is Nissan returning to its roots?
May 8th, 2006The first generation Altima was a compelling mix or room, build quality and driving dynamics that has withstood the test of time – I’d rather be in one than a number of brand new family cars sold today. Then Nissan got cheap; the second generation car (like the Camry and 626 of the time) was a lower cost, watered down version of the first. It was safer but it didn’t drive as well or feel as rich. Then Nissan got cheaper: the Altima that’s sold these past few years (and the Maxima it begat) feels like it was designed over the span of a few lunch breaks – massive copious amounts of torque steer, appalling materials quality, more size and style than substance.
Apparently Nissan’s decided to do what Mercedes has done with the revised SL and E class cars: to get back to the basics. The new Altima doesn’t look much different, but beneath the skin is a new chassis that lets the engine sit lower and utilizes equal length half-shafts (tidier handling and steering, less torque steer) and a completely new 3.5L V6 that should rev smoother and sound sweeter than the outgoing one (which hasn’t revved smoothly or sounded sweet since it went from 3.0 to 3.5L in displacement.
Nissan has a long way to go to be competitive again, but the thinking that’s gone into the Versa, the next G35 and this Altima bode well…