Nissan Maxima - Hits and misses

The midsize sedan segment is one of the most active areas within the automotive industry, even in regions where crossovers/SUVs tend to dominate much of the market - an excellent example of this is the United Arab Emirates. Here, sedans still play a major role and buyers still gravitate towards them.

Of course, if you are on the lookout for a good family transport that not only does its part of being a sedan well but doesn’t disappoint once you step inside and actually drive the thing - you do have quite a few options. Some of the most famous names include that of the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Kia Cadenza and of course, the Nissan Maxima.

The Nissan Maxima has been around since early 1980, and the outgoing model represents the eight generation avatar and was first launched back in 2015. Built upon the Japanese automaker’s D platform, the new Maxima is currently one of the most well-liked cars in its respective segment. Here is a look at Nissan Maxima price and engine specs -

Price

Variants	Price
Nissan Maxima SV	AED 141,500
Nissan Maxima SR1	AED 160,500
Nissan Maxima SR2	AED 163,000

Engine

Engine	3.5-litre naturally-aspirated six-cylinder with direct injection and DOHC
Transmission	Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)
Power	300 hp at 6,400 rpm
Torque	354 Nm at 4,400 rpm
Claimed Fuel Economy	9.6 kmpl

Now with the basics out of the way, it is time to look at some of the hits and misses of the new Nissan Maxima. So if you buy the new Maxima, here are a few positives that you will find pretty attractive.

Nissan Maxima Hits

Design

The Maxima’s exterior design looks fairly modern and stylish - featuring plenty of visual muscle that come in the form of strong contours, vivid body lines, and crisp creases. The styling of the Maxima portrays its sporty, confident yet brawny personality pretty well. Elements such as the large but well-sculpted LED headlamps & tail lamps look sophisticated, while the “floating” roof and sporty-looking, machine-finished 19-inch wheels look cool, too

Build quality

The comfortable and well-appointed cabin of the Nissan Maxima brings together good quality materials with decent standards of the build. Many of the surfaces are covered with soft-touch materials, while there are quite a few leather-clad & stitched inserts which provide a further boost to the overall sense of luxury and comfort

Comfort & convenience features

Depending on the trim you go with, the Nissan Maxima can be had with tonnes of modern features to keep most buyers plenty happy. Some of the most noteworthy features in the Maxima include adaptive LED headlamps, quad-exhaust pipes, heated & power-operated door mirrors, dual-panel sunroof, remote engine starter, digital driver’s MID, 8-inch touchscreen with traffic assist & navigation, dual-zone climate control, power-adjustable steering column, switchable drive modes, ambient LED lighting, ventilated front seats, paddle shifters, 11-speaker Bose audio system with active noise cancellation, and Android Auto & Apple CarPlay.

Driver-assist suite

Nissan has also loaded the new Maxima specs sheet with bucket loads of modern and helpful driver assist technology, along with passive and active safety features. Among its various driver-assist tech, there’s Nissan’s Active Ride Control, Intelligent Trace Control, Intelligent Engine Braking, Intelligent High Beam Assist, Intelligent Driver Alertness, Intelligent Forward Collision Warning, Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Intelligent Lane Intervention, and all-around parking sensors with Intelligent Around View Monitor.

Passive and active safety equipment

For complete peace of mind, the Maxima is replete with almost every safety gadget that Nissan has to offer at the moment. Obviously, you get the usual stuff such as a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, Anti-lock Braking System with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Brake Assist, but also up to eight airbags! Then there is also Vehicle Dynamic Control with Traction Control System, Blind Spot Warning, and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert.

Performance

For a traditional four-door family sedan, the new Nissan Maxima does a fairly decent job of taking out the boredom and blandness that most of us find ourselves in almost every day, especially during your average commute around the city. Its 3.5-liter V6 powerplant pushes out 300 horses and 354 units of torque - all which enable this 1.6-tonne, front-wheel-drive family sedan to accelerate from 0-100 kmph in 6.4 seconds, with top whack coming in at 211 kmph.

Of course, as with any car, the Nissan Maxima is not without some kinks in its armour. So here’s a quick breakdown of all the things that are not so good about this suave sedan.

Nissan Maxima Misses

Performance

Now while the Nissan Maxima does a good job on this front, it isn’t nearly as brisk as some of its closest competitors such as the Honda Accord or the Toyota Camry V6. The Accord’s turbocharged 2.0-litre four-popper makes more torque (370 Nm) and its naught to 100 kmph time of 5.8 seconds is much better, too. Meanwhile, the Camry V6 can hit a maximum speed of 235 kmph.

Fuel consumption

The Maxima’s potent V6 engine might be good fun to thrash, its average fuel consumption of just over 10 kmpl isn’t going to help you brag in front of your friends. In fact, the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry both do a much better job when it comes to drinking as low a quantity of dinosaur juice as they can - registering around 14 kmpl on a combined cycle.

Underwhelming interior styling

While the interior of the Nissan Maxima is well-finished and feels pretty upmarket, it certainly isn’t the most attractive or special in the segment. And despite the inclusion of paddle shifters, a flat-bottom steering wheel, and sporty-looking seats, there is much room for improvement.

Expensive

Even the base variant of the new Nissan Maxima costs over 11,000 dirhams more than the fully-loaded Honda Accord, and a full 17,000 dirhams costlier than the top V6 variant of the Toyota Camry. At some point, it becomes increasingly difficult to justify paying that much more moolah over its equally capable and popular rivals.

Conclusion

Given all the facts and figures that we know now, does it make the Nissan Maxima a poor choice for buyers in this segment? Well, not really. If you want the best bang-for-the-buck option in this genre, then the Maxima isn’t for you. But you see, the Nissan Maxima does many things well and even though its price will be deal-breaker for some, others will like it for its sporty character, bold presence, and a lengthy equipment list.

Also read: Toyota Camry-All you need to know