Nissan finally brought a turbocharged Sentra back into the fold — at least as a concept.
The new Nissan Sentra brings a ton of welcome changes forward into a new generation while maintaining a solid value across its three trims. With a 149-horsepower 2.0-liter engine under its hood, though, it’s not exactly what you’d consider “hot”. This custom SEMA build, as one of three Nissan is bringing to the event, flips that script a bit. Meet the Sentra Spec-V Concept: A hot sedan that brings not only a familiar name back to the nameplate, but plenty of NISMO parts and performance goodies from both the Z and the GT-R.
First off, let’s start with the power. Here, we’re looking at the same 2.0-liter engine as the base Sentra. However, this time it’s turbocharged and packs upgraded internals to handle the forced induction. The result is more than double the normal car’s power, with this Spec-V pushing 300 horsepower (which, interestingly enough, puts it right in the same league as the Toyota GR Corolla, Honda Civic Type R and Hyundai Elantra N).
But wait…does it have a manual transmission!? You bet your pedals it does, because it gets the transmission from the Nissan Juke NISMO RS, as well as a lightweight flywheel and clutch kit. Couple that to the 19-inch LM-RS1 wheels from the Z NISMO, wider 265-section Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 tires and suspension from the old 2019 Sentra NISMO, and again — you’re looking at one of the most special Sentras that has been on the scene for a hot minute.
Nissan went nuts with the styling, too. It is SEMA after all, so we get a BOMEX widebody kit beefing up the bumpers, fenders and side skirts, with that front bumper specifically accommodating the intercooler. Hell, you even get side-exit exhausts, a massive rear wing and a rear diffuser. That spoiler, by the way, comes straight off the R35 GT-R NISMO (as does the Brembo brakes).
Inside, you get a couple of R35-sourced Recaro seats and harnesses, as well as a NISMO steering wheel and some custom trim accents. And, of course, that extra pedal and six-speed shifter.
Now, will Nissan actually put something like the Sentra Spec-V into production? I’m going to (not really) go out on a limb here and say no…even if I think they totally should. The automaker says it’s reaching out to the community that made the old-school Sentra SE-R such a darling of the tuning scene. Why they wouldn’t actually throw them a bone by giving the Sentra both a modern look and a hot powertrain, at the very least, is a bit odd. You could argue “oh, no one would actually buy it”, but people buy GR Corollas. They buy Elantra Ns and Civic Type Rs and WRXes and Golf GTIs — seems like a hot Sentra would give the car some street cred like the old tuner-friendly models did, especially as Nissan can no longer lean on the Maxima’s big-old 300-horsepower V6 or even a turbo Altima to say it still delivers sedan buyers some performance.
As we so often see out of SEMA builds, Nissan is “exploring” with this car, so odds are we’ll see some sportier elements make their way to the Sentra, courtesy of NISMO. Still, bringing a turbocharged, manual Sentra into contention may spark some interest in enthusiasts once more. We’ll check this one out in Las Vegas next week, so stay tuned for more coverage!
