Postby jspitz » Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:15 pm
We're looking for a largish mid-sized sedan for the wife since baby #1 is due any day now, and her beloved MX-6 doesn't work too well with an infant carrier.
We test drove a Passat, A6, A4, Altima and the new '09 Max this past weekend. We saved the Nissans for last since I'm a long-time Nissan fan, and I really wanted the new Maxima - until I drove it.
The Altima was an SE 3.5 - In my opinion, the interior was very lackluster compared to the VW/Audi lot. A lot of obvious plastic, but basically fine. Acceleration was great, the CVT was a new experience, but I wouldn't consider it a negative. Steering was just too "light" - very little effort was required to move the wheel - it felt like a Buick. The car tracked straight, but was too easily persuaded to turn. Compared to all 3 of the VW/Audi vehicles, I was dissapointed.
We then drove the only '09 Maxima in stock - the base "S" model - Interior was somewhat improved over the Altima. Other than the fact that everything inside looked just a little different, it felt like we drove the same car twice. Adding to the disappointment was the interior. It looks better in pictures than in person - to me it was just a small incremental step in quality over the Altima. The body, on the other hand, looked better than I even imagined in person (and I liked it in pictures). Unfortunately, Nissan's 4DSC seemed to have exactly the same steering characteristics as the Altima.
I realize that they are built on essentially the same platform, but they could have done so much more with the Max - especially at a 38k price tag. I'm sure the sport package would firm up the suspension a bit, but I'm not so sure the steering would change. The salesguy and GM essentially echoed that sentiment. They assured me they would call when a SV Sport was available.
Just to make sure we were not losing our minds, we both drove my Pathfinder ('06 LE AWD) the same day - and the steering was noticeably tighter - certainly not a sports car, but the steering was sportier than the Nissans we drove.
The last Altima I drove was a pretty stripped '06 I4 loaner, and I don't remember the steering being this bad.
Any thoughts? Does the SV w/ Sport Package remedy this?