2021 Nissan Altima or Maxima: An Intra-Brand Sedan Battle (motortrend.com)
Posted Feb 16, 2021

Some fair points in this article but it seems like besides cost and maybe AWD if you don't know how to handle yourself in the snow, the choice is clear with the Maxima.

 

But they said "If it were our money, though, we'd reluctantly forgo the Maxima's extra features and emotional appeal, and instead, save thousands of dollars by picking a loaded Altima."

 

Motortrend is the "white bread" media outlet in the automotive world, conservative and middle of the road when it comes to evaluation and reviews, much like consumer reports. Drive an Altima with the turbo motor- rough, unsophisticated power delivery with no flexibility. The 2.5 standard engine is a dog as well, and does not compare to the competitor's more refined engines. You get what you pay for, and in the Maxima's case you have one of the best 3.5 litre engines on the market, a more involved interior, and overall better ride/ performance. To everyone here, I say ask the man (or woman) who owns one...you do!!

 

Hard to argue the 3.5

 

Altima is mass market; Maxima is niche.

 

Altima is cheaped out with little or no LED lighting on the tails and turn signals. Missing lots of other details that make the Maxima a step above many cars.

 

Oh yeah that sentence in my first post was supposed to be my opinion haha sorry not the conclusion of the article

 

2 totally different buyers. If they had kept the 3.5 in the Altima....A much more compelling case.

 

3.5 AWD Altima would have been a beast

 

I can compare both the Maxima Platinum and the Altima Platinum. I drive the 2018 Maxima and my wife has the 2019 Altima.
Her Altima has the 2.5 engine. I'll say it again and again. They drive and handle differently. First the power goes to the Maxima.
Steering in the Altima needs to be reworked all electric and is way to easy when standing still and while on the road its lacks the feel
that I have in the Maxima. As for Tech the Altima has slight advantage with some tech the 2018 Maxima doesn.t have but since has been
added to the 2021 Maxima. Gas mileage all depends when and where we are driving . I been able to obtain 32 miles per gallon on the Max ,
where the altima has seen 38 . Around town Altima comes in at 26-28 while the Maxima 24 -26. The seats are very comfortable in both cars but the leather is not of
the same quality as the Maxima. Sure the Maxima costs more but overall I don't see why anyone compares them to each other. I will say this Both cars need to be updated
since the new rogue has new tech that neither car has. I'll bet the Altima get a upgrade of sorts for 2022 but as for the Maxima we just don't know for sure.
Again just my 2 cents

 

I should have noted we have a 2018 Rogue and it's super similar to the Altima.
Maxima is similar to the also-niche Murano.

The article is a mishmash of current and former features - the orange (rakuda tan) seats aren't available any more (sloppy MT).
One thing I agree on is the steering - Nissan F---ed it up on the 2019+. It's way too heavy a low speeds, then becomes floaty at high speeds.

 

The Maxima and Murano share the same D-Platform , so thats why they are very similar, my wife has a '19 and they really do drive very similar, the steering is tighter in the Maxima . Now thats interesting you say the Altima and Rouge similar, they are not on the same platform, the Altima is on the same platform as the Maxima/Murano.

 

They picked the Altima over the Maxima in screen placement...and for me it would be the exact opposite. The massive trend of "after-thought" infotainment screens is getting annoying. I love the integrated look as it feels like the engineers spent more time and money on the center stack...and looks more refined. Those tacked on screens just seem extremely lazy! If they actually retracted into the dash like Audi's used to do...that would be a different story.

 

I total agree with you ! But it seems tacked on screens are in more and more cars.

 

Exactly. Maxima feels sportier and looks "sexier". But i also wouldn't mind driving an Altima if the Maxima didn't exist. It has a lot of features for the money.

 

Yep!, I am not a fan of the trend of placing the screen on the dash, I understand why its happening, but it just looks tacky and ugly , I test drove a '20 Altima SL before I got my 8th Gen, but that the dash, ugg. Not ready for that yet, I like the integrated look too much

 

I do not like the screen sticking up either

 

Me three! One of the many things I love about my Lexus GS 350. The tombstone screen looks cheap and like an afterthought. I really wish this stupid fad would end already.

 

Tombstone screens are straight trash it's such lazy design

 

Well put and originally a goofy add-on. Saves having to design an integrated system that does not block other parts of the dash.

 

What's funny is that the current gen pre-facelift Camry had an integrated screen and then they gave it a facelift and made it s tablet style above the dash but then you can still see the dash design element where the vents used to be behind the screen.

Pre-Facelift

After Facelift

 

Turn up the boost in the Altima a completely different story?