The family-friendly four-door is often the forgotten sibling in households that also offer a two-seater sports coupe, and in the case of the Altima Coupe, it’s easy to see why. While technically looking related to it’s slightly larger, and more door-endowed brother, the Altima Coupe got all the looks in all the right places. The grill, the wheels, the sleek rear window, even slightly adjusted headlamps tell a story of mischief and trouble that the older, more mature four-door just doesn’t seem to know about. And I’m sure as the proud parent of the sedan, the coupe would always be the favorite child.
Driving the Altima was as rewarding an experience as I’ve had in a while. It was comfortable, thanks to nicely bolstered seats and comfortable leather. It was quiet on the highway. It was tight and agile in the corners. It was snappy and ready to go in the throttle. And starting around $21,000 (and delivering 175 hp), this was quite a car with quite an appeal for anyone willing to live with two doors. If you bump that dollar amount to the $26,000 range and get yourself a 3.5 SE, you’ll be negotiating and extra 95 horsepower, taking the total to 270. $5000 for extra luxuries and almost 100 horsepower can only be described as a win-win.
One of the strong takeaways from driving the car was that it was just a very solid performing car all around. I love the looks of it, and at only 4 inches shorter than the sedan, it gave adequate legroom in the rear compartment for a normal adult, which makes it almost worth forgetting about the four-door altogether.
Inside the car you have a bounty of options in buttons. But Nissan has done an excellent job taking a massive amount of controls and making them feel accessible and logical. There is a bit of a “plasticy” feel and look to some of the dials, but for under $30k, you’re hard-pressed to find much more elegance. And with ample controls on the steering wheel, you may find yourself forgetting all about the central dash as it’s rarely needed.
The car was very fun to drive, eating up corners and looking great doing it. Overall I think it’s a solid choice among other front-wheel drive coupes, and when taking into account the fun-factor of the 3.5 SE, it’s a bargain. 4 stars.
