A few years back, when Nissan decided that sedate sedans were the future of the car industry, those of us who admired (and raced) their more exciting cars could be heard to mutter, "Well, they'd better build some darn good ones, then." Secretly, we hoped they'd fail, leading mobs in the streets to demand the return of the 300ZX and other Nissan funmobiles.

    That hope died fast. Nissan's first new sedan under the new philosophy, the Altima, proved to be a masterstroke. Nissan chose to defy conventional wisdom - and created a lucrative niche in the market - by building a car that was small on the outside, but looked, rode, and felt like much larger competitors. Shoppers eyeing a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry found most of what they were looking for in the Altima - at a price several thousand dollars lower.

    Nissan had hit the sweet spot, and Altimas flew out of showrooms.

    Since then, though, a new Camry, Accord, and Mazda 626 have moved the goalposts. Other cars have joined this crowded class, notably Chevy's Malibu and VW's all-new Passat. For 1998, Nissan has updated the Altima. Does it still seem as sweet?
 

INSIDE & OUT
 
    Your eyes will detect the most obvious change to the Altima, its new shape. The 1992 original's styling violated an unwritten agreement among manufacturers that small cars would look like small cars, so people would have reason to buy bigger cars. Altima breached that accord with a sleek, upscale appearance that ignited no small controversy in its day. ("Excuse me. How can car styling be controversial?" asks the Splendid Co-Driver.)
 
    For 1998, the Altima's smooth lines give way to a boxier look that echoes the Maxima in front, Sentra in the middle, and -- with a raised rear deck -- older Cadillac Seville at the rear. The overall effect is less graceful than the previous Altima; curiously, the revised nose appears wider, while the taller, abbreviated trunk and reshaped taillamps seem to narrow the rear. (Room in the deep, square, highly usable trunk, though, remains the same.) Six-spoke, 15-inch alloy wheels add a frisson of spirit.
 
    Inside, the goodie basket is full. Our tested GLE model came with the works, including cruise control, power seats, power windows, variable-delay wipers, air conditioning, and automatic transmission.
 

Better smooth ('97)...	...or chunky ('98)?

    "I like the effect of the inset leather shirring and that sort of detailing that you expect to see in higher end cars," noted the Splendid Co-Driver, who knows what shirring is. Brother Nat, who doesn't know shirring from shipwrighting, had a different take: "If the padded panels are supposed to look crinkled, they're doing a bad job. If they're not supposed to be crinkled, they're doing even worse."     There's a good bit of room inside the Altima, even for us larger types. Seats are reasonably supportive, and the driver's seat has lever-adjustable lumbar support. While competitors offer more rear room, the SC-D pronounced accommodations comfortable enough for sizable people to get in and out of and ride comfortably. Height adjustable seat belt anchors keep front-seat passengers comfy, while shoulder belts keep rear-seat riders safe.
 
    The driver faces the basic four instruments: A small fuel gauge to the left; a small temperature gauge to the right; an 8000-rpm tachometer, big and round with the redline at 6500; and a 120-mph speedometer. At night, the instruments are illuminated white from behind on a black background, with orange needles. They're easily read. The Altima's steering wheel is large and thick, but slippery.

    The between-seats bin has molded-in holders for cassette tapes; a cassette/CD capable radio comes with the GLE. There's a cubbyhole under the ash tray, next to which is an outlet labeled DC 12 volt that in less-enlightened days would have held a cigarette lighter. Passengers get flip-down grab handles over their seats; two little covers in the center console flip up to reveal holes for standard size cups. The interior gets 1½ (of 4) Golden Cupholders.
 
    Those grab handles and covered cupholders emphasize the schizophrenic nature of the Altima; like the shirred leather and all the power appurtenances, they provide touches of luxury. Those touches, though, are surrounded by an obviously plastic interior, in various shades of brown and tan. The SC-D bemoaned the mix; "The interior has a bit too many round snap-in detail bits, and the details are little bit fussy, to no really good effect. It's lacking the kind of sleekness and refinement that I expect in a luxury car."
 
    The cruise control has a cancel feature, which we like, although the little cruise control buttons on the steering wheel are not illuminated at night. Something we've never seen before on a car: the cruise control master button is so small that the word cruise is hyphenated to fit.
 

    Some ants showed up at the picnic, though. Even when closed tightly, wind whistled through the left rear door as if the door were ajar. After only 3500 miles, the hinge on the passenger side vanity mirror was broken; we'd chalk that off to rough journalist treatment, except that the hinge on its driver's side counterpart was improperly attached. Acceleration or deceleration brought a thump from the rear of the car, as if a can were wandering loose in the trunk, although nothing was in there. Most disturbingly, engaging "resume" on the cruise control consistently resulted in much higher speed than previously set. All in all, our experience with the Altima's construction indicates the need for a reeducation camp in Smyrna, Tennessee.
 
    Also, as we said on the 300ZX and 240SX, Nissan's bright white air bag warning signs are a) huge! b) on the sun visors, so they're a constant distraction while you're driving. And, because these visors have vanity mirrors on the back, you can't switch them to remove the distraction.
 

ON THE ROAD

    The Altima's dual nature extends to its manners on the road. The SC-D: "The car, while driving, gives a physical impression of bigness. I have to kind of look and see where all its parts are while I'm driving." That sense of size is reflected in a smooth ride on most surfaces; the suspension is calibrated for touring rather than sport. As befits such a car, the principal handling characteristic of the Altima is understeer, in all phases of the corner. That's not helped by (nor is it the fault of) the 55-series Firestone Affinity Touring T2 tires.
 
    The Altima, though, bears the dynamic liabilities of both cars its size and those with which it seeks to compete. It has a cushy, larger-car ride, but noise and harshness intrude frequently. Over railroad tracks or other disturbances, you feel and hear a number of harmonics that don't appear in more solid upmarket cars. The handling feels light in a way that "luxury" cars don't usually, much more like a Honda Civic then a Corolla, say, or certainly an Accord or Passat. At the same time, handling is not precise, as it is in Nissan's dynamically excellent Maxima and 240SX, and in other cars of the Altima's size. And crosswinds move the Altima around noticeably.
 
    Similarly, we're familiar with -- and like -- Nissan's 2.4 liter, 150-hp engine. Mated to the Altima's automatic, though, "It's a little sluggish on the pickup, which seems too bad with a package of power and weight and size of this car," the SC-D averred. Even with the automatic and all mod cons, the Altima returned 30 mpg on the highway and 27 around town.
 

SUMMING UP

    We have been finding ourselves perplexed by a number of cars recently, and the 1998 Nissan Altima joins that list. Why?
 
    The previous Altima felt like a small luxury car. People shopped it against some significantly larger cars, like the Accord and Camry. The 98 Altima is certainly a cut above entry level economy cars in terms of appointments, and somewhat in the way it drives, but where the original Altima felt like a small luxury car, the 98 feels like a dressed-up little car. It does not come across as the step up from the Sentra it is clearly supposed to be, in its dynamics and structure. And the Altima's target competitors certainly have a more solid and complete feel than this vehicle.
 
    The SC-D is somewhat kinder: "I just find the handling and the pickup and the body roll and the floatiness to make it an undesirable car for me. It seems big without being interesting."

    We find it hard to justify spending $21,000 for this car, when for the same or less you could have a Contour SE, which beats the Altima in every respect except maybe rear seat room. Or a full-boat Malibu or entry-level Accord, not so well appointed but roomier and much better all-around cars.
 
    The 1998 Altima is an unremarkable car. It would be less so had we not met its predecessor, but having done so, the Altima seems to have gone from sleek to stodgy, from cozy to cheaper, yet without the merit of a low sticker price. Either the sweet spot has moved or the Altima has.
 

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