Hopefully, this can finally put to rest the fallacy that small 4 cylinder turbos are the way to achieve to best of both worlds - fuel efficiency and power on demand (please don't look at the cars I currently own). A well designed V6 can do everything so much better than a turbo four- hp, smoothness, sound, less complex, longevity, no premium gas required, towing, etc. There may be some exceptions, but in the real world, I'll take a nice 3.5 litre (or 3.0 or 2.5) over a smaller four. I think the same holds true for boosted sixes vs v8s. That being said, however, I suspect I would not think twice about choosing the new mini (3 cylinder turbo) vs the old 1.6 four. I think weight of the vehicle makes a huge difference, but is, of course, only one variable.
Wrong. A V6 will generally make as much or more hp, but
less torque and at higher rpm. My Sonata makes more torgque at 1800 rpm than my 3.5 Altima did at its ~ 4300 rpm peak - and makes it over a much broader rev range. As a consequence, midrange response and highway passing are noticeably better in the Sonata.
And while the V6 will do just as well in fuel economy around town, it can't compete on the highway. My Altima was pretty good in highway economy, but can't touch the Sonata. It's not even a contest. It's not even a fair fight. Most highway crusing is off-boost, where I am running more like a normally aspirated 2.0L. And since probably 85% or more of my driving is on the highway, that's a huge impact in fuel savings over the life of the vehicle.
And to tip the scales even further, the Altima required premium juice, the Sonata does not.
So much for the V6 doing "
everything so much better than a turbo 4.
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I would agree with you in your case. But not everyone drives 85% highway, so there is more fuel savings in turbo 4 for you there. Hey just take the TDI already.... And yes in your situation the Altima needed premium, most mainstream V6 don't. Not a great move by Nissan, IMO... and many turbos perform better with premium, get the right fuel economy, performance. Not saying in the Sonata case, just in general...