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We just purchased an Altima 2.5 SL from Nissan Canada. We are absolutely thrilled with the car and all of the features and capabilities of the car. We drove and Infinity G35 for four years and decided that we were not going to spend the kind of money that a G35 represents, opting for a car that was lower priced and also more economical when it comes to gas mileage. We did not expect to have all of the features that are standard with the infinity class, however we were pleasantly surprised.

One of the features we particularly liked on our previous car was the key less FOB. Basically the way this works is that you must have the FOB on your person or in a ladies purse that is within about 10 to 15 inches of the car. There is no need to take it out of your pocket. Instead all you need to do is push a button just under the door handle on the outside to unlock the doors. No need to fish for your keys while trying to balance packages held in your hands. The same feature applies to opening the trunk of the car as well. Of course you can use the FOB to open the doors and the trunk if you want by pressing the appropriate button on the key fob.

Another feature we enjoy on the Altima 2.5 SL is the climate control. His and her controls allow us to set the desired temperature on each side, hot or warm. No more discussions about whether it is too hot or too cold, just set it to the temperature you desire without bothering your partner. Of course you have the seat heaters as well which are individually controlled. We wanted the SL package which provides us with the leather package for the seats. In Canada, on cold winter mornings these seat warmers are really a popular feature with us.

Sirius Radio

Many cars today now come pre-equipped with satellite radio and ours was no different. The service is active for a period of three months from purchase and we absolutely love it as well. We travel a lot and really appreciate being able to listen to talk radio stations regardless of were we are in the US or Canada. They have all of the popular stations for music, comedy and talk.

One caution, readers will be interested in if you also have satellite radio in your car for the first time. Wait until your initial 3 months of service is about to expire before you renew. The company providing the satellite radio service will give you an excellent quote that is much better than the regular price they offer at the beginning.

Gas Mileage

The official mileage data provided by the company suggest that our Altima 2.5 SL should get 32 mpg in the city and 45 mpg ( Canadian Gallons) on the highway.  In metric it is 8.9 Liters  per 100 kilometers in the city and 6.1 liters per 100 kilometers on the highway. These are excellent numbers under perfect conditions.

So far we have observed 7.0 liters / 100 kilometers with our car over predominately highway driving with a few hills  and some city driving. I think this is pretty good and satisfied with the results so far. Most people would not expect to be able to achieve the manufacturers numbers which are often under perfect conditions.

Nissan is able to achieve this fantastic gas mileage with their new CVT transmission. CVT stands for Continuously variable transmission. There is no sensation of gear changing, just a continual even acceleration of speed as you leave from a dead stop up to 100 kilometers per hour.

Other Features We Like

We will not list all of the features, just some of the main ones that we really enjoy. Most of these were available on our infinity and so we are quite happy with this new car.

Power sliding glass moon roof

Power drivers seat lumbar adjustment

Auto dimming rear mirror

Leather seats through out

Compass in rear view mirror

Read passenger air vents

Bose audio system

In dash 6 CD changer

Speed sensitive volume control

Speed sensitive wiper  control

Radio data system

Bluetooth

Homelink for garage door opening

Key Fob

Auto on / off halogen lights

Air conditioning

Trip computer

Cruise control

Tire pressure monitoring system

The tire pressure monitoring system bears special mention. On our previous car the waring light came on several times. We found this invaluable and it meant that we avoided a flat tire in the middle of the country some were remote.  One should always look at their tires before they move the car, however most of us do not. With this  monitoring system if you have a low pressure tire, the alarm will sound as soon as you start the car.

2.5 SL vs. 3.5 SE

The 2.5 SL package is a 4 cylinder engine that pumps out 175 horsepower while the 3.5 SE package is a powerhouse at 275 horsepower. I test drove both cars on the highway and on city streets and found that the 2.5 SL more than met my needs in terms of power and ability to pull out and pass another car when needed. We do not have a need to pull a trailer of any kind and we think the 2.5SL has more than enough power for easy cruising.

Once the economy picks up we fully expect that oil is going to regain its high prices over $100/ barrel and that gasoline is once again going to jump to much higher numbers. Since we plan to keep our car for some time and we also do a lot of city driving we felt that a car with better economy was the way to go for highway driving.

By the time we replace this car, there will be all sorts of good high quality hybrid cars available that will be priced at prices closer to the standard gasoline cars that we have today. Also many of the kinks that all new models experience will be cleared up and there will be great high quality cars available.

Tags: 2.5 SL, Altima, Altima 2.5 SL, infinity, Nissan, Nissan Canada

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