Car

[stuggie]

I decided to buy a car after I graduated from University as a present for myself. It was an interesting search for the car I would put down such a huge sum of money for. When I began the search I looked at every car that I could see myself enjoying. I ended up with two cars, the Subaru Impreza and the Mitsubishi Lancer.

The Mitsubishi Lancer had a

Comments

Congrats!

[armchairaviator]

Welcome to the club

[stuggie]

I don't remember the exact criticism of the car. I kind of gather the facts, make my decisions and then throw away the specifics. I believe the reason for the Altima's criticism was that it's the only hybrid that doesn't have CVT technology. I'm not entirely sure, and it seems weird because Nissan's CVT seems to be ahead of its class. Also, Nissan hasn't fully developed their hybrid technology yet. They rent out Toyota's Syngergy technology. If I'm going to get the same technology, I might as well get it from the people who developed it. They'd probably implement it a little bit better.

[armchairaviator]

The Nissan Altima Hybrid is basically the Toyota Prius on steriods.

It has the same Hybrid Synergy Drive system as the Prius (Nissan licensed it from Toyota).

The HSD by the way isn't a CVT drive like in other Nissan cars. The Nissan CVT uses belts and pulleys, whereas the HSD uses all gears: http://eahart.com/prius/psd/

I like the Hybrid Synergy Drive because of its all-gear construction-- It is much simpler and MUCH tougher.

The only difference between the Altima and Prius drivetrain is that the Prius uses a 1.5L engine while the Altima uses a 2.5L engine. Bigger engine means it uses more fuel. That's why the Prius gets a combined 46mpg while the Altima Hybrid gets only 35mpg.

The Altima Hybrid is a VERY nice deal right now though because it qualifies for a $2200 Federal Tax Credit.