2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid Review

The Nissan Altima is now available both in sedan as well as coupe styles. The hybrid models really represent success if they are judged according to the design. The base price of Nissan Altima Hybrid 2011 is about $19,900. The 2.5 model includes several features such as, CVT, power windows, steering wheels are tilted or telescoping, adjustable driver's seat and the temperature indicator.

The 2.5 sedans as well as 2.5 S sedans and the coupe have got 175 HP which you can enjoy. The feeding rate of fuel is not lowest but is pretty good for an engine of 2.5. In the market Nissan Altima Hybrid has got no competition from other models such as Toyota Camry or the hybrid Chevrolet Malibu. All the sedans of Altima comes with the CVT which acts as an automatic transmission but only delivers power such as rheostat. The 2011 Nissan coupes are now available with CVT choice or 6 manual transmission speeds, which is regardless of the engine size.

Over all Altima hybrid provides a smooth ride, quick as well as agile. The car is sporty but it is family friendly. It is really a fun to take a ride in this car and for comforts you don't have to sacrifice the performance. The V-6 hops starting from 0 to 60 mph within 6.6 seconds.

There is a small distance between the rear and front axles, the coupe is easy to handle. The base Nissan Altima hybrid car with 4 cylinders of 2.5 L is good but now the competitors have also got sportier models of same range price. The length of Altima has been cut down by 2 inches as compared to the last model, which result in small legroom. The sedan can hold about 4 adults comfortably but the headroom as well as legroom will be small.

Nissan Altima Hybrid uses top materials for its design and class as compared to others. It has an aggressive as well as unique personality. It has been a favorite family car for many years. The blend of style as well as sport rolled in this family vehicle has made it popular.

This 4 cylinder model has about 23 MPG in the city road and 32 MPG on the highway. The engine V6 should have about 19 MPG in the road of city and on highway it has 27 MPG. Nissan Altima offers a warranty of 36,000 mile for 3 years and 60,000 mile warranty for 5 years.

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Review: 8 Earth Friendly Cars, Plus a Tesla

I saw my first Tesla.

Up close, and personal. My first impression: This car is teeny. Would I be able to fold in my 6-foot 2-inch frame? Heck yes!

Tesla Roadster
With 3.7 seconds to 60 mph, this baby would fly. The possibility of me expanding my horizons with speeding tickets would increase exponentially if I were allowed access.

The Tesla Roadster was one of the key attractions at Fresno Earth Day celebration at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fresno. Accompanying the little black electric powered ball of fury were a Nissan Leaf, a Chevy Volt, a solar-powered Toyota Prius, a hybrid Honda Insight and several other vehicles of interest.

The festivities included other attractions. Those included 75 participants for a crowd-pleasing variety that included live music, food, workshops, tours, exhibits, free e-waste recycling, solar cooking & bio-fuel making demonstrations, xeriscaping and more. The church itself is worth checking out as it is LEED certified and makes use of energy efficient materials, low-flow plumbing and landscaping that needs very little water.

But I was there to see the cars. For me, the experience proved valuable even if it was self-indulgent. My wife, Peggy, tagged along for the experience. I promised her it would be brief and that I would avoid engaging in any long-winded discussions about cars.

I succeeded. We left after about 20 minutes and still got a chance to look at the solar oven display. Very cool concept. Great for reducing deforestation in third world countries.

Zap Car
But the wheeled objects really captured my interest. There was a Zap car, one of the three-wheeled creations of the Santa Rosa-based manufacturer of electric vehicles that until recently served as a niche product. Zap recently purchased controlling interest in Chinese automaker Zhejiang Jonway Automobile Co. Ltd. and hopes to tap into the growing Chinese market with a new lineup of vehicles. I suspect it's a company to watch.

Peggy snapped several pictures of the Zap mobile, figuring it would be a favorite of her students. She teaches ninth-grade English at rural Riverdale High School (which by the way has its own solar installation.)

Nissan Leaf
I checked out the Nissan Leaf. The owner explained details of power consumption and some of the variables for getting the most miles out of a charge. One thing I noticed about the rig was that it looked a lot beefier in person. The photos of the Leaf online make it look dainty somehow.

Up close, the Leaf looks quite solid. The aluminum wheels are rather large and sporty and the interior is spacious and not too Jetsons. Here's a shout-out to Phil T, who's been blogging about his experiences as a SoCal Leaf owner for the past several months. "Phil, you're right. Photos don't do the car justice."

Smart Car
We also got to get up close and personal with Smart car. I've been repulsed by the things since I first saw one skittering down the freeway. All I can think of is the short wheel base and how the thing would spin like a top on ice.

But looking at it from a different angle gave me greater appreciation. Just the engineering of the car is amazing. All sorts of stuff crammed in without looking crammed. The engine fits in back like a Bug. (Obviously not in in a Beetle's league, but still interesting.)

There's an electric version of the rig available this year at dealerships across the country. Dubbed Smart Fortwo Electric, the tiny vehicle was anticipated by Daimler designers two decades to be powered by an electric drive train, according to officials. They apparently left room in the design so there appears no change in outward appearance in the two vehicles.

VW TDI
Two vehicles that stood out at the Earth Day event, at least to me, were a couple of Volkswagen Jetta TDI series, one older and another brand new. TDI, for turbo direct injection diesel, is the designation VW bestowed upon its latest generation of diesel vehicles. The older Jetta was tuned to run on biodiesel, while the new one sported VW's latest "clean diesel" technology. Mileage in the latter is listed at 34 mpg combined city/highway.

Fred Voglmaier, who writes on tdiclub.com, says demand for the diesel rigs is high. Could be.

Toyota Prius
The Prius owner at the Earth Day event gave a serious rundown on what kind of mileage he gets under multiple conditions. The data was fascinating and he can get up to 56 mpg under certain conditions. The model even was equipped with a solar panel in the glass roof.

Toyota is set to introduce its Prius PHV, for plug-in hybrid, next year. Here's how Steve Siler of caranddriver.com described the differences with the conventional hybrid: "The Prius PHV is essentially just a Prius whose nickel-metal hydride battery pack has been swapped for a far pricier, far heavier, and far more potent lithium-ion pack."

Range is supposed to be far less than the Volt or Leaf.

Chevy Volt
The Chevy Volt looked the most conventional of the electric cars at the Unitarian church that day. In fact, it looked rather large, hardly a compact car. Interior space was ample, and the design, inside and out, was very un-Chevy. By that, I mean Chevy's had a reputation for short-shifting its cars on style. The SUVs look cool. The cars, on the other hand, and I personally believe since the Camaro was redesigned in the 1970s, just looked lame.

The Volt, and the redesigned Camaro, return Chevy to a contender among car buyers.

Biodiesel Mercedes
There was also a beat up old Mercedes at the show that looked as if the owner brewed the biodiesel in the trunk. It's an original, late 70s or early 80s vintage. Cool but definitely somebody else's project.

Honda Insight
The Honda Insight is a great vehicle and reasonably priced. Great entry for the hybrid/electric market. My wife despises the design as she does that of the Prius.

All in all great show. I saw the Tesla driving around Fresno. I pointed it out to some young people at the athletic club, but they just stared blankly until I said, "0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds."

Mike Nemeth, project manager of the San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization, spent 24 years working as a newspaperman editing and reporting from Alaska to California. The SJVCEO is a nonprofit dedicated to improving quality of life through increased use of clean and alternative energy. The SJVCEO is based in Fresno, Calif. and works with cities and counties and public and private organizations to demonstrate the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the eight-county region of the San Joaquin Valley. For more information, go to http://www.sjvcleanenergy.org/.

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Review of the Lexus CT200h

To start let's look at this new Lexus as a car and not a hybrid. Why? Well for 2011 Malaysians, especially urban city dwellers, the hybrid ownership proposition has moved up a few notches due to the exclusion of import tax on hybrid vehicles below 2-litre engine capacity for the 2011 financial year. This has reduced the price of hybrid cars by some 30-35% for 2011. This has allowed Lexus to sell the new CT200h from just RM 167,000.00. Lexus's sister company, Toyota has also managed to bring down the price of their world popular Prius hybrid to just RM 139,000.00. Now on an average day we can see at least 1 hybrid or 2 on Klang Valley roads in daily commute. In my neighborhood in Petaling Jaya alone the sightings are even higher at 5-6 hybrids a day.

We are testing the Lexus CT200h here and we want to bring you first its review as a 'CAR' as most buyers have looked at it as more a car than an environmental friendly vehicle. This is because its selling price allows many middle class Malaysians to own a luxury product which SHOULD be selling for near RM 230,000 plus. Therefore it is an alternative to the popular VW Golf TSI and Mazda3 Sport which costs just a smidgen lower. Both the golf TSI and Mazda3 are sexy well-built and stylish family hatchbacks, but the Lexus CT200h is also a sexy looking 5-door hatchback. It shares a similar nose to the Lexus IS250 and most of the interior bits. A flat squared off rear deck makes for a hatchback. It comes with 16-inch alloys, low profile tires, xenon lamps,, LED lamps and a contoured lower side sill that give it a perpetual body kit. It sits quite low on the ground with a hunkered down look and has a very sporty stance from all angles.

Stepping inside Lexus CT200h is easy as it has a keyless Go system with a car key in my pocket all three days never leaving the warmth of my inner pocket. Click the door handle to open and lock the car and the stop start ignition works with a quick fast click. The cabin is a leather filled cabin with good panel fit and finish but the lack of high quality plastics on the door grab handles and roof pockets leaves us disappointed with whole Lexus experience. Many plastic bits in the cabin have been borrowed from Toyota. Front seats are comfortable and the driver gets an electric seat with 3 memory positions. Rear passengers get 3 headrests but legroom is tight with the seat bottoms covering the hybrid battery pack. The dashboard is a kid's a delight as it lights up like a Christmas tree with 2 in dash colour schemes. 'Blue' for 'Eco' mode and 'Red' for sports mode. Just a twist of a knob and the whole drive experience changes. The gear shifter is a small little toggle which looks more at home in a Starship or a game console.

Like the Prius, the car starts initially using the battery only and there is an eerie silence for newbies to the hybrid world. Move along slowly and the CT200h will still run on battery mode and as the battery gets used up the engine starts up to keep its momentum. As you drive like any normal car, which is the right way to drive this car, the engine will switch on and off alternating with the battery to get the best possible fuel mileage for you. Under hard acceleration both the petrol engine and battery pack will work together to provide near 2.4-litre engine performance (similar to the Camry 2.4 but in a lighter shell). Move in heavy traffic in the city and the battery works most of the time sipping negligible fuel as the petrol engine kicks in just to charge the battery when needed. This is where the real savings of the CT200h shows as Klang Valley city traffic is mostly done in creeping mode under battery power.

The 9-speaker stereo is very decent sounding and there is a CD tray, USB connector and Ipod connectivity. Bluetooth phone connectivity works with your phone for hands free driving and there is little else you will need after buying Lexus CT200h.

So, how much fuel can this car save you? Well if driven in the daily Klang Valley traffic to and fro work and the usual weekend shopping spree with the family, look at a possible 15-20% savings on fuel. Drive it hard and fast in 'Sports' mode and don't expect much savings. But after all that has been said, the purchase proposition is really a no brainer as the 'subsidized' selling price just makes it very hard to ignore as long as you can afford the monthly payments. With a good loan package, middle class Malaysians can now enjoy luxury motoring whilst being eco-friendly.

Volkswagen Malaysia has applied an exclusive mixture of automation and human skill in a system so effective that each new VW Scirocco car, with countless feasible style variations, is often created to fulfill each customer's individual choices.

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