Introduction
It's no picnic being the little guy. That's the lesson the previous Nissan Altima learned over almost a decade, having always been a notch smaller than the Japanese midsize standard-bearers, the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Rather than have a single vehicle to cover the mainstream family-sedan segment, Nissan used a two-prong attack with the four-cylinder Altima and the V-6 Maxima, but neither hit the mega-volume sweet spot. So when Nissan redesigned Altima for 2002, it made sure to directly target the segment's heavy hitters. Today's Altima matches or exceeds the Accord and Camry in nearly every measurement, inside and out. And its engines, both the four-cylinder and the V-6, are the strongest in the class. With its potent powerplants and firmer suspension tuning, the Altima edges a bit more toward sport and away from comfort and refinement. This is particularly true of the Altima SE-R (a special sporty model that joined the lineup in early 2005) and is also evident in the 3.5 SE. The 2005 Altima stands strong in this high-demand segment, offering distinctive style, personality, and performance among vanilla competition.
Exterior
Compared with its rather bland peer group, the artfully rendered Altima looks distinctive without going to the extreme like the latest Nissan Quest minivan. The Altima's appearance shares much with larger platformmate Maxima, but to some eyes, the smaller car's styling is cleaner than its more garish sibling's.... Read full article