The 1991-94 Nissan Sentra SE-R strongly appealed to me. It was conservatively styled yet packed with a 2.0 liter, 140 horsepower engine, much larger and more powerful than the typical subcompact of the time. The proverbial “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” I never drove one, but remember reading how the car’s light weight contributed to nimble, nicely balanced handling. A complete package.

Unfortunately, Nissan has proven adept over the years at killing its stars, and the SE-R was not immune. When the Sentra was redesigned for 1995, the coupe was replaced by the relatively racey 200SX, and the SE-R package migrated to the new model. Nissan--like auto companies in general--has had trouble getting through its thick skull that some people actually want a four door with power and good moves. The 200SX flopped. Despite the sleeker metal, it failed to retain fans of the plainer Sentra.

For 2002 the Sentra was again available in SE-R form. Two-liter engines became common in the class, so to keep ahead of the field a 175 horsepower 2.5 liter four was fitted. Despite or even because of the four-door form this car has attracted much of the enthusiasm that was attached to the earlier car. I’m no longer in the market for such a small car, but didn’t want this one to get away without a taste.

Not that I didn’t let a whole year go by. It turns out this is a good thing. For the car’s sophomore year Nissan has fixed a few of the things people didn’t like with the 2002. Most notably, the balky shifter has been refined and the seats’ “lava” red cloth has been replaced by silver. A few months back I was highly impressed with the Ford Focus SVT, which will soon be available with a second set of doors. How does the Sentra stack up? (Blue hyperlinks lead to my reviews of related vehicles.)

Nissan Sentra Reliability

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Styling

The Sentra remains a conservatively styled car. This design would not have raised any eyebrows a decade or more ago. If anything, this car has less character than the first SE-R, as the current Sentra’s lines are rounder, such that it now looks a touch pudgy where the first car looked cleanly efficient. The SE-R’s somewhat bulbous front and rear fascias contribute to this impression. But I’m picking nits here. The car retains much of its old character, such that the two extra doors seem like they’ve always been there. The Spec V version includes 17” five-spoke alloys with low profile tires. I like the styling of the wheels, but they certainly serve to broadcast that this is no normal Sentra. The wolf’s cover is blown. Those who desire a bit more stealth can save $1,000 and go for the regular SE-R.

The silver cloth in the 2003 is certainly easier on the eyes. (The red was just trying way too hard to add sportiness to the standard Sentra interior.) That said, the cloth looks a bit cheap, and I’d wonder about its durability. The rest of the conservatively styled interior is clearly a cut or two above that of the first SE-R, which screamed economy inside. It’s even a cut above the interior of the more expensive Altima. Of course, the Altima interior seems awfully cheap, so that’s not saying much. Overall, now that the red is gone aesthetically there’s little to hate here. Nothing to love either, with the exception of the nicely shaped leather wrapped wheel.

Accommodations

The front seats do not feel terribly substantial. Side bolstering is okay, but the padding feels a bit thin and the frame does not feel very stout. Plenty of room, though. The controls on the center stack are just beyond my fingertips, but then I guess that’s what I get for driving with the seat as far back as I can get it and still reach the pedals. Certainly nothing unusual here.

The rear seat can hold two average-sized men in decent comfort. Thigh support is inadequate, but this is common among compact sedans, and not uncommon among larger ones. If a comfortable rear seat is a priority, then the Focus is a better alternative.

Storage inside the car is good, with at least five decently sized places to throw stuff. (What do people tend to put in the compartment on top of the dash? It’s not terribly spacious, and not within easy reach. But at least it’s there.) The trunk is average for this size car, which is to say pretty good these days. Sadly, with the Spec V the seat does not fold down unless you get the optional sound system, and then only part of it folds down (owing to the subwoofer that takes up some of that trunk space). I drove a car without this option, so I’m not sure about the specifics here. If you really want the whole thing to fold down, then consider the regular SE-R.

On the Road

The 2.5 liter engine’s 175 horsepower (165 with the regular SE-R) at 6000 RPM puts it among the class leaders, but as with the first SE-R what clearly distinguishes this package is the amount of torque. This is a long stroke engine, so torque is it’s specialty. Add in the half-liter advantage the Nissan enjoys over the Focus, Civic, Neon, Protégé, etc., and we’re talking a serious torque advantage. The Spec V’s 180 ft-lbs. at 4000 RPM is far and above the 145@5500 in the Focus, not to mention the Civic Si’s 132@5000. To get this much torque in a compact sedan the only real alternatives are the 1.8 liter turbo four and 2.8 liter six in the considerably more expensive VW Jetta. The Jetta is a much different car, with a cushier interior and softer suspension.

The Spec V has a freer flowing exhaust that gives it ten more horsepower than the regular SE-R’s engine. However, there are only five more ft-lbs. of torque, such that power in the midrange is only negligibly higher. I wouldn’t buy the Spec V just for the extra power.

Guess what? The car flies. Even with the revised ratios for 2003 gearing remains short, spinning the engine quickly into its powerband. The same engine can be found in the Altima, but I like it much more in the smaller, lighter Sentra. As with any big, long stroke four, it’s not the smoothest, quietest engine around, so it feels more at home in the less smooth, less quiet, altogether less substantial Nissan sedan. What felt like an overly small engine in the Altima here feels, if anything, overly large.

How can an engine be too large? Well, there’s this thing called torque steer that tends to occur when big engines are put in small cars. Not in all cases. In some front-wheel-drive cars the halfshafts that drive the wheels are of equal length and the suspension geometry is tuned so that torque steer is minimized. I didn't check, but I'm guessing that neither was done here. The current Sentra was in its third year when the SE-R reappeared, so there's a good chance it was never designed for such a torquey engine.

Whatever the reason, the SE-R has the worst case of torque steer I’ve experienced in a long, long time. In my Altima review I noted how the poor interior quality reminded me of a Chrysler. Now in the Sentra I find the sort of torque steer I haven't witnessed since some 1980s turbocharged Chryslers. When Daimler-Benz banished Chrysler's soul, did it find a new home at Nissan? The first time I gave the car gas exiting a turn I ended up turning twice as much as I intended. Throughout my test drive such torque steer kept me from feeling comfortable with the otherwise stable handling of the car. Every time I hit the gas in a turn, even a fairly slight turn, the accuracy of the steering went into the ditch. I kept a firm hand on the wheel to keep the whole car from doing likewise. The car also pulls strongly to the right when accelerating hard in a straight line, but this is easier to manage. Clearly Nissan took a page out of Detroit’s muscle car days and simply dropped a big engine into a small car with minimal modifications. Since the regular SE-R has nearly as much torque, I expect similar behavior.

The Spec V includes a helical limited slip differential. This channels power to both wheels when the car is pointed straight ahead, helping get all that torque to the tarmac. In turns I’m not sure what it does, but it certainly doesn’t help.

Because of the four's long stroke, the redline is low for a four-valve engine, just a bit over 6000 RPM. Since the power peak arrives at 6000 RPM, it's somewhat difficult to get the most out of this engine without banging the rev limiter every once in a while.

Whatever Nissan did to the shifter for 2003, it seems to have worked. I had no significant issues with the operation of the shifter. The throws were a bit long, but effort was light and I always easily found the gear I wanted. I didn’t care for the shifter in the 2002 Altima. Either this one was a bit higher in effort, or a similarly light shifter simply feels more fitting in a smaller, lighter car. I suspect the latter. I’d still prefer a more substantial feeling shifter, but in this car a light shifter is okay.

What I did have a significant problem with was the strange shift knob that comes with the Spec V package. It’s shaped somewhat like a duck’s head, and my hand didn’t care for it at all. Another one of those things that can be fixed by going with the regular Spec V.

As I’ve already alluded, aside from the torque steer the Sentra handled well. The thick, leather wrapped wheel is excellent. The steering was nicely weighted, and provided a good amount of feedback. Sadly, much of that feedback had to do with the engine rather than the road. Aside from the torque steer, the chassis felt nicely balanced in hard turns. Nissan aimed for neutral handling with the Spec V, and they seem to have gotten it.

Like its chief competitors, the Spec V has 45-series tires. While such low sidewalls enable very quick steering responses, they also contribute to a somewhat busy ride. Still, the ride was better than I expected it to be, with small road imperfections more of a problem than larger ones. The car’s structure is stiff enough that the stiffness of the ride does not make the car feel like junk. That said, the structures of the Focus and Jetta feel stiffer yet to me. While the Sentra feels like a solid economy car, the German-engineered competition, at least in SVT and GLI form, somehow manage to transcend their economy car origins. Their structures feel like those of a more expensive class of car, lending them a more substantial feel.

The Spec V adds a sixth gear to the regular SE-R’s five. The revised ratios for 2003 remain very closely spaced. With so much torque across such a wide range, I’m not sure why this is necessary. As it is, the extra gear doesn’t contribute to relaxed cruising on the highway. It’s no lazy overdrive. With so much torque available in the midrange, I’d personally rather see sixth used to enable a taller top gear. Road and wind noise are also moderately high on the highway. If you want a touch of luxury, or simply a relaxed highway commute, the VW is a much better bet. On the other hand, the regular SE-R shouldn’t do any worse despite having only five speeds.

Pricing

For quick, up-to-date new car pricing, and especially user-specified price comparisons, check out the website I created: www.truedelta.com. Why yet another vehicle pricing website? Well, I personally lacked the patience to keep using the others. They were too slow and required too much effort, especially when trying to compare prices. So I taught myself some programming and created a site where there is no need to dig through option packages, prerequisites, and the like one by one -- the TrueDelta algorithm figures these out for you in one swift pass.

Unlike others, I’m having a hard time seeing this car as a bargain. With the $699 sunroof, the car I drove stickered for $18,438. To get ABS and side airbags, you must also get the “audio fanatic package,” which would boost the price to $19,736. Edmunds suggests that dealers do not discount these cars.

Going with the regular SE-R saves a grand. Most significantly, this deletes ten horses, the sixth gear, the limited slip differential, the 17" wheels, some suspension stiffness, the fancy shift knob, and the silver seat fabric. This seems like a decent amount of stuff for a grand, but if one or more of the preceding is actually a negative for you it might be a grand well saved.

Update: The regular SE-R is no longer available with a manual transmission.

With a $675 “Audiophile package” and $595 sunroof, the 2002 Ford Focus SVT cost $19,265. Again, no discounts. The Focus has leather standard, and generally feels like the better package despite (or perhaps because of) its torque disadvantage. If the SVT is like other Foci, the five-door could be over $20,000 similarly equipped. Ford has had reliability issues with the Focus, but claims to have now resolved these. Time will tell. I like the Focus so much better I’d personally take the chance, even for a few extra dollars.

The Mazda Protégé with turbo will be $20,500. Haven’t driven one, so I can’t say if it’s worth the extra cash. The magazines have tended to prefer the non-turbo Protégé to the Nissan, so odds are the Mazda will be a better package for many people. Cloth upholstery is standard, and no options are available from the factory.

A 2003 VW Jetta 1.8T with 17” wheels, sunroof, and optional sound system stickers for $23,055, and costs about $22,400 after the typical dealer discount according to Edmunds. This is a lot more money, but for a much different car. Sport package or not, the VW is more about a luxurious interior and comfortable ride than ultra-sharp handling. The Jetta with either torquey engine has some torque steer, but the Sentra SE-R really puts the Jetta's relatively moderate case in perspective.

Not included in the sticker price: Unlike these other cars the Spec V does not require premium fuel.

Last Words

An interesting effort, but not one I think I could live with. Torque steer ruins the otherwise fine handling of the Sentra SE-R Spec V. The interior, despite being superior to that of older Sentras, is also not quite up to the competition. Overall, this does not seem as refined and thoroughly engineered a car as its main competitors. Unless a few raw edges and massive torque steer enhance your driving experience, I’d look elsewhere.

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Amount Paid (US$): 18,438
Model and Options: SE-R Spec V with sunroof