Preview: 2010 Nissan Altima
- What is it?: Nissan's sporty mid-size coupe and sedan
- The basics: A choice of four- and six-cylinder engines or hybrid drive means this is one flexible car.
- Price: $19,900-$29,600
- On sale: October 5th.
Last week the 2010 Nissan Altima was revealed prematurely revealed thanks to, oddly enough, a product recall. In the process of recalling 26,398 Nissan Maximas and Altimas, an image of the 2010 Altima was released. While a recall before the car has left the factory may not be an auspicious start to sales, the car's official reveal today shows it has a feature set that's sure to win some fans over.
Available in both Coupe and Sedan body styles with a Hybrid version of the sedan. The sedan, starting at $19,900, gets a choice of three trim levels, while the Coupe, priced from $22,440, gets four; the Hybrid, at $26,780, is only available in one well-equipped trim level.
Mechanically, the 2010 Altima Coupe gets a six-speed manual transmission available with either the 175-horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder or the 270-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 engine. The only alternative is Nissan's Xtronic CVT (continuously variable transmission). The sedan is only available with the Xtronic CVT, doing away with last year's available manual. The Hybrid gets a special version of the four-cylinder engine for a combined power rating of 198 horsepower together with the electronic motor, piped through an eCVT, which isn't the same CVT as in the other models.
The Hybrid's rated 35 mpg city and 33 mpg highway is a significant upgrade over the CVT four-cylinder sedan's 23 mpg city/31 mpg highway rating. The Coupe manages an identical score to the sedan with the four-cylinder, with the manual adding 1mpg highway to the Coupe's rating. Both Sedan and Coupe also rate 19 mpg city and 26 mpg highway when equipped with the V-6 and CVT. The manual-V-6 option on the Coupe changes its figures to 18/27 mpg.
An upgraded 4.3-inch display with rear-view monitor, XM satellite radio and Bluetooth and USB inputs is now available as an option, while the Nissan Hard Drive Navigation System upgrade brings the screen to 6.5 inches and adds a 9.3-gigabyte hard-disk music/navigation system.
The front end of the 2010 Altima lineup is interestingly devoid of the hook-like headlights found on the 370Z and Maxima, giving the Altima a new design direction--or a return to the previous one. Notably bolder than the 2009 Altima, the 2010 Altima carries over many of the same styling cues, but in more extreme form. The strong character fold, following back down the side of the car from the fender, for example, was present on the 2009 model, but the new car's looks to be sharper and more expressive.
The blacked-out fog light surround and lower fascia element have been replaced by a body-colored surround and vent as well, and the wheels get a split-spoke design in place of the solid spoke of the current model. Revised interior materials freshen the look and feel.
As for the recall, several models including the 2009 and 2010 model year Nissan Maximas and Altimas have been recalled due to a faulty strut insulator located in the suspension assembly.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2010 Volkswagen Touareg TDI Shows in LA
In an L.A. Auto Show press conference preceded by Red Bull girls handing out their company's energy-boosting elixir, the audience attending VW's shindig stayed awake long enough to learn that Volkswagen is going to add its corporate 3.0-liter V-6 turbocharged, direct-injected diesel engine to the 2009 Touareg SUV. The announcement was as surprising as watching the week of November 17 end with Washington bureaucrats not arriving at a deal with automakers and that the Detroit contingent didn't manage their PR liabilities very well.
While not nearly as fun as the 550-horsepower W-12 diesel Red Bull race Touareg that will run in the Baja 1000, Volkswagen's primary business in Los Angeles was to show the production Touareg with the clean-running 3.0-liter diesel V-6. This SUV makes eminently more sense for today's economy- and green-minded consumers. The new diesel is the same unit that powers many Volkswagens and Audis in Europe, as well as the recently announced 2009 Audi Q7 3.0-liter TDI that will arrive in the United States early next year.
Specifications for the 2009 Touareg TDI match the Audi's Q7 diesel at 221 horsepower and an impressive 406 pound-feet of torque. We've driven the Q7, and in that application, the power is more than ample and real-world fuel economy was in the mid to upper 20s. The engine's single, variable-geometry turbo resides in the valley of the cylinder vee. Maximum boost is a staggering (by gasoline engine standards) 37.7 psi. Cylinder heads made from a high-strength vermicular graphite iron weigh 15 percent less than traditional cast iron and utilize four valves per cylinder. Fuel is delivered through a pressurized common rail to piezo injectors at 29,000 psi.
The new diesel meets the very green exhaust classifications of Bin 5/LEV II rating thanks to efficient combustion and the AdBlue exhaust treatment system. Similar in concept to how gasoline engines use catalytic converters to reduce harmful NOx emissions, the AdBlue urea solution helps complete the same job for diesel engines, transforming the NOx into harmless nitrogen and water vapor. The amount of the solution used is minimal, about 5 percent the rate of diesel consumption. The AdBlue tank is refilled during normal vehicle service intervals.
As a manufacturing group, Volkswagen is committed to clean diesel technology, and following the launch of the Jetta TDI, the march forward continues.--Rex Roy
---
Make sure you check out our partner sites dedicated to focused news, reviews and more for Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, and the Toyota Prius.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
