[Stratos]

I had the opportunity of driving the 2008 Nissan Altima Coupe for quite a while. After having driven it for nearly 400 miles now, I thought that it was time to write something about it.

To begin with, all the new Nissans available in the market today look stunning. The Altima is a good looker, if not stunning. Until 2007, the Altima always came as a 4-door sedan but in 2008, Nissan decided to launch the Altima Coupe. I think this was their competitor to the Honda Accord Coupe and the Toyota Camry Solara. The Altima coupe looks identical to its 4-door counterpart from the front but the rear is way different. For some reason, the rear reminds me of the Bentley Continental GT. The car looks bulky and the wheels look quite wide apart from each other.



The Drivetrain
The car comes with a 2.5 litre, 4-cylinder engine. It produces a modest 175 bhp. There is a 3.5 litre V6 option which produces 270 bhp. The engine is very smooth and silent. The only sound one hears is when the automatic transmission downshifts and shoots up the revs. In my opinion the V6 option is better as the 175 bhp from the inline-4 is barely enough for the Altima which ways nearly 1.5 tons.



The Interior
Sitting inside the Alitma coupe feels like being cocooned in a very small car. This thought goes out of the window when you notice the interior space this thing has. This car is a 4-seater coupe, yet two well-built blokes can fit on the back seat without getting crumpled due to the front seat. They do not have a good rear visibility as the rear window is something that you may find on a submarine. The car comes with an electronic locking system just as it used to be on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The key (which does not look anything like a key) has to be in your pocket or around the ignition switch in order to start the car. The car has a button start which does not feel sporty at all. This is because it starts in a very silent manner and you hardly know that the engine is running. The materials used in the dashboard look very good in terms of quality. The interior is ergonomically right and all the switches are exactly where they should be. One thing I absolutely hate about this car is that the window line is quite high above the ground which makes it very difficult to peep outside the window to in case of critical parking conditions.



The Feel
The car feels heavy which hampers its handling. I did experience some understeer while driving to Yosemite which involved sudden bends and curves. One cannot complain when all the weight is concentrated in front, this being a front wheel drive car. There is a noticeable amount of body roll when the car changes direction. This might be because of the bulky body and soft suspension.



Gathering Everything
The car returns approximately 28-31 miles per gallon. Prices start at $23,000 for the 2.5S and go upto $28,000 for the 3.5se.
A very enjoyable car to drive and pulls quite well on the highway too. The car went through everything from big water puddles, dug up construction roads to inches high snow without missing a beat. You have got to give thumbs up to the Japanese. They know exactly what the customer wants and provide him with exactly the same.

Regards!

[srijit]

That was a nice, comprehensive review Stratos. Thanks !!
I have a feeling that the rear passengers would feel a bit suffocated looking out through the tiny tiny window