First Drive Review
When Nissan introduced the Xterra sport-utility vehicle just a few years ago, everyone thought it would cannibalize sales of the company's other SUV, the Pathfinder. After all, it was roughly the same size, had a similar engine option, and cost a lot less. Guess what? Pathfinder sales are up.
Nissan successfully differentiated the target markets for the two products and hit 'em right on the nose. Nissan has a similar plan for the 2002 Altima, which, in its new, enlarged form with an optional 3.5-liter V-6, looks for all the world like a Maxima replacement. But Nissan operatives are confident they can pitch the new Altima at the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord and push their Maxima range farther upmarket. Basically, Nissan will allow the Altima to usurp Maxima GXE sales, which had accounted for about a quarter of Maxima volume, cutting the GXE market share to just five percent. In turn, Nissan will push the Maxima SE to 58 percent and the GLE to 37 percent of total Maxima sales.
These developments will result in the 2002 Altima squaring off directly against the bestsellers from Toyota and Honda. The Altima will have a size advantage - it's longer, taller, roomier, and a fraction wider - and an edge in power from each of its engine configurations when compared with the Camry and Accord. It's not bad-looking, either, with an aggressive shovel-nosed front end and a dramatic rear end that flashes occasional Passatlike aspects at you when it isn't fascinating you with a split-plane bumper molding that plays with the light in a most becoming fashion.
The front and rear lights are clear-lensed units with a voguish bejeweled look, and we particularly like the round brake lights - like those of the Jag S-type - that appear as concentric rings of light points. The four-cylinder and V-6 versions both have dual exhaust tailpipes, but the V-6 model features cutouts in the rear fascia that give the hind end a tidy, integrated look. All Altimas for the North American market will be assembled in the Tennessee towns of Smyrna and Decherd, and they will be the first Nissans assembled there to benefit from the structural and dimensional integrity of a one-piece body-side structure framing the doors.
The three lower-end Altimas - the 2.5, the 2.5 S, and the 2.5 SL - are powered by, yes, a 2.5-liter in-line four that is all-new for 2002, hooked to either a four-speed automatic or five-speed manual transmission. It boasts an aluminum block, balance shafts to cancel second-order vibes, continuously variable valve timing, and a pretty impressive 180 horsepower at 6000 rpm. That's 25 more horses than the preceding Altima's 2.4-liter engine offered, and it should be enough to compensate for this bigger car's 70-pound weight increase.
