The current Altima is a mid-size sedan which has been released back in 2012 and updated quite recently to be more reminiscent of its bigger brother, the Maxima. The car is based on a front wheel drive chassis, and it comes with plenty of features for its class. We have to say that it is one of the very few cars where everything usually works and its only real drawback being the fact that it doesn’t have another badge. Nissan is planning to improve it even further, so the upcoming 2018 Nissan Altima is planned to be an entirely new car.
PRICE OF 2018 NISSAN ALTIMA
There are still very few details about it, but it seems that the future Altima is going to use a new modular platform. This will be shared with another medium to large sized cars and at this point, it still is unclear if it will be front or rear wheel drive. Our guess would go on another front wheel drive chassis. However, this time around it would be quite a bit lighter, more rigid and a lot more versatile. This should allow Nissan to make the Altima slightly bigger than before to give it a more aggressive design. The new platform will not mean a new price. We expect the slightly over $23,000 base price to be kept while the V6 version might finally be discontinued in the favor of a new powertrain.
EXTERIOR
The updated version of the current car looks quite good, but the upcoming 2018 Nissan Altima should get things a bit further. Firstly, we should see an evolution of the current’s design scheme to something a bit more aggressive. Nissan proved that they want to get noticed with the new Maxima and Murano.
Thanks to these two cars, the upcoming Altima is likely going to receive a floating roof effect, blacked out B and C pillars and even a slightly more coupe-like appearance. Surely, it would still have to offer plenty of room for five passengers, but the new platform should allow Nissan to offer more room inside the cabin despite the fact the car will get a sloping roof.
INTERIOR
Just like with the Murano or even the Maxima, the upcoming Nissan Altima should get an all new interior. It should feature a more modern, yet slightly more grown-up, appearance. Also, instead of a rather unappealing gray interior, the new car will feature a more curvaceous look. The dashboard will get nicer air-vents, a more impressive center stack, and no fake chrome inserts. All of these should make the car a much nicer place to be overall.
ENGINE
The current version of the car is being offered with either a 2.5 liter naturally aspirated engine or with a 3.5 liter V6. Both of these are average at best, and none of them is all that great. Instead of these two old powertrains we expect the new 2018 Nissan Altima to get all new turbocharged engines. Most of its competitors already did this move so it would make sense for Nissan to make this step as well. We expect the old 2.5-liter engine to be replaced by a new 1.6 liter turbocharged inline four mills.
This unit has been developed by Nissan, and it is currently being used in quite a few Renault cars. On the Altima, the engine could easily make 195 to 225 horsepower and around 200 lb-ft of torque. For those still wanting for more, one of Renault’s 2 liters turbocharged engines could be installed. These are well known for being capable of close to 300 horsepower while being very reliable, so the Altima would easily become one of the favorites in its class.
Info on Wikipedia.org
