Tested 6 speed SE at LB Nissan.
Car is awsome! Great power all the way to red. 1st gear is a bit lower compared to my 96 but pulls the car to higher final speed. 2nd and 3rd gears are terrific. Great pull! kind of scary! Car is fairly quiet and very good finish. Back seat is pretty big. I like the cabin a lot. It seems to handle OK but its turning circle is 40 feet!. My 96 can turn in 34. A friend of mine that drove with me thought it didnt handle as well as a Lexus IS300. I am sure it can pull 0-60 in around 6 sec and probably do the quart in around 14.6 at 96-98 mph because it pulls very hard at 80 mph on 3rd. By the way 3 of us in the car: 560 lb.
I have driven the automagic SE but I like the 6 speed much more. Much more flexibility in the gear selection and power use.
I think i will buy one a soon i get over the pain of new mortgage bills.
I hope you guys can test the 6 speed soon. What a car!

PS. It should outperform the ALTIMA 3.5 because of better gear ratios in 2nd and 3rd.

 

I hear all the NY guys are afraid to run one without boost of some sort.

 

Now go back and test drive a 3.5 SE 5sp Altima. Then come back and give us an honest opinion.

 

I drove one of the 3.5 5 speeds. Truthfully, it felt cheap. The clutch felt like a Camry's - weak - and I wasn't really impressed. It's a good looking car on the outside but the engine and the gearbox and tranny felt like crap. Words can't express. It only had 30 miles on it but it didn't feel too fast. The salesman was a goon and didn't know **** and was telling me about the ABS while he was driving, and to demonstrate while going 30 he slammed on the brakes leaving really long skid marks, and I was like uhhh I thought ABS prevented skids hahahahhaah and then he realized this car didn't have ABS. So when it was my turn to drive he told me to do what I wanted to I dropped the clutch in first and power shifted second, not really head snapping, the salesman was mad as ****. AHAH, nice car but I would never trade in my 2K1 5 spd.