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The all-new 2009 Nissan Maxima is smaller on the outside than the 2004-08 models of the previous generation. The new Maxima is shorter in wheelbase and overall length and lower to the ground, with a wider track for better handling.Very much on purpose, the Maxima doesn't look anything like the Altima anymore. Every exterior body panel on the car is new, with much more adventurous and modern design and shaping. The big metal plate out front that held the logo is gone. The grille, headlamps and 12-LED taillamps are larger and more egregious and figure more into the whole exterior design, and the fenders and hood have been given edges and bulges for a much more sporty appearance. The wheel arches are much more pronounced, and the door skins are pulled in from the fenders and flattened out so that the whole body has what the designers call a Coke-bottle shape, with a short nose, a short deck, a long, sloping roof and a BMW-style C-pillar curvature. In other words, the 2009 Maxima is completely and totally different looking than the sixth-generation car it replaces.
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