Judging by the Web hits on any scrap of information we post pertaining to Nissan's 2009 Maxima, you guys and girls can't wait to get your hands on this all-new edition of the Japanese maker's four-door sedan -- er, I mean, "four-door sports car."

Well, we have one in the garage right now. Just drove it a few minutes ago. Want some first-hand impressions? Sure you do. And here they are.

For the new, seventh-generation version of its famed four-door, first unveiled as the Maxima in 1985, Nissan has done the unthinkable: it's actually downsized the car. You read that right: in an era when every model year brings "bigger, larger, fatter," the Maxima has gone lean. Wheelbase shrinks 1.9 inches, length is cut by nearly four inches, and height is reduced almost half an inch. Importantly, though, track has widened 1.4 inches up front and 1.2 inches at the rear. While other cars have grown to accommodate a "larger" audience (the Honda Accord comes to mind), the new Maxima is intentionally primed for responsiveness.


Big things are happening under the hood, though. Remapping the engine for premium fuel -- plus a new intake, reshaped pistons, and a less-restrictive exhaust -- help the ubiquitous Nissan 3.5-liter V-6 deliver 290 horsepower (versus 255 for the 2008 model) and 261 pound-feet of torque (up 9 pound-feet). Yet fuel economy actually improves, to 19/26 city/highway mpg (compared with 19/25 for the outgoing car).

A few interesting tidbits:

* Nissan claims the front structure's torsional rigidity has improved 100 percent.
* "O rings" surrounding all firewall-penetrating hardware (such as the steering column) greatly reduce interior noise -- so much so that Nissan has had to "pipe in" some exhaust tones via a "sound generator."
* Disc brakes are larger front and rear.
* The front-rear moonroof is the largest one Nissan has ever done; Nissan claims the forward opening is the largest in the industry.
* Some of the aluminum suspension pieces are borrowed from the Infiniti M45.
* The engine is cradled by a six-point mount for reduced vibrations.
* Nissan had to purchase six new robots (at $2 million) for its Smyrna, Tennessee, plant to achieve the paint finish it sought.


Two models will be offered once the Maxima goes on sale in late June: the 3.5S and the 3.5SV. In addition to features included on the well-outfitted S, the SV adds such extras as leather seats, premium 9-speaker Bose audio, HomeLink, fog lamps, and outside mirrors with turn-signal indicators. What's more, Nissan will offer the SV is two editions: Premium and Sport. Nissan claims that the latter Maxima, fortified with 19-inch alloys and optional 245/40R19 summer Bridgestones, is the best-handling front-drive car in the world. A bold statement, to be sure -- and one we'll be sure to examine thoroughly -- but you should know this: Nissan's target car, as it tuned the Maxima during endless laps around Germany's Nurburgring, was none other than the Porsche GT3 (winner of our "best-handling car" competition last year).

Thus far our wheel time has been limited, but already the Maxima stands out. The cockpit is gorgeous, with a meaty steering wheel, intuitive controls, deeply pocketed sport seats (love the refrigerated driver's seat!), and soft-touch materials across the dash. The engine, mated to a standard CVT (no manual is planned), is hushed and pulls smoothly; no undue tugging at the wheel. The ride is well-isolated and controlled.


Nissan says Maxima buyers are its most loyal customers. Four out of five cars are still on the road, and the automaker expects to sell another 70,000 units this year.

So far, we like what we see. Compared with the outgoing model, which was softer, too heavy, a bit bland, the new Maxima appears to have made a compelling return to its "sports car" roots; it's back in fighting trim.

Stay tuned. We're heading out for an extended drive, plus full instrumented testing and other surprises.

The Nissan Maxima was one of the original near-luxury cars, a fast and comfortable sedan that was a real standout, both visually and in its performance. But with the past couple redesigns, the Maxima's star dimmed. Even people within Nissan acknowledged that the car had lost its way.

Now comes an all-new 2009 Maxima, and Nissan is crowing that it's the return of the four-door sports car (that being the Maxima's 1990 tag line). While Nissan is to be credited for turning the Maxima around, this really does turn the clock all the way back to the Maxima's halcyon days.


The car is completely restyled, and the effort has been largely successful. The length has been trimmed by almost four inches, the wheelbase by about half that much. The track, however, is wider, a fact emphasized by the bulging fenders. The front overhang has been snipped, and what's there is further visually shortened by the angled off corners, which give the new Maxima the athletic look of a rear-wheel-drive car.

We had hoped the Maxima might in fact switch to rear-wheel drive (perhaps borrowing the Infiniti G35's excellent chassis), but alas, it was not to be. The Maxima rides on Nissan's D platform, which also underpins the Altima and the Murano.


Predictably, the reduced length and wheelbase shrinks the interior space, which, in a measure of pure volume, is now less than that of the Altima. Still, rear-seat space is okay for adults up to six feet tall, although toe room under the front seats is tight. The outgoing car's restrictive four-seat option, with a rear-seat center console, has been dropped and we can't say that we miss it. Nor do we miss the odd, undersized, front-to-back, fixed-glass moonroofs in the previous car. In their place is a conventional sunroof or, as an option, a two-piece full glass roof with an opening front section.

The Maxima's interior has received a much-needed, comprehensive upgrade, punctuated by a nice, fat-rimmed steering wheel. Other highs include deeply cushioned armrests, supple leather (an option), logical switches, and a nav screen interface lifted from Infiniti. Only the console and the lower door panels still appear designed to appeal to Nissan/Renault chairman Carlos Ghosn and his once-celebrated persona as "le cost cutter."

The Maxima might look convincingly like a rear-wheel-drive car from the outside, but it's a different story when you're sitting behind the wheel. The windshield slopes far away from the driver, in the manner of a classic cab-forward, front-wheel-drive sedan. More strangely, the hood sweeps up at the sides and has a bulge in the middle with a curved inset at the rear. This, combined with a deep dashboard with a swell that rises ahead of the driver, creates a view that's kind of like looking out over a roiling sea.

At least the Maxima's chassis is unlikely to induce seasickness. Riding on the available sport suspension (upgraded springs, dampers, and anti-roll bars), our test car was very buttoned-down, yet it absorbed bumps well. It did suffer a side-to-side rocking motion, which is a common pitfall of cars with stiff anti-roll bars. The upside is that the Maxima turns in with alacrity and doesn't plow straight ahead the way many big, front-wheel-drive sedans do. Ultimately, though, the Maxima is too big and heavy to be a back roads dancer.

The steering is now speed-sensitive, and it provides decent feel once you're up and rolling but too much assistance in low-speed maneuvering. You can certainly feel the torque (all 261 lb-ft of it) flowing to the front wheels, but the Maxima has manners enough to fight off its urge to go hunting around the lane when you stab the throttle.


Speaking of urge, Nissan's 3.5-liter V-6 provides plenty, as it's now fortified with an additional 35 horsepower, bringing the total to 290 hp. Nissan is unique among automakers in its dedication to the continuously variable transmission - it has replaced conventional automatics in most Nissan models with CVT - and the payoff is evident in the Maxima's standard Xtronic, which is the most sophisticated CVT we've ever driven. Our test car came with shift paddles (part of the sport package), which may seem absurd with a CVT, but they actually worked great, so convincingly does this transmission ape a geared automatic and so well-thought-out is its programming.

Unlike some paddle-shift gearboxes, the console shift lever doesn't have to be moved to the side (activating the Sport mode) before the paddles can be used. But if it is, the transmission will hold a paddle-actuated "downshift" indefinitely. If the lever is in D, the transmission will upshift and return to automatic operation a few moments after the driver paddles down to a lower ratio. Very smart. The only time this transmission acts like a CVT is when you floor the accelerator and hold it, which sends the revs to the top of the tach and keeps them there.

For all the CVT's cleverness, however, we couldn't help wishing for the option of a manual gearbox, a choice that went away in recent years and which, in our eyes, was one of the hallmarks of the four-door sports car back in the day. Despite a shapely new exterior and an improved cabin, the Maxima really has not returned to its golden youth, when it stood head and shoulders above other mid-sized offerings. The Maxima is a bigger, more powerful car now, and that has brought the limitations of its front driven wheels into sharper relief. At the same time, a whole field of competitors (including Nissan's own Altima) has grown up around the Maxima. The one-time obvious choice for those seeking a quick, comfortable, well-appointed sedan is once again a good choice, but it's just one good choice among many.

Nissan execs admit that in the wake of the company’s merger with Renault, the Maxima was given second billing to the Altima when it came time for their respective redesigns—especially after the current Altima debuted in 2007 wearing hand-me-down duds from its big brother. The two cars were nearly indistinguishable and the Altima’s optional 270-hp V-6 meant it was more powerful than the flagship Maxima.

The 2009 Maxima changes that. The eye-catching shape, with its liquid-like flow, will be mistaken for nothing in the Nissan stable, but does share many cues with the current Infiniti design language, particularly the recently introduced 2009 FX. And the power issue is resolved with a bump of 20 horsepower over the Altima’s optional V-6, endowing the Maxima with 290.

Sporty starts with size, and the Maxima reverses the trend towards bigger and heavier by shedding inches in nearly every critical dimension. Length is down almost four inches, wheelbase has been cut by two, and the roof is a half-inch lower. Width is up 1.5 inches, however, for a sportier stance. If back-seat passengers miss those longitudinal inches, at least they now have extra space to splay their knees. Unless Maxima passengers are circus-sized, however, they shouldn’t have any complaints. Seats front and rear are comfortable and firmly bolstered, with the rear seats perhaps more comfortable and snug than the fronts.

More Power + Less Weight = Hi Ho!

As a result of the downsizing, the new Maxima weighs in right on top of the old model—3669 pounds for our tester. More power and less weight conspire to cut the Maxima’s 0-to-60-mph acceleration times to 5.8 seconds from 6.1; and the sedan now clocks 14.5 seconds at 98 mph in the quarter-mile. An important part of those numbers is the Maxima’s next-generation CVT, which zings the engine to its power peak and allows it to stay there while the speedo twirls towards the high end—good for performance numbers, not so much for aural enjoyment.

What we would usually call top-gear acceleration—if it weren’t technically inaccurate to call it that when a CVT is involved, as there are no real “gears”—is quite impressive: 30–50 and 50–70 mph take just 3.2 and 3.6 seconds, respectively. Passing on a two-lane is a quick and stress-free affair, and the power and response of the CVT are fun and addicting. For a vehicle routing 290 horsepower through the front wheels, there is surprisingly little torque steer. A gentle tug to the right is easily controlled by a single finger; with two hands firmly on the wheel, the driver will not notice.

For those gleeful moments where speed limits fade from worry and maximum lateral load becomes mission critical, the CVT can play manual transmission, with paddles selecting from six preprogrammed ratios, the right paddle pulling higher gears and the left dropping down for tight carousels. Beautifully shaped and rendered in a rich-looking faux aluminum, the shift paddles are mounted to the steering column instead of the wheel, so the driver always knows where they are through the most serpentine stretches. They summon immediate responses from the transmission, although some of our crew thought they lacked the positive feel of, say, Mercedes-Benz’s paddle shifters.

A Drivetrain Writing Checks the Chassis Can’t Cash

As willing to play as the drivetrain is, the Maxima still doesn’t feel quite like a sports sedan; it’s more of a sporty sedan. It feels huge, which is good for comfortable riding but is a bit of a downer for spirited driving. Although the view down the domed hood between the two peaked fenders will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s ever sat in an Infiniti G35 or G37, the similarity tricks your brain into thinking the Maxima is a lot less than just three inches wider than the Infinitis. And looking across the cabin can feel like you’re sitting in a Hummer H2.

The steering is quick, building effort nicely off center, albeit disconcertingly light and nervous at first, But feel is faint, never more than a whisper from the bottom of a deep well. The sporty mindset means a stiff suspension for the Maxima, one that allowed it to achieve 0.85 g on our skidpad and a reasonably flat cornering attitude, but one that also means a less than serene ride over broken pavement. And our tester wasn’t even equipped with the Sport package, which adds stiffer dampers and a thicker stabilizer bar. We’d be wary of tightening these suspenders any more, as the Maxima is respectably agile for a large, front-wheel-drive sedan, and further stiffening seems unnecessary.

Mission Accomplished?

Sports sedan? Not really. Sporty sedan? Yes. Although we’d ask for more communicative steering and a smoother ride, the 2009 Maxima’s power and speed will satisfy fans perhaps left a little cold by the last generation, and won’t disappoint those seduced by its clean, rich shape.

Unless YOU have run those times then quit it with the "mine does, mine runs" junk because yours hasn't.

I used to talk like 14.2 @ 99 was what my GS400 would run because several articles had run them in... I went to the track and the best I could possibly muster was a 14.7 @ 97.

Yet I managed at 15.1 @ 93 on my second run ever in my A4 2.0t, which is on par if not better than many magazines

while my friend's 05 Acura TL automatic couldn't do any better! (actually I think 15.3 @ 93 was his best).

Also, lateral G comparisons are completely ridiculous to make outside of the same exact side by side comparison test. Granted you can tend to guess that a 1.02 car is better handling than a .85 car, but when the gap is more narrow, temperature and track condition can make all of that difference and more... not to mention that lateral G holding is far from the ultimate measure of handling prowess on a road course.