Nissan Sentra SE-R spotted ahead of L.A. show
The scooper of cars procured a shot of what looks to be the Nissan Sentra SE-R ahead of it's unveiling at this week's Los Angeles Auto Show. Bathed in "look-at-me" yellow and donning NISMO-grade 17-inch rollers, the SE-R looks the biz for its segment.
Power is expected to come from a 2.5-liter inline four, which should be producing something in the neighborhood of 190+ HP. No word yet on suspension, braking or transmission options, but we'd suspect that everything will get a through tweaking to justify its SE-R designation.
More info will be forthcoming on Wednesday. Stay tuned.
[Source: Car Scoop]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
doglet 6:20PM (11/27/2006)
i dont like the sentra but that SE R looks pretty good. i wonder where they will price it, in this segment it will get compared to some pretty fast cars that i doubt it will be able to run with. its a pretty tough sell if it costs more than a civic si sedan.
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srivendel 7:18PM (11/27/2006)
That's it? The new styling apparently does not lend itself to a "sporty" SE-R treatment. Seriously, that doesn't look sporty at all. Just sort of dumpy and sad. The grille isn't remotely aggressive, the wheel gaps are embarassing, and the whole thing sort of screams "I'm a poser! Please don't hurt me!" After the Civic Si and the Mazdaspeed 3, it looks like Nissn needs to go back to the drawing board.
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Juan 6:17PM (11/27/2006)
Not bad, not bad. Hopefully it doesn't suffer from the "good engine in a crap car" syndrome like previous iterations. This is one of those cases where good specs on paper won't come together in an enjoyable vehicle if Nissan's not careful.
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ruggels 7:30PM (11/27/2006)
looks much more attractive then the Civic Si 4 door, the Mazda3s or the GLI...
.. oh wait, it doesn't. It's always entertaining to be the last to the party with the ugliest girl who didn't even bother to put her makeup on (note the squished for fusion front end feel, meh. Mazda, late to the game, tries to make up for it with a shit load of power (per segment), nissan... um... dusts off that badge)
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Whydrive 8:27PM (11/27/2006)
What a joke. The Prius offers a better combination of fuel economy, interior space, performance, and Toyota reliability.
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Johnny 9:12PM (11/27/2006)
Nice! Perfect timing too. Anyone sense a comparison test coming up? Too bad for this car, the Civic SI Sedan will slap it silly.
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Din dada 9:12PM (11/27/2006)
There is also a SE-R SPEC V with more horse power than SE-R
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Sammy B 6:58PM (11/27/2006)
Being in the market for a new car that is sporty and reasonably fast but without breaking the bank insurance wise, I think that this would be a nice option. I just hope that they make it feel special and give a high amount of standard features. Having test driven a Civic Si this weekend and sat in the sedan, this will have alot to compete with no matter what the price. However, with a decent price and what will probably be a torqier (sp?) engine than the civic, it will make a nice option in the fast but affordable category.
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Jason 2:21AM (11/28/2006)
Nice 4x4.
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Michael Karesh 7:45PM (11/27/2006)
You had me going for a second, Ruggels.
Let's just say there is a reason portly people don't wear bright yellow. Same should apply to portly car designs.
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PJ 8:11PM (11/27/2006)
Looks like this SE-R will continue the last one's legacy: big torque in an ugly wrapper.
Even the outgoing SE-R, though, had a lower, sportier bearing than the one pictured above. If the blurb hadn't mentioned the 17" wheels, I would have thought they were 14s, judging by the massive fender gap and awkwardly tall body.
I always liked the prev-gen SE-R, especially in NISMO S-tune trim. Guess this one's off my wish list...
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Eric L. 8:25PM (11/27/2006)
Its a pity Nissan decided to stick with its C-platform for the Sentra - which includes a beam axle in the rear. No matter how advanced Nissan makes the linkage points for its beam axle (the previous gen Max probably had the most sophisticated beam axle in a production car), its still not comparable to an independent setup.
I would have preferred to see a turbocharged small displacement engine for the SE-R instead of the QR25.
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John 9:34PM (11/27/2006)
It's so cuuuuuuuute!
I just have a suggestion;
the driver should be a girl with ponytails and a miniskirt.
A guy with a baseball cap doesn't look right in it.
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MikeW 9:47PM (11/27/2006)
How much under 3000 lbs?
Maybe those are smaller [but marginally wider] diameter wheels 215/45 17 when keeping the stock diameter would be 225/45 17
No VQ25HR, 215 JIN ps, not bad.
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Gale 11:11PM (11/27/2006)
"That's it? The new styling apparently does not lend itself to a "sporty" SE-R treatment. Seriously, that doesn't look sporty at all."
I love the way people look at bad polaroids and make knee jerk comments about a cars appearance.
With 190 hp the Spec V is going to be a blast to drive - especially if they cured torque steer the way they have in the 07 Altima!
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Howard Kerr 10:54PM (11/27/2006)
I'm not really crazy about Nissan's sedan range of 4 VERY similar looking cars, but in different sizes...like those Russian dolls that fit inside each other. That said, this generation of Sentra is about where Nissan should have been 4 years ago. I always thought the '02 through '05 SER looked like the body was too small it's for 4 doors to open wide enough for real people. Look at a mid to late '90s Corolla in profile....here's the '01 to '06 Sentra.
I imagine the transmission choices will mirror the older car, though instead of an 4 speed automatic on the "non-V Spec" car, there will be a CVT. What we really need to watch for is whether Nissan pinches pennies by using rear DRUM brakes on any SER variant.
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epp_b 10:30PM (11/27/2006)
["No word yet on suspension, braking or transmission options, but we'd suspect that everything will get a through tweaking to justify its SE-R designation."]
Speaking in terms of the lower-in-the-line Sentras, Nissan has turned what was a peppy and fun little car into a mushy Japo-box (and I mean "box"!) that Car and Driver describes as a "miniature Lincoln Town Car".
Even if Nissan does upgrade the suspension and brakes, it still won't deserve an SE-R badge because of the the hideous design. The only way it could earn a spot in the SE-R line is if they made weigh 2000 lbs, made it four-wheel drive and gave it 300HP. And even then...eeyugh!
["The Prius offers a better combination of fuel economy, interior space, performance, and Toyota reliability."]
Wow! Can I have some of what you're smoking?
["There is also a SE-R SPEC V with more horse power than SE-R"]
Yeah, ten whole horsepower...oooooh!
["How much under 3000 lbs?"]
Probably in the negatives (ie.: over 3000 lbs) if you're talking in that respect. The base Sentra weighs in at just slightly below 3000 lbs, so Nissan will need to use witchcraft to keep the weight down in the larger-engined SE-R.
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broman78 10:52PM (11/27/2006)
Those tires need some Black Magic on them. You would figure since this is load in the vehicles would be clean and ready to go.
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James 10:48PM (11/27/2006)
I have an 04 SE-R Spec V and in no way is it a crap car. My car is the Skyline GT-R's cousin.
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ruggels 11:26PM (11/27/2006)
"I have an 04 SE-R Spec V and in no way is it a crap car. My car is the Skyline GT-R's cousin."
bwaahahahhahaha, man i needed that laugh. Hold on, I need to call all my friends (all what two of them) and insist that my jetta is the RS4's cousin... and thus shares all of it's infinitely superior characteristics... cuz... it's it's cousin. erm right. go ahead and drive the last iteration (or ride along as i was fortunate enough to do) and then take you're car out for a spin and insist it's not crap because it's the GT-R's cousin. man the potential is limitless. "the sky isn't crap, it's the z06's cousin", "the rabbit's fantastic, it's the R32's cousin", or my personal favorite, "the tt rocks, it's the gallardo's cousin".
I love the net.
man... that's a good one.
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