, including a limited-slip differential. That’s right in Focus/Saturn/Civic territory, and the handsome new Sentra is a small-car option well worth considering.
Specifications:
All specs are for the 2000 Nissan Sentra GXE, which we tested.
Length: 177.5 in.
Width: 67.3 in.
Height: 55.5 in.
Wheelbase: 99.8 in.
Curb weight: 2627 lb.
Cargo space: 11.6 cu.ft
Base price: $14,299
Price as tested: $15,697
Engine: 1.8 liter DOHC inline 4
Drivetrain: four-speed automatic, front-wheel drive
Horsepower: 126 @ 6000 rpm.
Torque: 129 @ 2400 rpm
Fuel capacity: 13.2 gal.
Est. mileage: 26/33
6/2009 update: The Sentra’s still a good subcompact choice. They suffer from the Nissan tendency to look “old,” but apart from that they’re solid, often underappreciated vehicles. See: Mazda Protege.
2001 Nissan Maxima
Jun 19th
It’s hard to say what makes a car “about” one thing or another. You just know. Some cars are about being appliances, about getting from point A to point B. Some are about style. Some don’t know what they’re about at all. And some, like the 2000 Nissan Maxima SE, are about driving.
You can’t always tell just by looking, but there’s something in the way certain cars respond to the road that makes the simple act of driving a pleasure in itself. With relatives like Nissan’s 300ZX, 240SX, and the early Nineties Maxima (which Nissan proudly labeled “4DSC,” meaning “four-door-sports car.” The latest Maxima has a sporty heritage, and it shows in Nissan’s new-for-2000 flagship.
Designed at Nissan’s California styling studio, the new Maxima is a break from the nameplate’s traditionally conservative designs, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. With round taillights inside black crescents and crisply sculpted fender arches, the Maxima is distinctive from the rear. The new nose doesn’t work as well. The slanted headlights and an almost square grille look have the subtly aggressive look that’s par for the course among sports sedans, but the grille drops into the bumper line in a way that emulates some newer Chryslers, for a Sixties hot-rod look that isn’t particularly memorable or attractive. But that’s okay; if you drive the Maxima like it wants to be driven, most other drivers are only going to see the back of it anyway. Apart from the nose, the Maxima is a handsome, well-proportioned car. Details like ellipsoid side-marker lights are pleasing to the eye. We ran hot and cold on the optional 17″ wheels; from some angles they looked good, and from others we thought they looked cheap.
Inside, the influence of the legendary Nissan 300ZX is apparent. The wide, flat dashboard and deeply sloped center console offer the driver a good view of the world in front of the car and make it seem wider than it is. The hood looks long from the driver’s seat, a subtle homage to the long-hooded, short-decked Z-cars in Nissan’s past. The window sills are somewhat higher, but otherwise the driver’s-seat feel is similar to that of the Maxima’s sports car ancestors. The sloped dashboard also creates a feeling of spaciousness inside. At first glance, the Maxima looks larger inside than it actually is. That’s not to say it isn’t roomy; even with the wide console there’s plenty of space for front-seat passengers. A height-adjustable console armrest is a cool innovation. The lower seat cushions aren’t quite long enough to support the legs of tall drivers, a common Nissan shortcoming (no pun intended). One other gripe; the knobs for the stereo volume control and climate control are the same size and texture, and they’re too close together. This frequently results in a sudden blast of hot air when you’re trying to turn the radio down. With a thunderous Bose audio system available as an option, you might be doing that more than you think.
Nissan has dialed more than a bit of fun into the newest Maxima, as well. The 3.0-liter engine under the hood has been massaged for an increase in horsepower and refinement. The resulting 222-hp V6 motivated our test car, and mated to a racy five-speed transmission the car was happy to oblige any request for speed. The manual is smooth, and made us wish that more companies were willing to equip their sports sedans with sticks. The Maxima is a large car, but it doesn’t feel heavy when accelerating from a halt thanks to variable intake and exhaust manifolds which allow the engine to breathe better when more power is demanded.
Thanks to big tires and a curve-ready suspension, it doesn’t feel ponderous in turns, either. Nissan’s Multi-Link Beam suspension reduces the wobbly-tailed feeling that many large sedans are prone to during hard cornering. Nissan has taken a page from the handbook of the late Ford Taurus SHO, and improved upon it. The Maxima is easy to place and control, thanks both to sports-car like visibility and the grip of those big wheels we didn’t always like the looks of. Even when you’re not driving ludicrously fast, this means that the Maxima never feels like it would rather plow straight ahead instead of changing direction. Large sedans seem to be most at home on America’s freeways, and the Maxima is no exception. That sense of being “about” driving is strongest at the bottom of an on-ramp; the big Nissan accelerates confidently to speed and heads eagerly for the horizon, as if it’s hoping that every trip will be a long one.
Four-wheel antilock brakes are standard, and traction control is also available. Listed from bottom to top, Maxima is available in GXE, SE, and GLE models, as well as the 20th Anniversary SE. Pricing starts at $21,049 for a base GXE, and it’s a fun alternative to a Camry or Accord. Our test vehicle was the sportier SE model, and it featured the Bose sound system, sunroof, leather interior, and the larger wheels. It stickered for $28,295.
It’s unusual to find a sedan that’s all about driving, especially if it’s not a BMW or an Audi, but Nissan’s done a good job with its latest “four-door sports car.” The price premium over a comparably equipped Chevy Malibu or Honda Accord goes toward the Maxima’s sporty spirit. For people who like to drive, it’s worth it.
Specifications:
All specs are for the 2001 Nissan Maxima SE, which we tested.
Length: 190.5 in
Width: 70.3 in.
Height: 56.5 in.
Wheelbase: 108.3 in.
Curb weight: 3199 lb
Cargo space: 15.1 cu.ft
Base price: $23,649
Price as tested: $28,295
Engine: 3.0 liter DOHC V6
Drivetrain: five-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Horsepower: 222 @6400 rpm
Torque: 217 ft/lb@4000 rpm
Est. mileage: 21/27
6/2009 update: The ’01 Maxima remains my favorite, from a styling standpoint. The big-car sporty handling was entertaining, and more recent Maximas, including the latest, have seemed a bit soulless.