Nissan is hoping the Altima’s newly available
all-wheel drive system will help it stand out from competition and the company
is highlighting the feature by unveiling the new Altima-te AWD. Set to be shown at the Montreal
Auto Show, the Altima-te AWD is a one-off project vehicle that follows in the
footsteps of the Rogue Warrior concept. As you can probably tell by now, the
Altima has been equipped with a heavy-duty track system.
Created by Quebec’s Motorsports in Action, the
Altima-te AWD has a Dominator track system from American Track Truck. Each
track measures 48 inches (1,220 mm) long, 15 inches (380 mm) wide and 30 inches
(750 mm) tall.
Since the tracks were originally designed to be
installed on trucks, Motorsports in Action had to make some extensive
modifications to the Altima. One of the most noticeable changes in the addition
of a bespoke wide body kit which features fender flares that are 7 inches (180
mm) wide. Creating them was a time intensive process as Nissan says the fenders
took 150 hours to complete.
That isn’t the only change as Motorsports in Action
dropped the the front and rear chassis by 1.18 inches (30 mm), while raising
the suspension components by 1.96 inches (50 mm). The company then had to
adjust the suspension geometry to accommodate for the increased ride height.
While all-wheel drive comes standard on the Canadian
Altima, it’s a US$ 1,350 option on the US-spec model. That’s relatively
affordable, but all-wheel is only available with the 2.5-liter four-cylinder
engine that produces 182 hp and 241 Nm of torque.
As a result, customers can’t get all-wheel drive with the company’s new
2.0-liter variable compression turbo (VC-Turbo) engine which develops up to 248
hp and 369 Nm of torque.
