It was consistently one of the most popular body styles throughout the automobile's first century, but the modern sedan is coming under pressure from the ever-expanding SUV and crossover segments. Those vehicles have always offered greater interior space and flexibility than sedans, but rising government standards for gas mileage are also making them nearly as fuel efficient as similarly priced cars. Now throw in the elevated interior volume and premium features found on today's midsize sedans, and large sedans like the Maxima are being squeezed out of the market (at Kelley Blue Book we watched the segment shrink by 10 percent last year). Nissan understood these market challenges when it redesigned the all-new 2016 Maxima. Rather than creating a slightly larger and better equipped Altima, Nissan's latest Maxima provides a combination of design, performance and luxury appeal well beyond the typical midsize -- or large -- sedan.
It's worth noting the new Nissan Maxima shares its platform with the current Altima, but park both cars next to each other and nobody is going to believe it. The 2016 Maxima features an expressive exterior design language Nissan calls "energetic flow." It starts with a prominent grille (Nissan refers to it as the "V-motion" grille) and continues with crisp body lines under a low roof and sloping windshield. The new Maxima's roof is 1.3 inches lower than the last generation, while the body is 2.2 inches longer. These elements, combined with the car's "floating roof" appearance (all Maximas feature dark roof pillars to minimize their visibility), create a dramatic visual impression. If you're looking to stand out on the road, this car delivers.
The Maxima's interior continues the dramatic design theme with a high center console, flat-bottom steering wheel, large gauge cluster and center stack controls angled toward the driver. If it looks and sounds like a fighter jet, it should, because Nissan's development team visited the Blue Angels in Pensacola when engineering the cabin. They wanted a driver-centric "cockpit" befitting the Maxima's longstanding mantra as a "four-door sports car." In fact, while that term has been used on and off throughout the Maxima's 35-year history, the "4DSC" theme played a dominant role in this 8th generation car's design philosophy. Subtle references to that acronym are scattered throughout the new Maxima -- if you know where to look.
Of course you can't claim to be a four-door sports car unless the mechanical elements back it up. Starting with a 25 percent stiffer (yet 82 pound lighter) platform, the new Maxima benefits from a revised 3.5-liter, 300 horsepower V6 engine comprised of 61 percent new parts. A redesigned intake manifold and valvetrain (including sodium filled exhaust valves to reduce combustion chamber heat) improve the engine's airflow while a new Xtronic continuously variable transmission (CVT) offers a wider total gear ratio and lower friction than last year's model. This transmission also features Nissan's "D-Step Programming" to create the sensation of shifting gears during aggressive driving. This feature effectively elevates the driving experience by removing the droning engine note most CVT's deliver under hard acceleration.
The combination of reduced weight and increased horsepower gives the Maxima a power-to-weight ratio of 11.6 pounds per horsepower, which is better than many entry-luxury sport sedans. It also helps it earn a mixed fuel economy rating of 25 mpg, higher than any competitors in the large sedan category. The Maxima's lighter weight (it's now the lightest sedan in its segment) and improved power delivery manifests in rapid acceleration, confident braking and responsive handling. Performance-oriented drivers can opt for the sedan's Sport mode, which further adjusts throttle response, transmission programming, steering feel and exhaust tone to enhance the Maxima's driving characteristics. Nissan told us an independent 3rd party tested the new Maxima against the current
Even with its upgraded design and performance capabilities the new Maxima faces an array of appealing midsize and large sedan competitors (not to mention those pesky SUVs), so Nissan added a healthy dose of luxury to the new car's pedigree. The base Maxima S includes a high-resolution 8-inch touchscreen display, remote engine start, a navigation system and a 7-inch information screen between the primary gauges for $33,235. The SV trim adds leather seats, heated front seats, parking sensors and heated outside mirrors for $35,215. The Maxima SL includes a dual pane sunroof, blind spot warning with rear cross-traffic alert, a
The performance-oriented Maxima SR comes with 19-inch wheels,
Many of these features are not available on other large sedans, or even some entry-luxury sedans priced well above the Maxima. And that gets to the heart of the 2016 Nissan Maxima's position in the market. Sure, it costs more than a comparable midsize sedan, but it offers more space, more features and superior performance. And while it costs less than entry luxury sedans, it still offers more passenger space than all of them, better performance than many of them, and even some luxury features a few of them can't match. That may sound like a pretty narrow a market niche, because it is. But Nissan thinks there's still room for a four-door sports car that splits the difference between well-equipped midsize sedans and sparsely-equipped entry-luxury sedans.
If you like the looks, performance and premium features available for $35,000 to $40,000 on Nissan's 2016 Maxima, you probably agree.
