2019 Nissan Altima vs 2020 Toyota Prius

The 2019 Nissan Altima borrowed design cues from its larger sibling, the Maxima, featuring a big trapezoidal grille, sharply raked headlights, and a black stripe in the C-pillar. These elements aimed to inject visual excitement into the Altima. Inside, the Altima's layout was similar to other new cars, with a floating center stack and familiar vents and dials. This design trend was prevalent across the industry, making the interior user-friendly and straightforward. The Altima's infotainment system included volume, tuning, and climate-control knobs, ensuring ease of use.

The Altima came in various trims: S, SR, SV, SL, and Platinum. The base S trim offered comfortable Zero Gravity seats, push-button start, an 8-way power driver’s seat, four USB ports, satellite radio, and an 8-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The SR trim added 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a rear spoiler, and a dark chrome grille. Inside, it featured a leather-wrapped steering wheel, cloth seats with leather inserts, and carbon grain door trim. The SV trim focused on maximizing features for the money, adding 17-inch alloy wheels, fog lights, heated side mirrors, and more. The SL trim added leather seating, a Bose premium sound system, and navigation. The Platinum trim included all previous features, plus 19-inch wheels, memory settings for the driver’s seat, and a 360-degree surround-view monitor.

The 2020 Toyota Prius maintained its iconic jellybean-like shape, optimized for aerodynamics. The current generation featured visual tricks to resemble a sedan while retaining its hatchback functionality. The Prius had a futuristic style, with a cabin defined by centrally located instrumentation and gauges. Trim levels included L Eco, LE, XLE, and Limited. The L Eco trim offered 15-inch alloy wheels, automatic climate control, cloth upholstery, push-button start, three USB ports, Bluetooth connectivity, and a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Amazon Alexa compatibility. The LE trim added a rear windshield wiper, parking sensors, seat-back pockets, and additional driver-assistance features.

The XLE trim brought 17-inch alloy wheels, rain-sensing wipers, synthetic leather upholstery, an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, and wireless device charging. The Limited trim added adaptive, self-leveling headlights, a head-up display (HUD), satellite radio, HD Radio, and an 11.6-inch touchscreen. The 2020 Edition celebrated 20 years of the Prius with unique dark exterior accents and a limited production run of 2,020 units.

The 2019 Nissan Altima offered two engine options. The base 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine produced 188 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque, a slight improvement over the previous model. The SR and Platinum trims had an available turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine with variable compression technology, delivering V6-like power with 4-cylinder fuel economy. Both engines paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and offered front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive (AWD). The AWD system was a first for Nissan sedans, providing confidence in snowy conditions. The 2.5-liter engine returned fuel economy of 28 city, 39 highway, 32 combined, while the AWD variant achieved 25 city, 35 highway, 29 combined. The turbocharged engine was expected to return 25 city, 34 highway, 29 combined. The Altima's handling was decent, though not as athletic as some competitors, and the wide turning radius was a drawback.

The 2020 Toyota Prius featured a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine paired with an electric motor, producing a combined 121 horsepower and 105 pound-feet of torque. The Prius offered front-wheel drive (FWD) and an all-wheel-drive (AWD) variant called the Prius AWD-e, which used a second electric motor for the rear wheels, operating at speeds up to 43 mph. The Prius had smooth acceleration, with a seamless transition between electric and conventional power. It offered three drive modes: EV, Eco, and Power. The unique shifter design required some adjustment, with Reverse, Drive, Neutral, and Park in unconventional positions. The "B" mode provided engine braking, useful in mountainous regions. The Prius handled well for a hybrid, with a low center of gravity and a smooth ride, making it ideal for commuting.

The 2019 Nissan Altima's interior featured extremely comfortable Zero Gravity seats, designed to reduce fatigue on long trips. The car had plenty of cubbies and cupholders, though the center console was not very deep due to the AWD and transmission tunnel. The back seat offered ample space for tall adults, and the trunk provided 15.4 cubic feet of cargo space, competitive but not class-leading.

The 2020 Toyota Prius made excellent use of its space, with deep door pockets, a large tray area between the front seats, and helpful sub-trays around the center console. The front seats were spacious and comfortable, with good driver visibility. The rear seats also offered plenty of space, though taller drivers needed to watch their heads. The Prius had 50.7 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats folded, and 24.6 to 27.4 cubic feet with the seats up, depending on the model. This made the Prius one of the most spacious and versatile hybrid options, with its hatchback design facilitating easy loading of large items.

The 2019 Nissan Altima came standard with NissanConnect, featuring a straightforward infotainment system with large, colorful icons and easy-to-read fonts. It included Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, and a 7-inch color Drive Assist display between the tachometer and speedometer, navigable via a steering-wheel-mounted directional pad.

The 2020 Toyota Prius featured a 7-inch touchscreen with a sensible menu layout, standard Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth connectivity, a WiFi hotspot, and three USB ports. The Limited trim upgraded to an 11.6-inch screen with a customizable, tablet-like layout, though it lacked Android Auto. The Prius also offered satellite radio, HD Radio, a head-up display (HUD), and a 10-speaker JBL premium audio system. The top-center instrument panel, a defining feature of the Prius, displayed hybrid drivetrain status and other critical readouts, navigable via a steering-wheel-mounted directional pad.

The 2019 Nissan Altima included standard safety features such as front- and side-impact airbags, traction control, vehicle dynamics control, and a reversing camera. The Platinum trim featured ProPilot Assist, offering partially autonomous driving functions like speed matching and lane-keeping assistance. Forward-collision warning and driver-alertness monitoring were standard across all trims.

The 2020 Toyota Prius came with Toyota Safety Sense 2.0, including automatic emergency braking, forward-collision warning, lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beams. Optional features included blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, parking sensors, and active park assist. The Prius earned a five-star rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and a "Top Safety Pick" accolade from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), though it fell short of the highest "Top Safety Pick+" rating.