I test drove a v4 1999 altima and it felt unsafely light to handle. I dont know if it was that particular car or not. I'm looking to buy a used car $6000-$7000 to drive in Austin,TX (it has a lot of varying elevations). I dont want to mess up the car by straining it up hills. Is the 4cyl simply not suitable? Advice?

Altimas with four cylinder engines have plenty of power to handle any hills unless the engine or transmission isn't working correctly. Drive some more Altimas. Maybe the first one you drove had bad or incorrect tires on it. If you are going to stop and go on uphills very often.... consider an automatic transmission.

I test drove a v4 1999 altima and it felt unsafely light to handle. I dont know if it was that particular car or not. I'm looking to buy a used car $6000-$7000 to drive in Austin,TX (it has a lot of varying elevations). I dont want to mess up the car by straining it up hills. Is the 4cyl simply not suitable? Advice?

The Altima motor is a straight 4cyl and should have no problems with different elevations if it's properly tuned. I have a 98 se that handles very well. Perhaps it's that car or the tires.