Few cars can claim to simultaneously be a comfortable saloon and a sportscar. When Nissan comes up with a new, near-300 horsepower, diff-less, front-wheel drive four-door and stakes a similar claim, you tend to approach with caution.

On paper, it does a fair job of giving out the impression of a sportscar with the more aggressive lines, wider track, stiffer suspension, added strut braces, lower engine mounting and shortened wheelbase. But dig deeper and the new Maxima is an Altima underneath and uses a CVT ’box. Left to do its job, the engine produces the usual long and wining drone on hard acceleration as the transmission varies the relationship between car and engine speed, making you feel like you’re stuck in one gear. Using the paddles in manual mode corrects that by giving you six artificial ratios, but because of the almost constant engine note, you always end up checking in the instruments that you’ve gone up a gear. ‘First’ is also good for a long-winded 90kph.

The new Maxima’s overriding strong point is its rigidity and the 350Z-derived engine. It produces 35bhp and 9lb ft more than the old Maxima and never feels like it’s running out of breath, even at over three-figure speeds. Unfortunately, it’s let down by the limits of the front tyres. Traction control restricts the power mid-bend just when you’d like more of it and with VDC off, the chassis just about manages the power.

The revised suspension goes some way to controlling body movements, but it’s an isolated feeling, as the steering, despite being direct, is lighter than a Toyota Yaris’s, and has very little feel. At the same time, the car feels unsettled over rough ground. The result is that it doesn’t do comfort so well and the stiffer ride doesn’t entirely pay off in the bends, either. Mind you, the quality is now on an Infiniti level, it’s generously equipped and when the road turns smooth again, it’s refined, and has the calm aura of a Buddhist monk deep in meditation - so you can pile on the kilometres with ease.

Four-door sports car? Well, it’s not the bend-eater you expect. What’s worse however, is that while trying to make a car both comfortable and agile, Nissan has ended up with neither.