2019 Nissan MaximaDavid Booth / Driving So, you want a Nissan Maxima. That’s not a bad idea, as Nissan’s flagship has always been the sportiest of Asian front-wheel-drive sedans. It’s powered by a 3.5-litre V6 that’s won so many awards, even Nissan has stopped counting. It has a stiffer suspension than anything this side of a BMW M product, and it’s fairly luxurious by any standards. In short, it’s a great car. It’s also a little bit of an anomaly, the Maxima competing for mid-sized sedan honours not only with its Camry rival, but also Nissan’s own Altima. Unlike Toyota, which splits its family haulers primarily by size — the Avalon is almost 100 millimetres longer than the Camry, while the Maxima is actually slightly shorter than the Altima — Nissan differentiates Maxima and Altima by intent, the former getting the vroom-vroom engine and stiffer suspension, while the latter competes directly with Camry for yeoman duty. And the Maxima truly does feel sporty. The V6 pumps out decent grunt with 300 horsepower and 261 pound-feet of torque. More importantly, it acts the part, all growly at low revs and fairly singing — or, at least, as much a family hauler’s V6 can — when the tach swings toward redline. The suspension is also well-dampened, meaning the Maxima is fairly sporty — again, at least as sporty as an Asian family sedan is likely to get. The steering, wonder of wonders, is even responsive. 2019 Nissan Maxima Handout / Nissan Inside, more of that sportiness fills the cabin, now with a tinge of hedonism. Besides being plenty roomy — I fit five adults inside without the need to squeeze — the finish is particularly scrumptious and the stitching upscale. The front seats — resplendent in what Nissan calls its Zero Gravity’ technology — are comfy as well. A warning, however, to typical family sedan owners: the Maxima’s front buckets have side bolstering commensurate with its sporting nature, so they won’t accommodate those who visit McDonald’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nonetheless, the Maxima’s interior is comfy and luxurious, as long as you fit. The one exception to all this interior goodness is the Maxima’s rendition of the NissanConnect infotainment system. In this day and age of dashboard-wide Mercedes MBUX and twin-screen Audi MMI systems, the Maxima’s eight-inch screen and its seeming Pentium 4-level graphics seem out of touch with where automobile man-machine interfaces are going. It works well enough, but my Lord, it looks behind the times. That said, those looking for a truly sporting front-wheel-drive sedan would do themselves a favour by test driving a 2019 Maxima. 2019 Toyota Camry Handout / Toyota You want something a little cushier. Most people think Toyota’s Camry is Maxima’s direct competition, but it really isn’t. For all Toyota’s recently brash styling, the Camry remains a mainstream family sedan, not some Japanese BMW wannabe. It’s softer in the suspension, less proud in its internal combustion and less communicative in its steering feedback. Yes, it is sportier than it has been, but no one should mistake it for a 3 Series. That said, the Camry is now an attractive beast, both outside — which, as I said, is a little more overt in demanding attention — and inside, where a brilliant red interior is just the thing to convince aging Boomers that they remain as au courante as ever. It’s almost as roomy as the Maxima, as luxurious in its own way and, by most estimations, the most reliable vehicle on the planet. I have put family members and important friends of the family into Camrys, high recommendation indeed considering how unreserved they would be about complaining if I steered them wrong. They are two different cars, however, and if you’re shopping Maxima I don’t think you should be comparing it with Camry. 2019 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Handout / Mercedes-Benz You are determined to go German. Well, the obvious choice is the Mercedes-Benz C300, which, outwardly, is way cooler than the Maxima not just because it sports a more obvious hood ornament, but also because it really is an attractive beast. If entry-level luxury sedans really were sold on looks alone, the Merc would be the only game in town. It also, while I am heaping on praise, features a very sophisticated all-wheel-drive system; I’m not sure if Mercedes’ 4Matic is the most technologically advanced — and, more importantly, whether most consumers could even tell if it was — but it works a treat nonetheless, and is almost a necessity if one wants to compete in the luxury sweepstakes these days. Unfortunately, other aspects of the C300 are not so stellar. The base four-cylinder turbocharged engine, while supplying a yeoman 255 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft. of torque, is simply not as engaging as the Maxima’s extrovert V6. Oh, it boasts a bit more grunt down low, but that tapers off as things start getting fun. And compared with the Maxima’s rorty V6, the 2.0L sounds more than a little flatulent. Nor does the
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