New Sentra SE-R

[srivendel]

Inside Line review.

Like the Dodge Caliber, the Sentra lives on top of a platform that's really meant for a crossover sport-utility, so it's no wonder that its proportions look like they've been stretched out of shape as a result. Unfortunately, the SE-R Spec V's personality also feels as if it's been stretched out of shape.

All the performance numbers look pretty good, and Nissan has shown us plenty of compelling video of the SE-R Spec V being tested at the Nürburgring. We've driven the Spec V at a racetrack ourselves, and can report that it's terrifically stable in long, sweeping bends. But like the Renault Mégane from which it's derived, the Sentra always feels a little too big for what it's trying to be.

It weaves a bit like a French car as it goes down the road, as if the front tires are doing all the work and the rears are just along for the ride. Even the engine sounds like it's unhappy, though it's powerful.

This is what happens when you stretch a kid's personality around a grown-up car. The whole package just doesn't have the right kind of snap.

Yeah... not really sad I didn't wait for this one, although those red seatbelts sound rather ricetastic.

S.

[black roadster]

meh...

[trickyrix]

Friend of mine traded his "last of the breed" Prelude for a previous-gen Sentra SE-R, and I have to say it was a Big Step Down. That Prelude was a damn nice car (esp w/the SH front diff and the H22 motor - yowza!), but the SE-R seems a little half-baked - not to mention fugly...

Besides... this new one sounds like it's got a little too much Le Car built into it...

Seems like Datsun shoulda quit while they were ahead with the 240Z...

[MadMonkey]

Eeewww. What happened, did they fire their aesthetics teams?