My friend just bought a 2003 Nissan Sentra SER spec-v, standard, what is everyone's opinion on it. I think it's pretty sweet, but do you think that it will ever hold up to the 4th Gen. maximas. We haven't raced yet we just got some snow today so we probably won't be racing any time soon. How will they do against a 95 auto, greddy cat back and CAI. if i had a 5 speed would i have a better chance thanks
Mike

 

There's a number of posts on here with peoples opinions on the Spec-V and how they fare against maximas speed-wise.

To sum it up from past posts, Maxima == flagship Sentra == value-level ride.

Personally I think the value is nice at 19k, but the 02s had a lot of quality control problems. Apparently some things were "fixed" for 03, but I haven't checked the boards to see what people think. I was somewhat interested in the car as my next ride until I ran into all the complaints. For that price and in that area (sporty compact 4cyl) I'd rather have a 2001 Prelude.

 

I test drove the 03 as my friend was thinking about getting one. These are my comments:

Torque steer - when you hit the go pedal it would lose grip - a lot.
When you hit the brakes it would pull to the left - this is bad when you are in slippery conditions....wee fishtail!!
Yes I could go sideways through corners, but it seems to be a little top-heavy and it seems like the wheelbase was not wide enough. The gearbox felt cheap and "knotchy" although some people prefer this feel. Acceleration and fun factor is not on par with the 4th gen max IMO. I drove the 02 GTI 1.8T which was a much better car (I'd rather have it than the 4th gen max).

Feel free to disagree

 

I agree with runelind on the torque steer ... when I test drove a 2002 prototype, I felt the torque steer was rather heavy too ... but I've been driving my Maxima for months, so I'm sure my opinion is biased.

To me, I'd choose my Maxima over the SE-R anytime. More spacious, less torque steer and more practical. Also, padded dash

 

There is no comparison.

There's a local in town with Stillen RSB, 17" wheels, some kind of catback, and some intake. Sounds horrible and he shaved all the emblems and what not. To me, that car is no different than a Civic.

It's small, it's cheap, it's not a luxury ride.

Tifosi

 

Of course it didn't help that I drove a 1999 ///M3 right afterwards to greatly overshadow most cars I've driven to date.