2011 Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet revealed on Facebook

Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet - Click above for slightly higher-res image

Yep, it's real. Nissan has just unveiled the 2011 Murano CrossCabriolet on its Facebook page. Incredibly, it's not nearly as much of a horror show as we'd feared. The transition to two-door form isn't so bad at all, and we're pleased to see that there's no Volkswagen Golf Cabrio-style basket handle. Still... weird. But hey, props to Nissan for having the guts to do some different things lately. First the Juke, now this.

In the photo caption, Nissan says the droptop Murano "delivers the open-air exhilaration of a convertible while
extending the versatility of the Murano in exciting new ways." Okay. Apparently, there's room for golf bags with the top up or down, too. This'll be interesting to see in greater detail, which we'll be doing this week in person at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Stay tuned..

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Limousine Nissan Teana

Mitsuoka, a car manufacturing company in Japan, has launched Galue Limousine development model based on the latest version of the Nissan Teana.
 Mitsuoka Motors is a Japanese company specializing in automotive design style used by other companies to launch new models, domestic consumption. Himiko notably Roadster models developed based on Mazda MX-5, Galue Convertible Ford Mustang-based development, and sample Orochi ...

 Latest product Mitsuoka Galue Limousine is based on developing a new version of the Nissan Teana (below).

 Nissan Teana


These images introduce vehicles that Mitsuoka Galue Limousine announced and showed the tail-style blend of Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Clusters associated backlight suggests pretty small car Fiat 500 Italian.

 Galue Limousine car has many versions and two engine choices: 2.5L and 3.5L V6. This car will be available in the Japanese market in November, with prices ranging from 3.68 to 5.284 million yen (about 44,700 to 64,200 USD).

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2011 Nissan Quest Official Photos and Info - Auto Shows

The Quest once again pins its hopes on funky styling.

When Nissan desperately craved a minivan to sell in the 1990s, it partnered with Ford to rebadge the Mercury Villager as the original Quest, an arrangement that lasted for another generation. The Villager was killed in the early 2000s, so Nissan then struck out on its own to create the funky third-gen Quest on the bones of the Altima sedan, but sales were terrible, generating rumors that the company would pull out of the segment altogether. A fourth Quest was in the cards, though, and to bring the van to life, Nissan found another partner: itself—specifically, the Japanese mother ship.
Indeed, the 2011 Nissan Quest is twinned with the Japanese-market Elgrand, a strategy that allows the automaker to hedge its bets against picky U.S. shoppers; if we don’t buy the thing, production ostensibly can be re-allotted to Japan. (That’s where this new Quest will be built, unlike the previous model, which was assembled in Canton, Mississippi.) It’s a strategy that makes sense, but might need to be enacted sooner rather than later: Innovative styling isn’t typically among minivan buyers’ highest priorities, and this new Quest is as bizarre-looking as its slow-selling predecessor. That said, we like this van’s samurai-helmet-meets-the-suburbs look, and its wraparound glass and slabby body sides create some visual drama—at least as much as you can expect from a minivan, anyway. The new model’s styling is based on that of the Forum concept, which was penned in the U.S.
Give Me More of Those Hot, Hot Features
Bold looks tend to turn off minivanites, but features and ease-of-use get them hot and bothered. As you’d expect, the Quest’s second and third rows fold to accommodate all the flat-pack furniture you can buy, but the chairs aren’t removable and don’t fold into the floor; instead, they fold forward to make a flat load surface, which Nissan notes allows constant access to the deep cargo well behind the third row. That well gets its own 60/40-split cover, too. Dodge, of course, offers the Stow ‘n Go second row, where the seats fold into the floor. In the Odyssey, the third row folds forward like the Quest’s, and must then be flipped back into the cargo well to create a flat load floor, which Nissan’s press materials imply is a terrible inconvenience.
But the Quest comes with its own inconveniences. Total passenger volume is about what you’d expect for the segment—all range from 160 to 170 cubic feet or so, depending on equipment—but the Quest’s non-removable seats eat up a fair chunk of cargo room when they’re flattened. At a maximum of 63.6 cubic feet behind the second row, it lags 20 to 30 cubes behind the Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, and Dodge Grand Caravan. And its 108.4 cubic feet with the second and third rows folded trails the Odyssey by more than 40 cubic feet. (Admittedly, that Honda figure is with the seats pulled out, and only Toyota gives a figure for a folded, but installed, second row: 117.8 cubes.) The Quest is in line with its peers behind the third row, with 35.1 cubic feet available, though, and Nissan says that the step-in height through the sliding side doors is lower than on other minivans, which is a nice touch for both small kids and older folks.
Trims and Equipment Rundown—Take a Deep Breath
The Quest comes decently equipped to battle the segment leaders, but doesn’t appear to offer many innovations of the type that sway shoppers. The lineup starts with the $28,550 S, works through intermediate SV and SL trims, and is topped by the LE. (Pricing for the other trims is unavailable as of this writing, but we expect it to hew as close to the Japanese competition as the base price does.) The S could stand for “stripper” here, with the highlights of the features list being 16-inch steelies, cloth seats, cruise control, manual front seats, a four-speaker stereo, and keyless entry and starting. Move up a rung, and you add a leather-wrapped steering wheel, power-sliding side doors, 16-inch aluminum wheels, a six-speaker stereo with 4.3-inch color display, iPod and Bluetooth connectivity, a backup camera, and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.
The SL opens up the ability to add option packages, including a rear DVD entertainment system with 11-inch screen (the Honda and Toyota both offer much larger screens that feature split-display capability for multiple inputs), a set of two opening sunroofs, and a Bose package that adds to the DVD player a bunch of speakers and satellite radio. It also nabs roof rails, a power liftgate, heated and powered front seats, leather upholstery, and an easier-to-operate third-row folding mechanism. The full-boat LE includes all of the above save the optional dual sunroofs, and it’s the only way to get a built-in nav system, Nissan’s fancy air-purifying climate control, and a blind-spot warning system, which are all standard. It also has a power function for raising the third row.
One neat feature: The tire-pressure-monitoring system on all Quests has a feature first seen on the Infiniti QX56, whereby the hazard lights flash when air begins flowing into the tire, and the horn softly beeps when the desired pressure is reached.
Familiar Powertrain
The Quest powertrain consists of Nissan’s VQ35DE V-6 mated exclusively to a CVT; the engine is the same as the one in the Altima and Murano with which this van shares its platform, so we expect lively acceleration. The 253 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque found here are pretty much in line with the Odyssey (248 hp/250 lb-ft) and Sienna (265 hp/245 lb-ft) V-6s, but pale a bit in comparison to the Grand Caravan’s 283 hp and 260 lb-ft from its Pentastar V-6. The Quest, like nearly all of its competitors, routes its power only to its front wheels; the Sienna is the only one that can be ordered with all-wheel drive. Size-wise, the Quest pretty much falls in line with those three segment leaders, although it’s a bit narrower and taller than those offerings.

With engine output similar to its peers’, no huge advancements in minivan flexibility or fabulousness, and somewhat compromised cargo room, it’s going to be tough for the Quest to stand out. It seems Nissan is again depending on styling to separate its minivan—a dangerous path, as the company should well know—and it’s not as though the segment leaders have made any recent missteps. The new-for-2011 Odyssey and Sienna drive well and offer at least one standout feature this Quest doesn’t, and the 2011 Grand Caravan has taken big leaps forward in powertrain and interior refinement. We’re looking forward to gathering all these vans and seeing if the quirky Nissan can improve on the third-gen’s fourth-of-five showing in our last minivan comparo, but it seems this Quest—on paper—may end up where the old one left off when it goes on sale early next year. At least it looks pretty rad.

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2009 Nissan Murano

2009 Nissan Murano – Click above for high-res image gallery

It just so happens that the all-new 2009 Nissan Murano is one of those nondescript mid-size crossover utility vehicles that may blend into the crowd. Its styling is certainly modern, if not overly exciting. The cabin is accommodating, if not excessively spacious. The handling is inspiring, if not unduly sporty. The engine is strong, and even reasonably efficient. How would this perfectly acceptable, yet hardly over-achieving CUV handle five passengers and full luggage on a 1,000-plus mile road trip across the Southwestern desert? Read on to find out.


The task at hand was to deliver three adults and two children, with their overstuffed baggage, round-trip between Los Angeles and Phoenix in the middle of summer. It's a trip this writer has been doing for more than a decade, but always in a seven-passenger SUV (Chevrolet Suburban, Dodge Durango, Volvo XC90, etc...). Now, in a CUV with seating for five, we wanted to see how we'd fare (without resorting to strapping Aunt Edna to the roof).

The first-generation Nissan Murano arrived on the market as a 2003 model, the same model year the Infiniti FX made its debut. While Infiniti's FX offered concept-like styling on a sporty rear-wheel drive platform shared with the Infiniti G35, Nissan's Murano took a mainstream approach with its more conservative sheet metal and front-wheel drive architecture shared with the Nissan Altima. Arguably, the most innovative part of the Murano was its continuously variable transmission, or CVT.

A solid seller for Nissan, and popular with consumers, the Murano was re-designed for 2009 (there was no 2008 model). With little fanfare, the second-generation arrived looking much like the first (expected, as Nissan didn't want to ruin a winning formula). The significant improvements were found on the interior where the all-new Murano had taken hint and grabbed more than a few components from the Infiniti parts bin. Compared to its predecessor, the 2009 Murano is a major step up in interior quality and ergonomics, although it is down on overall cabin space. We were bound to see if it mattered.
Under the hood of the Murano is Nissan's very familiar VQ-family 3.5-liter V-6 powerplant. While the first-generation Murano also had a VQ, Nissan has revised it for the 2009 model to provide 265 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque. The engine isn't the smoothest out there, or the most frugal with fuel, but it has proved to be consistently strong and very dependable. Mated to the six-cylinder is Nissan's Xtronic CVT™ (Continuously Variable Transmission) with Adaptive Shift Control (ACS). While the engine/transmission combo is set in stone, consumers are offered the choice between front- and all-wheel drive.

We are holding the keys to a 2009 Nissan Murano SL 2WD with the Premium Package. With cloth interior and no navigation, the sticker price fell just below $30,000. The Murano is a four-door, five-passenger vehicle with a lifting hatchback over the rear cargo area. The tapered styling in the C-pillar looks great, but it does impede on cargo capacity. Regardless, once we yanked out the cumbersome cargo cover, the mid-sized Nissan happily swallowed three wheeled suitcases, two large duffel bags, an overstuffed camera bag, and the obligatory bags of miscellaneous family debris that are required to keep the kids entertained during an extended drive. With everything strategically loaded, including a pillow or two in the second row, we could just barely see out the back window.

Behind the wheel, your author's six-foot two-inch frame fit very comfortably. There is plenty of legroom for the left foot even behind the pedals for stretching out (rare these days with the proliferation of transverse-mounted engines keeping firewalls up against the backs of the pedals). The exterior mirrors are generous, yielding a great view outside, even if thick C-pillar restricts a bit of outward visibility from within the cabin. Our Murano had the rear back-up camera, and it was very useful during parking. As expected, the CUV driving position is elevated giving a commanding view of the road.

The dash of the Murano is logically designed, and it works well once your mind is acclimated. The most offending part of the dash has nothing to do with ergonomics – it has to do with the garish back-lighting. The primary instrumentation (speedometer, tachometer, and gauges) are white characters over a dark background with bright orange indicator needles. That's fine. However, someone at Nissan went amok with the lights and added bright rings of orange around the primary gauges. The illumination is overpowering, and it effectively removes the driver's ability to quickly glance at the panel to distinguish the position of the orange needles. We overcame much of the glowing orbs by turning the dashboard illumination down. Way down.
With the aforementioned luggage already loaded, we ran into a bit of a bind. The two kids in the second row wanted to watch a movie on a portable DVD player, but Nissan didn't supply those seating positions with a 12v outlet. The single front outlet was powering our Garmin GPS (and we didn't have a splitter on hand), so we improvised by threading a long cord from the single 12v outlet in the cargo area through the luggage and into the passenger seat area. It worked, but we'd prefer too many outlets to too few next time.

What the Murano engineers did right was the powertrain. The matchmaker who hooked up the VQ with the Xtronic VCT deserves a promotion. In fact, after spending countless hours with the pair, we observed that it just may be the perfect mechanical marriage for this vehicle. While we've had our issues with the CVT (often when we find it stuffed under the wrong hood), the Murano doesn't pretend to be a four-door sports car, an off-road explorer, or a luxury liner. It's a family oriented CUV, and in that capacity the CVT operates smoothly, predictably, comfortably, and efficiently. Coming from a traditional slushbox, the Xtronic may seem a bit lethargic at first. But, that sensation quickly wanes when your right foot learns to drive it properly.
All five of us loaded into the Murano preparing for the six-plus hour drive to Phoenix. The car seat in the middle of the second row split the rear passengers up, but there was plenty of wiggle-room on either side. Nobody complained about space, even the person sitting behind the driver's seat. All Murano models share the same twin-tube strut/shock arrangement with front and rear stabilizer bars. Unlike many cars that wallow and roll when packed to the brim, the Murano handles nearly the same-regardless of load. While it would hardly be considered "enthusiast-tuned," one could easily argue it is much sportier than many of the other CUVs that compete in the segment. It is fun to drive, but it will not satisfy the enthusiast deep within you.

Across the LA Basin, the Murano easily darted through the light freeway traffic as we headed out of town. The freeways are deeply grooved and scattered with expansion joints (for earthquakes, not freezing temps), but the Nissan ignored the tendency to tramline and soaked up the bumps without drama. The crossover breezed through San Gorgonio Pass and its giant wind farms without flinching in the sporadic crosswinds.
In the mid-day sun, the ambient temps began to climb into triple-digits. Driving east out of Indio on I-10, the highway climbs more than 1,700 feet to Chiriaco Summit. It's a steep climb (some portions have an 8% grade) that frequently overheats, or just plain overwhelms, many types of vehicles. Loaded with full passengers and luggage, our A/C pumping at maximum, and a heavy tank of gas (having just topped-off minutes earlier), we were the Murano's worst nightmare. Without hesitation, the VCT brought the engine up to speed and the VQ pulled us heroically at 70 mph past the burdened tractor trailers that struggled in the right lanes. Through Blythe, the temperature outside was a blistering 113 F, but we were as cold as Popsicles inside the cabin (in fact, we had slowly cranked the AUTO climate control setting up to 76 F so we wouldn't go numb).

Over the Colorado River, and into Arizona with its 75 mph speed limit, the traffic lightened and we set the cruise control at an even 84 mph to remain relatively inconspicuous among the flow. We noted how accurate the speedometer was (typical with most Nissan/Infiniti products), and how absolutely serene the cabin felt at this speed. With smooth black asphalt under the all-season tires (keeping tire roar at bay) and cloth interior acting as sound-deadening, all aboard were impressed at how quiet things were considering the Category 1 hurricane winds on the other side of the glass. While we've tested countless cars that lose their composure above 80 mph, from the driver's seat the Murano was completely competent and stable at those high cruising speeds. It was disheartening to approach Phoenix and slow to city speeds, and lane-clogging traffic.
During our countless highway hours behind the wheel, the most excitement arrived in the middle of the California desert, just outside Desert Center. We'd been watching a wall of thunderclouds on the horizon for the better part of an hour. Temperatures were in the triple-digits, but the sun soon disappeared behind the cumulonimbus clouds as we approached. Minutes later, we drove into a literal waterfall as the skies violently opened up. One second we were dry and doing 80-plus mph, the next second we were fighting for visibility with the wipers on high-speed and our velocity down to 40 mph or so. While the downpour stimulated our pulse, the Murano soldiered forth without concern. The ride height kept us out of the splashing spray from the trucks, and the front and rear wipers (and aerodynamics) keep the windows clear. The rest of the trip was uneventful.

We burned four tanks of premium gasoline during our travels (including a few days running around the Phoenix basin). Calculated by hand, our worst fuel economy was 19.96 mpg, and our best was 22.31 mpg. When you consider each of those tanks were consumed while lugging five souls around with the air conditioning fighting Sahara-like temps, the numbers aren't bad (for the record, the EPA rated the 2009 Murano at 18/23). We never tried regular-grade gasoline, although rumor has it that the Murano will drink it just as happily.
With the long week behind us, it was obvious that five passengers (and their luggage) can cohabitate peacefully in the Murano for 1,000-plus miles without any hint of pending bloodshed. Sure, the mid-size Nissan will never transport seven adults legally (Nissan will gladly sell you an Armada for that), but we'd make a good argument that even loaded to the headliner, the 2009 Murano is an agreeable place to pass the time. Interestingly enough, we never missed the extra room that the engineers apparently took from the new model.

The 2009 Nissan Murano is one of those vehicles that accomplishes everything with very high marks, but aces nil. That's not to be taken as a negative -- it simply means that Nissan has done a fine job engineering a five-place CUV that is a solid B-plus performer across the board. The engine is strong, transmission smooth, and the driving dynamics comfortable and predictable. Pressed into service, it will duly serve as a reliable daily driver, impromptu cargo hauler, sporty canyon cruiser, or an effortless road trip vehicle.
source by autoblog.com

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Volkswagen New Beetle still number one with the ladies

Volkswagen New Beetle – Click above for high-res image gallery

Men, take note: According to a new survey from research firm TrueCar, the Volkswagen New Beetle is (still) the ultimate car for women. Apparently, its combination of cute-as-a-button looks and affordable pricing make the reborn Bug a total hit with the fairer sex.



This data was determined not by some silly woman-on-the-street clipboard survey, but rather by looking at the registrations of more than 13 million vehicles over the past two years. We could have saved them quite a bit of work if they wanted to know that the New Beetle was a chick car, but whatever. There was some other interesting info gleaned from the research, including the revelation that 64% of all cars are registered by men despite the fact that there are more women (at 51% of the population, just a tad) than men in America.

Rounding out the top five vehicles that scored well with the mono-chromosomed gender were the Nissan Rogue, Hyundai Tucson, (saw this one coming) Volkswagen Eos and Volvo S40.
source by autoblog.com

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2010 Nissan Sentra SE-R is a tall order

2010 Nissan Sentra SE-R – Click above for high-res image galleries

The Nissan Sentra has long been the bridesmaid of America's C-segment. Few consider it to be best-in-class, yet it would be a stretch to call Nissan's second-smallest sedan the category's cellar dweller. In the past, the Sentra hasn't been the fastest, it hasn't been the prettiest and it certainly hasn't offered the best interior, but the affordable sedan has quietly continued to sell well enough to keep Nissan in the picture.

Unlike some of its more popular competitors, the Sentra is offered exclusively as a sedan, while other automakers offer coupes or hatchbacks. Nissan makes up for this deficiency in part by offering six different variants of the Sentra, ranging from a base 2.0 model to the 200-horsepower SE-R Spec V. We had the chance to spend a week in the mildly refreshed 2010 SE-R model that slots in just below the Spec V, and with 177 horsepower on tap and quite a few high-end options, we wanted to find out if this upper-middle child could hold its own in what has fast become one of the most interesting and competitive segments in the market.


All Sentra models receive updates for 2010, with tweaks to their headlights and taillights, a new front fascia and grille and a lower MSRP. More specifically, all SE-R models also received attractive 17-inch wheels, a standard 4.3-inch color display with USB connectivity and updated instrument panel accents. The biggest news is two-fold: The SE-R's price tag drops by $1,080 versus the 2009 model and Nissan has introduced a new low cost navigation system on the 2010 model.
One glance at the 2010 Nissan Sentra SE-R, and we were immediately taken aback by its surprising size – particularly its height and length. This "compact" sedan is actually one of the largest entries in its class. It's the widest vehicle at 70.5 inches, besting competitors like the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, and it's within a half inch of the Mazda3 in length. The Sentra is so broad-of-beam that it's within two-tenths of an inch of Nissan's own midsize Altima, and the "smaller" sedan is more than a full inch taller. Our SE-R tester is also the second heaviest vehicle among its competitors, tipping the scales at a rotund 3,115 pounds. That's even heavier than the all-wheel drive Subaru Impreza and second in tonnage only to the portly Volkswagen Jetta. Even the Altima comes in only 65 pounds heavier.


We were surprised at how close the Sentra was to the Altima in many dimensions, and shopping for a sedan in a Nissan showroom gets even more complicated when considering the Sentra's downmarket sibling, the Versa. The so-called B-segment Versa is a big boy in-and-of-itself, just three inches shorter and slightly narrower than the Sentra, while coming in (amazingly) one inch taller. Naturally, this causes us to wonder how many Sentra sales are lost to the Versa. Sure the Versa has 55 fewer ponies in 1.8 SL trim, but it's also over 500 pounds lighter, available in both sedan and hatch configurations, and starts at $4,000 fewer bucks to boot.
The Sentra's overly generous height and long wheelbase conspire to create some odd proportions, and to our eyes, the resulting design looks awkward and narrow – there's just no getting around the very tall, incredibly bulbous greenhouse. On the bright side, our SE-R tester did have some nice-looking features that differentiate it from its less sporty siblings. For starters, the SE-R's new 17-inch wheels help give the Sentra's profile some added visual pop. Also added are bodyside moldings and a restrained rear wing that lends the slightest amount of sporting pretense.



Nissan has added more SE-R cues inside the cabin, where a pair of leather buckets await front seat occupants. The thrones are incredibly comfortable and well-bolstered, giving the Sentra a more upscale feel. Unfortunately, that initial impression of quality quickly departed upon closer inspection of the rather bland dashboard laden with low quality, hard-to-the-touch plastics. If the SE-R didn't come with twin pod meters displaying oil pressure and lateral acceleration(!), along with Nissan's new low-cost navigation system, the interior would have looked like a barren landscape of automotive-grade Tupperware.

But while the Sentra's interior is nothing to look at (or touch, for that matter), the layout and functionality of buttons and knobs are well executed. There's something to be said for a vehicle that's incredibly easy to operate from Day One, and the Sentra's large knobs and steering wheel controls are as intuitive as they come. While it's true that the Sentra's overstuffed dimensions make for a pretty bland-looking sedan, once you get behind the wheel, those extra inches work to your advantage.



Nissan's new $400 system was designed for lower cost, high volume vehicles like the Sentra, and while it's not as sophisticated as other systems we've sampled, it's also about a quarter of the price. Despite the discount, it still comes complete with a 4.3-inch, touch-sensitive LCD screen and the ability to interface with iPods and MP3 players while also working with Bluetooth-equipped phones to deliver hands-free calling.

Like the rest of the Sentra interior, we found the system to be intuitive and easy-to-use, offering all of the gas station and restaurant-finding capabilities we've come to expect. Unfortunately, our pre-production tester apparently had a glitch that inhibited its route guidance abilities, but Nissan assures us that the system will work as-advertised once it reaches mass-production. We'll reserve judgment until we can test another example.

As much as we'd like the Sentra's interior quality to improve, all would be forgiven if the SE-R lived up to its sporting ancestry. After all, we adored the original B13 SE-R of the early Nineties, and the $4,000 premium over the base Sentra means that this model ought to live up to once-formidable badge. Dolling out 177 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque from its 2.5-liter four-cylinder, the SE-R had enough power to push 3,115 pounds of sedan, but it never managed to set our blood to boil – or really get it much above room temperature. Redline comes at a pedestrian 6,000 RPM, with maximum torque available at 2,800 RPM. The 2.5-liter mill delivers smooth acceleration (we'd estimate 0-60 at between 7.5 and 8 seconds) that's a bit better than what you'd expect in a C-Segment sedan, but it doesn't sound or feel race-inspired and the SE-R's XTronic continuously variable transmission (CVT) dashes any hopes of enthusiastic driving.


The CVT – essentially a gearless transmission – keeps the engine in the optimal RPM range at all times in order to improve performance and efficiency. But unlike other CVT-equipped vehicles, we found ourselves using the paddle shifters to provide six forward shifting points and avoid the feeling of the shiftless transmission for performance purposes. It worked, but just barely. To compound matters, the CVT didn't appear to do much to improve fuel economy either – we only managed a marginal 23 miles-per-gallon during moderate to heavy driving with a 60/40 highway/city mix.
But the story got a bit better when it came to ride and handling. The sport-tuned suspension offered a bit of an edge, without punishing the SE-R's occupants on imperfect roads. And while the speed variable electronic steering has a nice heft to it, the tiller lacks some feedback for our tastes. When tackling turns at higher velocities, we noticed more than a little body roll – not surprising given the Sentra's high ride height – but for a vehicle billed as a sporting runabout, there was more lean than we expected. Coupled with the aforementioned vague steering, the SE-R doesn't exactly offer a recipe for confident backroad carving. Beyond sport-tuned spring rates, the only other major hardware update for the SE-R is up-sized 17-inch wheels mated to P225/45VR17 Continental ContiProContact tires that aid in keeping this up-level Sentra connected with the road.



We did experience a few bouts of torque steer when accelerating hard from a stop, and in each instance the SE-R pulled to the right on dry pavement – again, not confidence-inspiring. Braking was solid thanks to standard four-wheel disc brakes (11.7 inches up front and 11.5 inches in the rear), but you may want to step up to the Spec V model with its larger 12.6-inch front rotors to keep braking distances and rotor temps in check if you're into canyon runs or track days.
After a few days behind the wheel of the Nissan Sentra SE-R, we found ourselves somewhere between uninterested and nearly satisfied. Not the sort of emotions that attract us to a new car. The Sentra scored points for comfort, ease-of-use and general spaciousness, and we commend Nissan for offering an inexpensive in-dash navigation option. But does a cheap navi and WYSIWYG functionality enough to justify a $22,000 price tag for this Sentra SE-R? Not really. The Sentra's interior materials are just too cheap and the SE-R's performance too pedestrian to justify its higher price tag (let alone its once-storied SE-R badge). From where we sit, Nissan either needs to get serious about the Sentra or its compact sedan will never end up at that altar; unless it's in charge of fluffing the bride's dress.

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