Compare the2024 Nissan AltimaVS 2023 Toyota Corolla

Safety
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Altima have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Toyota Corolla doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Altima are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Corolla doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Nissan Altima has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Corolla doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Altima has standard Rear Automatic Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Corolla doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Altima AWD offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Corolla doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The Altima SL/SR VC-Turbo has a standard Intelligent Around View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Corolla only offers a rear monitor.

The Altima has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Corolla’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Altima has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Toyota charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Alert on the Corolla.

Both the Altima and the Corolla have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Nissan Altima is safer than the Toyota Corolla:

	Altima	Corolla
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	171	187
Leg Forces (l/r)	114/342 lbs.	330/310 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Nissan Altima is safer than the Toyota Corolla:

	Altima	Corolla
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	157	239

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Altima, with its five-star roll-over rating, is 1.3% less likely to roll over than the Corolla, which received a four-star rating.

Reliability

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Altima has a standard 510-amp battery. The Corolla’s standard 295-amp battery and largest (SE/XSE) 360 amp battery aren’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 14 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is rated below average.

Engine

The Altima AWD’s optional 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 13 more horsepower (182 vs. 169) and 27 lbs.-ft. more torque (178 vs. 151) than the Corolla’s 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Altima’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 19 more horsepower (188 vs. 169) and 29 lbs.-ft. more torque (180 vs. 151) than the Corolla’s 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Altima SR’s optional 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 79 more horsepower (248 vs. 169) and 122 lbs.-ft. more torque (273 vs. 151) than the Corolla’s 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Altima AWD 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder is faster than the Toyota Corolla:

	Altima	Corolla
Zero to 60 MPH	7.4 sec	8.2 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	19.7 sec	22.8 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	8.3 sec	8.8 sec
Quarter Mile	15.8 sec	16.4 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	91 MPH	87 MPH
Top Speed	119 MPH	118 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

The Altima AWD’s standard fuel tank has 2.8 gallons more fuel capacity than the Corolla (16 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Altima FWD’s standard fuel tank has 3 gallons more fuel capacity than the Corolla (16.2 vs. 13.2 gallons).

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Altima’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Corolla:

	Altima	Corolla
Front Rotors	11.65 inches	10.8 inches
Rear Rotors	11.02 inches	10.2 inches
Opt Rear Rotors	11.5 inches

The Altima stops much shorter than the Corolla:

	Altima	Corolla
70 to 0 MPH	172 feet	179 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	115 feet	128 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	140 feet	143 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Altima has larger standard tires than the Corolla (215/60R16 vs. 205/55R16). The Altima SR/SL’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Corolla (235/40R19 vs. 225/40R18).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Altima SR/SL has standard 19-inch wheels. The Corolla’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

The Altima has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Corolla doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

The Altima has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Corolla doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Altima’s wheelbase is 4.9 inches longer than on the Corolla (111.2 inches vs. 106.3 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Altima is 2.9 inches wider in the front and 2.2 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Corolla.

The Altima handles at .91 G’s, while the Corolla XSE pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Altima executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.8 seconds quicker than the Corolla XSE (26.3 seconds @ .68 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

Chassis

The design of the Nissan Altima amounts to more than styling. The Altima has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .26 Cd. That is significantly lower than the Corolla (.31) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Altima get better fuel mileage.

The front grille of the Altima uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Corolla doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Altima SR VC-Turbo uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Corolla doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

As tested by Car and Driver while at idle, the interior of the Altima is quieter than the Corolla (40 vs. 42 dB).

Passenger Space

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Altima a Mid-size car, while the Corolla is rated a Compact.

The Altima has 12 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Corolla (100.6 vs. 88.6).

The Altima has .8 inches more front headroom, 1.8 inches more front legroom, .8 inches more front hip room, 4.2 inches more front shoulder room, .4 inches more rear legroom, 3.2 inches more rear hip room and 5.4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Corolla.

Cargo Capacity

The Altima has a much larger trunk than the Corolla (15.4 vs. 13.2 cubic feet).

Ergonomics

The Altima’s driver power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Corolla’s passenger power window and power lock switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The Altima’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Corolla’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports rated the Altima’s headlight performance “Good,” a higher rating than the Corolla’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

The Altima’s optional rear view mirror has an automatic dimming feature. This mirror can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on it, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Corolla doesn’t offer the luxury of an automatic dimming rear view mirror.

On extremely cold winter days, the Altima SL/SR 2.0’s standard heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the car heater warms up. The Corolla doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

The Altima SL/SR VC-Turbo’s standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. The Corolla doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

Both the Altima and the Corolla offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Altima SL has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Corolla doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Altima owner. The Car Book by Jack Gillis rates the Altima with a number “1” insurance rate while the Corolla is rated higher at a number “3” rate.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Altima is less expensive to operate than the Corolla because typical repairs cost much less on the Altima than the Corolla, including $17 less for a water pump, $2 less for a muffler, $98 less for a starter, $58 less for a fuel pump and $472 less for a timing belt/chain.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Nissan Altima and the Toyota Corolla, based on reliability, safety and performance.

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