Drove 2008 Altima:

[NC_Prius]

Originally Posted by Tickwood

Isn't the drivetrain the same as the hybrid Camry? I understood they bought them from Toyota.

I believe that's correct. Although supposedly they are working on their own system as well.

[ht_dave]

I just purchased a 2008 Altima Hybrid a couple of weeks ago.

The Hybrid components are from Toyota. If you look under the hood, there is a Toyota sticker on the inverter. It also has a toyota CVT, therefore it looses the little up/down shift mode.

Dave

[SZ92]

Originally Posted by tnthub

I had the opportunity to drive a 2008 Altima hybrid to a green expo this past Saturday and as such out about 110 miles on it. My average MPG (3/4 highway miles) was 37.6mpg as measured by the vehicle's mpg calculator. Acceleration and handling were very good and it handled the few rough spots in the road easily.

I noticed the brakes seemed "touchy" in comparision with other cars, similiar to the old mopars in the 1970s, but I actually like this feeling once I recovered from the first couple of brake taps.

The transmission seemed a bit odd to me however. Not bad... Just a strange feeling at the shift points and several times it felt like it was trying to figure out what gear it wanted to be in, but perhaps that is because the car is brand new with only 166 miles showing on the odometer.

I found the electronic information a bit cryptic in the display but again, my unfamiliarity with the vehicle might be the problem.

Overall it is a nice ride but the mileage was dissapointing for me.

37.5 mpg for a car that big is very good. I think it does better than the camry hybrid.

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by NC_Prius

My other car is a 2007 Altima (same as 2008) -- non-hybrid model because they don't sell them in NC. It is a bigger/heavier car for sure. But I've read that the hybrid model's trunk is very small. In the non-hybrid model it's huge.
Ryan

Yes it's smaller but it's better shaped than the TCH's trunk.