2010 Nissan Altima Sedan Test Drive Review

If you haven’t paid attention to the Altima since Bill Clinton was president, know it’s grown from a compact economy car into a powerful, confident-handling, midsize, entry-level luxury sedan that maintains Nissan’s sporty flavor and, especially for 2010, offers assertive styling.

The four-door Altima Sedan comes as the 2.5 CVT, 2.5 S and 3.5 SR CVT. Also, under the Altima umbrella is the Altima Coupe and Altima Hybrid sedan. (We’ll leave the coupe and hybrid sedan for future reviews.) Here’s how to decode Nissan’s model nomenclature. The “2.5″ indicates the car is fitted with a very strong 175-horsepower, 2.5-liter, four-cylinder. The “3.5″ means it enjoys the awesome 270-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 engine. All Altimas are fitted with a “CVT,” which stands for “continuously variable transmission.” More on CVTs later. Prices start around $20,000 and go to almost $30,000 for the gas-engine cars.

If you’re looking for an affordable, very roomy sedan, consider the 2.5 CVT. If you’re willing to pay a bit more for Nissan’s sporty feel, the 2.5 S CVT is an excellent choice. Those who like to go BMW hunting in the stoplight Grand Prix or on a curvy back road will be very entertained by the 270-horsepower 3.5 SR CVT.

Changes for 2010 feature a more assertive hood, grille and front bumper cover. Inside, the Altima received new fabrics. Electronic stability control, which Nissan calls VDC, now comes on all Altimas, but that’s not too newsy as it will soon be government-required on all passenger vehicles. The 3.5 SR CVT (formerly called the SE) now comes with high-intensity discharge headlights.

Rather than physically changing gears like a conventional automatic, a CVT uses a belt and pulley system. It’s designed to keep the engine at its most-efficient speed for the task required, regardless of whether that’s optimum fuel mileage during highway cruising or maximum acceleration for merging into traffic. Few drivers will notice a difference between a CVT and a regular automatic, except for improved fuel economy and strong acceleration. Gearheads: The Altima’s CVT also employs a small gearset to increase its effective ratio range. Don’t take this too hard, gearheads, but the CVT does a far better job of maximizing the engine’s performance than you could with a manual transmission.

The four-cylinder delivers 23 miles per gallon in the government’s city driving test and a very impressive 32 mpg on the highway. The V6 is rated at 20 mpg in the city and 27 on the highway. Altimas are made in Tennessee and Mississippi.

The 2010 Altima received “Good” crash safety ratings by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in both front offset and side impact tests. In the government’s crash test studies, the Altima Sedan scored high marksfive starsin both driver and passenger frontal impacts, as well as side driver impacts, and four out of five stars in the rollover category and side rear passenger impact test.

If you’re thinking about ditching the SUV for a spacious and sporty sedan, think about the 2010 Altima.

2007 Nissan Sentra: Big Surprises Inside!

Once again, Nissan is putting into practice with its all new Sentra model something that has succeeded for them in the past: push the model up market. As it first did with the Maxima and later with the Altima, Nissan has now promoted the Sentra to make room for the pending introduction of the subcompact Versa. With the all new model, Sentra fans will find a better equipped, more polished model then any other car that has ever worn the Sentra nameplate. Intrigued? You should be: the car simply goes where no Sentra has gone before: up market.

Over the years, plenty of automakers have taken a popular selling model and elevated it one notch. Why? For a few reasons: to capitalize on demand for the model a more luxurious version typically carries more profits with it then the base model. Instead of losing customers to another model [or worse, another make] when they are ready to trade up, why not move up the model instead? Another reason: the introduction of a newer, but smaller model in the line up. For Nissan, the latter reason holds especially true as the subcompact Versa, a car built to compete against the likes of Scion enters the Nissan line up at about the same time.

The new Sentra is much more roomier than the previous model. In fact, it could be mistaken for a midsize car as it packs in an additional 10 cubic feet of interior space. Other surprises found with the 2007 Sentra include a center consoleshifter and dual folding high back rear seats to maximize carrying potential. Importantly, front and side impact air bags are now standard and a whole host of options not previously available with the model can now be had. These options include: smart key accessibility, Bluetooth wireless, a sound system to die for.

Best of all, fuel mileage is exceptionally good. Mating a 2.0L I4 to a six speed manny tranny yields EPA estimated fuel results of 29 city36 highway. These figures are likely to be at or near the top for any car in its category.

Yes, the Nissan Sentra is a pleasant surprise, one that the Nissan company hopes that you will notice. For people looking for a bargain basement model, the Sentra no longer qualifies. Instead, the tiny Versa takes over and it will deliver two things that Nissan knows you will love: exceptionally high gas mileage and an affordable price starting around 12,000. Look for well equipped Sentras to retail for around 18,000.