The Altima Coupe, which made its debut in the shadows of Hollywood at the 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show, returns in 2011 continuing to fill a desire among target customers for a more personal expression of style, individuality and fashionable appearance.
Enhancements for the 2011 Coupe include a new RearView monitor with a 4.3” display in the Premium Package and a 6.5” colour display screen in the Technology Package. The 2011 Altima Coupe still features standard Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), Traction Control System (TCS) and 17-inch alloy wheels. Interior enhancements include a new AT finisher design, meter cluster illumination, a new brighter beige interior cloth and new perforated leather seat material.
The 2011 Altima Coupe will also have new features available on select models, including HID Xenon headlights, folding mirrors with integrated turn signals, and a 6.5-inch colour display screen, USB input and iPod connectivity. Available in 2011 with the Technology Package are features such as improved display monitor resolution, a 9.3 GB Music Box® hard drive, Bluetooth® Streaming Audio, auxiliary audio/video and DVD playback capability.
One new exterior colour is available in 2011 – Hematite Grey, replacing Niagara Grey.
Altima Coupe’s unique exterior design is intended to stand out in a crowd of sedan-based two-door models with magnetic, perfectly proportioned styling with a shorter wheelbase, shorter overall length and lower height than the Altima Sedan. The smaller size also contributes to the Coupe’s sportier driving feel – another desired attribute of the typically younger, more performance-oriented coupe buyers.
“The Altima Coupe has its own style, its own dimensions and its own interpretation of Nissan’s exhilarating driving pleasure,” said Judy Wheeler, Marketing Director, Nissan Canada Inc.
Dimensionally, the Altima Coupe rides on a 105.3-inch (2675 mm) wheelbase, a full 4.0 inches (101 mm) shorter than the Sedan. Overall length is 180.9 inches (4595 mm) – 7.1 inches (105 mm) less than the Sedan. The Coupe also has a lower profile – at 55.9 inches (1421 mm) it is 2.5 inches (66 mm) shorter than the Sedan. In terms of major body panels, the two cars share only a common hood, with all other panels, grille, headlights and rear combination lights unique to Altima Coupe.
Under the new Altima Coupe’s sophisticated exterior design, this latest addition to the Altima family shares the platform, powertrain and user-friendly features and innovations of the new Altima.
“A strong sedan starting point, such as the new Altima, also gives you a tremendous advantage – if you get the basics right, you can focus your efforts on the unique desires of coupe buyers, including wanting a purely personal space,” said Forsyth.
Altima Coupe, as part of the fifth-generation Altima design, utilizes Nissan’s all-new, highly acclaimed “D” platform with increased body rigidity and a redesigned suspension. This new platform was developed with the objective of making Altima one of the best performing large front-wheel drive vehicles available globally.
Altima’s suspension geometry, shock absorbers with rebound springs, engine placement that is lower in the subframe and equal-length half-shafts that have equal angles and are more parallel to the ground all help to virtually eliminate torque steer.
The rear multi-link independent suspension design separates the rear shocks and springs for reduced friction and the shocks are in line with the centre of the rear wheels, providing better damping and less harshness. Front and rear stabilizer bars are standard. The Altima suspension has been specially tuned for use with the Altima Coupe.
The new Altima Coupe is once again offered with a choice of two engines and two transmissions. The 3.5-litre 24-valve DOHC V6 is the “next generation” version of the 14-time Ward’s “10 Best Engines” award-winning VQ-series V6. For use in the Altima Coupe, it is rated at 270 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque and offers strong acceleration and refined sound quality. The V6 features reduced friction, improved cylinder head cooling and new twin knock sensors.
Also available with the new Altima Coupe is a 2.5-litre DOHC 16-valve QR25 inline 4-cylinder, producing 175 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque. This engine has been refined from the previous version, with a larger, equal-length intake manifold, increased compression ratio and reduced friction characteristics. It features a silent chain drive and a balancer system (with balancer changed to a centre-mounted location for better NVH) that effectively negates vibrations without taking up much space – combining ideal packaging and smoothness.
Both engines feature continuously variable valve timing, modular engine design, microfinished crank journals and cam lobes, molybdenum coated lightweight pistons and electronically controlled throttles.
Both the 3.5-litre V6 and 2.5-litre 4-cylinder models are available with Nissan’s advanced Xtronic CVT™ (Continuously Variable Transmission) or 6-speed manual transmissions.
The V6 CVT features a “Sport” mode controller with a high-speed central processing unit and Adaptive Shift Controller with adaptive logic for faster shifting in both normal and manual modes. The adaptive logic feature delivers the best shift pattern based on the driving environment and driver’s perceived intentions.
“The driving performance of the Altima Coupe is biased toward sporty feel, especially when equipped with our award-winning V6,” said Wheeler. “Handling is also a strong point of the new Coupe, as is the responsiveness feeling provided by the Xtronic CVT transmission.”
Also contributing to the Altima Coupe’s sporty performance feel are a standard twin-orifice vehicle-speed-sensitive power rack-and-pinion steering system and 4-wheel disc brakes with standard 4-wheel, 4-channel, 4-sensor Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD).
Altima Coupe models with the 4-cylinder engine are equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels and 215/55R17 tires, while the V6-equipped Altima Coupes come with unique-design 18-inch aluminum-alloy wheels and 235/45R18 tires.
The 2011 Altima Coupe’s performance feeling is also enhanced by a driver-centred interior. Though sharing much of the design and features with the new Altima Sedan, the Coupe includes unique sport-style front seats with more side support, in-board release lever and front kangaroo pouches. All Altima Coupes also utilize a parking brake hand lever (versus foot release for Altima Sedans with CVT). The Coupe also includes a 60/40 split flat fold-down rear seat.
Like the Altima Sedan, the Altima Coupe’s instrument panel features a Fine Vision gauge display for enhanced readability and the L-shaped flow of the instrument panel to the centre console adds to the driver-oriented cockpit feel.
The centre console includes a double front cup holder, among the many convenient cup and bottle areas and storage compartments.
The list of impressive passenger amenities includes standard Intelligent Key with Push Button Ignition, heated cloth seats and power glass moonroof and available Bose®-developed audio system with nine speakers, Bluetooth® Hands-Free Phone System, satellite radio and dual-zone automatic climate control.
The new 2011 Altima Coupe also comes equipped with a number of standard safety features, including Zone Body construction with front and rear crumple zones and Advanced Air Bag System (AABS), which includes dual-stage front supplemental air bags. Also standard are front seat side-impact supplemental air bags for chest protection, roof-mounted curtain side-impact air bags for front and rear outboard occupant head protection and anti-lock brakes.
Other standard equipment includes Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), Traction Control System (TCS), front seat Active Head Restraints, the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) child seat anchors and tether system and Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS).
The 2011 Altima Coupe will be available in four well-equipped models: 2.5 S 6MT, 2.5 S CVT, 3.5 SR 6MT, 3.5 SR CVT.
Available technology features include a RearView Monitor with a 4.3” display, that shows the view behind the vehicle when in reverse gear. Also available is a 6.5-inch colour display screen, USB input and iPod connectivity, Bluetooth® Streaming Audio, DVD playback capability and the Nissan Navigation System with a 6.5-inch colour monitor which now features VGA resolution.
“Along with the Altima Coupe’s extensive list of available features and amenities, it offers one more thing to discerning coupe buyers – the reassurance of Nissan durability, quality and reliability,” said Wheeler.
The new Altima Coupe will be assembled at the Nissan North America Manufacturing Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee plants.
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