in the December 2001 Sport Compact Car?

page 120 ... they were not very impressed ...

Do they have a link for it? Feel like posting it? Just curious

hmmm...that makes me think twice about purchasing one

It took 4th place out of 5 cars in a Car and Driver shoot out between the Neon R/T, Sentra SE-R, Impreza RS, Jetta, Mazada M3P or something like that.

True, but it also had the best track times in the matchup, second best 0-60 time and second best handling. Apparently, it's a competent perfomer, they just didn't like the shifter and the red seats.

anyone who has had recent experience with Nissan products should know they like overrating HP on their vehicles.......


Q45 = 340 ponies

Or Mazda's miata? They aren't alone..

Toyota seems to be pretty accurate with their ratings if not conservative...

Nissan is not overrating their engines, in fact, they downgraded their HP numbers from preproduction numbers. The fact is, say on the '02 Max, the engine produces 255 HP, but some of that is used in driving the electrical system and some of it is lost in friction (or heat, if you think about it in terms of energy) between the moving parts that transfer the power to your wheels. Taking all things into consideration, a 10-20% loss in HP at the wheels is not that big.

As a side note, Car and Driver tested a preproduction model of the Vehicle and in fact gave a disclaimer that there were many cosmetic and electrical problems with the vehicle that would not have been in a production model. The Sentra lost points because of that. In a comparison of the production model Sentra, I'm sure it would have placed 2nd or 1st. I've driven the Mazda, and it's not fast, but it sure is fun to drive...tough competition.

Actually. it didn't lose points for that. They made a point of noting it that they overlook that sort of thing on pre-prod. cars. It lost points because of the lousy shifter and ***-ugly styling, inside and out.

I think it had the best 0-100 time in C&D as well.

The Sentra is not supposed to be a 1/4mi burner nor a 0-60 demon..its a track car! And it succedded it meeting its goal as a superb track car for its price. It lead the competition in areas which it was designed for..ala braking, lap time, slalom, etc..

The Sentra was not a failure, and its dyno is right on the money. A 190hp Maxima dynos at around 155fwhp..a 175hp Sentra SER dynos at 140fwhp..it seems about right.

no it doesn't a 190hp AUTOMATIC maxima dynos in 155whp, a MANUAL SE-R dynos in 140hp

I guess then it's your interpretation of how they use the word "try".

Huh?

Well I haven't even seen this car on the roads yet and the aftermarket exists:

http://www.nissannews.com/nissan/new...emaphotos.html

Nisma and JWT are both on it already. JWT seems to have turbo ready to go! Those cars are going to be sweet lil buggers!

The Spec V I drove felt awefully quick. And it was a blast in the twisties too. However, I haven't driven an SE, so I couldn't tell you if it was quicker or not.

im kinda interested in those little fellas

yeah i think vspec is a nice follow up to the ser sentras. good move by nissan to stay in the import game. by far i think the 6spd max will be the tightest car in the nissan/infinti camp.

With a fstb/rsb/springs it will be!

But if you read the sport compact article, it's not that the cars hp was overrated. The older nissan sentra se actually out performed every se-r v-spec sport compact tested in 0-60 and 1/4 mile. That just not right. the new v-spec should be able to out perform the se with its hands tied behind its back. I just don't get it

I'm dissappointed still.... At one point there were talks of the car possibly running a full 1.0 second faster then the time they got out of it. I only hope the one they tested was beaten to **** or the guy couldn't drive for crap. I remember people comparing it to RSX Type S, but how could it compare when the RSX runs a 14.4 stock and the Sentra 15.7 Nissan

uhh, never mind... The car probably is slow, they said they test drove 5 Spec Vs and they all ran slow..

But it probably handles a whole lot better than the SE (which already handles well as it is)..and the SE-R V-spec out handled all the competitors...which it was meant to do. Nissan never advertised it as a straight line car..it was designed with the Integra Type-R in mind..and that car was a handling god.

Has anyone ever seen an RSX run a 14.4 stock? All the ones I've seen at the track run low to mid 15's at best. I guess Acura's marketing money is making the mag times faster again...

It may be slower than expected, but as far as handling is concerned, it DOES perform at the same level as the Integra Type-R which, needless to say, is impressive

im sure there will be a big aftermarket for it so the performance issues will be handled then

My Friend is kind of disappointed also. He purchased the new V-spec Se-R and he says that the performance is kind of sluggish for the horsepower and the torque that it has. He rated himself with G-tech pro 0-60 in 7.7 seconds.

Turbo time!

Your friend already picked up the car?? I didn't know they were released already..

Shouldn't he wait till the engine is broken in till he pushes it hard?? Well, atleast it handles good..

they are already released???

well they were supossedly on sale Oct. 16th. Hmm....i should take a ride tonight to see one.

Guys....the spec V has the 6sp....with TWO upshifts before 60mph. I'll bet anything!!!!!!!!!!that the se-r 5sp(10hp less) but only ONE upshift to 60 is faster.

Lets see if someone tests a 5sp. Also...0-60 doesn't always equate to real world driving. The car has 180ft-lbs of toruqe...i'm SURE it does...nissan is gonna lye...if you go WOT in 2nd....the pull is gonna be greater than WOT in 2nd of the old 2L. The overal driving experence is probably better.....

Or maybe every se-r has been beat to snot....slipping clutch anyone?

Speaking of Turbo Sentra!
http://www.nissannews.com/nissan/new...traSETurbo.jpg

I'm not sure when they're going on sale. I drove a preproduction model a couple of weeks ago.

gtr.....




THAT PIC IS SICK !!!!!!!!!



Had to get that outta my system

Yeah, they're on sale. My friend just picked up the only Silver one in Washington. I'm hoping to go for a spin tomorrow!!

Umm, might want to make sure all 0-60/quarter mile times posted here are being compared to other $s generated AT THE SAME TIME.

SCC's current issue compares multiple cars, as does Car and Driver. RSX Type S, WRX, SE-R Spec V, etc. are all compared this month, IIRC.

New Sentra SE-R Spec V may only run a 15.7 for SCC, but I believe in the same issue, an RSX-S only ran a 15.5 or so. The 14.4 result was from a different event in different conditions and location, so it's not directly comparable.

Also...
gen4 5-speeds are 190 crank HP, around 155~160fwhp. There's plenty of dyno evidence out there to reinforce that. I happen to think 155~157fwhp is a little low, but I haven't seen too many stock gen4's do more than 160~161fwhp.

An automatic gen4 should do 145~155fwhp. The lowest stock auto gen4 # I've seen was a red 99SE-L which did only 140~145fwhp, OUCH! (sorry, I don't remember who... it was ~1.5 years ago...)

(a stock gen5 5-speed did ~180fwhp at the last SoCal-SERCA Dyno Day, a stock gen4 5-speed did ~156fwhp at the same event).

So, 140fwhp for a 175hp Sentra SE-R Spec V is a little lower than I'd like, but the odds are-- sadly-- that it's still acceptable.

I didn't know the SE-R Spec V needed to go into 3rd gear to hit 60mph...!>?!??!?!?!?! Time for a JWT ECU to raise the rev limiter to 6800rpm...

How can they treat a new car like that!!! Oh well, it looks fast enough to me. Those civic's are gonna have to watch out for sure!

love the pic!