New Nissan Maxima has a lot for drivers to love

— -- Nissan's redesigned Maxima sport sedan goes about its business with such easy grace that you wonder why pricier models can't do as well.

The Maxima's slightly bigger outside than the Altima sedan that shares Nissan's "D" platform, as does the Murano SUV and Quest minivan in a nice job of crafting different vehicles on one base. But it's mysteriously tighter inside: slightly less headroom, legroom and width than Altima.

It has the arresting looks you want in a personal-statement car, as well as arrest-me engine oomph.

The 3.5-liter V-6, shared with several Nissans and Infinitis, is rated 290 horsepower for Maxima; hence, Nissan has revived the hoary marketing tag "four-door sports car."

Silly maybe, but not just hype. Maxima scoots. It makes cars in the mirrors look really small, really quickly. And it holds a tight line, unperturbed, in fast corners.

Sadly, torque-steer still is there. Nail the throttle and the car pulls to the right. Lots of powerful cars have been able to minimize or eliminate that.

"With this powerful an engine there's still a little torque steer there," says Larry Dominique, Nissan's vice president of product planning. "But compared to what it used to be, it's virtually gone."

Other gripes:

The power sunroof on the test car made more noise closing than you hear in a railroad switch yard.

Haven't heard others mention it, Dominique says.

Instrument lighting couldn't be dimmed enough. Went from not-so-bright to off.

Probably not an issue, Dominique says. Nissan surveys (they study this stuff?) show many drivers like the dash lights on fully bright.

The tiny stereo volume control on the steering wheel was hard to use and would be impossible with gloves, though a nice-size knob is barely a reach on the center stack of controls.