This is how most people load a bike into a sedan. I'm not most people...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima SE: Just passing through.
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
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima SE: Stealth Candidate.
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...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima SE: 20,000-Mile Service and Valve Stem.
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...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima SE: O Tannenbaum.
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...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima SE: Quit Hassling my Aura.
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...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima SE - Awkward AUX.
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...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima SE: Smooth Shifting.
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima: Going Extra-Legal Is Extra Easy.
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...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima 3.5SE: Too Much Sun On The Way To Laguna Seca.
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...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE: Looks Like It's Pre-Lowered.
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...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE: Starry Navi Night.
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...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima SE: Excellent Interior Design.
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima: Practical and Fun.
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)...
Continue reading 2007 Nissan Altima: Stick with the CVT.
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