Nissan's new Altima pushes boundaries of its class (pictures)
The 2013 Altima exhibits a number of unexpected features, such as being longer than the current Maxima and getting paddle shifters that an F1 driver would find familiar.
Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
For 2013, Nissan gives its bread-and-butter midsize sedan, the Altima, a major update. Among the changes, the Altima gets a new body and suspension, plus new cabin electronics.
Current Nissan models do not show a cohesive design language, but similarity is emerging between the new Altima and Sentra models, which could mean styling cues that will spread across other models.
This high-trim Altima SL also came with the top engine, a 3.5-liter V-6 making 270 horsepower. The other engine available is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder.
Nissan makes a reasonably priced tech package available for the Altima that includes navigation and some driver assistance features, but this car did not come with it.
