This is how most people load a bike into a sedan. I'm not most people...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
The last time we gave an update on our long-term Altima's fuel economy was September 2007. It's time to get you all up to speed on the numbers.
Current lifetime average: 21.0 mpg
Best tank: 32.2 mpg
Worst tank: 14.2 mpg
Total lifetime miles: 20,927.6
Total fuel consumed: 997.8 gal
Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
The 2007 Nissan Altima is a family sedan, offering the accoutrement and roomy accommodations that you and your 2.1 children will need to wallow in comfort. But in driving it this weekend, I was reminded that it offers something more than just familial practicality: The Altima is genuinely fun to drive.
I love its vigorous engine, but I think what I appreciate most is its suspension. Not so soft that you feel like you're lolling on a Spring Air, but not so harsh that you feel unduly manhandled...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
As the above photo indicates, our long-term 2007 Nissan Altima had a run-in with a curb recently. This led to a problem with the valve stem, which caused the tire to rapidly deflate. This is not a good thing.
Fortunately, we're only a few blocks from Santa Monica Nissan, and the Altima needed its 20,000-mile oil change, lube, filter and all that good stuff...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
I went tree shopping this weekend in the Altima. I figured I would just tie the tree to the top to avoid vacuuming out pine needles later. But the young man who was working the tree farm at OSH recommended I put the tree in the trunk.
Despite the rather narrow opening of the Altima's trunk, the tree slipped in fine...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
In a recent Saturn Aura post a reader asked if the Nissan Altima's better handling comes at the expense of a harsher ride - the short answer is yes. I also think the Nissan's seats are less comfortable and the car is noisier around town and on the highway. Not engine noise, road noise is the culprit here.
If I were single, I'd get the Nissan b/c the firm ride would appeal to me and only me - not unlike a lot of decisions I made when I was single...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
I enjoy driving the Altima. It's spirited enough for the highway and comfortable enough for trafficky situations.
It has heated seats (yes!), real-time traffic on the nav (well, almost), and an Auxiliary port for my iPod (thank the maker).
But I have to question the designer who chose to awkwardly put the AUX port to the left of the shifter...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
I'm a fan of the manual transmission. I like to shift, I like the feeling of discretionary power. So every time I drive a car with an automatic, I spend at least a little time doing the manual-shift boogie.
Some transmissions have the reflexes of a snail on Vicodin, upshifting about 20 seconds after you move the lever...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
Our 2007 Nissan Altima makes it so easy to go really fast. I found the 270-horsepower CVT engine to be pretty stealthy, so many times I found myself going extra-legal speeds on the freeway. It just didn't seem like my fellow motorists were driving fast enough and then I looked down at the speedometer to find out they were actually driving the speed they should be. Ooops!..
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
Nice try, but the sun visor extensions on our 2007 Nissan Altima are pretty lame.
On my way to Laguna Seca for the weekend, I found myself cursing the visor's inability to actually block the sun during the long, arrow-straight stretch of Highway 46 between the 5 and the 101. That gaping space between the extension and the window was where the sun sat on the driver's side for the entire hour (passenger side photo taken by passenger, for safety) . Give me true extending visors any day instead of these ones.
Turns out there aren't any clouds when you're right smack in the middle of the desert, either.
At least the event at Laguna Seca (Redline Time Attack) offered some shade...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
Since I didn't drive our 2007 Nissan Altima any great distance over the weekend, my thoughts veered toward the superficial. Upon approaching it after various errands, I realized I have always liked its low stance -- and this holds true for the previous-generation model as well. Whether it's the suspension design or an illusion created by its underbody kit, the Altima appears to sit lower than other family sedans...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
Usually, I don't use the bird's-eye view option on our 2007 Nissan Altima's navigation system, because it makes me a little motion sick. Last night, though, I got into the Nissan after Mr. Lloyd (aka, funkymunky), who does favor bird's-eye nav viewing, had been driving the car...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
The 2007 Nissan Altima SE is a spectacular car. Great brakes, fantastic power, tight steering. But it also gets it so very RIGHT in the place that counts most: the driver seat. So many cars try to offer the driver so much these days, and the Altima is no exception...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
After a weekend with our 2007 Nissan Altima, I was reminded once again of how well this friendly sedan meshes practicality with driver enjoyment. I liked its spacious, comfortable cabin. And I loved its wealth of convenience features. My favorite among these is our car's optional rear-view camera...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
I've come to the conclusion that Nissan can no longer produce a half-decent manual transmission. It's that, or they're purposely trying to make them so bad that people will never request them -- not even gear heads and media types -- and Nissan won't have to make them any more.
The problems with our long-term G35 have been well documented, along with our distaste for the Versa's clutch and shifter. The Altima Coupe 3.5SE I drove this weekend featured the six-speed manual (also available on the sedan), which managed to feel like the offspring of an unholy automotive copulation between the G35 and Versa. The shifter felt unsubstantial and indirect (just like the Versa) and the clutch suffered from the abrupt take-up and herky-jerky motions of the G35 (albeit without the ThighMaster effort and pirate ship creaking)...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
For some reason I can never get the power-adjustable seat in our 2007 Nissan Altima situated to where I feel comfortable. I can adjust the height, how close I want to be to the steering wheel and even lumbar pressure but I still can't get comfy. As it is, I feel like I'm sitting in a high chair
on top
of the driver seat when I driving. Not because of the height of the chair but the feeling of detachment I experience...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
After the Altima-Aura Canyon Road Cage Match garnered so many comments, we thought we'd stage a rematch with the 2008 Honda Accord EX-L V6 we currently have in the garage. These three models are the sportiest and most powerful models in this segment (a Camry V6 SE may have fit the bill, but we couldn't get one in time) and are each equipped similarly.
Now, this isn't a real comparison test. Especially considering the 2007 Nissan Altima has nearly 17,000 miles on it, versus the 2007 Saturn Aura's 6,100 and the Accord's 1,990. Instead, this is a blog about an informal drive through the Santa Monica Mountains conducted by Senior Content Editor Erin Riches, Automotive Editor John Di Pietro and Associate Editor James Riswick. We couldn't possibly go into our full opinions in this limited space, so this is simply a taste. We picked which vehicle we thought best handled this specific twisting-and-turning driving environment, and as you'll see, we didn't agree on everything, particularly in the realm of seating position and comfort.
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE,2007 Saturn Aura XR
This is a closeup of the buttons on the left side of our 2007 Nissan Altima's steering wheel. Note the toggle switch for "seek." It operates exactly how I'd expect it to operate -- push up to advance to the next CD track, push down to go back.
Below is a photo of our 2007 Infiniti G35's cockpit. It's a little hard to make out in this photo, but if you follow my lovingly hand-drawn red arrow, you'll see that it, too, has a toggle switch for seek functions...
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Categories: 2007 Infiniti G35 Sport,2007 Nissan Altima SE
One thing I noticed as I was driving the 2007 Nissan Altima around this weekend was the fact that its side mirrors offer less real estate than those of other vehicles I've recently driven. The Aura, for example, has side mirrors that appear to be a bit wider. Not a big deal, obviously. But in case it is, well, now you know...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
No huge news to report on the Altima since its cage match against the Aura two weeks ago. Although I have to admit I can't see the Aura taking down the Altima in any contest of speed on any road. But I wasn't there, so I can't really comment.
Anyway, over its last five tanks of fuel , which were a mix of stop-and-go highway driving and plenty of city miles (1,442 of them in total), the Altima averaged 19.2 miles per gallon...
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Categories: 2007 Nissan Altima SE
