2016 Nissan Maxima First Drive and Review

2016 Nissan Maxima 3/4 front ・ Photo by Benjamin Hunting

The 2016 Nissan Maxima tries to be two things at once, but fortunately, only succeeds at one of them. Billed as a 'four-door sports car' by the Japanese automaker, the completely redesigned Maxima is intended to excite performance fans with agile handling and a spirited personality. It also represents the apex of the Nissan brand, the last stepping stone before one heads over to the Infiniti side of the dealership in search of a true luxury car.

You might already be able to guess where I'm going with this, but just in case I'm not being clear, I'll spell it out: the all-new Nissan Maxima isn't sporty to drive in the least. It is, however, one of the best full-size cars on the market, especially if your budget is under $40k. In fact, piloting the Maxima through rural Tennessee near the brand's Smyrna manufacturing plant drove home the notion that Nissan's largest sedan also happens to be a legitimate threat to premium rivals from Acura (the TLX) and Lexus (the ES/GS partnership).

Models and Prices

The 2016 Nissan Maxima starts out in the very affordable S trim (MSRP $32,410), which offers a CD player, satellite and HD radio, Bluetooth connectivity with voice commands over most vehicle systems, an eight-inch LCD touchscreen, navigation, cloth seats with power adjustments for driver and front passenger, 18-inch rims, dual automatic climate control, cruise control, power windows and door locks, keyless entry, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and a rearview camera. Opting for the Maxima SV (MSRP $34,390) adds LED turn signals on the side mirrors (that are also heated), leather upholstery throughout the cabin, heated front seats, parking assistance, and a raft of active safety features, while choosing the Maxima SL (MSRP $36,890) installs a heated steering wheel, a panoramic sunroof, upgraded audio, and an active noise cancellation system that's paired with a digital 'sweetener' for the sedan's engine note.

If you go with the next-step-up Nissan Maxima SR (MSRP $37,670) you lose some of the luxury gear like the sunroof but gain 19-inch rims, more aggressive exterior trim, Alcantara seat inserts, heated and cooled front buckets, and additional interior brightwork (including aluminum pedals). The Maxima Platinum (MSRP $39,860) steps down to 18-inch wheels but puts the panoramic sunroof back on the menu alongside the NissanConnect suite of telematics features, a top-down camera system, a power rear sunshade, wood trim for the cabin, a memory feature for the driver's seat, and rain-sensing windshield wipers.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Design

What’s New:

• The 2016 Nissan Maxima has been completely redesigned. 

Gone is the semi-anonymity of the 2014 Maxima (there was no 2015 model year for the sedan) and in its place is an in-your-face interpretation of the company's bold new styling language. The 2016 Nissan Maxima looks every inch the top-of-the-line showroom impresario that it's meant to be, and no small part of that can be attributed to the sinuous character lines that now race down either side of the car from the front fender on back. The Maxima's big chrome grille is echoed by a broad cutout that descends to the very bottom of the front bumper, giving the car a purposeful look that is enhanced by the jewelling in its headlights and foglights.

My heartiest praise is reserved for the Maxima's new interior. With leather standard on all but the base S model, there's a lot to like about what the full-size car brings to the table at such a reasonable price point. Again, detail carries the day, with significant attention having been paid to the vehicle's stitching, the shape of its steering wheel, and the diamond-cut leather inlays available with the SR and Platinum trim levels. Sitting in the Maxima, you'd be hard pressed to pin its price below $40,000, especially when riding in the well-appointed Platinum model.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Comfort and Cargo

What’s New:

• The 2016 Nissan Maxima has been completely redesigned.

Large sedans need to offer respectable rear seat room if they want to be taken seriously, and the 2016 Nissan Maxima passes this test with flying colors. Each of the Maxima's seating positions provides passengers with all the necessary real estate to stretch out and enjoy the ride. Nissan makes a lot of hay with its NASA-inspired 'zero gravity' seats (there I go, name-dropping it just like they want me to), and while I don't find them to be as womb-like as advertised, they are certainly more than adequate for long-distance driving. 

Also impressive is the Maxima's sound-canceling technology, which uses the vehicle's stereo system to counteract unwanted aural intrusions from under the hood and the outside world. The system works quite well, and although it's paired with a fairly unnecessary engine enhancement soundtrack at the very least the additional playback isn't distracting in its artificiality as can be in other automobiles.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Features and Controls

What’s New:

• The 2016 Nissan Maxima has been completely redesigned. 

The 2016 Nissan Maxima receives the brand's latest infotainment effort, and this top-notch system is standard across the entire model line - a feather in Nissan's cap, and the right way to go when positioning your flagship sedan to do battle for the hearts and minds of feature-focused buyers. The LCD touchscreen, which works together with a rotary dial should you prefer to stay old-school when scrolling through radio presets, is a solid piece of work: the screen is bright and easy-to-read, menu logic flows along intuitive paths, and even the stereo system turned in a command performance when asked to reproduce the backwoods charm of Sirius XM's 'Outlaw Country' satellite radio station. 

Other nice touches to be found inside the Maxima include a large seven-inch LCD display directly in front of the driver (nestled between the tachometer and the speedometer), a pair of rotary dials for the heated and cooled front seats that can easily be manipulated while wearing gloves, and separate climate controls that don't ask you to venture into the infotainment system to do something as simple as turn on the defroster. These might seem like little things, but again, details are often what separates a good car from a great car, and sweating the small stuff is a great way to find a competitive edge at an affordable price.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Safety and Ratings

What’s New:

• The 2016 Nissan Maxima introduces a host of new active safety features.

For 2016 the Nissan Maxima fully joins the modern era of advanced safety technologies. Specifically, SL, SR, and Platinum models come standard with a blind spot warning system and forward collision warning with automatic braking. This is in addition to a full set of airbags, along with electronic traction control and stability control. If you opt for the Platinum trim, you also get Nissan's 'moving object detection' feature, which makes use of the surround-view camera system to keep track of people or vehicles in motion around the vehicle, as well as a driver alertness monitor. It's an impressive suite of equipment, and the fact that much of it is standard once you hit the SL mid-point should appeal to a broad range of buyers.

The new Nissan Maxima has yet to be crash tested.

Engines and Fuel Economy

What’s New:

• The 2016 Nissan Maxima retains a redesigned version of the previous model's V-6.
• The sedan is now more fuel efficient.

The 2016 Maxima is motivated by a 3.5-liter V-6 engine, the same VQ series that has been pulling duty in a wide variety of Nissan products for over a decade. Of course there have been a number of improvements and upgrades made to the motor since it was first introduced, with the company claiming that 60 percent of the Maxima's components are new for the current model year.

Total output is up by 10 ponies compared to 2014, giving the sedan 300 horsepower and 261 lb-ft of torque. A continuously-variable automatic transmission remains standard with the car, although paddle shifters are available that allow you to access 'virtual' gears for a more engaging drive. Fuel economy has increased along with the Maxima's engine output: it stands at 30-mpg on the highway (a 15 percent boost), and 22-mpg around town.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Driving Impressions

It's not just advertising that has pegged the 2016 Nissan Maxima as a 'four-door sports car' - it's even written on the shift handle that juts up out of the vehicle's center console. Nevertheless, there's simply no truth to the idea that the Maxima is in any way comparable to a sports sedan. 

Please don't misconstrue my words as an indictment of the Maxima's on-road personality. On the contrary, I found the full-size car to be an absolute pleasure to drive, what with its comfortably-tuned suspension system, its well-insulated cabin, and its unobtrusive CVT properly managing the hefty 300 horsepower living under the Nissan's sloped hood. Acceleration was right there when I needed it, a boon when passing on the short straights that link Tennessee's collection of two-lane asphalt corners, and the car felt planted and composed the entire time I was behind the wheel.

A competent and comfortable car does not a 'sports car' make, however. While the Maxima drives great, it doesn't offer the kind of precise feedback and handling one would expect from a performance model, especially given the vagueness of its electric power steering system. The unfortunate thing about Nissan's marketing tack is that I would never even be mentioning that the Maxima didn't feel sporty to drive if the campaign surrounding the vehicle wasn't so focused on highlighting this aspect of its character.

So forget everything you just read, then, and let's pretend the commercials, billboards, and magazine ads for the Maxima don't exist. With that in mind, Nissan has built a car that compares quite favorably to segment stalwarts both domestic and import, and in many ways pulls ahead of the pack in terms of comfort and power. One would be hard-pressed to pick a comparably-priced large car that puts in a better effort out on the road than the redesigned Maxima.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Final Thoughts

If you can ignore the hoopla about its supposed 'sports car' origins, then you're going to be able to appreciate the 2016 Nissan Maxima for what it is: one of the best new large cars available. You'll have to look far and wide to find a feature-packed full-size sedan that happens to be as beautiful inside and out at the Maxima's price point, and its affordable window sticker gives it an edge on value over a number of its rivals. In fact, I'd wager that the new Nissan may steal more than a few sales away from more established luxury marques from buyers able to see past the more pedestrian badge and discover what's waiting for them when they turn the key.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Beautiful design outside, well-crafted cabin inside
• Powerful, efficient V-6 engine
• Long list of standard and available high tech features
• Affordable pricing
• Excellent complement of safety equipment
• Comfortable and quite to drive

Cons:

• Not sporty to drive - but I'm only mentioning this because Nissan claims that it is
• Electric power steering system is uncommunicative
• All-wheel drive is not on the options list
• Might be too big for some shoppers

Nissan USA supplied the vehicle for this review.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting