2013 Nissan Altima debuts.

Perhaps more than most people realize, the Nissan Altima is a hugely important car here in the United States. In 2011, it was the second best-selling car in the country (trailing its classmate, the Toyota Camry), and with the launch of this fifth-generation Altima, Nissan appears to simply be going for an evolutionary enhancement rather than completely reinventing its successful midsize sedan formula.

 

That said, this step forward for the Altima should make it more competitive than ever in one of the most highly shopped segments of North America's automotive marketplace. Nissan has not only been able to shed enough weight to make the Altima the lightest car in its class, it now boasts the best highway fuel economy for any non-hybrid midsize sedan: 38 miles per gallon when paired with the 182-horsepower 2.5-liter inline-four. Combine that with a new rear suspension setup, class-exclusive driving aids such as Active Understeer Control and a slew of new infotainment functionality, and Nissan's midsizer looks to have what it takes to keep running with the segment's best.

 

 

 

The 2013 Altima rides on the same wheelbase as the outgoing model, though this new car is 0.8 inches longer and 1.4 inches wider. It's not much taller, though the C and D pillars have been given more aggressive rakes to give the impression of a much larger sedan. Nissan says it wants the Altima to seem like "a class above" the normal midsize sedan. High-strength steel is found throughout the car's body, as well as an aluminum hood, meaning that despite its larger dimensions and added onboard technology, the 2013 Altima is actually 79 pounds lighter than the 2012 model.

From a design perspective, the 2013 Altima falls right in line with the rest of the revamped Nissan stable. Much of the new sedan's design was previewed by the 2010 Ellure concept, though we think the production model speaks more of Maxima influence than the swoopy showcar. Up front, the pinched – or as Lexus would say, "spindle" – grille is flanked by large headlamp clusters pulled back over the fenders, and while the new fascia is certainly more aggressive than the outgoing car, it should still be sedate enough to appeal to a wide variety of consumers. There are plenty of additional Maxima cues around back, including more angular boomerang taillamps that wrap around the sides of the car and a long, aggressively raked rear backlight that meets a relatively short decklid.

The 2013 Altima's cabin boasts a clean, simple interior design with what looks to be an easy-to-navigate center stack and an organized instrument panel, complete with a four-inch color TFT display in between the speedometer and tachometer. Here, drivers can see things like turn-by-turn navigation information and blind spot monitoring, as well as other vehicle functions like tire pressure, audio data, trip information and so on.

 

We had a chance to sit inside a pre-production Altima recently, and while we weren't blown away with an aura of ultra-luxurious refinement, it's certainly a more solid, comfortable and well-appointed cabin than any Altima that came before it, and the whole environment feels more than class competitive. All of the touchable surfaces are nicely grained and use high-quality materials, and generally speaking, the interior is a comfortable place to be. Nissan assures us that we'll feel the same way after long stints behind the wheel, what with the car's NASA research-inspired seats. Nissan says these chairs reduce pressure points and improve bloodflow, so drivers should feel less fatigue after extended periods on their posteriors. They're cushy, nicely bolstered seats, and we're eager to see how the cloth interior feels (the prototype we poked around in was fitted with leather). There's ample head- and legroom for rear seat passengers, and by moving the C and D pillars back, ingress and egress to the rear seats is easy-peasy even for the tallest of folks.

On the technology front, the 2013 Altima features the automaker's new Nissan Connected infotainment platform that incorporates things like navigation, Bluetooth (a standard feature), Pandora, Google point-of-interest location and even hands-free texting with a reply function. The available large infotainment screen serves as a rear-view camera with moving obstacle detection, as well. A key point to note is that while other automakers rely on a network of bumper sensors, Nissan's system uses one wide-angle rear-view camera to control the blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning and moving obstacle detection systems. Nissan says this setup works just as well as other systems with lower complexity and cost.

As for powertrains, the 2.5-liter inline-four and 3.5-liter V6 carry over largely unchanged. The big overhaul for 2013, however, is the Altima's revamped Continuously Variable Transmission. As much as we dislike CVTs, Nissan still makes the best, and this second-generation unit with an extended gear ratio range and 40-percent reduced internal friction certainly piques our interest. A new electric power steering system chips in to reduce fuel consumption as well.

 

The base 2.5-liter four now produces 182 horsepower (up from 175) and 180 pound-feet of torque (unchanged), and the 3.5-liter VQ V6 carries over with 270 hp and 258 lb-ft. Mated to the new CVT, Nissan estimates that the four-cylinder Altima will achieve up to 38 miles per gallon on the highway, besting published numbers of the 1.6-liter Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Malibu Eco. Four-cylinder city fuel economy is a respectable 27 mpg and the V6 is good for 22/30 mpg city/highway. What's really remarkable is that Nissan was able to achieve class-leading four-cylinder (non-hybrid) fuel economy without the use of direct injection. Would adding DI improve things further? It's hard to say, but this is a huge win for Nissan. We're told that a new hybrid model is in the works, and while it won't be ready for the 2013 model year, it will arrive within this generation's first cycle.

For a long while, rumors had been circulating about a turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine for the Altima, and while that hasn't been 100 percent ruled out, Nissan spokespeople tell us there are absolutely no plans to introduce one at this time. Simply put, the 3.5-liter V6 accounts for a large enough amount of Altima sales that Nissan didn't want to stop offering it. That, and Nissan says their V6-equipped Altima is actually lighter than its turbo-four-powered competitors, namely the Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima.

Nissan assures us the new Altima will be much more of a driver's car than the outgoing model (which itself wasn't half bad), thanks to enhancements like a new multi-link rear suspension setup and a feature called Active Understeer Control. This new system offers predictive – Nissan could not stress that enough – braking for the front wheels that reduces understeer while cornering. No warning lights will flash, no alarms will sound, and instead, the driver will just receive improved control through turns – the whole system is said to be so subtle that 99.9-percent of drivers won't ever know the technology is at work. We'll be driving the new Altima in the very near future, so we'll see just how good the whole package is.

The 2013 Altima will arrive at dealers in July priced from $21,500* for the four-cylinder base model. S, SL and SV trims are available for both the four- and six-cylinder models (the V6 cost of entry is $25,360*), and a top-trim SL V6 slides in at a cool $30,080* (*all prices subject to a $760 destination charge).

According to Nissan's own projections, we are in the middle of seeing the entire midsize sedan marketplace churn to all new models in just an 18 month period. That means the Hyundai Sonata, introduced just about a year ago, will soon be the segment's oldest offering. It may not be a revolutionary step forward, but Nissan is banking that the 2013 Altima will help keep it atop consideration lists in this rapidly changing segment.

Source: Autoblog.com