I test drove two Altima's, and they both IMO had a lot of road noise infiltrating through. When I mentioned it to the salesman, he said that others said the same thing. I asked him if any models were quieter than others, and he said no.

As for ride stiffness, it did to me feel unduly stiff. Stiffer than it needed to be, IMO.

One characteristic I loved and wish my present car had was the dead-on straight-line tracking, seemed very BMW-esque in the short time I spent behind the wheel. Seemed to have zero tendency to roll off the road crown.