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AUTO REVIEW
2016 Nissan Maxima
By Steve Schutz, MD
The floating roof is a new design trend Big Man on Campus that they used to be created, as buttons, knobs, and screens are
out of Japan that’s “the thing” right now. thanks to the ever-increasing popularity of seemingly everywhere. Thankfully, once you
Floating roofs are optical illusions created by crossovers, they still sell well and satisfy the take the time to sit down and make sense of
rear windows that connect with side win- needs of many car buyers today. the controls, it becomes apparent that a lot
dows via dark panels of some type. Those of thought went into them. And truth be
panels make it look like the roof of the car is The Maxima’s exterior design reflects what told, once you see that most functions can
floating over the top of the vehicle. While some industry observers have called the be accessed through the central control
floating roofs are eye-catching and novel de- death of understatement. From the promi- knob, you realize that a lot of the buttons
sign elements, I personally don’t see them nent grille to the assertive head- and tail- and knobs on the dash are redundant. (Since
lasting much past the current generation of lights to the cavalcade of creases on the everybody has their preferred way to do
cars and crossovers that have them now. bodywork—and let's not forget that floating things, extra options are fine with me.)
roof—the Maxima’s look suggests that Nis-
Having said that, floating roofs can be san’s design team used as many styling flour- Driving the Maxima is very pleasant thanks
found on three very popular (and recently ishes as they thought they could. primarily to a nicely sorted chassis and lots of
redesigned) mainstream vehicles, the Nissan horsepower. The only engine available, Nis-
Murano, Lexus RX, and the subject of this It works, though. The Maxima looks san’s ubiquitous 3.5L V6 provides a muscular
review, the Nissan Maxima. Those three ve- good. Maybe I’ve been beaten down by over- 300 HP--enough to pull the 3545 Lb sedan
hicles alone will account for around 250,000 styled Nissans, Lexuses, and Mercedes, but from zero to sixty MPH in 5.9 seconds. Yes I
sales in 2016, so a lot of floating roofs will the Maxima always struck me as attractive said, “pull”. The Maxima is a FWD car,
be, umm, floating around the US this year. when I walked up to it. Let’s call it happily which limits sportiness as does the buzz
extroverted and leave it at that. killing continuously variable transmission
The Maxima is Nissan’s biggest and most (CVT). Still, the Maxima feels athletic and
expensive sedan, and while sedans aren’t the That same enthusiasm for excess seems to
have carried the day when the interior was
44 San Antonio Medicine • May 2016
