Nissan Altima Coupe
Kelly Foss, www.car-data.com
Nissan has cleverly taken its very successful Altima sedan and nipped and tucked it to produce agorgeous coupe variant. The Altima Coupe doesn’t try to hide its ancestral connection to the sedanbut Nissan aims it at a different customer. According to Nissan, ”it fills a desire among targetcustomers for a more personal expression of style and individuality.’ Well spoken. The coupe hastidier proportions. It is shorter, has a shorter wheelbase and is a touch lower. Having said allthat, the vehicle feels quite spacious from the driver’s seat and does not feel like a small car.
The Styling on the Altima Coupe is rather simplistic, almost Spartan. The seductive shaping ofthe sheet metal makes chrome and add-on baubles superfluous. Even a base model in silver with nicewheels looks very very attractive indeed when all polished up. Its hard to believe that thestarting price is just a pinch over $20,000.
The base coupe is equipped with cloth bucket seats, a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine and a 6 speedmanual transmission. Don’t despair as this model is nicely equipped and basic seats have severalmanual adjustments and are very comfortable. And yes, you can get leather if you must. The 2.5liter 4 cylinder has 175 horsepower and niceties like dual exhaust. This engine had surprising goodpower and responsiveness and produces an EPA 31 to 32 mpg on the freeway. The famous 3.5 liter V6has 270 horsepower with the same transmission options and a lot more power. There is no traditionalautomatic transmission available. Rather, Nissan is offering a new technology CVT transmission.These are gearless units that deliver a continuous flow of power without traditional shifting. TheCVT’s in this coupe have gear-like steps built into it so that you can manually select ‘gears’ from1 to 6. Bottom line is that you get a smooth efficient delivery of power and good fuel economy.
The interior of the Altima coupe is tasteful, functional and again quite simplistic. Theusability and comfort is good, but it’s not highly adorned or ornate. The instrument panel does notdemand to be the center of attention. Its there simply to do its work and perform its function.Still, the Altima does avoid the hard plastic grained surfaces found in many value priced models.The trunk is useful but does give up a bit in volume to accommodate the rear panel styling of thevehicle. The back seat will carry people but you need to be nimble enough to climb in the back of acompact interior.
In all, the Altima Coupe should sell well because the styling is great, the quality andreliability are good and the value proposition is strong. With the Altima Coupe, you get a lot ofgood looking car for not too much money.
