Nissan Maxima vs Genesis G80

The 2021 Nissan Maxima celebrates 40 years on sale, making it one of the oldest Japanese automotive nameplates in continuous use. While it’s impressive for any model to survive four decades, the Maxima has spent most of its history mired in mediocrity.

The Nissan Maxima name first appeared in 1981 as a rebranding of the Datsun 810 sedan. The original Maxima/810 was a true enthusiast’s car, boasting rear-wheel drive (RWD) and a sporty character that led Nissan to declare it a “four-door sports car.” However, that only lasted for a few years.

With its first redesign for the 1985 model year, the Maxima switched to front-wheel drive (FWD) and was positioned as Nissan’s flagship sedan. It’s been that way ever since. Nissan has continued to gesture in the direction of that original RWD model, but for most of its 40 years, the Maxima has been a slightly sportier alternative to full-size sedans like the Toyota Avalon, rather than a BMW beater.

So it is with the current, eighth-generation, Maxima, which debuted for the 2016 model year. It enters the 2021 model year with few changes, the most significant being a 40th Anniversary Edition option package for the top Platinum trim level, which sits above the base SV and mid-range SR trim levels. That’s what we test drove for this review.

The 2022 Genesis is a midsize luxury sedan with a 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine or 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine and eight-speed automatic transmission. It gets standard rear-wheel drive (RWD) and optional all-wheel drive (AWD).

Pricing starts at $48,000 for a base 2.5T model with RWD. EPA fuel-economy ratings for four-cylinder models are 23 mpg city/32 mpg highway/26 mpg combined with RWD and 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway/25 mpg combined with AWD. V6 models come standard with AWD and are rated at 17 mpg city/26 mpg highway/20 mpg combined.