Many would say the original 1993 Altima was the car that saved Nissan in the United States. Some might even say it was a breakthrough car. Well fast forward to 2002, and the new Altima will be a rebirth of the original Altima. Class leading power, size, features, and more importantly pricing will be the factors that decide the outcome of Nissan's efforts.

Spearheading Nissan's efforts in North America, the new 2002 Altima is being shown at the New York Auto Show.

The first thing you'll notice is the hyper aggressive stance of the nose, wheel/fender wells, and c-pillar. Some FreshAlloy.com editors have noticed the front's resemblance to current Honda products (Accord and Civic). The rear c-pillar is very European with a stretched rear door. Some of us say the car looks like a Lexus GS300. Those dual exhaust pipes sticking out in the back contribute to that look.

Another first for this class segment, the new Altima will have optional Xenon high intensity discharge headlights with four individual lenses.

The car is quite larger than the previous Altimas and actually larger than the current flagship Maxima. According to Nissan, the wheelbase has been increased 7.1 inches to 110.2 inches, overall length is up 5.7 inches to 191.5 inches and is 1.3 inches wider for a total of 70.4 inches. Height has also increased by 2.0 inches to 57.9 inches. Track has been increased by 1.8 inches in front and 2.4 inches in the rear. For comparison, the 2001 Maxima's wheelbase is 108.3 inches and the length is 190.5 inches.

The c-pillar is one of the most daring areas of the cars with rear doors that have an almost limo like length with exaggerated coupe like profile roof. And check out those IS300 rear lights! A first for a North American Nissan car, the new Altima will feature aluminum panels for the hood and trunk. Nissan claims a weight savings of 55 percent off traditional steel panels. 

In a move predicted by many, the new car will come with an optional VQ series V-6 engine also seen in the Maxima. The biggest blockbuster news is the car will have the VQ35DE engine. Wait, isn't that a 3.5 liter engine? Why yes it is. Why such a large displacement engine considering the current 2001 Maxima has only a 3.0 liter? Obviously Nissan wants to claim the horsepower throne in the class segment. And we're speculating that Nissan is planning to slowly phase out the 3.0 liter engine. (Consider the new Infiniti I35, the Maxima's twin, also debuting will have a 3.5 liter engine next year.) The VQ35DE in the Altima application is good for 240 bhp with 246 lb-ft of torque.

The standard engine will be the new inline-4 QR25DE engine (also found in the spunky Sentra SE-R) delivering 180-horsepower. Again this beats out the current Accord and Camry. You'll have your choice of a 5 speed manual or 4 speed automatic. The automatic appears to have a gated shifter for semi-manual operation. All Altima models will come with a very large 20 gallon fuel tank for long range trips.

Even a car with a great engine can't survive by just that merit. The new Altima continues it's tradition of excellent handling. The previous generations fared well with four wheel independent strut suspension with passive rear steering. The 2002 Altima ups the ante with a high tech multilink rear adapted from the Skyline GT-R and Infiniti Q45. The front suspension continues to be a strut design but hasn't been ignored with an all new design featuring extensive use of aluminum parts.

Standard four wheel disc brakes lend a high level of braking stability. Unfortunately anti-lock braking is not a standard feature unlike the Maxima model. The new Altima does benefit from electronic brake force distribution when ABS is ordered as an option. Also coming with ABS is "Brake Assist" which applies more brake pedal pressure when a panic braking situation is sensed by the braking system. Finally, automatic transmission V-6 vehicles can be ordered with an optional throttle controlled traction control system.

The interior is much sportier and driver oriented than the previous generations. Three cluster backlit guages (again similar to the GS models) prominently sit atop the dash. The ignition key has been moved from the steering column to the dash for a more high end flair. The steering column gains a telescoping feature in addition the ubiqitous tilt adjustment. The rest of the interior will be available in three designer "atmospheres" (very Audi-like) or themes. Certain luxury trim models will be available with the obligatory wood around the cabin.

Even though Rockford Fosgate has joined the party in other Nissan models, Bose retains its flagship status. In the new Altima, expect an optional 8 speaker Bose 150 watt stereo system with 6 disc in-dash changer.

Nissan hasn't released any pricing information for the Altima in this competitive segment but a Nissan source said "pricing will be competitive and aggressive for the value the car represents." The car is scheduled to arrive at dealer lots sometime in mid September.

The Altima project was codenamed "Total Knockout" by the product planners at Nissan. We couldn't agree more that this vehicle sets the climax after a string of vastly improved vehicles in the Nissan (and Infiniti) lineup. We've been waiting to say this but we think this truly is the time to say...

Nissan is back!

Related topics...
Discuss the Altima in our community forums...

· Already have an Altima? Want to know how to make it faster?
· Related article: 2002 Altima pricing
· Related article: New York Auto Show Debut
· Interested in the new Altima? Reserve your new Altima!