2016 Nissan Altima SR Review

Oh, and you need a “sport” model too.

While the 2016 Nissan Altima SR has its own performance-tuned shocks and springs, a bigger anti-roll bar that’s 75 percent stiffer, and comes with 18-inch wheels — spoiler alert — it’s an incremental dynamic improvement over the standard SL and SV models. Other exclusive SR features are a rear lip spoiler, unique interior trim, foglamps, 10-way power driver’s seat, dark chrome headlamps, and a CVT manual mode with paddle shifters. Still, if not for those 18-inch Michelin tires (17-inch Continentals on the SL and SV, and 16-inch Hankooks on the rental lot S model, which wasn’t even invited for Nissan’s first drive), we wonder whether there would be enough difference for the average test-drive customer to notice the difference.

Inside, Nissan has made some material upgrades, and there are new silver and satin black trim pieces, a “gliding wing” dashboard, and horizontal console shapes. There’s Apple Siri eyes-free telematics, and smartphone operated Nissan Connect Services powered by Sirius XM.

Safety upgrades consist of predictive forward collision warning that looks two cars ahead, optional intelligent adaptive cruise control, and radar blind spot warning with rear cross-traffic alert (standard on SV).

The standard 182-hp, 2.5-liter I-4, which accounts for about 96 percent of Nissan Altima sales, (there were no test cars with the optional 3.5-liter V-6 for our drive) also has been upgraded. The compression ratio is up from 10.0:1 to 10.3:1, and there’s a new, anodized coating on the cylinder heads and a variable displacement oil pump. Together with an underbody aerodynamic cover and active grille shutters, the 2016 Nissan Altima’s EPA highway fuel economy is up by 1 mpg to a class-leading 39-mpg highway. The car’s new Gen 3 D-Step Xtronic is still a continuously variable transmission, with upshift “steps” added to make it feel like a multi-gear automatic.

We tried what most owners won’t do, except perhaps on the test drive, and used the paddles to upshift through the CVT’s steps. It was an unengaging diversion, so we quickly returned to driving it like an automatic.

Being motoring journalists, we picked the SR for our test drive and found that improvements made to the electrically assisted power steering are more worthwhile. It offered pretty good feel and feedback through the steering wheel as we pushed through the esses of a rural road on the outskirts of Ann Arbor.

Beside providing better grip and filling the wheel wells, the 18-inch Michelins added some road noise despite the updated model’s new acoustic windshield and larger and denser dash insulator. There’s some sound boom in the rear seat too, although it’s generally a very comfortable place to be, with ample leg- and headroom and a cushy center armrest.