Motoring: 2025 Nissan Altima is affordable, efficient, comfortable, and attractively styled

Altima, Nissan’s 5-passenger, 4-door midsize sedan, returns primarily unchanged for the 2025 model year. Gone is the eminently powerful VC-Turbo engine — big sigh. Its extra zoom shall be missed. This year's only engine is a naturally aspirated, 188 horsepower, 2.5-liter I-4, detuned to 182 horsepower in all-wheel drive models. Power flows through a continuously variable automatic transmission.

All-wheel drive Altima briskly scoots from a dead stop to 60 miles per hour in 7.6 seconds, runs the quarter mile in 15.9 seconds/ 89 mph, and accelerates to 100 mph in 21 seconds. In other words, there’s plenty of power for city driving and highway excursions.

In standard front-wheel drive configuration, the EPA-estimates 27 mpg city and 39 mpg highway in base model S and SV trims. When upgraded to Nissan’s Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system, a $1,500 upgrade, EPA estimates drop a smidgen to 26 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway. In inclement weather, Nissan’s AWD firmware is renowned for better sharing traction between the front and rear wheels, making driving on snow or rain-soaked roads more manageable and safer. The SR trim I test-drove boasted a sport-tuned suspension, which paid big dividends in better handling and more pleasurable driving. Steering was precise, braking prompt. Moreover, SR trim also adds sport seats, 19-inch wheels, and paddle shifters (Such fun!).

Altima's cabin is spacious. Nissan's Zero Gravity Seat technology fundamentally changed seat structure, creating a weightless scenario (think outer space.). Application of NASA-measured neutral posture to car seats, developed through joint research with Yamazaki Laboratory at Keio University in Japan, significantly reduces the load on muscular and spinal areas. Drivers and passengers are less likely to grow weary on long drives.

Large rear seats provide copious legroom. They don't fold completely flat, which is a mild inconvenience. To lower the seat backs, one first pulls a tab in the trunk, then lowers them the rest of the way from inside the cabin by pulling down on the seat back. In other words, they don't automatically fold when released.

The trunk space is decent. With its squared-off shape, loading a few full-size suitcases is easy. Storage for drivers and passengers includes narrow, deep door pockets and a tray on the center console. The standard 8-inch touch screen features Apple CarPlay and Android AutoTM connectivity.

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Upgrading to Nissan's new SV's Special Edition package features exterior upgrades, a larger 12.3-inch HD color display, wireless phone charging pad, wireless Apple CarPlay plus wireless Android Auto, gloss black wheels, a rear spoiler, and carbon fiber-look center console trim.

SL premium grade features 19-inch alloy wheels, chrome outside door handles, dark teak wood grain patterned instrument panel trim, leather-appointed seats, and the crystal clear tones of a Bose Premium Sound System driving nine speakers.

Nissan's Easy-Fill Tire Alert fills tires to the correct pressure without using a tire gauge, helping drivers save money on fuel and extending tire life. Note: The U.S. Department of Energy says drivers can improve mileage by 3.3 percent by keeping tires properly inflated.

Nissan's standard Safety Shield 3604 technology package includes Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, High Beam Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, and Rear Automatic Braking.

Altima's final assembly point is in Canton, Mississippi, and its engine and transmission are built in Mexico. Finally, this model year, Nissan added its Maintenance Care package, which boasts up to three scheduled oil changes over two years or 24,000 miles. In addition to the three complimentary oil changes, free multi-point inspections are included in the deal.

Automotive journalist, Tim Banse, wrote The Gazette’s Motoring car review column from 1989 to 2013 and has published stories in Popular Mechanics and Yachting magazine. He’s toured carmaker factory floors in the U.S. and Japan and raced cars at Riverside, Watkins Glen, and Michigan International Raceway press events. He’s stood close enough to a crash test to feel the shock wave reverberate off his chest. His first car was a vintage ‘56 Chevy Belair.