@PopularMechanics _ March 2019 31IL
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LAST YEAR, Ford famously announced it’s killing
most of its cars because drivers want crossovers and
tr ucks. Nissan looked at the same sit uation—buyers trad-
ing sedans for small SUVs—and asked how they might
make the sedan more appealing. For instance: Crossovers
tend to offer all-wheel drive, so why not give a sedan all-
wheel drive? Done. The new Altima is one of the few sedans
to offer all-wheel drive, and the only one with Nissan’s
trick variable-compression turbo engine. Nissan also
worked hard on the Altima’s proportions, appropriating
the old Detroit strategy of longer, lower, and wider. It’s a
good-looking car. And while it takes a moment for all theI KNEW THAT GENESIS,
Hyundai’s stand-alone luxury
division, had crossed into new terri-
tory when my friend Sandy got one.
Since I’ve known him, Sandy’s had a
Porsche 911, a Corvette, and a Rap-
tor. He knows cars and he always
drives something interesting, so I
noticed when he bought a Genesis
G80. Like the G80, the G70 is a car for
people who want the experience of a
European sport sedan without
the “Hey, look how much I spent!”
bullhorn of a famous badge on theNissan Altima
Proof that the crossover hasn’t won yet.VC-Turbo variables—compression,
boost, CVT ratio—to align for maxi-
mum acceleration, the four-cylinder is
in the same performance ballpark as
the old V-6 while banking a useful improvement in fuel
economy (34 mpg highway). The speediest Altima no lon-
ger sounds like a junior 370Z, but such is the price of
progress. The price of an Altima, however, remains pal-
atable, with an all-wheel-drive model starting at about
$25,000. You can see why Nissan’s sold more than five
million of these things so far, and why it’s not giving up
on sedans just yet.Genesis
G70 3.3T
A sport sedan that
needs no caveats.grille. And the
G70, par ticu-
larly in 365-hp
3.3T form, is
really as good
to drive as anything in its class. To
me, this car splits the difference
between an Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0T
and the 505-hp Giulia Quadrifoglio.
In profile, wearing Mallorca Blue
paint and red Brembo brake calipers,
the G70 looks more than a little Ital-
ian, too. The G70’s steering offers
weighty precision and the turbo V-6
crushes you back in the seat as well as
any rival. You can even get a manual
transmission with the four-cylinder
model. It’s almost as if Hyundai
poached the lead engineer from
BMW’s M Division. Oh wait, it did.Base price: $35,895
Compared to the
Kia Stinger: Not a
hatchback, six inches
shorter, 150 pounds
lighterBase price: $23,750
Highway mpg: 34, thanks
to VC-Turbo
Cool paint: Scarlet Ember
color changes according
to light conditions, like the
2004 Ford SVT Cobra’s
Mystichrome paint