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AUTO REVIEW

fast in most driving situations, especially As regular readers know, any car search ima. It’s a very good car.
highway entrance ramps and high speed back should begin with a call to Phil Hornbeak, If you’re in the market for this kind of ve-
roads. And using the standard paddles to ac- who will guide you through the entire
celerate or decelerate gives you pseudo-gears, process of choosing a vehicle that will work hicle, call Phil Hornbeak at 210-301-4367.
which augment any driving situation. best for you and your budget.
Steve Schutz, MD, is a
For the record, fuel economy is While hamstrung by FWD, a relatively board-certified gastroenterol-
high curb weight, and a CVT, the new Nis- ogist who lived in San Anto-
22 MPG city/30 highway. san Maxima is fun to drive. And while de- nio in the 1990s when he
signed with many styling elements including was stationed here in the U.S. Air Force. He
A quick aside to driving enthusiasts: ever but definitely not limited to a floating roof, has been writing auto reviews for San Anto-
tightening fuel economy and emissions reg- it looks good. If you’re looking for a sporty nio Medicine since 1995.
ulations are bringing CVTs, shrinking en- sedan with luxury, don’t overlook the Max-
gines, and hybrid technology to an
increasing percentage of new vehicles. Is that
bad? Not necessarily, but it’s worth noting
that RWD cars with naturally aspirated en-
gines and manual transmissions are endan-
gered species.

Japanese vehicles generally come well
equipped compared with anything from Ger-
many, and that’s the case with the Maxima.
Standard features of the base S model include
18-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights,
keyless ignition and entry, dual-zone auto-
matic climate control, power front seats
(eight-way driver and four-way passenger),
and an auto-dimming rearview mirror. Nav-
igation, a rearview camera, Bluetooth phone
and audio, two USB ports, HD radio, and a
six-disc CD changer are also standard in every
Maxima. If this were Twitter, I’d type #nev-
erinagermancar in my tweet.

SV, SL, and Platinum Maximas provide
many more options and option packages, so
you can easily add as much luxury features
as a Lexus, but it’s nice to know that going
for the base Maxima won’t embarrass you.

For enthusiasts, the sportier SR adds 19-
inch wheels with available performance tires,
a more athletic suspension, Active Ride
Control, Active Trace Control (Nissan’s ver-
sion of torque vectoring), and active engine
braking to enhance spirited driving. This
Maxima, which would be my choice, also
has LED headlights, premium leather, and
heated and ventilated front seats.

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