Anyone who’s ever watched a canard-laden, sooty-arsed Spec V Skyline blast through a corner like a turbocharged gecko knows that the NISMO (Nissan Motorsports) boys are the fairy godfathers of serious speed . Yes, well, making a street fighter out of Nissan’s weight-challenged Sentra compact is gonna require some extra strength bippity-boppity-boo. Speedy silk purse, lethargic sow’s ear, that kind of thing. In short, I approached the Sentra SE-R Spec V with a healthy dose of scepticism, cynicism and I’ll-believe-it-when-I-thrash-it-ism.
Styling. My eyes! The goggles do nothing! Okay, the SE-R isn’t quite that bad. But despite the porcine lipstick application, this is a car only Kermit could love. The new seventeen-inch rims barely fill out the wheel wells and the aero-kit fails to drop the lines low enough to disguise the micro-van roofline. And that’s on top of a car with oversized headlights, Caddy-esque edges and Chryslerberusian hood strakes. Ew.
Yes, well, the original shoebox-special early-nineties SE-R was ugly as sin, but hellish fun to drive. If the new Sentra drives as good as it looks bad, all is forgiven.
Gripping the Sentra’s fat, red-stitched steering wheel, enveloped by side-bolstered sport seats, strapped in with a bright red seatbelt, confidence is high. A 350Z-style angled gauge pod completes the NISMO wikkidness, housing a fancy acceleration/braking G-meter and an oil pressure gauge;that owners of the consumption-prone previous-gen SE-R have been trained to scan on a minute-by-minute basis.
Other than that, it’s a Sentra. The dash is too high, Sauron’s peeking out between the dials again, the shifter’s in the wrong place, the plastics aren’t as nice as baby brother Versa, the C-pillars create huge blind spots, and the side mirrors are too small and don’t fold.
On the other hand, it’s a Sentra. There’s loads of goodies (Rockford stereo, et al), the cabin is airy and spacious, the rear seats are large and comfortable, tall doors provide easy ingress/egress and it’s got a huge trunk. Practicality, thy name is Sentra. Unfortunately, the Spec-V’s chassis-stiffening rear V-brace eliminates the folding rear seats, a functionality-reducing manoeuvre best left to baggy-trousered “tunerz”.
NISMO’s breath upon the Altima-sourced 2.5-liter engine hath bumped compression with special pistons and some tasty trick pieces (e.g. a cast-resin manifold). The resulting lump boasts a higher redline (6800 rpm) and more horses (200hp). The Sentra’s modified mill stumps up 180 lb/ft of torque. Though the twist now arrives higher up in the rev range, that’s the same grunt as the previous gen SE-R.
So, finally, I fired up the little devil and watched the tach and speedometer needles perform a full sweep of their ranges, STI-style. Whoa, Dude! The new Spec V leaps off the line with only the briefest of tugs, indicating that Nissan’s love affair with torque-tainted tillers could finally be on the wane. Of course, “leaps” is a fairly subjective verb here, as those 200 ponies have a whole lot of chuckwagon to motivate.
Despite 3100lbs. of not so curvaceous curb weight and reduced low-end torque, the Sentra pulls a respectable 0 to 60mph time of around six-and-a-half seconds. That’s good enough to best a Honda Civic Si Sedan, but expect forced induction rides like the GTI and Mazdaspeed3 to huff and puff and blow your house down.
With straight-line domination off the table, perhaps the Sentra’s helical limited-slip diff, close-ratio six-speed gearbox, monster anti-roll bars and stiffened springs will let you can catch ‘em in the corners. Lest we forget, Nissan’s advertising makes much of rabid engineers honing the Sentra SE-R’s suspension through repeated hot laps of the Nordschleife Nurburgring.
Green Hell no. Push the Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V past seven-tenths in the twisties and its top-heavy roots start showing. Over the howling of not-that-sticky performance radials, you can almost hear Sabine Schmitz scoffing, “I ken doo thet time in a Ven!”
Take the SE-R off the track and it’s surprisingly settled over rough roads; it’s a bit roly-poly, but nimble enough to do some damage. Unfortunately, the engine note is about as musical as a jack hammer. Luckily, the Sentra's tach is happy enough to kiss the redline and the brakes are phenomenal. Carving a line, I felt my facial muscles spasm. Trichinosis? Nope, just a hoonish grin.
I was expecting the Sentra SE-R Spec V to be a sort of Heffalump GT-R: extra power thrown at a chassis totally unsuited to sporting aspirations. Surprise! The Sentra SE-R Spec V turns out to be a viable alternative to Honda’s hot sedan that provides a stronger (if rougher) engine, a capable (if less balanced) drive and liveable mileage (24/31).
More importantly, at around $20K, the Spec V’s a bargain for entry-level enthusiasts looking for a box-fresh, fully warranteed, practical and fun daily driver. But unlike Ye Olde B13-chassis Sentra SE-R, serious racers need not– indeed should not– apply.
I liked the shoebox styling of the original SE-R, and the fun that went along with it’s simplicity. Ever since the demise of that little box I’ve been hoping that Nissan could recreate the car that many at the time saw as a modern day 510. Unfortunately, the days of the lightweight machine are gone, 3000 is the new 2000, and this SE-R just doesn’t seem to elicit the same grin factor like the old SE-R would. Or the CRX. Or the Miata.
It’s amazing to me how badly they dropped the ball on the styling for the new Sentra. I want to know what drug was being taken by whoever green-lighted this thing, because I want some. Imagine a world where everyone is beautiful!
Nissan really needs to bring out that rumored sub-350z 4 cylinder RWD car. Use the same engine and call it a 250SX. I think it would serve real enthusiasts a lot better than this one. Plus it will fill a gap in the market, because as far as I know, there is no 2+2 RWD 4 cylinder on the market today. Everything it would compete with is a 2 seat convertible(and they’re all good, so it would have to be as well).
Nissan really needs to get back to basics.
I’ve been calling for a sub-$25,000 RWD compact ever since the IS 300 appeared back in 2000 with the wrong badge and a price $5,000 too high as a result. The best hope right now might be GM’s Alpha platform unless the BMW 1-Series comes in lower than expected.
On the Sentra, I’m sensing very little excitement around this car. Usually when a car is hot I get many in many panel. I had 128 Versas last time I checked. The new Sentra? I might have 2 of them.
That said, if you’re considering a Sentra, prices and specs can be viewed and compared here:
http://www.truedelta.com/modes/Sentra.php
Ugly car.
Uglier still by the fact that you have to get the “Spec V” (ugly suffix) edition to get the manual transmission. The regular SE-R gets a very unsporting CVT.
Too bad Nissan didn’t make a Versa SE-R instead.
I actually think the CVT makes a stellar performance transmission. Forget those manual-shifting paddles on the SE-R, they’re useless. Shift the CVT into Low and the engine stays between 5,000 RPM and redline all the time. And isn’t that what you want? Not even a manual can do that. I drove one on the track and thought the CVT was brilliant. Sadly the rest of the car isn’t. Second opinion (mine) on the SE-R and Spec V here. For the mostpart, I agree with Brendan; Civic Si, Mazdaspeed 3 and GTI may be more expensive, but they’re better.
I agree with Michael. I recent addition to our family had me looking to get out of our beloved Miata. What I really wanted was a light rear drive sedan under $25,000. There were none. What I got was the wonderful Mazdaspeed 3, but I would give it up for something driven by the right wheels.
I think the only people that buy FWD “performance” cars are people that havent driven RWD performance cars. Its just not right to ask the front tires to both steer and propel the car at the same time.
How disappointing. And 3100 lbs? Fatty. I agree with whoever said they should make an SE-R version of the Versa… the world needs more hot hatches.
I see a lot of Saturn Ion like styling cues in the pictures…Blech!
26theone: Bologna. I’ve driven plenty of both and don’t think that RWD is necessarily the be-all and end-all. Proper suspension setup will make a FWD car just as well balanced (and yes, you can even set them up to rotate when you lift off). A limited-slip diff cures most of the problem with inside wheel spin on corner exit, and with FWD you don’t have to worry about applying too much power and spinning the car. No, you can’t really drift that well, but you can make spectacular time in a FWD car. It’s simply a different way of getting ’round the track.
Actually, it’s not what I want, autonerd. Part of the allure of a performance vehicle is how involved you are in driving it. Sure from a theoretical standpoint, a CVT is the best because it will always keep the engine in it’s powerband, but it takes away the driving pleasure of rowing through the gears yourself, of using heel-and-toe, and the thrill of being in the right gear at the right time.
A transmission like this may indeed prove to give you better acceleration than a manual, but it also sucks the soul out of a car. But then again it’s not like this SE-R has any to begin with.
Nissan stylists must be saying “Honey I shrunk the Maxima” everytime they complete a car lately. The new Altima and Sentra both look like small Maximas to me.
Pls note: A corrected version of this review is coming.
It’s definitely time that Nissan moved on from this design language. It’s been decent for the Maxima and Altima (and timeless with the Z!) However, now as the Sentra finally takes on similar styling, it’s dated. Several years ago, it might have looked more “cutting edge.” Ok, that’s probably a stretch, but it seems Nissan is too damn slow to catch up with the competition when it comes to their venerable compact, IMO.
The styling does seem to be a victim of Nissan’s corporate ‘design theme ueber alles’ philosophy. The excessive weight is also unfortunate but it seems to have resulted in better safety ratings – 5 and 4 stars instead of the 2 and 4 for the last model. It also helps to keep the cost down as light weight automotive materials are not cheap.
However, the balance of handling is a good move that will help them to sell more of these than the old SE-R models. By making the vehicle more user friendly as a daily driver they will find more buyers for it than for a track-only spine-crunching weekend racer. Lets face it, we all like race inspired motoring but most of us use our cars for commuting and household errands so a bit more emphasis on civility is not such a bad thing.
26theone:
I think the only people that buy FWD “performance” cars are people that havent driven RWD performance cars.
I agree, but show me a suitably equipped 4 seat RWD performance car under $23,000*. The name ‘hot hatch’ refers to a performance version of a small inexpensive cargo-carrying daily driver.
Echoing the idea of a SE-R Versa (or even a performance Honda Fit). The Versa is 2,500 pounds, which is heavy compared to the original GTI, but is light by today’s standards.
*The Mustang doesn’t count, as good of a deal(?) as its base model is, we’re talking corner carvers, not cruisers. Feel free to tell me if I’m wrong.
26theone: Last gen Honda Prelude, anyone? Easily the most fun-to-drive car I’ve ever owned. Granted, I’ve never driven an S2000 which would probably be the most straightforward FWD/RWD comparison, but my old prelude beat the pants off many “performance” cars I’ve driven in smiles-per-mile.
autonerd: That’s an interesting point. My only CVT experience was as a teenager in my family’s Subaru Justy (with the famed 3 cylinder engine). It got ungodly mileage and made it physically impossible for me to drive at dangerous speeds, so I guess it was appropriate, but fun? Not so much. Maybe it’s better when mated with more oomph under the hood.
Coffee Jones:
I agree, but show me a suitably equipped 4 seat RWD performance car under $23,000*.
Ha easy.. a used BMW. :-)
brownie: I also owned a 98 Honda Prelude SH. Great handling car possibly one of the best I have driven. Main problem, no torque and too peaky when the power came on. I have considered an S2000 but again after having lived with VTEC motors for over 15yrs (Integra, Accord) you have to drive them near redline to get any power out of them. Once you have torque you cant go back. Also I want a 4 seater as well.
“you can almost hear Sabine Schmitz scoffing, “I ken doo thet time in a Ven!””
Nice Top Gear Reference!
I honestly look at the SE-R Spec V and I shake my head in disappointment. Not at Nissan but at Ford. Hear me out.
About 8 years ago Ford’s SVT division put out a 200 HP, 170 LB Torque 2.5L Duratec V6 and placed it in the SVT Contour. Most of us know this. Now in 2007 Nissan puts a similarly powered engine of roughly the same displacement, minus a couple cylinders and +10 LB of Torque. What the hell happened at Ford during those 8 years? That’s a lot of time to perfect a product and make improvements every couple of years in order to stay ahead of the competition. Over the past few years Ford has put out some competitive engines: 2L 170HP Ford Focus SVT, in 1996 Ford introduced the 3L duratec with 200HP. Just imagine reliability, efficiency, and power if Ford had followed up with continuous improvements to their products. Ford’s cardinal sin is neglect.
I’ve been waiting 7 years for Ford to make a suitable replacement for my SVT Contour. I’m through waiting and looks like Nissan got themselve’s a new customer.
I owned one for three years and loved the car. It was very solid and well built but it developed a fifth gear problem that 70% of them had. Would pop out of gear at random, dealer quoted $1100 repair. Pics were posted on SE-R.com with the replacement of nissan hood. It was clearly a better design, but Nissan would not help me at all with the repair cost even though it was only three months out of warranty. Those kind of things make you sour on the brand.
I don’t think the Sentra SE-R Spec V looks that bad; but then, I am far and away from the target demographic. My gripe is the fact that the Sentra, any Sentra, has a worst turning radius than my ’72 Volvo 142E sedan. As the target demographic for the Sentra SE-R Spec V might indeed say, “Wassup with that?”
I do feel that this car could be made into a racecar, by the right team manager. Back when the Sixties turned into the Seventies, industrial designer extraordinaire and race team manager (and racer himself) Peter Brock took the dowdy little Datsun 510 – known as the “poor man’s BMW” since it copied so much from BMW’s 1600 and 2002 series cars – and made it into a racecar. John Morton then took that sucker and ran it in the 2.5 liter series against the hallowed Alfa-Romeo GTV and made history by besting that famed Italian marque and establishing a big beach-head for what was then called Datsun in the states (and Nissan in the home country). Brock Racing Enterprises did similar magic with the 240Z.
Nissan needs to let loose some privateers with the Spec V and maybe they could learn a thing or two about how to engineer the suspension; and they might want to reconsider the wheelbase, right now.
I had an 02 Spec-V and was reasonably happy with it, until I skidded on ice and totaled it after 18 months. Oops.
Unfortunately, I later had an 05 Frontier that seemed to develop a new problem every week. Nissan completely shafted me on customer service, from the local dealership level to customer affairs. You can bet I won’t be stepping foot on their lot now.
Nissan is a 2nd rate Japanese automaker for a reason, hit-and-miss reliability. Like some other manufacturers (VW anyone?) their dealership network ain’t helping. What good is building a decent vehicle if you have slimy salespeople and a worthless warranty?
“RGS920:
June 18th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
I honestly look at the SE-R Spec V and I shake my head in disappointment. Not at Nissan but at Ford. Hear me out.
About 8 years ago Ford’s SVT division put out a 200 HP, 170 LB Torque 2.5L Duratec V6 and placed it in the SVT Contour. Most of us know this. Now in 2007 Nissan puts a similarly powered engine of roughly the same displacement, minus a couple cylinders and +10 LB of Torque. What the hell happened at Ford during those 8 years? That’s a lot of time to perfect a product and make improvements every couple of years in order to stay ahead of the competition. Over the past few years Ford has put out some competitive engines: 2L 170HP Ford Focus SVT, in 1996 Ford introduced the 3L duratec with 200HP. Just imagine reliability, efficiency, and power if Ford had followed up with continuous improvements to their products. Ford’s cardinal sin is neglect.
I’ve been waiting 7 years for Ford to make a suitable replacement for my SVT Contour. I’m through waiting and looks like Nissan got themselve’s a new customer.”
You have a point. Ford almost had a great one with the last Mercury Cougar as well. But the optional V6 only put out 172hp and the chassis needed some tweaking. I saw a 200hp performance version on the Mercury stand at an auto show. But Ford gave up on the model before putting that version out. Too bad. Ford comes oh-so-close with many of its models. But instead of fixing them and improving them with the relatively minor improvements these near-miss models require, they let them languish and evenually discontinue them when the sales fall to a trickle. I just can’t figure out why.
I had a 1997 Nissan Sentra with lots of performance parts in it including SRI and other performance parts. The problem with the Sentra is that I already spend a lot of money to make it accelerate better on 1st,2nd and 3rd gear but the pathetic engine still had a hard time accelerating on those gears. Did you know that there is bolt or nut that can be loose inside the manifold and might end up inside your cylinder or engine.
This automobile is such a massive YAWN-ER! … the thing that springs to my mind is: What’s the point of it in its marketspace? There’s nothing that it does better (in fact, it does most things worse), its “whole” isn’t all that great, nor does it offer some kinds of unavailabile combination out there. Top that of with FUGLY, and what’s the point?
Better: Mazdaspeed3, Honda Civic Si, Mini Cooper / S, VW GTi (though I no longer consider the GTi to be in this category, considering its “optimistic” pricing that approaches $30K)
This article brought back some memories for me. A bought a red Sentra SE-R back in 1990, brand new. I was 18 years old and it was my first new car.
The very same day I drove it home, my brother and I promptly took it out on the desolate section of highway 38 between Pinion Hills and Pearblossom California and cranked it right up to 138 mph, which was everything it could give us with him and I up front and our heavyset friend in the back seat.
That was the fastest I have ever been in a car, and to this day I have never driven anything close to that speed since.
The looks of the 90’s SE-R’s were fairly ho-hum, but I actually did get alot of compliments on it.
The original SE-R was not ugly, it was only simple looking, perhaps even handsome in a simple way. There isn’t a correlation with our gripes with *THIS* SE-R’s looks, because it’s not that they’re bland (e.g. Ford Five Hundred), it’s that they’re downright clumsy and ugly (e.g. Pontiac Ass-tek (sic) )
Amen. I still yearn for a “classic” SE-R, despite the knowledge that by this time I’d have to pull down the transmission and replace 3rd and 5th. It was one of those cars that defined the “car” shape. neither more or less of what was needed… a perfectly proportioned greenhouse and a slim body… not something you can get away with nowadays. Heck, I learned to drive on a 1990 Sentra, and it was that car that ruined every Sentra afterwards for me.
But time moves on, and those rose-tinted glasses have to go somewhere. Sentras since the “classic” have gotten heavier but stiffer, with more lateral grip, more stability, more etcetera… despite having a torsion beam rear end, the current SE-R Spec V would kick the IRS-equipped “classic” SE-R’s butt eight ways to tuesday on the track.
But it would probably be nowhere near as fun. Which is why I finally gave up on Sentras a few years ago and went for the Protege. It was the closest I could get to that ol’ school feeling.
A Cobalt SS starts looking pretty good – literally and figuratively – next to this. How I long for that not so distant age when cars didn’t have to be five feet tall.
How I long for that not so distant age when cars didn’t have to be five feet tall
We can thank the misguided infatuation with truck-based SUVs for everyday driving…
Also, great point about the Cobalt SS… “literally and figuratively” indeed!
— Kman.
I just bought this new Sentra Spec-V 2007 and I love it!!! I own a Sentra 2003 Spec-V, Sentra SER 2001, 200SX and Civic Coupe. This is by far the best in terms of design and handling. 200 HP, taking turns is sweet, ride feels great, exterior/interior design rocks!! At first I thought the stick shift attached to the panel was a bit weird but after driving for a while, it doesn’t feel so bad. All I can say is this new Spec-V model is bad-ass!!
i have an 08 spec and had an 04 and i love them both but i long for the 04 cuz you can really tell the new one is 300 lbs heavier and that 30hp doesn’t do a whole lot but you have to remember this car is built on the same platform as a Rogue which sucks but i think they did pretty good for what they were workin with and btw you put put this against an civic SI sedan and it will win and why are you comparing it to anything that isn’t N/A comparing this to anything with a turbo or a supercharger is ridiculous it wasn’t made to compete with them and if you put a turbo on it and raced nething that came with a turbo and was fwd it would destroy it and now i rest my case
There is obvisouly a problem here with people not being able to see & need some really thick glasses for that reason. Sentra 07-09 is a great looking car!!!! wheather its 2.0L 140hp or SE-R 200hp. It’t farley quick, beautiful design inside out and with CVT you waste less fuel and it revs right before the redline if you slam it down all the way. It is heavy but if you want A/C, So much room, and all the extra options, you may want to consider that all of it has weight to it. Eather way the retards talking about golf or civic or even about Versa SE-R should be banned from this website. People come here to find out about cars and look for help finding the one that suits them and all they are getting is bullshit non-facts here. Instead of helping them chose the right one you are telling them to get a golf or a CIVIC. Like dude who wants to drive a civic, 50% of cars on the street are civics, no one will have any respect for you having one! you will just be another person. I’ve driven a vr6, its quicker than sentra, but damn is it uglier, and not as confertable, and inside it looks like a 10 year old kid built it. I would feel emberessed to talk about the SI or vr6 golf being better than Sentra SE-R, its a shame how many years are passing by and people still dont have the taste for style. Or maybe its just that they dont have the money to afford. Civic simply costs less than sentra, but after all its a Honda (LOL). why would you drive something that Everyone already has. Bottom line is, Sentra is quick, spacious, beautiful looking, safe, and stylish. For you who are looking to buy a car, do not let people confuse you and give you wrong impression of sentra. It is simply an amazing car and defenetly worth the money whether its 2.0 or SE-R.