Short Take Road Test
We hold this truth to be self-evident: If you call yourself a driver, it is better to shift for yourself than to allow the car to handle gear selection according to some electronic agenda of its own. This applies to those who regularly find themselves transporting progeny just as much as it does to soloists. Maybe more, in fact. It's no secret that family guys tend to be undernourished in such indulgences as exploring the limits of adhesion, testing transient response, and, top of the list, distorting the facial muscles by tramping on the gas.
As our most recent mid-price-sedan shootout ("Concealed Carry," December 2001) indicated, Nissan's totally redesigned Altima falls a smidge short in some of the conventional mainstream family values. Ride quality in the sporty SE version is distinctly, um, sporty; the rear seat takes a back seat in comfort compared with contemporary competitors; the upper dash throws irritating reflections into the steeply raked windshield; and the interior appointments don't quite measure up to the allure of the sexy exterior.
On the other hand, equipped with its first-ever V-6 engine -- with 240 horsepower and 246 pound-feet of torque from 3.5 liters -- the Altima absolutely smoked the rest of that eight-car field in the devil-take-the-hindmost categories. It was the only car to crack eight seconds in the 0-to-60 dash (7.3) and the only one to cover the quarter-mile in less than 16 seconds (15.6 at 91 mph).
This gratifying giddyap instantly raised a question: What could this little honey do if some of its energy wasn't consumed stirring oil around inside a torque converter and the shift points were selected by the driver rather than a microchip. In other words, would the manual-transmission model be even quicker?
We availed ourselves of a 3.5SE so equipped, with a cable-actuated five-speed manual, and headed for the test track. Once there, the answer to our question -- significantly quicker with a manny tranny? -- quickly manifested itself: oh, yeah!
Although the Altima version of Nissan's sweet 3.5-liter six doesn't generate quite as much snort as the 255-hp Maxima edition, it's hitched to a lighter car. Even though it's grown dramatically in its recent redesign, now measuring a bit bigger than the segment-leading Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, at 3361 pounds the Altima was the second-lightest car in our eight-way showdown, and the manual transmission knocks that total down another 44 pounds.
The result is acceleration that's not only brisk but also best in class by a margin.
Our five-speed SE test car hit 60 mph in 6.3 seconds, a full second quicker than the automatic, and gobbled up the quarter-mile in 14.8 seconds at 96 mph. This is noteworthy hustle for a contemporary family sedan. Sifting through C/D's mid-size, mid-price archives, we found that Ford's Taurus SHO, with the 220-hp, 3.0-liter Yamaha V-6 and a five-speed manual, ripped off a 6.4-second 0-to-60 run back in 1992 ("Triple-Throwdown Four-Door Showdown," August 1992) and tripped the quarter-mile clock in 15.1 seconds at 93 mph. More recently (November 1998), an SLP Pontiac Grand Prix GTX Ram Air (260 horsepower, 295 pound-feet from a supercharged 3.8-liter pushrod V-6) hit those same marks in 6.7 seconds and 15.1 seconds at 93 mph.
The Poncho was held back by an automatic transmission, something that's true of almost all the other cars offering V-6 power in this class today. The exceptions are the Dodge Stratus R/T, the Hyundai Sonata, the Volkswagen Passat, and the soon-to-be-replaced Mazda 626, none of which can run with Nissan's new family bandito.
Inevitably, there are a couple of provisos. We reported hints of torque steer in December's automatic-equipped Altima, and that trait is more pronounced in this manual model. Also, this is not the most precise five-speed manual gearbox in our experience. The feel is a tad rubbery, and the engagements could be more precise.
Combine those demerits with ride quality that is decidedly firm, and you have a recipe for domestic disharmony if your co-head of household doesn't place as high a priority on performance as you do.
But assessed as a placebo for the sports car that vanished shortly after your nursery decorating project was completed, this new Nissan is about as good as it gets.
