Sorry to say, but I have no clue. My nephew is VERY car svvy, and we had him out shopping/checking out cars for us. He was the one who first suggested the Altima hybrid. He liked it a lot better than the Camry hybrid, but he didn't compare it to a regular Altima.

He loves to test drive cars and drive dealers nuts. If I can, I'll see if I can get him to test drive both and post his thoughts on the differences.

A good friend of ours, and our former next door neighbor, came to dinner with us Saturday night. He is a Nissan nut... and he was so impressed with the Altima hybrid that he wants to get one after seeing ours. I don't know how much or if he has ever driven the SL, but we let him drive our Altima hybrid. He really liked it.