Nissan Launches Sentra SR Turbo

mmcartalk

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For those of you who are old enough to remember it in the early 1990s, the SR Turbo reminds one of the old Nissan Sentra SE-R, which was a simple, affordable pocket-rocket that sold like hotcakes. I remember being at a local Nissan/Mazda shop, helping the father of a friend of mine shop for a new Protege. Out on the lot that day, in front of the showroom, four new SE-Rs were delivered to waiting customers just in the few hours we were there. (and his father went home with a new Protege LX that same day, too)
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If this new SR Turbo sells anything close to what the SE-R did, Nissan is probably going to make some money on it. Of course, because of a number of factors, new cars today can't be built as simply or inexpensively as they were 25 years ago...so we'll see.

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http://www.autoblog.com/2016/09/10/nissan-sentra-turbo-sr-3451/


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Nissan may claim its Sentra SR is aimed at drivers looking to get some sportiness out of their daily driver, but as we found out earlier this year when we drove it, the model is all show and no go. The Japanese automaker hopes to change that with the 2017 Nissan Sentra SR Turbo that has, you guessed it, a new turbocharged engine.

The Sentra SR Turbo shares the majority of the same components with the regular SR variant, but features a new 1.6-liter direct injection gasoline turbocharged inline-four motor. The engine raises power to 188 horses and 177 pound-feet of torque (up from 130 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque from models with the regular 1.8-liter inline-four and Xtronic gearbox). The engine can be matched to a six-speed manual transmission, which was previously only offered on the base S model, or the Xtronic unit.

The six-speed manual transmission, which should be the clear choice among enthusiasts, has been tuned to maximize the motor's powerband and torque curve. The Xtronic transmission is a bespoke unit for the Sentra SR Turbo that has also been tuned to bring out the best in the new engine with a wider gear ratio, smaller pulleys, and a sub-planetary gear.

In addition to the new engine and revised transmissions, the Sentra SR Turbo benefits from upgraded suspension including unique front and rear dampers, as well as enhancements to the independent strut front/rear torsion beam suspension. Nissan has also altered the compact car's electric power steering system to reduce the amount of steering effort at low speeds, while providing more feedback on "winding roads." Do Sentra owners take their cars on winding roads? We're not sure.

To ensure that drivers don't get too carried away with the Sentra SR Turbo's power, Nissan packed the sedan with larger brakes and calipers at the front and back. Understeer has also been tamed, with Nissan optimizing the car's active understeer control system.

The interior of the Sentra SR Turbo goes unchanged over the regular SR model. The refreshed Sentra debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show with an exterior design that echoes the latest Altima and Maxim's V-shaped front end. The change to a turbocharged engine is most likely in response to Honda's move to put the 1.5-liter turbocharged engine into the Civic. There's no word on pricing for the SR Turbo, but it should be more than the $21,245 base price of the Sentra SR.
 

Och

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Didn't Nissan make a limited edition of previous gen Sentra R? Or was it the Altima? I forgot.
 

mmcartalk

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Didn't Nissan make a limited edition of previous gen Sentra R? Or was it the Altima? I forgot.

To an extent, both. Nissan did a limited-edition model of the Altima GXE in 1997, and, several years later, a Spec-V version of the SE-R, though it is somewhat unclear if the Spec-V was a true limited-production version or simply a performance-option.
 
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http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/09/2017-nissan-sentra-sr-turbo-dashes-idx-dreams/
2017 Nissan Sentra SR Turbo Dashes IDx Dreams

Nissan is filling in all the unfilled niches today.

The automaker unveiled a turbocharged variant of the sensible and unexciting Sentra today at the Miami International Auto Show, promising a performance version of a sedan known mostly for its value and grocery capacity.

In doing so, Nissan implies that a hotter NISMO version is around the corner, while closing the casket lid on the IDx concept once and for all.

The 2017 Sentra SR Turbo ditches the vanilla sedan’s 1.8-liter in favor of a turbocharged, direct-injection 1.6-liter four-cylinder borrowed from the Juke subcompact crossover. Making 188 horsepower and 177 pounds-feet of torque, the mill boosts the Sentra’s power by 50 percent. Transmission choices are a six-speed manual or a CVT with manual shift mode.

Also part of the package are 17-inch wheels, ventilated front brake discs, larger brake calipers, stiffer front springs, and increased damping front and rear.

Nissan’s newly muscular Sentra arrives just in time to compete with the looming Honda Civic Si and Hyundai Elantra Sport. Pricing hasn’t been announced.

There’s plenty of evidence that Nissan has an even hotter NISMO version in the works. Besides the Sentra NISMO Concept (unveiled at the 2013 L.A. Auto Show as a “performance study”), Car & Driver has snapped photos of a disguised Sentra sporting an aggressive front spoiler — something you won’t find on the SR Turbo.

Anyone holding out hope that Nissan’s rear-wheel-drive IDx concept would one day make it to production can consider their dreams completely and utterly dead. Last year, Nissan’s Pierre Loing, North American vice president of product planning, told TTAC that it wasn’t economically feasible for the automaker to build a new RWD niche product. He added that certain elements could find their way into an actual production model — perhaps a front-wheel-drive compact.

Well, you’re looking at it. The 2017 Sentra SR Turbo is the IDx you don’t want.
Since Civics are hot, and the new Si is around the corner, Hyundai and now Nissan are jumping into the foray. Toyota has a new Corolla XSE...bad dum tsk!
 

mikeavelli

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Oddly enough I want to check this out and drive it. It would be awesome if Nissan found some of its old SE-R magic.. I think a NISMO is coming as well..

I love the current Sentra, I got ripped apart in a couple of review but I find it roomy, it feels premium for the price and does a good job of getting from A to B.

Didn't Nissan make a limited edition of previous gen Sentra R? Or was it the Altima? I forgot.

Yup, the second generation Altima had a SE-R version...I drove it and it was wild, torque steer like nuts, awful interior, rough and course and I loved ever second of it lol...It looked great to me at the time.

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Och

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Yup, the second generation Altima had a SE-R version...I drove it and it was wild, torque steer like nuts, awful interior, rough and course and I loved ever second of it lol...It looked great to me at the time.

Yep, thats the one I had in mind.
 

mmcartalk

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Oddly enough I want to check this out and drive it.

Give us a quick review if you have time. ;)


Yup, the second generation Altima had a SE-R version...I drove it and it was wild, torque steer like nuts, awful interior, rough and course and I loved ever second of it lol...It looked great to me at the time.

Och said:
Yep, thats the one I had in mind.

Sorry, Och.....I had forgotten about the Altima SE-R. And I had actually looked at one at the D.C. Auto Show that year.

Mike, I agree Altimas that year still had somewhat cheap interiors (though the SE-R version had better instrumentation than the others, somewhat like the center-gauges on the 350/370Z.) But even the cheaper Altimas, that year, were noticeably better inside than several years before, at the height of the reign of Ghosn's El Cheapo cost-cutting. You an I shared a number of posts, back then, on how awful that era was.