2026 Nissan Altima review: a really slow car that I actually kinda like

I recently had the chance to drive a 2026 Nissan Altima around central Minnesota for a few days. I had no idea that it’s such a well built and decently fun to drive midsize car (one that is every bit as good as the competition).

OK, yeah, it’s embarrassingly slow in a straight line. But everything else had me scratching my head as to why Nissan is having such a hard time selling cars in the US these days. I don’t get it.

Scott driving a 2026 Nissan Altima — *“The guy in that Porsche is so jealous of me. This Altima rocks!”* Or something like that.

My full review of the 2026 Nissan Altima

The car you’ll see in the following pictures is a 2026 Nissan Altima SV AWD (All Wheel Drive) that I rented from Avis at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. This car had a measly 6 miles on the odometer when I picked it up, so I felt honored to be the one to pilot it on its maiden voyage.

First impressions

Walking up to this Altima for the first time didn’t exactly fill me with a rush of adrenaline. This just isn’t that kind of car. I was, however, flush with positive feelings of scoring such a good deal on a pretty sweet whip. It looks nice. And kind of sophisticated. From almost every angle!

Silver 2026 Nissan Altima parked at the rental car lot — My first 60 seconds with the Altima. The most surprising thing about this moment was the realization that Nissan still makes four-door sedans. That’s pretty ballsy for a company on the verge of going out of business.

2026 Nissan Altima trunk space — I usually save the trunk / dead body test for later in the review, but gosh dang if this Altima swallowed my suitcase as if it was a…well…you know. *An adult sized dead body*. There’s room for at least two!

Silver 2026 Nissan Altima rear 3/4 view in a parking garage — You’d never know that Nissan is having a hard time selling cars in the US at the moment just by looking at this thing. It’s a good lookin’ car IMHO. The hell is wrong with my fellow Americans?

Driving a 2026 Nissan Altima out of the rental car parking garage for the very first time — All right, here we go. I’ve only driven it 10 feet so far, but I can already feel a hot and steamy love affair a-brewin’. So far so good.

Styling and design

There’s no mistaking the 2026 Altima as being a core member of the Nissan lineup. The most obvious giveaway is the angular front grill and headlight assembly, which is similar to most every other Nissan for the 2026 model year.

Silver 2026 Nissan Altima side view — You know when you see your niece or nephew for the first time in a while and you’re amazed by how much they’ve grown? I had that same feeling with this Altima. This is *not* the same piece of shit ~~toddler~~ economy car of years past.

One of the things that I like the most about the design of the 2026 Altima is the relative modesty of it all. At a time when most other midsize cars are becoming extremely angular (and aggressive looking), the Altima looks relatively simple in comparison. More mature even.

Silver 2026 Nissan Altima front 3/4 view — I especially like how they didn’t go overly aggressive with the styling (unlike the hot boi 2024 Hyundai Elantra that I recently drove). This thing looks like a sorta-serious (but sophisticated) car with only *modest* cuts, creases, and scoops.

Silver 2026 Nissan Altima low rear 3/4 view — The floating/deconstructed/notched C and D pillar is the best design element of the 2026 Altima. It just is. There is no debating this.

2026 Nissan Altima trunk lid badge and tail light

2026 Nissan Altima front headlight and grill — This is by far the angular Nissan Altima ever made (and I like it). Notice the gap between the headlight and the front grill? It’s the same design element from the C and D pillar I just showed you. Consistent design language FTW!

Scott standing next to a silver 2026 Nissan Altima — That awkward moment when you run out of words to describe the way a rental car spec Nissan Altima looks.

Interior

For the most part, the interior of a 2026 Altima is a pretty decent place to hang out. The front seats are soft and comfortable (although probably not as supportive as I would like), and the layout of the dashboard is clean and very intuitive. I didn’t have any difficulty finding the controls that I was looking for.

2026 Nissan Altima front seats and dashboard — The interior of the 2026 Nissan Altima is an interesting place. Note that ‘interesting’ does not mean ‘great’ (nor does it mean ‘poopy’). It’s just *interesting*.

I will say that the interior felt a bit cramped by midsize car standards. Heck, the 2023 Dodge Challenger SXT that I recently drove felt equally as spacious. That’s a sick burn (and not a compliment) by the way.

2026 Nissan Altima front seats — The front seats aren’t as interesting as the dashboard IMHO, but they are far more comfortable. Soft enough, but firm in all the right places.

2026 Nissan Altima dashboard — A very interesting dashboard indeed. It’s very reminiscent of the 2023 Nissan Rogue I had the chance to tool around in recently. Nissan may not know how to sell cars in the US very well, but they’ve got the ‘design language consistency’ thing down pat.

2026 Nissan Altima interior — There’s wood grain accents too! Interesting.

2026 Nissan Altima storage space under center armrest between the front seats

2026 Nissan Altima air vents in the dashboard

2026 Nissan Altima steering wheel — Y’all knows how much I’ve loves me a girthy steering wheel. The material that it’s covered in doesn’t feel all that premium, but I like how thick it is. She does too.

2026 Nissan Altima gauge cluster — Hallelujah for real analog gauges in the gauge cluster! There’s none of that new fangled LCD digital crap here (except for the center section – which I can live with).

2026 Nissan Altima engine start stop button on the center console

2026 Nissan Altima center console with the automatic gearshift lever

2026 Nissan Altima physical buttons and knobs for the climate control system — Physical knobs and buttons for the climate control system! Arigatou gozaimas!

2026 Nissan Altima USB power outlets — OK, yeah, it’s a blurry picture. But if you squint hard enough, you can make out the outlines of both USB-A and USB-C charging ports way back there underneath the dashboard (in the center console). That might even be a charging pad as well, but my iPhone refused to acknowledge it’s existence.

2026 Nissan Altima back seats — What happens in the back seats stays in the back seats. Do with these what do you will.

Infotainment

The 2026 Nissan Altima supports both Apple CarPlay Android Auto. I had a heck of a time getting CarPlay to work wirelessly however. It required digging a USB cable out of my bag in order for it to connect.

Engine and transmission

The 2.5-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder engine in this car was anemic at best. Even though it’s rated at 188 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque, it just wasn’t enough to propel this thing forward in a way one might expect from a car looking so sporty.

2026 Nissan Altima 2.5-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder engine — Somewhere beneath this convoluted mass of wires and vacuum lines is a 188 hp four-cylinder engine. RIP to the patience of any technician that will eventually dig into this thing for repairs (because Nissan).

Making matters worse is the fact that the Xtronic Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) made the engine feel even more lazy and unresponsive than it already is. Ripping away from stoplights in this thing is embarrassing if you need to do it with any sense of urgency.

Silver 2026 Nissan Altima with the hood open — Check out how the hood opening is notched into the fender. Pretty cool, eh? I figured that I might as well show you another neat little design detail while I’ve got the hood open (because the engine sure as heck isn’t worth looking at).

Driving impressions

Other than the fact that this car felt as slow and unresponsive as a 2018 Nissan Versa, it actually went down the road nicely. Cruising along in a leisurely 70 miles an hour felt effortless. Almost soothing actually. It tracks dead straight, and outward visibility in all directions was decent. It’s an excellent highway cruiser.

POV driving a 2026 Nissan Altima — It sure does handle a lot better than it accelerates however. Cruising at highway speeds is nice in this thing. She kinda sporty!

My only complaint might be how noisy (and bumpy) low profile tires are on long highway drives. They transmit all that noise and energy into the cabin as if they are trying to annoy you on purpose.

I was much more appreciative of those low profile tires when going around corners though. The Altima is actually a pretty good handling car for its size. Those P215/55VR17 all-season tires are kinda sticky, and body roll is minimal. She definitely corners better than she accelerates.

17 inch wheels and tires on the 2026 Nissan Altima — **Pro:** the 17 inch wheels and tires look (and perform) great. **Con:** They noisy. And rough riding. AF.

Gas mileage

I put 237 miles on this car over the span of three days. Most of that was cruising on two lane country roads, and I managed to squeeze out 27.2 MPG from the anemic 2.5 L four-cylinder engine. That’s respectable. Pretty good even. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t have being willing to give up a few mpg for a bit more power however. That’s a sacrifice worth making IMHO.

Silver 2026 Nissan Altima at the marathon gas station — I guess one of the benefits of being so underpowered is the fact that you won’t be stopping at the gas station very often. A blessing in disguise!

The only other thing worth mentioning about gas mileage is the fact that this particular car had a very lazy gas gauge. It took nearly 5 miles of driving for the needle to move back to the full position after filling it up with gas. Maybe it was faulty, or maybe it’s supposed to work that way. I have no idea.