We have a saying in our house: “If it can be done, it can be done. If it can’t be done, it can’t be done.” What the heck does that even mean? To translate it into Hawaiian Pidgin (yes, it’s a creole language), the basic idea is: If something can be done, do it. And if not, no problem, beef curry. Well, Nissan went with “can do it anyway.” Because if you didn’t think the Altima could get any more boring and unremarkable, imagine it without the turbo option.
Pricing and specifications for the 2025 model year were recently released, and the Altima’s starting price is now $28,140 including destination – an increase of $1,270 for the base model. Although the media release touts a “new SV Special Edition package,” nothing in the product information mentions what not Did Nissan think that no one would notice that only one powertrain was mentioned between the four trim levels? Our friends at Car scoops did.
The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, previously only available on the front-wheel drive Altima SR model, produced a respectable 248 hp and 350 Nm of torque. Those numbers required premium gasoline, but the powerplant was notable for being the world’s first variable compression turbo (VC-Turbo). It looks like that distinction will be reserved for Infiniti for now.
What will Powering the 2025 Altima SR — as well as the S, SV and SL trims — is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder that produces 188 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque. The all-wheel-drive variants sacrifice 6 hp and 2 lb-ft. The 2.5-liter engine gets 27 mpg in the city, 39 mpg on the highway and 32 mpg combined, according to the EPA. The discontinued turbo gets 25/34/29 mpg. Those weren’t bad numbers, especially considering the range on a full tank of gas was 470 miles.
Rumors of the Altima’s demise have been circulating for some time. And that’s a little odd, because even though the Altima (or Nissan for that matter) doesn’t reach the sales figures of its direct competitors, the Altima remains the brand’s best-selling car and the second best-selling vehicle overall behind the Rogue.
Last year, Nissan sold 128,030 Altimas, beating the Sentra’s 109,195 units but trailing the Rogue’s 271,458. Granted, the Altima’s annual sales were down 8.5 percent, but that’s not as bad as the Leaf’s. 40.5 percent Decline and the Frontier’s loss of 23.7 percent. Is this the end for the once highly praised car in what is supposedly its last days? Even today, the Altima still competes in Australia’s Dunlop Super2 junior series for the Supercars championship. It seems as if there is still life in these bones, but perhaps not for much longer.
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