Jason on Cars

This car was a surprise. I had never driven an SE-R before, and when I saw I was going to be driving this car for a while, my first response wasn’t joy. However, this car has many layers, and there is a lot to like, and a few things to dislike.

It has a much nicer look than a standard Altima, with modified front end and a subtle body kit. Don’t miss the small fog lights peeking out of the front grill either.

The interior is actually one of my favorites in recent memory. It’s not exotic, beautiful, or really even that stylish, but Nissan does a good job giving you what you want yet not going overboard inside this car. It feels comfortable; the seats are very comfy with leather panels and an embroidered SE-R logo on the back seats reminding you it�s fast, complete with grilled racing-style pedals. The instrument panel is very clean and easy to read. Nothing is overdone and all the needed items are right where you need them. The real highlight of the dash for me though, is the thermostat controls. Very clean, very simple, very quick to adjust. Nothing is worse than trying to figure out what you need to do to simply turn the heat on�

Once you turn the key, you notice again that this is more Altima than you were expecting. I�m sure Nissan borrowed heavily from the Z at the exhaust and engine, and it sounds fairly similar, although slightly quieter at idle. Driving this car has much more power than I expected as well. From a red light, it was no problem to be the first out the blocks. A missed turn had me doing a possibly illegal u-turn in the middle of a highway (twice) and both times I looked forward to an excuse to put my foot all the way down. Once I was turned and facing the right direction, I was already going fast enough to not have to worry about traffic behind me.

Now, don�t get the idea that this is a muscle car, or a true sports car. This is not the first car I would grab if I wanted to take it to the hills and really dive into some corners, and when the revs got high, torque-steer became a problem. Unfortunately, this is a car that reminds you why real sports cars don�t come in front wheel drive.

At cruising speed, this car shows its weakness. Whether driving down the highway at 55, or trying to go 35 in the city, this car wasn�t very smooth. Small adjustments to your foot meant a noticeable shift in throttle and a noticeable lurch in the cabin. I had a really hard time pulling out smoothly and there was the off and on feel while driving and trying to get that sweet spot that allowed you to just cruise. I really see this as Nissan putting too much of the throttle at the top of the pedal. I would think with a car as �refined� as Nissan�s Altima, they would allow for a more soft top of the throttle and then a powerful and deep floor. The one area where this car was very smooth was the up-shifting during take offs. If you didn�t bury the gas but gave it a nice, strong throttle it had an even and smooth acceleration, and the shifting was quick, smooth and almost unnoticeable. This made it a lot of fun to take off from the lights while still keeping yourself from gaining the attention of the police.

All-in-all, this car was a bit of fun. Because of the problems keeping it smooth, I would not want this for a long drive to a different state, however, the 30 mile each way trip I took it on this weekend, pulling u-turns as I passed my turns, I had a lot of fun. With a price of right at $30,000 you have a lot of choices in the market, and depending on who you are will determine which direction you go. I have to say, I�m not sure I would trade the cheapest Mercedes-Benz for the most expensive Nissan Altima, but you certainly get everything Nissan has to offer with SE-R (cruise, power everything, sunroof, Bose Audio System with 6-disk changer, full sized back seats and a good sized trunk), which might be more than you can say for a comparably priced MB or BMW. My perfect customer is a young mom with a 17 year-old son she wants to make happy. Both get pretty much what they would hope for: A car faster than a young guy should have, and plenty of room for the groceries. 3.5 Stars.