2019 nissan altima

Car and Driver claim the 2019 Altima has a higher cornering limit than a 3 Series

Jeff Glucker

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For decades now, the BMW 3 Series has served as a benchmark for handling in the sedan segment. Car and Driver have bestowed an amazing 21 consecutive 10Best awards on the Bavarian wünder car. That started to go away, however, as BMW saw its 3 Series get larger and heavier while the steering has become a bit more disconnected. Now comes a fresh new stab in the heart of a vehicle that used to set the bar. In testing the 2019 Nissan Altima, C/D have recorded a higher cornering figure compared to the latest BMW 330xi.

Now, max-g cornering figures don’t directly translate to handling prowess. It is a good indicator, however, of just how capable a car might be. For many years, the legendary figure was 1-g. This was the domain of supercars and exotic stallions. Today, the 2019 Altima is capable of recording 0.93-6, which puts it in fighting distance of much more dynamic vehicles. By comparison, the BMW 330xi only managed 0.89-g.

You gotta have tiiiiires, man…

A lot of this is owed to the tires on each car. BMW love to make use of run-flat tires. These are great for when you actually get a flat tire, but terribly in pretty much all other situations. The ride isn’t improved and performance takes a hit compared to other non run-flat tires. In this instance, the BMW 330xi tested by C/D wore Bridgestone Turanza T005. Those are contrasted by the all-season Hankook Kinergy GT tires on the Altima. All-season tires are typically nothing special, minus a few exceptions. So this should show you just how miserable those run-flat tires on the BMW really are.

Still, this isn’t just a tire issue. Nissan chassis engineers deserve a lot of credit for making great changes on this new Altima. Don’t expect it to out-perform a BMW wearing better tires (such as the optional Michelin Pilot 4S). This is, after all, still a BMW 3 Series we’re talking about here. Give it the right shoes and it will dance for you.

Regardless, Nissan should consider this a good win. And imagine if they stuck even better tires on there too? A 2019 Altima in summer performance tires might just tip toe even closer a 1-g showing in the figure-eight testing. That would be amazing.

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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11 responses to “Car and Driver claim the 2019 Altima has a higher cornering limit than a 3 Series”

  1. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    I’ve met college-bound kids with ACT scores of 34 who I wouldn’t hire to walk my dog. Likewise, objective skidpad numbers don’t sell me on a car’s handling performance. I value metrics, but it’s the subjective, not the objective, that sells me on a car.

    That said, I’ve not driven this Altima, and it might be great, but my impression of prior models is mediocre at best.

    Reply
    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      They’ve always been “…fine”.
      But it sounds like the chassis engineers dialed in some nice upgrades for the 2019MY version. And hitting 0.93-g on a skidpad with all-seasons is pretty damn good.
      But yeah, it wouldn’t lead me to purchase one.

      Reply
      1. Zentropy Avatar
        Zentropy

        I haven’t been interested in any Nissan since the 240sx, and that was 20 years ago. For a company that has so many gems in its history book (240Z, 510 Bluebird, R32 Skyline), Nissan hasn’t built an exciting affordable car yet in this century. I had high hopes for the 350Z, but it was a dud. I was then very excited about the concept IDX, but that was shot down almost immediately.

        So yeah, a 0.90+ g skidpad for the Altima is admittedly impressive, and if this is a sign that Nissan’s growing some balls, then I welcome its return to being worthy of a fanbase. But a stock 240Z probably doesn’t pull even a 0.75 on the skidpad, and I’d much rather drive that than a new Altima. Nissan’s past still far outshines its present.

        Reply
  2. Lokki Avatar
    Lokki

    The classic example of “Great numbers but terrible to drive” is the 1984 Corvette C4.

    In any case, in both horsepower and handling we have reached the point which HiFi Stereo equipment reached about 1980. That is, further increases in specifications are pretty well irrelevant in the real world. With stereo it was equipment claiming .001 signal distortion with power amplifiers putting out over 250 watts RMS. The truth was that no normal human could hear the difference between .01 and .001 distortion, and power amps, well: “In most situations, a 200-watt amp puts out exactly the same power as a 10-watt amp, because most listening occurs at average levels, where less than 1 watt is enough power for speakers.”

    Now about those 700 horsepower engines and suspensions that pull better than 1G on exit ramps…..?

    Reply
    1. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      I remember going through the process 20+ years ago, and you are spot on. That is once you’ve got past the tricks such as many amps were quoting power at .1% distortion which was said to be unlistenable, or power figures into low Ohm figures. I ended up with a 20W/channel amp (into 8ohm at a pretty low THD figure), that I have on 0.7-0.8 on the volume scale of 1-10; I don’t think I’ve ever turned it past 4.

      The speaker selection was an interesting process, I was at a ‘proper’ hifi shop so was able to listen to the gear first and quickly came down to a choice of 2 speakers that were both great. My final test was to turn down the volume to normal daily background listening levels, and one set did much better than the other.

      Reply
  3. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    So, what you’re saying is that when you land after midnight in an unfamiliar city after three connections, pick this over the Camry or Malibu in the Gold Choice/Emerald Aisle/whatever because it’ll get you to the Hampton Inn earlier and buy you an extra 30 seconds sleep before going into a week of 10-hour meetings?

    Reply
    1. nanoop Avatar
      nanoop

      Sounds like the few business trips I had the pleasure to make, but I always get the “or similar” CUV anyway.

      Reply
      1. Maymar Avatar
        Maymar

        I’m coming off two trips in a month where the most appealing choice* was a Malibu (at least I’m booked into the “pick whatever you want from the assigned zone”) – I can tell you as much as the CVT does a better job of making the 1.5 work than the 6-speed.

        *I felt guilty about considering taking a Sienna to just haul myself around, but I’m going back next week and might not feel so guilty again, especially if vans aren’t inventory-constrained

        Reply
      2. Maymar Avatar
        Maymar

        I’m coming off two trips in a month where the most appealing choice* was a Malibu (at least I’m booked into the “pick whatever you want from the assigned zone”) – I can tell you as much as the CVT does a better job of making the 1.5 work than the 6-speed.

        *I felt guilty about considering taking a Sienna to just haul myself around, but I’m going back next week and might not feel so guilty again, especially if vans aren’t inventory-constrained

        Reply
  4. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    I’m not sure what I can do on skid pad, or what my minivan can do. Two rounds would be interesting, a second one with 600kg of firewood in the back, when the rear wheel’s camber looks like spread legs.

    Anyway, these guys say, roughly, “you can’t measure quality by statistics”. Yes, it might be more important how those corners feel.

    On the other hand, an Altima should pretty much go under the radar of most other motorists, and could be a great sleeper.

    Reply
    1. Smaglik Avatar
      Smaglik

      Around me, the Altima = rental. Avoid them like the plague when they’re in the wild as they rarely know what’s going to happen next, and people don’t usual drive too quickly when the camera is out the window…

      Reply