Nissan Altima: Delivering the Most in a Midsize Sedan

It’s a tragedy that so many car companies these days seem to have forgotten about cars. SUVs and trucks dominate profits in the automotive industry, leaving reliable sedans to fall by the wayside. Fortunately, some manufacturers still remember how important these vehicles are for many drivers, which is why we love seeing Nissan deliver a number of fantastic cars to meet the needs of discerning drivers. If you’re interested in a Nissan Altima for sale, you might already have a good sense of just how impressive this car is. But if you’re still trying to decide on which sedan delivers what you’re looking for, then the Altima is one to check out.

Whether you’re looking for a sophisticated ride, impressive interior styling and features, or remarkable fuel efficiency, the Nissan Altima has you covered. Even when you look at the Altima, besides other popular options like the Subaru Legacy, it’s easy to see that the folks at Nissan know what they’re doing. While the Legacy is a fine car in its own right, the interior features and fuel economy you get with the 2024 Nissan Altima put it on another level. Let’s take a closer look at the Altima, and you’ll see just what we mean.

Great Options for Performance

One of the things we find when we start working with a customer interested in a car is that they often go into it with a preconceived notion that they have to accept meager performance to get a sedan. In reality, however, modern sedans like the 2024 Nissan Altima can deliver impressive power and a great driving experience every day. While you’re not going to find an engine here like what you get in the Nissan Z or GT-R, the Altima still gives you two great engines and options for the kind of powertrain you want.

The Altima comes with a standard 2.5L engine that offers up to 188 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque, which is plenty of power for most drivers. If you’re looking for something with more pep under the hood, the Altima SR VC-Turbo features a unique 2.0L turbocharged engine that delivers an impressive 248 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque. Both of these engines come with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that offers a smooth driving experience; they also both feature front-wheel drive (FWD), and the standard engine has all-wheel drive (AWD) available, letting you get the performance you want from your next car.

With the Subaru Legacy, we find two available engines, and they both offer performance similar to that of the Altima, but the horsepower and torque from the standard engine are not as good as what you get with the Altima. The Legacy’s engines are only offered with AWD, which leaves a noticeable dent in the Legacy’s fuel economy when compared to the Altima’s FWD setups. AWD can be helpful in some situations, but we generally prefer the feel and control of FWD when behind the wheel of a sedan, so we think this decision by Subaru is a mistake.

Efficiency That Lets You Go Further

Not only do you get more options for your engine with the Nissan Altima, since you can choose between FWD and AWD on the standard engine, but you also get a much more efficient ride. In part, this is because you can get FWD on the Altima—while AWD handling can be nice in some situations, it also tends to create a thirstier car in terms of fuel economy. By not giving drivers that choice, Subaru is leaving some gas mileage on the proverbial table and taking away the freedom to get the kind of driving experience you prefer.

The standard engine for the Nissan Altima gets an estimated 27 MPG in the city, 39 MPG on the highway, and 32 MPG of combined fuel economy. This is excellent for a vehicle that doesn’t have a hybrid engine and showcases how well Nissan designs their cars for overall drive quality. Even with the VC-Turbo’s engine, you still get an estimated 25 MPG in the city and 34 MPG on the highway for a combined 29 MPG of fuel efficiency. The Subaru Legacy’s standard engine gets an estimated 27 MPG in the city, 35 MPG on the highway, and 30 MPG of combined fuel economy. Its available engine similarly falls behind with about 26 MPG of combined fuel efficiency. Looking at the Legacy compared to the Altima, Nissan lets you go further between stops for gas.

A Beautifully Designed Interior

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, meaning that good looks tend to be subjective and depend on personal opinion. That being said, we’re confident that the nicely designed and well-appointed interior of the Nissan Altima is objectively beautiful and stylish. The spacious interior gives you and your passengers plenty of room to stretch when you’re on the road, and the flowing lines and elegant design surround you with sophisticated style. In fact, despite the incredibly accessible price point of the Altima, Nissan has done a wonderful job of elevating its interior to make sure it feels lavish and rewarding when you get inside.

One of our favorite touches inside is the Zero Gravity seating up front, Nissan’s incredibly comfortable seats. These are designed to minimize pressure points on your body while driving, which helps reduce fatigue and discomfort—perfect for long road trips and your daily commute. By comparison, the Subaru Legacy is fine and well-designed, but it simply comes up lacking in some key ways. In terms of style, Subaru’s artists have made the interior of the Legacy quite nice; we can’t entirely put our fingers on it, but something just feels lacking. It’s not that anything’s wrong, but nothing is particularly exceptional.

Terrific Tech Features to Enjoy

We love great tech features in cars these days; we can’t help ourselves. Technology simply adds to your experience behind the wheel and makes every drive more enjoyable. These things can seem like extra luxuries, but they improve your life so thoroughly that once you get a feel for them, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them. For example, the Nissan Altima starts with a seven-inch infotainment display, as does the Subaru Legacy, giving you a big screen to enjoy in every model. But while the biggest infotainment screen in the Legacy is an 11.6-inch display, the Altima has a gorgeous 12.3-inch screen that’s large and easy to use.

This is only the start of the impressive tech features you can find inside the Altima as you climb the trim levels, such as front heated seats, an eight-way power driver’s seat, a heated and leatherette-wrapped steering wheel, and cloth or leather-appointed seating to just name a few. A six-speaker sound system is standard on all trims of the Altima—the Subaru Legacy starts with just four speakers—but the nine-speaker Bose Premium sound system that comes standard with the Altima SL lets you elevate your audio experience even further. Altogether, Nissan’s standard and available features take your drive to the next level.

A Great Choice for Many Drivers

As you’ve seen, the Nissan Altima gives drivers so much more to work with than any other sedan in the market today. While we won’t say the Subaru Legacy is a bad car, it can’t match what you get with the Altima. At the end of the day, only you know what you need in a car, but Nissan makes it easy to find everything you’ve been looking for with the Altima. The most important thing to us is that you get the perfect vehicle with everything you want, whether that means the Altima or any other vehicle in the Nissan lineup, such as the smaller Versa, the larger Maxima, or a stylish SUV like the Rogue or Pathfinder. No matter what you need, we at Illini Nissan are here to help you find your next favorite car!