By Larry Printz
It’s been 30 years since the first Nissan Sentra was launched in the US market, competing with the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. This mighty trio dominated the compact class in the late 1980s, with the Sentra finding more than 300,000 buyers at its sales peak.
The 2012 Sentra still attracts buyers, but its sales are nowhere near those sales heights. The sixth-generation model’s distinctive style may be too adventurous for this conservative buyer segment.
In reworking the Sentra for the seventh time, Nissan mellowed the styling excesses, giving this car the smooth, upscale look the company used on the midsize Altima. Designers reinforced the upmarket appeal by employing a large chrome grille — a rarity in this segment — and headlights laced with a strip of LED lights. In the rear, LED tail-lights are standard. Combined with its artful side window shape, which gracefully flows rearward to a point, this seventh-generation Sentra should age a bit more gracefully than the current model.
The premium feel continues once you open the door. Inside, little things give this inexpensive car the suggestion of being more expensive, even if its plastic trim tells you otherwise.
The car’s instrument panel features natural organic shapes. Its knobs are trimmed in chrome. There are soft surfaces on the centre console and door panels to rest your arms. The headliner is made of handsomely textured material, rather than the usual uninspired mouse fur. There’s even a rear centre armrest — an item usually cut by tight-fisted bean counters to save money.
But the truest luxury here is space, and the car has a remarkable amount, both in the front and rear seats. There’s plenty of room to hold my six-foot-three frame. More remarkably, Nissan increased the trunk space to a generous 15.1 cubic feet, so there’s little reason to pack lightly.
Once you fill the Sentra with friends, family, cargo and pets, you’ll want to move.
For this task, Nissan has designed a new double-overhead-cam 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine that produces 130 horsepower and 128 foot-pounds of torque. Regardless of model — base S model, value-oriented SV, sporty SR or top-of-the-line SL — power remains the same for the time being. All Sentras come a new continuously variable automatic transmission. Known as a CVT, this tranny constantly varies the gear ratios to ensure the optimal fuel economy and performance. Disappointingly, only the base S models can be fitted with a six-speed manual transmission. Even the sporty SR trim comes with the CVT.
“We don’t think the take rate will be all that significant when we have a CVT that performs like this one,” said John Curl, senior manager of product planning.
That might be overstating the case, but its hard to argue given that the revisions Nissan made to this CVT. It’s remarkably smooth and responsive, lacking the rubber-banding feel typical of CVTs, although that trait isn’t entirely banished. Power seems more than sufficient for the Sentra’s daily driving duties, but bursts of speed call for a bit of planning due to the CVT, which lacks a manual shift mode featured on competitor’s CVTs.
But Nissan does allow the Sentra driver to customise the driving experience by choosing from three driving modes: Normal, Eco and Sport. When the car starts, it’s automatically in Normal. But choosing one of the other modes does noticeably alter its character. Sport mode livens up the car’s steering and throttle response; it feels highly caffeinated.
In contrast, Eco is the exact opposite. Not only does it reduce the air-conditioning draw on the engine, it also tells manual transmission drivers the best time to upshift. Too bad it feels as if you’re driving with an anchor trailing behind you. Normal mode splits the two. My guess? Most drivers will rarely switch between modes.
There’s more than enough power on tap for most drivers. The engine is fairly quiet except when pushed. Then, it moans forlornly, typical of a driveline using a CVT.
Fuel economy is fairly good. Although the EPA hasn’t yet rated the Sentra, Nissan expects it to return 30 mpg city, 39 mpg highway. A forthcoming FE-Plus model will increase the highway mileage by one mpg, but it will cost an extra $400.
Nissan achieved this through a number of weight-reduction measures, including the use of lightweight high-strength steel. Still, you can feel engine and chassis vibrations in the floor and front-door armrests.
When it comes to taking the Sentra through the twisties, you’ll find it to be agile but not sporty, with the wide turning radius typical of Nissans. Body lean is controlled, but it’s no sports sedan.
The Sentra’s comfortable ride and quiet cabin takes precedent over sporting pretensions. Soft, supportive cloth seats and an inviting instrument panel design mimics some of the exterior’s flowing looks.
I sampled both an SV and SL model.
The SV had standard power door locks and windows, 16-inch wheels, six-speaker audio system, sunglass holder, sun visor extenders, vanity mirrors, tilt steering wheel, steering wheel controls for the audio system, trip computer and cruise control and chrome accents.
Making this car much more inviting were two option packages. The $650 Navigation Package adds a 5.8-inch touch screen with a navigation system with traffic and weather information, a rear-view monitor, a hands-free text messaging assistant, Pandora radio capability and a system that allows you to send Google directions to the car’s nav system. This package also is available on SR and SL models.
In addition, the SV I was driving included the $1,000 Driver’s Package, which includes a keyless push-button starter, USB connector, SiriusXM satellite radio, Bluetooth phone capability, automatic head lights and leather-trimmed steering wheel and shift knob. This package can be added to the SR, which also gets rear disc brakes. The package is standard on SLs.
Altogether, the SV, which started at $17,970, squeaked in just under 20 grand at $19,750, a price many buyers will find palatable. By contrast, the SL I also sampled started at that price, but had the Driver’s Package standard. It also had the $1,000 Navigation Package, a $1,030 Leather Package with leather trimmed seats, heated front seats and rear disc brakes. Gilding the lily was the $1,200 Premium Package, with a Bose 8-speaker audio system, power moonroof and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror. That’s a fully loaded car, one that will cost $23,420; not bad for a car that has all of the options one could want in a small car. Still, the SL doesn’t feel a lot more luxurious, despite the presence of wood trim and leather seats.
The Sentra is a car whose styling may stir your emotions, while its price will appeal to your practical side. And while it is frugal to drive with nimble handling, enthusiast drivers will want to wait for the sporty SE-R model that’s sure to follow.
For the rest of us, there’s little reason to wait. With this new model, the Sentra once more re-enters the mainstream with the space and styling to capture their hearts and a price that’s sure to please their wallets. The driving experience may not be sporty, but most drivers won’t care.— The Virginian-Pilot/MCT
*(Technical specifications may vary in locally available models)
In a nutshell
Engine 1.8-litre DOHC four-cylinder
Wheelbase 106.3 inches
Length 182.1 inches
Weight 2,851 pounds
Cargo space 15.1cu ft
Fuel type Regular
US base price, base model $15,990
As tested $19,750-$23,420
For 2013, Nissan gave the Sentra its seventh redesign since its debut in the 1980s.
