We drove both the Nissan Altima turbo and the Subaru Legacy. Here’s the one we’d buy.
In a comparison with the Subaru Legacy, the Altima offers a more even response to different driving styles. Still, it would nice to have all that and all-wheel drive too.
2023 Subaru Legacy 2.4 Touring XT vs. 2023 Nissan Altima 2.0 SR VC-Turbo: It’s all in the turbo.
Last week: Subaru Legacy
This week: Nissan Altima
Price: $37,060 as tested. Premium paint, mats, and splash guards added about $1,000.
Conventional wisdom: Motor Trend likes the “good fuel economy, many standard safety features, effective ProPilot Assist,” but not the “poor ride quality, turbo model’s poorly tuned CVT, hollow-sounding doors.”
Marketer’s pitch: “It’s time to level up.”
Reality: Like the Legacy, it’s two, two, two cars in one. But this time, the driver has more say in the matter.
What’s new: Mr. Driver’s Seat confesses that he was not enthusiastic about getting the Altima. It replaced another vehicle in the test lineup, and followed the exceedingly fun BMW 840i. I expected not much from Nissan’s mainstream sedan.
But, lo, now Nissan has gone and added a turbo to the family vehicle, and things are a little different. Other changes for 2023 include updated exterior touches and standard safety features.
It turns out that the Altima and Legacy are fairly well matched on size and price.
Competition: In addition to the Legacy, there are the Kia K5, Hyundai Sonata, Honda Accord, Volkswagen Passat, and Kia Stinger.
Up to speed: The performance from the 2.0-liter turbo four seemed like two different vehicles. In regular driving, it seems to be just another Altima: OK, but no excitement.
But press the accelerator to the floor and the vibe changes quickly. Mr. Driver’s Seat was planted in the seat and the front wheels would quickly lose their grip a la the VW GTI. All 248 horses come together to rocket the occupants to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds, quite literally in GTI territory.
Compared with the Legacy’s split personality, the Altima’s was far more controlled. When I did this I got speed; when I did that I got chill. The Legacy had its own ideas.
There is an all-wheel-drive version of the Altima, but it can’t be paired with the turbo, which is unfortunate.
On the road: Handling was decidedly more of the Altima’s choice, though. On some days, the vague steering and indifferent handling seemed to be the stars of the show; on others, the Altima seemed more enjoyable and a nice drive.
But there was no handling setting for the sport suspension that offered the fun equal to the acceleration, and in fact there were no settings at all — no Sport, no Sport Plus, nothing.
The Altima could also be bouncy on the rough surfaces, which makes driving a little less fun, as well.
Shiftless: Having a Nissan means a continuously variable transmission will drive the wheels, and that’s the case even in this sportier model. The CVT also added a bit of confusion and shudder to the ride; I thought for a while I had a geared transmission because it seemed to have trouble making a selection.
Driver’s Seat: No real complaints here. Nissan makes nice seats, and the leather-appointed sport seats in the test vehicle live up to the company standard. I felt comfortable and supported throughout the drive.
Friends and stuff: The rear seat provides excellent accommodations in the corners. People back here will be suitably impressed by the seat and the space. Add a third person, though, and your stock will plunge worse than the Dow after another interest rate hike.
Cargo space is 15.4 cubic feet.
Play some tunes: The Bose nine-speaker stereo system offers good playback, as well. Songs were clear and reproduction was nice, about an A- or even an A.
Operation of the system was not bad, with a new 12.3-inch touchscreen that’s attractive and easy to use, a volume knob, and up-down arrows to change the song or the station. Finding the tone controls took a lot of hunting, but the search was worth it, allowing for that bit of finessing that made the sound just right.
Keeping warm and cool: Dials control the temperature and buttons control the rest. The readout offers good information that’s legible on the fly.
Fuel economy: Here’s another bright spot: a hot rod that gets just slightly more than 30 mpg.
Where it’s built: Canton, Miss.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Altima reliability to be a 4 out of 5.
In the end: I can only presume last week’s Subaru Legacy is like the 99-cent sale at the Shop Rite; it’s a loss leader to drive traffic on price and get people to choose any other moneymaking Subaru, instead.
Normally I’d pick a Subaru, but in this competition, the Altima has it all over the Legacy. Though I really want all-wheel-drive in my next automotive relationship.