I grew up in an era when 3100-pound cars came with rear-wheel drive, ground-breaking good looks and 300bhp. They'd have weighed less if it weren't for big engines, cast iron manifolds and steel turbochargers. Of course, if you couldn't afford one, there were cars like the Sentra SE-R. They cost half as much and weighed around 2500 pounds. With each of the SE-R's 140 horses only having to motivate 17.8 pounds, that flyweight was a kick in the pants to beat around a back road.
Fourteen years later, the Sentra SE-R is the car that weighs 3100 pounds. It's not twin-turbocharged or rear-wheel-drive. In 2007, it's safety equipment and ever-fattening segment sizes that plump cars up. But with 177bhp, it might be a hair quicker than the first SE-R (the new car must haul 17.5 pounds per hp).
Nor is it a looker. Nissan family cues take a back seat to styling influences from such gems as the Saturn Ion and the Toyota Prius. Then again, the first Sentra SE-R was no beauty either. And that was a car that garnered a cult following even Star Trek could envy.
Never mind guessing the sales figures, though. What matters to us is how the thing drives. The higher trim Spec-V edition gets the biggest brakes in the segment (12.6 inches up front), a 200hp 2.5-liter engine and a six-speed manual transmission. Despite it being no bantamweight, the recipe has been tried and proven to be an entertaining time in cars like the RSX Type-S and Civic Si.
And the Spec-V is pretty adjustable-lifting the throttle silences understeer and engages a playful rear end. In the SE-R, the rear seems even more willing to party, probably an effect of the less grippy all-season tires. Steering on either car feels accurate, but with slightly rubbery feedback. Compared to the SE-R, the brakes of the Spec-V feel slightly grabby on initial application-something that could probably be fixed with a set of harder pads.
Both cars feel pretty torquey (a lot more useable than a Civic Si), but it takes a good head of steam to get all 3100 pounds moving up long hills, and it's essential to keep the revs up when shooting from corner to corner. Speaking of keeping the revs up, the SE-R comes with a continuously variable transmission, so if you have the pedal down, the tachometer needle will point straight at the horsepower peak until you let off.
The problem is that once you do let off, the ratio in the transmission abruptly dumbs things down-it feels like an automatic that you just can't stop from upshifting at the wrong time. To solve the problem, Nissan has incorporated a manual mode, in which six virtual gears can be selected, either by steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, or on the shift lever itself.
As cool as the idea of a CVT is, the Spec-V is the no-brainer for us here at SCC. It's a stick, it has 23 more bhp, stickier tires and bigger brakes. Is it better than a Civic Si? I guess you'll just have to wait for a head-to-head comparo to decide that one.