2009 Nissan Maxima

A fan of the interior? Yes. A fan of the car as a whole? Not really. "For cruising around town, the 2009 Nissan Maxima works well enough. But after a while the CVT and its peculiar, non-sporty behavior get tiresome. In my opinion, it wrecks this car. And the front-drive layout finishes the job. If Nissan's intent really was to build a 'four-door sports car,' the choice of FWD seems absurd. Why would you ever buy this car over an Infiniti G37?" On Web producer Melissa Speiring's baby seat test: "I had to have Kirill's strength to help me attach the two lower latches to the rear seat. The hooks are located deep in the cushions, and the straps of the baby seat barely reached them."

The Maxima's cockpit, though more intimate, is a cut above. It's dressy without being flashy and radiates quality. Sophistication rules, from the designer shapes to the supple feel of the leather to the crisp numerals on the display screens (the G8's center stack is marred by low-res, bright-red amp and oil-pressure readouts that appear to have been lifted from a 1970s Atari computer). The 2009 Nissan Maxima's huge dual-panel sunroof (only the front glass opens) draws lots of passengers "wows" when you hit the button and the shades retract, if you insist on being a showoff.

The Maxima puts its considerable power down well, grips powerfully (0.85 g), and provides solid, mostly torque-free steering feel. But any handling accolade you apply to the Maxima must contain a caveat at its suffix: "for a front-drive car." If the priority really was to build a "four-door sports car," Nissan should have opted for rear drive.

If any car in the Nissan lineup qualifies as a "cult" vehicle, it's the maker's four-door Maxima sedan.

The new 2009 Nissan Maxima comes off as a sweet, sophisticated piece, full of worthy technology (including available voice recognition, Bluetooth, and iPod integration) and styled to impress.

The 2009 Maxima was deliberately built, tuned and aimed at drivers who prefer sporty handling and a firmer ride as opposed to the softer, more luxurious ride associated with many cars in this class.

This new 2009 Nissan Maxima now competes directly against sporty upmarket sedans. Among them: Acura TL, Infiniti G35, Chrysler 300, Cadillac CTS, and Toyota Avalon, as well as deluxe versions of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

Nissan has modified the platform and body of the Maxima extensively, with one additional stiffness package for the S and SV models, and additional rear reinforcements for the Sport and Premium package versions that uses a large steel panel behind the rear seat to connect the floor, walls and package shelf into a single, much stiffer unit that Nissan says is up to 17 percent stiffer than the base model.

Very much on purpose, the Nissan Maxima doesn't look anything like the Altima anymore.

The interior features of the new 2009 Maxima are all about concentration of controls and information around the driver.

The only time this Maxima gets sporty and rorty is when the engine intake system switches over into high-flow mode above 4500 rpm. The rest of the time, the car is very quiet inside, with very little intrusion from the outside world.

The all-new 2009 Nissan Maxima is one of the most fun to drive cars in the class. It's one of the best-engineered front-drive sporty sedans available, from the accurate, quick steering to the engine power to the remarkably good performance of the CVT. It isn't the roomiest car in the class, and it isn't the least expensive. Instead, it's designed as a premium car for drivers who want something sporty. And if 26 mpg isn't enough for you, you'll be able to get this sporty sedan in 2010 with a diesel engine.

The Nissan Maxima has been a premium mid-size offering forever - or so it seems - but the 2009 version has been restyled inside and out to put more psychic distance between it and Nissan's volume-selling Altima, which uses the same platform.

Once inside the Maxima, headroom is barely adequate for six-footers and knee clearance is good, but there is no foot room under the front seats. The 2009 Nissan Maxima's bench has seatbelts for three but is deeply sculpted for two; its fold-down center armrest includes optional audio and climate controls.

The Maxima puts up game-winning numbers and can be loaded with a full-on luxury sedan's worth of equipment.

Nissan wanted its latest Maxima sedan to go back to its roots, back to being a true four-door sports car just like it was in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Scanning the specs of the 2009 version, all looks to be very promising.

This is area the Maxima's trump card; it looks really good. The wider track and bulging fenders combined with the shorter overall length give the Nissan a distinctive look.

The 2009 Nissan Maxima is nicely equipped as standard and there is no shortage of optional equipment.

The 2009 Maxima may look like a rear-wheel-drive car, but there is little doubt of its front-wheel-drive setup when you're behind the wheel. Nissan did a fair amount of work making the sedan a sporty proposition but there is only so much you can do with nearly 300 hp running through the front wheels.

One of the pioneers of the near-luxury segment (dating from before that segment was so identified), the Nissan Maxima was once a real standout in both looks and performance. For the legions of college students who drove rusty but trusty Datsun 210s and then, with the arrival of a first real job, graduated to the Sentra, the Maxima was something to aspire to.

The Maxima might look convincingly like a rear-wheel-drive car from the outside, but that illusion dissipates when you're sitting behind the wheel.

At least the Maxima's chassis is unlikely to induce seasickness. Riding on the available sport suspension (with upgraded springs, dampers, and antiroll bars), our test car was very buttoned down yet absorbed bumps well.

Nissan Maximas were not always boring cars; long ago, they were marketed as "four-door sports cars." They never were sports cars, of course. It's all but impossible to make a front-wheel-drive sedan handle like a sports car, but Maximas were quick enough daily drivers with their excellent V-6 engines.

The Nissan Maxima was one of the original near-luxury cars, a fast and comfortable sedan that was a real standout, both visually and in its performance. But with the past couple redesigns, the Maxima's star dimmed. Even people within Nissan acknowledged that the car had lost its way.