2011 Nissan Altima Trims and Specs

Sitting in the cloth front bucket seats of the 2011 Nissan Altima 2.5, you’ll be surrounded by full power features, a steering wheel that tilts and telescopes, and a short list of standard doodads like air conditioning, cruise control, and a small trip computer. It’s a base trim, so there’s not much to be had in the way of luxury. It’s no stripper, but it comes close with its 16-inch steelies and lack of a worthwhile stereo. A continuously variable transmission handles all 175 horses adequately from the 2.5-liter, DOHC aluminum four-cylinder engine, although the car sometimes struggles to keep up at speed, not that you’d get to speed here. Regardless, traction and stability control are standard, along with four-wheel antilock discs and six airbags, as well as front-seat active head restraints.

Tossing an S at the end of a trim name usually denotes a penchant toward performance. In this case, the 2011 Nissan Altima 2.5 S, Nissan figured slapping a shoddy six-speed manual onto the option list would do the trick. Need we beg to differ? Stick with the much more competent continuously variable transmission here and utilize its manual-shift feature if you must in order to wring every bit of performance out of the 175-hp, DOHC aluminum 2.5-liter engine. Traction and stability control will help keep you from going over the edge when thrashing this beastly baby carriage, and four-wheel antilock discs bite down hard to bring the 16-inch steelies to a stop. Inside, the power feature package has been augmented to include remote keyless entry, access, and start as well, but the biggest upgrade is the addition of a CD and MP3 player with digital media player connection, so you’ll no longer need to be at the mercy of the radio. Front bucket seats provide support, if not comfort, and are clad in cloth here. At least the steering wheel tilts and telescopes for a bit of extra adjustment. The Altima comes with a nice list of standard safety features as well, rounded out here by six airbags and front-seat active head restraints.

With almost 100 extra horses from its 3.5-liter, aluminum DOHC V6, the 2011 Nissan Altima 3.5 SR is noticeably stronger than its lesser brethren, and the continuously variable transmission performs here with even greater precision. A sport suspension adds a bit of performance chops and does help control roll and lean in the curves, but doesn’t turn the Altima into a sports car. Thankfully it also doesn’t destroy the ride, allowing for a fair compromise, at least over smooth surfaces. The driver now enjoys 8-way power for his cloth bucket seat, and the tilt and telescoping steering wheel gets the leather treatment and some extra buttons to work the stereo. Power features now include heated power mirrors with integrated turn signals, as well as the usual fare, and remote access, entry, and start are nice features here, standard across most of the lineup. Headlights are automatic at this level, an odd feature to leave out for lower trims, and an immediate visual change is the upgrade to 17-inch alloy wheels, replacing the 16-inch steels on lesser trims. Traction and stability control are standard, as well as four-wheel antilock discs, front-seat active head restraints, and six airbags.