My family took a trip to Disney. Traveling from Eastern Pennsylvania, we rented a 2013 Nissan Altima S with the 4 cylinder engine. With three young kids in the back seat, and a fully loaded trunk, we set out for our vacation. The following is my evaluation of the car:
Exterior:
I could take it or leave it. Not necessarily a stimulating car to look at but generally par for the segment.
Interior:
While many people complain about the plastic dashes, it didn't bother me as it seems to be put together well. Some minor annoyances were a head rest that we simply couldn't adjust to make it comfortable and a plastic driver seat guard that routinely scratched me while I was driving. Overall, i thought the dash flowed well and i had no complaints.
Drivetrain:
If I didn't know anything about the car, and I didn't look under the hood, i would probably believe there was a 6 cylinder under the hood. The engine and CVT are perfectly mated for smooth, seamless operation and efficiency (which I will get to later). While the engine did sound a bit coarse when significant load was applied, I thought the 4 cylinder worked very well. One very annoying thing was a low groan experienced while driving at low speeds. It sounded like I was driving a manual transmission vehicle while attempting to pull from a light in 3rd gear. It was a lugging sound that was very prominent up to 45 mph or so. Very disappointing.
Efficiency:
This is where this thing shines. On my first full tank of gas, i drove from Eastern Pennsylvania to Charleston, South Carolina.....without refueling. 701 miles on one tank of gas and the computer said i had 40 miles worth of gas left. Worked out to be 38.5 mpg with 5 people in the passenger compartment and a trunk overloaded....not to mention driving 75 mph with the air conditioner on. This thing is a road trip machine. Absolutely incredible.
Summary:
Both my wife and I have the same conclusion: we wouldn't want to own one but we would definitely want one for our next road trip. Being able to travel over 700 miles on a tank of gas is invaluable. Unfortunately, the persistent low groan always present at low speeds would keep this out of my garage. If Nissan would fix that problem, I definitely could see myself owning one of these.
Exterior:
I could take it or leave it. Not necessarily a stimulating car to look at but generally par for the segment.
Interior:
While many people complain about the plastic dashes, it didn't bother me as it seems to be put together well. Some minor annoyances were a head rest that we simply couldn't adjust to make it comfortable and a plastic driver seat guard that routinely scratched me while I was driving. Overall, i thought the dash flowed well and i had no complaints.
Drivetrain:
If I didn't know anything about the car, and I didn't look under the hood, i would probably believe there was a 6 cylinder under the hood. The engine and CVT are perfectly mated for smooth, seamless operation and efficiency (which I will get to later). While the engine did sound a bit coarse when significant load was applied, I thought the 4 cylinder worked very well. One very annoying thing was a low groan experienced while driving at low speeds. It sounded like I was driving a manual transmission vehicle while attempting to pull from a light in 3rd gear. It was a lugging sound that was very prominent up to 45 mph or so. Very disappointing.
Efficiency:
This is where this thing shines. On my first full tank of gas, i drove from Eastern Pennsylvania to Charleston, South Carolina.....without refueling. 701 miles on one tank of gas and the computer said i had 40 miles worth of gas left. Worked out to be 38.5 mpg with 5 people in the passenger compartment and a trunk overloaded....not to mention driving 75 mph with the air conditioner on. This thing is a road trip machine. Absolutely incredible.
Summary:
Both my wife and I have the same conclusion: we wouldn't want to own one but we would definitely want one for our next road trip. Being able to travel over 700 miles on a tank of gas is invaluable. Unfortunately, the persistent low groan always present at low speeds would keep this out of my garage. If Nissan would fix that problem, I definitely could see myself owning one of these.
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