A disclaimer is in order here. Our test car was an early pilot production unit that had been employed-- vigorously --at several press events. We encounter not-ready-for-showroom cars such as this regularly, and we try to look past the little flaws associated with them--for example, the cruise control on this Sentra didn't work. And there were a couple of itchy rattles that most likely wouldn't show up in a production car.
Still, we encountered weak points that we can't attribute to preproduction glitches. The new six-speed manual transmission topped that list, with its vague gates and awkward throws. Eventually, we got used to this cable-operated device, but it drew flak throughout the test. "Reminiscent of a video-game shifter," wrote a tester, while another noted that it was "one of those shifters that discourage shifting."
The Sentra's gearing amplified our gearbox gripes. Owing to low internal transmission ratios and a low final drive (4.43:1), the Sentra required a good deal of rowing--two shifts to get to 60 mph, for example--and we were constantly bumping up against the rev limiter, which asserts itself a mere 100 rpm after the engine's 6000-rpm power peak.
Despite some downward adjustments in the ratings by Nissan--175 horsepower from the 2.5-liter DOHC 16-valve four versus the 180 previously cited (the standard SE-R goes from 170 to 165)--there's still enough grunt here to generate torque steer in the lower gears, a phenomenon that helped make the SE-R feel a trifle twitchy to some in hard driving.
We did some cosmetic carping, too. The seats--black flecked with burnt orange, and burnt-orange center panels--looked like the work of the guys who do the décor for midway sideshows, and the instrument graphics matched this color scheme. And no one was charmed by the exterior, with its bulbous front fascia and droopy butt.
Still, even though the power wasn't quite what Nissan had originally envisioned--the company attributes its backpedaling on the rating to tests using actual production parts, rather than the earlier prototypes--the new SE-R Spec V proved to be formidable in the dynamics department. It ran second to the Jetta to 60 mph at 7.4 seconds (the same number turned in by a Sentra SE-R tested in March 1991), was quickest to 100 mph at 20.1 seconds, and covered the quarter in 15.7 seconds at 90 mph, just ahead of the VW. Although Nissan expected the car to hit 60 in less than seven seconds, it's still a pretty brisk performer. And its braking was the best of this bunch: 177 feet from 70 mph.
The new SE-R really asserts itself, though, on the racetrack, where it was the undisputed champ, turning into corners with a will, maintaining an even keel--and higher speeds--through the turns, and exiting with real authority, thanks to its helical limited-slip differential. When the track session was over, the SE-R was almost two seconds faster than the next-quickest bandito. And since the essence of sports-sedan-ness is controlled urgency, to at least one test driver the SE-R Spec V emerged as the boss bandito. It also looms as the best buy--a projected $17,500, a grand less than first estimates.
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