Midsize Title Fight: 2021 Honda Accord vs Nissan Altima

When you’re looking for a sporty midsize sedan, two familiar names come to mind: Nissan Altima and Honda Accord.

Which of these two sedans is the one you want to drive every day? Both come from Japanese automakers, offer impressive trim levels, and are affordable sedans that could make driving right for you. If one has to stand out above the other, you’ve got to compare what they bring to this midsize title fight.

Checking Off the Pros and Cons

Before we dive deeper into what these two cars bring, we should see some of the pros and cons in a list that makes each one easy to understand.

Nissan Altima

Pros

• Great seats
• Available AWD
• Sporty SR model
• Excellent highway fuel mileage
• VC-Turbo engine

Cons

• No hybrid versions
• Not as premium as a Mazda6
• Only uses a CVT

Honda Accord

Pros

• Highest-rated midsize sedan by KBB
• Roomy interior and mannered drive
• Impressive reliability and resale scores
• Plenty of standard active safety features

Cons

• Technology starting to get stale
• No AWD option

As you can see, these two are extremely different in some regards while being very similar in others. Let’s keep going.

What’s New for These Midsize Sedans?

Turning the page to the new stuff we find the Nissan Altima has a lot of new qualities compared to the Honda Accord. The new features you’ll find in the Altima include:

• VC-Turbo engine exclusive to the SR trim
• S model receives more standard safety features
• S model Driver Assistant Package upgraded with blind-spot alert and rear cross-traffic alert
• SV model sits between the S and SR
• Premium Package for the SV adds comfort and tech together
• SL trim is moved to offer a more affordable sedan with leather upholstery

For the Accord, the upgrades in the 2021 version are:

• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard across all trim
• Wireless connectivity is available at higher trims
• 8-inch touchscreen is standard
• Front end is restyled

How Much Power Does Each Sedan Offer?

Nissan Altima

Both of these midsize sedans bring you a pair of engines to offer upgraded power at different trims. The Nissan Altima uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine on all trims except the SR model. This engine mates to a CVT automatic transmission to give you 188 horsepower and 180 lb.-ft. of torque. Fuel mileage arrives at 28 city/39 hwy mpg in the FWD version and 26 city/36 hwy mpg when you opt for AWD.

If you move to the SR trim with the VC-Turbo engine, you’ll have a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 248 horsepower and 280 lb.-ft. of torque. Fuel mileage for this powertrain is 25 city/34 hwy mpg.

Honda Accord

The story for the Honda Accord is a little different. The LX, Sport, Sport SE, and EX-L trims use a base 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine connected to a CVT to give you 192 horsepower and 192 lb.-ft. of torque. This powertrain’s fuel mileage level reaches 30 city/38 hwy mpg.

There is an optional powertrain for the EX-L and Sport trims which is standard for the Touring model. This powertrain gives you a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to a ten-speed automatic transmission. You’ll have 252 horsepower, 273 lb.-ft. of torque, and 22 city/32 hwy mpg with this system under the hood.

Overall, the Nissan Altima is slightly more efficient across the board, but the Honda Accord brings you more power with each engine. The Honda also offers the ten-speed automatic, which some drivers prefer over a CVT.

How do the Safety Features Compare?

These two midsize sedans both offer impressive safety packages to give you the security and peace of mind you’ll want when you’re out on the road.

Nissan Altima

Nissan gives you the Safety Shield 360 and ProPilot Assist features in the Altima. This means you’ll have the benefits of rear automatic braking, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-centering, adaptive cruise control, forward-collision mitigation, automatic emergency braking, and pedestrian protection. You have to move up the trim ladder to find all of these items, but the base, S model, does have some of them.

Honda Accord

The Honda Sensing package of safety features is a more straightforward package than what you find in the Altima. This package gives you forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, road departure mitigation, and adaptive cruise control. All of these features come standard at every trim level, with higher trims adding a few more features to the mix.

When you’re comparing the safety features of these two sedans, both offer impressive packages. The Nissan Altima does have the ProPilot Assist package which is a semi-autonomous driving system and the Honda Accord doesn’t offer anything that matches with it.

Which Midsize Sedan has the Better Starting Package?

Nisan Altima S -$24,300

• Cloth upholstery
• 16-inch steel wheels
• tilt/telescoping steering wheel
• Push-button starting
• Cruise control
• 7-inch touchscreen
• Automatic emergency braking
• Pedestrian detection
• Optional Driver Assist Package $475

Honda Accord LX -$24,770

• Dual-zone automatic climate controls
• 8-inch touchscreen
• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Cloth upholstery
• 17-inch wheels
• Folding rear seat
• Dual USB ports
• 160-watt/4-speaker audio system
• Honda Sensing Suite

Looking at these two base models, you can see a larger screen, better connectivity, and larger wheels for the Honda Accord. The Nissan Altima is a little more affordable, but it doesn’t have the features you’ll find in the Accord LX.

Which One is Better Nissan Altima or Honda Accord?

This is the question we’ve been asking and trying to answer throughout this comparison. The Honda Accord gives you more features, the option of a better transmission is more powerful, and has a more comprehensive base safety package. The Nissan Altima is more affordable, more fuel-efficient, and has a better safety package when you select higher trims. The winner of this midsize title fight is the Honda Accord, but the Nissan Altima certainly put up quite a battle.