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The last time we gave an update on our long-term Altima's fuel economy was September 2007. It's time to get you all up to speed on the numbers.

Current lifetime average: 21.0 mpg

Best tank: 32.2 mpg

Worst tank: 14.2 mpg

Total lifetime miles: 20,927.6

Total fuel consumed: 997.8 gal

The 2007 Nissan Altima is a family sedan, offering the accoutrement and roomy accommodations that you and your 2.1 children will need to wallow in comfort. But in driving it this weekend, I was reminded that it offers something more than just familial practicality: The Altima is genuinely fun to drive.

I love its vigorous engine, but I think what I appreciate most is its suspension. Not so soft that you feel like you're lolling on a Spring Air, but not so harsh that you feel unduly manhandled. Just right -- taut enough to put you in touch with the road, in the most pleasant way. Hello, road.

Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor @ 21, 879 miles

As the above photo indicates, our long-term 2007 Nissan Altima had a run-in with a curb recently. This led to a problem with the valve stem, which caused the tire to rapidly deflate. This is not a good thing.

Fortunately, we're only a few blocks from Santa Monica Nissan, and the Altima needed its 20,000-mile oil change, lube, filter and all that good stuff. They tightened up the valve stem and we were on our way. No charge. Good thing, because due to the car's tire pressure monitoring system, the valve stem replacement was estimated at $180. Yikes!

Total repair, including parts and labor: $122.47. And it was only out of our hands for a few hours. I drove the car last night and it performed like a champ.

Doug Lloyd, Senior Copy Editor @ 21,095 miles

I went tree shopping this weekend in the Altima. I figured I would just tie the tree to the top to avoid vacuuming out pine needles later. But the young man who was working the tree farm at OSH recommended I put the tree in the trunk.

Despite the rather narrow opening of the Altima's trunk, the tree slipped in fine. The Altima's trunk has over 15 cubic feet of luggage capacity which left the tip of my 5-6 foot tree sticking out a bit so I tried to drop the rear seats to get more room. But you need to insert the key and since I was parked kind of wonky and already spent too much time fiddling, I opted for a speedy tie-down of the lid.

Even though the lid was ajar by about six inches, the view from the rear camera was unobstructed.

My beautiful noble fir arrived home safely and was easy to get back out of the trunk without losing too many needles.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

In a recent Saturn Aura post a reader asked if the Nissan Altima's better handling comes at the expense of a harsher ride - the short answer is yes. I also think the Nissan's seats are less comfortable and the car is noisier around town and on the highway. Not engine noise, road noise is the culprit here.

If I were single, I'd get the Nissan b/c the firm ride would appeal to me and only me - not unlike a lot of decisions I made when I was single. Now, with wife and kids loaded up, the Altima seems too hard.

Finally, the Altima's seat warmers work better than the Saturn's - the low setting has a gentle gradual warming whereas the Aura's just feel hot after awhile.

Brian Moody, Road Test Editor @ 20,037 miles

I enjoy driving the Altima. It's spirited enough for the highway and comfortable enough for trafficky situations.

It has heated seats (yes!), real-time traffic on the nav (well, almost), and an Auxiliary port for my iPod (thank the maker).

But I have to question the designer who chose to awkwardly put the AUX port to the left of the shifter. Three inches to the right and it would be out of the way.

Oh well, we can't have everything.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 19,916 miles

 

I'm a fan of the manual transmission. I like to shift, I like the feeling of discretionary power. So every time I drive a car with an automatic, I spend at least a little time doing the manual-shift boogie.

Some transmissions have the reflexes of a snail on Vicodin, upshifting about 20 seconds after you move the lever. Others seem effortless. Chalk the transmission up as one more reason to dig the 2007 Nissan Altima SE. I love the shifting. Now here's the rub. I don't really understand it. The Altima has a continuously variable transmission, which means, theoretically, that it's never really shifting. The revs don't rise and then it shifts and then they rise again. The revs just continue to rise. If you nail the gas pedal, it will optimize power and work in its highest-rev mode. So adding a manual-shift function actually seems kinda silly.

The wonderful six-cylinder engine is a big part of that also. The Nissan Rogue tries to use a CVT with a four-cylinder, with considerably less success. Engineering Editor Jason Kavanagh uses the manual-shift function for engine braking. In fact, he says that if you put two Altimas on a drag strip, one in auto mode and one in manual-shift, the car left in auto would probably win. Regardless, it's silky-smooth, and you at least get the impression that you're taking advantage of high-rpm torque. And that engine note.

Doug Lloyd, Senior Copy Editor @ 19,874 miles

Our 2007 Nissan Altima makes it so easy to go really fast. I found the 270-horsepower CVT engine to be pretty stealthy, so many times I found myself going extra-legal speeds on the freeway. It just didn't seem like my fellow motorists were driving fast enough and then I looked down at the speedometer to find out they were actually driving the speed they should be. Ooops! It really felt like I was speeding down the highway while floating on a cloud. What can I say but plush suspension + CVT = No sense of speed.

Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 19,622 miles

Nice try, but the sun visor extensions on our 2007 Nissan Altima are pretty lame.

On my way to Laguna Seca for the weekend, I found myself cursing the visor's inability to actually block the sun during the long, arrow-straight stretch of Highway 46 between the 5 and the 101. That gaping space between the extension and the window was where the sun sat on the driver's side for the entire hour (passenger side photo taken by passenger, for safety) . Give me true extending visors any day instead of these ones. 

Turns out there aren't any clouds when you're right smack in the middle of the desert, either.

At least the event at Laguna Seca (Redline Time Attack) offered some shade. I spent quite some time in the AMS Performance pit garage catching up with old friends.

Here's Paul Gerrard driving the AMS Time Attack Evo through the Corkscrew and into the Rainey curve. For those that have driven the track, this car turned a couple of laps in the low 1:31.x range during practice. Yowza.