Having owned both a ’97 Nissan Maxima and a ’97 Toyota Camry V6, I can remember when a midsize, six-cylinder car got decent mileage: both would do about 24mpg around town and 31-33mpg on trips. Yet, when I started writing about cars in 2004, I was a bit shocked that their newer replacements could barely eek out 17-18mpg in an urban situation, and that a road trip in an ’08 Camry V6 netted 21mpg at a reasonable speed. What was going on?

Several things: cars (like their owners) were getting heavier; they were also getting bigger and more powerful engines to compensate; my mid-nineties rides had 3-liter engines offering about 190hp each. Newer versions have an extra 500cc or so in displacement and an additional 80 horses in the stable. They didn’t feel that much faster, as they tipped the scales about 500 pounds heavier. Of course, cars are quieter and safer now, and have more laborsaving conveniences. And changes to the way their engines are tuned (so that catalytic converters last longer) don’t help frugality either.

One company that has made an effort to buck this trend is Nissan. In real-world use, their Murano midsize crossover gets better fuel economy than anything in its class without a turbodiesel or a hybrid system under the hood. The most important technology that has made this possible is the continuously-variable transmission (CVT), which, Nissan say, does about 20% better in economy than a conventional automatic—even better than a manual in many instances.

CVTs have been spreading throughout Nissan’s other car lines, and so it was like a trip back to the future to spend a week with a 2010 Altima 3.5SR, which channels the robust (270hp/258lb-ft) V6’s urge through such a transmission. Bingo! 23mpg around town—even with a heavy foot—and almost 30mpg on highway blasts. And very little of that ‘slipping clutch’ sensation where the engine’s revs rise, yet the car doesn’t seem to be going faster, unlike in older CVTs—or those implemented by many other companies.

If you want to eliminate that rubber band sensation almost entirely, you slap the gear lever sideways into the ‘sport’ mode, which creates virtual gears and then acts like a fancy twin-clutch automated manual transmission. So maybe you can have it all: excellent economy (20mpg city/27mpg highway according to the EPA) in a large, quiet, and fast sedan, without the odd ‘mooing’ moans that have kept CVTs from universal appeal.

The rest of the changes made to the 2010 Altima certainly don’t hurt. For starters, it looks better: more expensive and sportier, thanks to a freshened front clip and subtle tweaks elsewhere. The Nissan’s interior—even in base trim, like my test car’s—feels relatively rich, with nice cloth upholstery and plenty of standard equipment (power seat, smart key, etc). And if one wants to be lavish, there’s all kinds of cool tech, such as a navigation system that helps justify its price over a TomTom with traffic and weather updates, Zagat Survey ratings of restaurants, and a back-up camera. If that’s overkill (or you like maps) they also offer complete iPod control through a color-screen equipped Bose audio system separately.

Such enhancements build on typical Altima strengths: value, reliability, build quality, and a great ride/handling balance, and result in a contestant that moves back into strong contention against both established players and newer upstarts.

Price as tested: $25,240

For what Nissan has to say about the Altima SR, go here.

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