We drive the 2010 Altima Coupe, Sentra Sedan, and Versa Hatchback back-to-back-to-back to see what the refreshed line is made of.

—Nashville, Tennessee

For 2010, a good portion of Nissan’s lineup has been refreshed. The Altima, Sentra, and Versa, were updated to compete with the ever-expanding sedan market. It had been a while since we’ve been behind the wheel of these three models, so we went down to Nissan’s American headquarters among the rolling, green hills of Tennessee to reacquaint ourselves, and to see what each model had to offer.

2010 Nissan Altima Coupe 2.5S

Definitely the sportiest of the Nissan news in terms of appearance was the 2010 Altima coupe, which drew us immediately. We admit, it’s a good-looking car. It appears confident, but not without a level of restraint. It still has the same form as the sedan, which itself is sleek yet not approaching aggressive. The wheelbase is shorter, and its more compact footprint and two-door profile give a hint of speed to the curve of the cabin.

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The Nissan GT-R isn't an old car, and we don't have many complaints about Godzilla's mannerisms, but nonetheless, some small, yet crucial, tweaks have been made to the GT-R for the 2010 model year.

Visually, there's nothing terribly new to speak of, save the inclusion of rear diffuser cooling ducts which now come standard across the GT-R range. On top of that, the rear suspension brushings have been stiffened slightly, and the front springs and shocks have been tweaked, as well. While this might not seem like much, hardcore GT-R drivers will definitely notice these improvements on the track.

Japanese citizens can head to dealerships on December 7th to pick up their new GT-Rs. As for us, we'll have to wait until next spring. Click through the post for the full details.

http://www.sub5zero.com/auto-news/sema-2009-preview-zele-nissan-r35-gtr-370z-com...

http://www.sub5zero.com/auto-news/senner-tuning-whitelady-z-based-nissan-370z

http://www.sub5zero.com/car-videos/switzer-p800-r35-nissan-gtr-vs-suzuki-hayabus...

http://www.sub5zero.com/auto-news/avus-performance-nissan-gt-r-black-edition-bat...

—San Jose, California

Creating a really good convertible is tricky business, especially when the coupe or sedan it’s based on is such a strong, well-liked car. Simply lobbing the roof off causes a whole host of rigidity and stiffness problems—not to mention design dilemmas—and if these issues aren’t properly addressed, the new-found droptop might just be a big mess. The Infiniti G37, for example, is one of our favorite sport coupes, but in its cabriolet guise, the chassis proves to be a bit more flexible than we’d like. Don’t even get us started on worse offenders like the Chrysler Sebring and Toyota Solara.

But then there’s the Nissan Z. In its last-generation, the 350Z Coupe was praised by both the press and public, but we never quite warmed up to the roadster as much. By cutting off the roof, the key things we loved about the 350—its poise, its thrill, it’s style (more on that in a minute)—were deadened by the roadster’s added weight and lack of added stiffness. Bah, humbug! Nissan made it very clear that the new Z Roadster would be a big departure from the last car, especially since the 370 Coupe was designed and engineered with the droptop in mind. We were told, “It’ll be exactly like driving the coupe—sans the roof, of course.”

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Just a few days after General Motors caused a stir by announcing that the Chevy Volt will achieve up to 230 miles per gallon, Nissan has already one-upped them. According to a report from AutoWeek, Nissan says that the Leaf EV will get 367 miles per gallon with no fuel required.

To further start the war between EV cars, Nissan also states that its Leaf will be very affordable, too, priced within the $25,000 to $33,000 range. However, like the Volt, it's still very unclear how Nissan came up with the 367 mpg rating, and we'll be interested to see how the EPA reacts to this statement, too.

+ AutoWeek: Nissan says the Leaf EV beats the Chevrolet Volt with 367 mpg