When it is time to buy a new car, it is time to buy a new car. And you’ve already decided – you want a 4-door sedan. You have looked at numerous possibilities – heaven knows there are a plethora of various 4-door sedans out there, and you’ve narrowed it down to two. So what about the Nissan Altima and the Honda Accord?
When you look at the two cars in question, they happen to have an awful lot in common. For instance, they manage to pump out just about the same amount of torque, the Altima pouring out 258 and the Accord putting out a respectable 254. The two vehicles also share a nearly identical turning radius as well, with the Altima turning from curb to curb at 37.4 feet, and the Accord just slightly off the mark at 37.7 feet. The two vehicles share warranties as well; the two warranties are carbon copies of each other. Each vehicle has 3 years basic and 5 years powertrain, with 36,000 and 60,000 mile caps on both warranties as well.
Here, however, is where the similarities end, and the differences favor the Altima. Firstly, the Altima weighs significantly less by curb weight than the Accord model looked at for this review. The Altima weighed 3357 pounds, and the Accord 3553. A lighter weight makes for better fuel economy. The Altima also boasts a larger fuel tank, 20 gallons to the 18.5 gallons of the Accord. This leads to the Altima having a higher cruising range – 380 miles to the Accord’s 351 miles, a pretty significant gap.
However, the differences between the two vehicles become most apparent when you look at extra features. The Altima comes with, or has available, numerous features that the Accord does not even have as options. This starts with the Altima’s continuously variable transmission, which comes standard but the Accord does not even have as available.
Also, the Altima’s audio and support systems drive rings around what the Accord has to offer. The Altima comes with four spectacular features: a premium sound system, satellite radio, a hard disk drive for music and audio storage, as well as a navigation system that is available, but not standard like the others.
All of these advantages for the Altima come with one particular one that shines as well – the MSRP for the Altima is almost $2000 cheaper, $24,520 to the Accord’s $26,805. For examples of a selection of Altima models, check out our selection of Nissan Altima’s available now.
