While rivals like Ford and GM are quickly calling it quits on sedans foreign rivals like Nissan and Honda are doubling down
there making sedans better than ever in a bid to offset the sales decline by increasing their market share, so
Today, we have two of the latest and greatest examples of this strategy the all-new 2019 Nissan Altima and the also recently redesigned
2019 Honda Accord
Now Accord has already edged out Camry in a previous comparison
So let's go ahead and see if it can hold off another Japanese heavyweight
For this comparison, we wanted both models to be equipped in the highest value trims
Which are ultimately what most people opt for in this respect
They follow a remarkably similar trim and option formula by giving you equipment from the fully loaded trims as well as upgraded sport equipment
But only at the second trim up the ladder
For the Altima that trim is the SR which starts out at only twenty five thousand one hundred dollars
Nissan doesn't offer many options to add to that
However, we do have one very important option, which is the new intelligent all-wheel drive system
With that factored in as well as the destination charge the total price comes in at twenty seven thousand three hundred and forty five dollars
Moving on to the Accord sport is the equivalent trim level and it starts out a little richer than the Nissan at
Twenty six thousand one hundred eighty dollars in this case all-wheel drive is not available
But you do have to pay extra for an automatic transmission
After eight ninety five for destination its price rings in at just a touch over twenty seven thousand
That puts our price difference at a mere two hundred and seventy bucks
Which is already an early indication of just how strongly these two compete against each other
So with that out of the way, let's go ahead and get into the meat and potatoes
We'll start out under the hoods where the to have both similarities and differences
The main difference is that the Honda's engine is a turbocharged 1.5 liter four-cylinder while the Nissan sticks with a more traditional
2.5 liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder. The end result is still very similar power output numbers of
192 horsepower in the Accord versus 188 in the Altima and
192 pound-feet of torque versus 180 pound feet in the Altima
For the transmissions things become more similar since they both have cvts
However, like I already mentioned the Altima is one of the only products in the class to offer an available all-wheel drive system
Which Nissan includes at the same price point as the Accord.
Now as far as how they drive both impress me with a greater than expected agility comfort and handling
Starting out with power delivery. They both get up to speed reasonably. Well, though, they definitely won't knock your socks off
I did notice that the Accord smaller engine makes less noise getting up to speed but I also preferred the tuning of Nissan CVT
Since it simulates gear changes even at partial throttle and it has a kick to make it feel real versus just varying the same
Since both are the sporty are models in the lineup they come with an upgraded suspension tuning
Neither are harsh in any way but instead really tighten things down in a satisfying way
The Accords chassis is the better of the two and will combine with the laser fast steering is the more fun option to drive
Overall, if you own either of the boring previous generation models, you'll be really impressed by how much more enthusiastic these two have become
Lastly let's talk about fuel economy without all-wheel drive
The ultimate eyes the Accord but as it stands with all-wheel drive, it comes in at one mount forgotten less 30 versus thirty one
Anyways, now that we've covered that let's move on to the exterior
Like the driving dynamics if you're not familiar with the latest crop of mid-size sedans, you'll be surprised by just how stylish they've got
starting out with the Altima Nissan went for a bold new look by taking their signature vMotion grille and
Expanding it to be much larger than ever before on the SR trim
The chrome is darkened and you have a black mesh in the middle
The Accord actually has a lot of similarities since it also has a large mouth and darkened chrome accents on the sport truck
The grille cleanly flows into the standard LED low beam headlights, which looks straight from Acura
However on the Altima it includes both LED low and high beams with a design that looks even better
The Accord fights back though with LED fog lights that the Nissan doesn't have at all
Around back there's not much to objectively separate the two though. Subjectively the Ultima design is more cohesive
Overall both offer their styling pros and cons so I won't award any design points
For me the most standout feature of the exterior have got to be these wheels
They both have really large 19-inch wheels
that either look similar to or are exactly the same as what comes on the fully loaded models and
Then for the mirrors neither have heating but the Altima does give you blind spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, which the Accord does not
That said, however, the Accord has the better overall safety equipment since it includes the entire Honda sensing suite standard
That means it has emergency pre-collision braking Lane Keeping Assist
Automatic high-beam headlights and adaptive cruise control
while on the other hand this Altima only comes standard with front auto braking and
Then to finish things off on the outside. We have the fuel ranges
The Accord has a 14.8 gallon tank while the Altima has 16 gallons
which doesn't mean that the Nissan wins here because its fuel economy is very similar the
actual numbers are 459 miles in the Accord and
480 in the Altima
As you can see these two are neck-and-neck thus far
So now let's go ahead and check out the cabins to see if there's more to separate them in there
Now before we even get inside we already have a pretty significant difference
Every single version of the Altima now comes standard with smart entry and remote start
The Accord doesn't get those until the II extra
But once you get inside the actual interiors there is more similarity in the designs than you think
Both have black cloth and leather receiving with a faux carbon fiber trim
The seats themselves are power on both, but the Honda has four-way lumbar that the Nissan is missing
Now getting into the interiors both have great materials even if the Altimas are a little bit better
Both use soft on your plastics across the top parts, but ultimately has leather over the gauges and color contrast stitching
Down at the bottom Altima also gives you a leather wrap knee pad that the Accord is missing press the buttons on both to start
When you do eight inch displays mounted to the dash fire rack
And
Then coming over to the gauges while the designs look very different. They both have premium digital displays with a lot of functions
Moving to the steering wheels, they both feel upscale on the hand with leather and high-quality buttons
There are also paddle shifters on the back side
As far as the interior of storage again, the two cars are pretty much the same
They have large center consoles with the second been up front with several USB ports and a 12-volt outlet
Overall, there's really not enough of a difference to award a point here
Coming back to the shifter. Both are really nicely wrapped design and
Going into reverse they do have snare backup cameras with active trajectory
Moving on from that you have the climate controls
Here there is a big difference since the Accord sport comes there with dual zone automatic climate
Whereas the Altima is a single zone manual set
Now let's take a sample of their audience
Although it's definitely hard to tell with these samples the Altima has the much stronger audio system
That leads us to talk about the infotainment systems
I'll preface it by saying that both of these systems are class-leading in terms of both their functionality and features
They run the latest versions of their respective software which include both apple carplay and android auto in
Addition they do also have shortcut buttons to help ease moving through the system
Really there's not much to separate them here either. So no points will be given
Finally neither the Altima nor the Accord have munis in these lower trims, but they are available as you get to the higher-end models
But overall these interiors are designed to impress they both feel a class above with nice materials
I in tech and tons of space
Now let's go ahead and check out the rear areas
Despite how close these two have been in the front the back is where you start to notice of differences
The Accord is significantly more spacious than the ultimate at a massive forty point four inches of legroom
compared to thirty five point four inches in the ultimate
Headroom though is about the same thing, but
Once inside you'll find a decent amount of amenities in these value trim levels with the Altima offering two USB ports and
both offering center armrest with integrated cupholders
Moving around to the trauma you'll find the same story
the Accord comes in bigger than the Altima at sixteen point seven cubic feet versus 15 point for
The rear seats do fold 60/40 split on each model
Well guys there you have it the newcomer on the block comes away with the W for this comparison
But that's definitely not I'm not gonna be a course
Both are amazing mid-sized errs, and you really can't go wrong with either Italy. So be sure to check them out in person
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