The new Maxima has borrowed many attributes from its siblings under the Infiniti nameplate. Interior refinement and design is directly from the new ‘09 Infiniti EX, FX and G; as a result it is superior to anything Nissan has ever done previous. Buttons, nobs, plastics, cloth and leather are great complementing the easy to use computer functions and navigation interface. Enough of that, lets discuss what we are really here for, performance!

You read the title, “Torque Steer,” and there is a reason for that…it is virtually gone! If you ever drove the last gen Maxima, the 3.5L engine would torque you right or left when you stomp on the throttle. It was necessary to hold on for dear life to keep the car on the straight and narrow. Bad news is that nearly every front drive car with reasonable horse power and torque suffers from this disease. I have had plenty of time behind the wheel of the Altima 2.5L 4 cyl and even that 175 hp engine can torque the car to either side when hard on the gas. So what happens when you throw a 290 hp V6 in the new Maxima? Nothing! That’s right, torque steer is virtually eliminated! Get on a straight road, take your hands off the wheel, put your foot to the floor and beauty begins. Dead straight all the way even in this front drive beast. It took Nissan many man hours to figure this out as they are one of the first manufacturers to perfect this even with a near 300 hp engine.

The transmission is the same in all Maximas, a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). Now you purists in the sports car realm might balk at the lack of a 6 speed close ratio transmission but trust me when I say this CVT is stellar. Since there are no gears in a CVT, just smooth power delivery, there is no shift shock or hunting for gears up hills (cue the Altima commercials a few years back of the woman trying to apply her lipstick). Nissan has perfectly mated the CVT to their award winning VQ series V6 power-plant. This CVT is not Nissan’s normal CVT like what they use in the Versa but is now sport tuned with manual mode, sport drive mode and available paddle shifters. The sport mode is going to hold the RPMs up near red line when pushing the car hard. This is naturally assisting performance by squeezing all available juice out of the V6. If you use the manual mode in your Maxima, you may be surprised to know that the sport mode allows the car to pull 0 to 60 times quicker than shifting it yourself with the the manual mode. This is the best example I can give of how well this CVT is mated to these 290 hp.

The available packages allow you to make this a more sports oriented car with upgrades like 19 in alloys and sport tuned suspension or a premium luxury cruiser with amenities like climate controlled seats which heat and cool (yes air cooled perforated leather seats) as well as a hard drive based navigation system with hard drive space left to rip your own music. For a car of this stature starting at a price of $29,290 is reasonable but ticking off all the boxes can reach $40,000 quickly. Lets face it though, in a similarity equipt Infiniti, BMW, or Acura you can easily pay a $10,000 – $15,000 premium. Not bad for a 4 Door Sports Car with the handling to match. Be on the lookout for the 2010 Maxima clean diesel and lets all cross our collective fingers for an AWD model.

Nissan has taken a few pages from its more upscale child, Infiniti. Granted you have to opt into a package or two for some of the “high end” options like HID (High Intensity Discharge) headlights, bluetooth phone connectivity with a very long list of compatible cell phones, intelligent key system, paddle shifters, Bose stereo and leather seating. Now if you do not opt for any options you can slide into a front wheel drive model for only $19,250 and only $1,320 extra for All Wheel Drive. 

The interior of the Rogue is oddly upscale for a $20,000 crossover. It is competently pieced together with everything working in harmony. Lets face it, it is not playing in the same sandbox as it’s $35,000 Infiniti EX cousin but it’s good for its class. The gauge cluster is a handsome blue and red combo with a center LCD info display. The LCD display in the dash does have a tendency to wash out on a sunny day with sunglasses on. The eight speaker Bose system is decent with good base response from its subwoofer and it eats MP3 and WMA disks also.

Dropping the rear seats down reveals an abundant storage area enough for a mountain bike and all the accompanying camping gear and coolers. Honorable mention is the cavernous glove box up front; I didn’t have one to experiment with but I think a small laptop could be stored inside! The front seat also has a fold flat feature to transport all those long items that you might have otherwise needed to borrow your friends truck.

All that said, this is not a sport crossover as much as Nissan markets it that way form a style standpoint. Granted it has sport paddle shifters on the up level model but it is mated to a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). This type of transmission has no “gears” and is one smooth ride. It is belt driven and constantly changes to match the engines needs at every speed. I did find on my demo drive that it felt a bit numb and obviously not sporty feeling like a standard or even a conventional automatic. Nissan has been successful with this transmission for years now and they are about the only automaker that has tackled the CVT for mass production.

The AWD is not a simple stripped down system. It is an intelligent system and will adapt to the changing road conditions of the US. To save gas, the Rogue is primarily front wheel drive but every time it accelerates from a stop, the AWD system transfers 50% of the power to both the front and rear wheels. This helps on nearly every road surface and eliminates wheel slip when racing off the line.  It also has a AWD Lock feature that can be used for short times. This is not going to let you rock crawl on the Rubicon Trail but it will help in those sketchy winter situations.

Bottom line: if you are looking into a compact car or even a small waggon, check this out.  The reliability should be good as has been historically true with Nissan’s that are built in Japan as the Rogue is. Fortunately they did not choose Mexico, like some of their cars, where the reliability often suffers.

Just to give an idea, this thing will give a Corvette Z-06 a run for its money. That my friends, is very very fast. Its Hand Crafted, V-6 engine produces about 430lb-ft of torque from 3200 RPM, also not a bad little statistic. The combination of 6 speed Dual Clutch transmission and All Wheel Drive make it a beast on the track. Perhaps the best statistic is that it will actually be available here in the US, unlike the old Skyline.

Bottom line, I want one. Bad. So, what will one of these run you? Somewhere in the neighborhood of $72k. Not bad considering that Motorweek.com reports that a 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 will cost about $121k and only gets you 1 more MPH (193 for the Porsche vs. 192 for the GT-R).

On a side note, Nissan is already working on the Nissan GT-R Spec-V which is expected to be released in 2010. Autoblog.com reported last week, April 8th, the new Spec-V was spotted on the Nürburgring in Germany with an unofficial lap time of 7:25! If you are unfamiliar with the Nürburgring, it is nearly 13 miles long race track with some of the most notorious corners in the world. For comparison, back in 2005 a Corvette C6 Z06 lap The Ring in 7:42. The Spec-V is lighter with more horsepower than the original, can’t go wrong!

My Opinion – awesome car for relatively short money. Styling may not be for everyone, but I’m the guy who loves the fact that the coefficient of drag is close to the awkward Honda Insight’s. Function over form I always say. Actually I’ve never said that, but for this car I just might start.