2023 Nissan Altima Unveiled With Sensational New Looks

The Nissan Altima is easy to forget because it competes in a segment where the default car is either a Toyota Camry or a Honda Accord.

For the 2023 model year, Nissan hopes to rectify this problem via a substantial facelift meant to make the Altima more attractive to prospective customers. The 2023 Altima has a revised front end, expanded standard safety tech, more available features, new wheel designs, and two new exterior hues.

The most noticeable difference is the all-new nose. Nissan blessed the Altima with an updated, sportier version of its V-Motion grille, and it slapped the redesigned brand logo on there. Other enhancements include standard LED headlights with turn signals incorporated into the daytime running lights. Nissan's sportier SR trim comes standard with a model-specific grille design in black chrome.

The Altima's existing color palette is joined by Gray Sky Pearl and Garnett Pearl Metallic, and there are four new alloy wheel designs scattered across the various trims. The SV gets a new 17-inch design, and there are three new 19-inch options for the SR, SL, and SR VC-Turbo trims.

On the inside, it's the SR trim that benefits most. It has new instrument panel finishings and a new dual-stitch interior fabric design.

Altima SL and SR-VC Turbo trims get a new 12.3-inch touchscreen display that first debuted in the Nissan Armada. This new unit is equipped with Nissan's Door-to-Door Navigation system, Android Auto, wireless Apple CarPlay, a wireless phone charging pad, and the ability to create a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Both Altima engine options are carried over, but only the naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-pot can be coupled with the available all-wheel-drive system. Unfortunately, Nissan's Xtronic CVT transmission is also carried over without upgrades. As we reported in earlier road tests, the CVT transmission cannot get the most out of these engines, even though they have a lot to offer.

The NA 2.5 produces 188 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque. The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-pot produces 248 hp/273 lb-ft and is available exclusively in front-wheel-drive guise. You can only order it in SR trim, including paddle shifters as standard.

All 2023 models come standard with Nissan's Safety Shield 360. This driver assistance suite includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, rear automatic braking, lane departure warning, radar-based blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, and high beam assist.

SL and SR VC-Turbo models gain ProPILOT Assist, which uses a forward-facing camera, radar, sensors, and an electronic control module to help the driver stay in the center of the lane. This feature also comes standard with full-speed radar-guided cruise control.

The 2023 Nissan Altima will go on sale this fall, though pricing is not available yet.