Back in the 1990s, the Nissan Altima was never a major player in the midsize sedan market. And not only because it wasn't midsized. No, back when it was a compact the Altima's sales were just a fraction of the Accord's and Camry's.

Then, for the 2002 model year, Nissan introduced an all-new Altima. Not only was the new car much larger than the old one, but it was strikingly attractive and a 3.5-liter DOHC V6 good for 240 horsepower was available. No mainstream midsize sedan (except for a couple of supercharged numbers from GM) had ever offered this sort of power. The Accord at the time topped out at 200, and the Camry was even weaker.

And so Altima sales exploded. They still didn't come close to those of the Accord and Camry. But they were much closer than they had been.

The car did have some faults, especially an overly cheap interior, torque steer, and iffy handling. Nissan attended to the first issue with a 2005 freshening. Though Honda and Toyota responded with more powerful engines, and Honda had redesigned Accord in 2003, the Altima held the ground it had gained.

Apparently Nissan is not content with this situation, for just five years (and a few months) after the big redesign we have another thorough redesign, for 2007. Japanese companies usually redo the platform every other redesign. Not Nissan in this case. Instead, the 2007 Altima is based on an all-new platform.

So they've spent a ton of money. What improvements over last year's Altima did it buy them? I took a 3.5 SE CVT for a test drive to find out.

Styling

The previous Nissan Altima was a striking car when it appeared. (Even my mother noticed it, and asked me about it, which is saying a lot.) The new design is an evolution of the old one, with a more upscale, sophisticated and organic shape to the rear quarters, stronger wheel arches, and Nissan's best grille shape in some time. The revised front end is hard to distinguish from that of the Maxima, while the rear end reminds me of the last Olds Aurora, a design I personally liked.

In comparison, the previous Altima looks a bit plain and downscale, something I never thought I'd think about its exterior. But overall the design hasn't changed much. It's main problem may be that many people won't notice that it's a new design.

Inside, the design is clean and tasteful. It seems someone at Nissan HQ decided that Nissan's interiors had become overly quirky, and so if anything the new Altima's interior is safe and generic. If you want a highly styled, highly distinctive interior, then the Maxima is the Nissan sedan for you. They have to give you some reason to spend the extra cash for a Maxima, right?

The major improvement is to the materials. Actually, the 2005 changes largely closed the gap here. But the styling hadn't changed much, so people stuck with their first impressions. Perhaps the all-new interior will warrant a second look from the Altima's detractors. My personal impression is that the Accord still seems a bit higher in quality despite incorporating more hard plastic, while the also new-for-2007 Camry's interior is distinctly cheaper.

Accommodations

You sit quite a bit lower relative to the instrument panel in the new Nissan Altima. But still not low; it's just that the driving position in the previous Altima was very high. The view forward in the 2007 is much more like that in the Accord. I felt no need to raise the power seat.

One quirk: one control rather than two separate ones is now used to both tilt and telescope the wheel. I found telescoping the wheel much harder than it should be.

The front seats are fairly comfortable and offer some lateral support, but I found the Camry SE's outstanding seats better on both counts. They might be saving a more aggressive sport seat for a future SE-R.

Partly because the front seat now sits lower, and partly because the new car has a slightly shorter wheelbase and length, the 2007's rear seat is considerably less roomy than the 2006's. There's still enough room for adults back there, but their knees will now be a couple inches closer to the front seatbacks.

Trunk volume is perhaps a bit better than the class average. But the opening could be a tight fit for larger pieces of luggage. And folding the split rear seat could be easier--the straps used to release it are a long reach into the trunk.

Nissan's specs claim 39.5 inches of rear legroom and 17.9 cubic feet of cargo. I don't think so.

On the Road

The revised VQ-series 3.5-liter V6 is now rated at 270 horsepower. While this is twenty over the base 2006 3.5 and ten over the 2006 SE-R's 3.5, the actual differences are even larger, since Nissan adopted the tougher SAE measuring standards this year.

This engine can be paired with either a six-speed manual or a manually-shiftable CVT. I wanted to test the manual, but only the CVT was available, so that's what I drove.

The 3.5 is definitely strong, but the 3.5s in the Camry SE and (considerably more expensive) Acura TL-S feel like they have plumper midranges and make more sophisticated noises.

Then again, the CVT might be to blame. It is the best CVT I've experienced--figuring out which ratio you're going to need and not hunting frenetically all over the place or doing odd things with the engine. But even when using the manual shift feature to simulate actual gears it doesn't quite provide the relatively more connected feel of a conventional automatic.

In other words, I still want to check out the manual.

Driving down the road, the 2007 Nissan Altima feels considerably more solid and composed than the previous generation sedan. Torque steer has been much reduced. Take a hard turn, and the Altima 3.5SE feels reasonably balanced, with understeer as the limit approaches. But it lacks the quick steering, tight reflexes, and sportier demeanor of the Acura TL I checked out earlier in the day. The Camry SE also feels firmer. Once again, Nissan has left room for an Altima SE-R.

Ride quality feels better than I recall in the previous car, perhaps because of the stiffened body structure. Noise levels are moderately low, which means they're much lower than they were in the previous car and about even with the Camry.

Nissan Altima Price Comparisons and Pricing

Nissan totally redesigned the Altima, improving it in many ways. So they've raised the price a bundle, right? Actually, they haven't. The base prices have gone up by a few hundred dollars, but extra standard equipment like side and side curtain airbags and, on the V6 models, ABS and stability control more than compensate. Option up a 2006 to 2007 feature levels, and you'll get a price over $1,500 higher on the old car. Which is about the size of the rebate they've been offering.

Compared to a similarly equipped Camry SE, the Altima SE comes in about $1,000 lower. The regular Camry splits this difference.

A base Acura TL comes in about $4,200 higher when the Altima 3.5 SE is similarly equipped.

Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, www.truedelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)

TrueDelta's page for the Altima:

http://www.truedelta.com/models/Altima.php

Last Words

In many ways, the 2007 Nissan Altima is a substantially improved car. So why aren't I drooling over it? Well, to begin with, front-wheel-drive just isn't where it's at anymore. Beyond this, the Altima doesn't feel as sporty as I'd like it to--probably the role of a future SE-R. The SE is the sportiest trim currently available, but it feels softer and less sharp than the Acura TL I drove earlier the same day. Finally, the 2007 just isn't the breakthrough the 2002 was. 270 horsepower seems like a lot for a family sedan, but Toyota gets 268 out of the Camry.

So, while I really like the new Altima, it doesn't excite me the way the 2002 did (before I had a chance to sit in it and drive it).

But, for the mainstream sedan buyer, the Altima's now a much stronger contender. The interior is nicer, the ride is more composed and quieter, torque steer is much reduced, and the car has a more solid feel to it. Add it all up, and the new Altima should be much more attractive to people who would have simply bought an Accord or Camry last year.

A Note on Nissan Altima Reliability

I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.

Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy an Altima rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Nissan Altima reliability comparisons.

Before I can report results, I need reliability data on all cars--not just the Altima--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. Non-participants will have to pay an access fee.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Ford Fusion review
Honda Accord review
2005 Nissan Altima review
Nissan Maxima review
Saturn AURA review
Toyota Camry review
Amount Paid (US$): 28000
Model Year: 2007
Model and Options: 3.5 SE CVT