The Sentra SE-R Spec-V is the performance bargain of the group. At only $16,900 it delivers hardware you seldom get for even $10,000 more. Take the helical limited-slip differential, for example. Five of our eight great rides are begging for this piece of hardware, but on those cars you'll have to add more than $1,000 of aftermarket parts and labor to get one. It also has the second biggest engine of the group, offering huge tuning potential based on size alone.
Even without that tuning, the SE-R surprises. The combination of huge low-rpm torque and short gearing makes big, smoky burnouts an irresistible temptation. The low, 6200-rpm redline and lack of top-end power hurt acceleration numbers, but the power delivery is surprisingly effective both in the real world and in our fantasyland where all roads wind through mountains. Torque turns out to be an amazingly effective tool in the twisties.
The SE-R manages its impressive price/performance balancing act by pulling from parts bins of much bigger volume cars. Take a mass production Sentra chassis, a high-volume Altima engine and a beefy Maxima transmission and the number of unique SE-R parts is surprisingly low.
This parts bin strategy does have its limitations, though. The B15 Sentra chassis has limited suspension travel and a rear suspension that is heavily biased toward stability over cornering prowess. The suspension--sometimes harsh, often too soft, usually understeering but occasionally tail happy--seems to have been tuned by a dysfunctional committee. Get a handle on its multiple personalities, though, and you'll find buckets of grip and a very forgiving edge that encourages you to push it to the limit. Case in point: The SE-R pitched and lurched clumsily through our slalom, but it did so faster than any other car on the list.
Pulling the engine from the Altima meant adopting some of that car's bias toward fuel economy, smoothness and torque. That's the excuse for a rev limiter that smacks you in the face on every shift. Super-light valve springs designed to get that last fraction of a mile from every gallon of gas mean no more revs until you buy 16 more springs and an ECU.
There's nothing graceful about the SE-R's execution, but that's much of the appeal. It's raw, brutal and fun. Torque steer is fairly severe; eliminating it would have meant sacrificing the short gears, fat tires and limited slip. We'll take torque steer any day.
The rough edges make it seem like the SE-R was designed as an unfinished build-your-own-performance-car kit. In fact, if it came as a pile of parts and a set of wrenches, it would still probably make the Eight Great Rides list. The Spec-V's value is exactly the sum of its parts.
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