Yahoo Autos 2020 Nissan Sentra First Drive Review | Boring no more
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — If the sedan really is dead in America, Nissan hasn’t gotten the memo. The 2020 Nissan Sentra is reaching dealers alongside the equally all-new Versa, and just last year Nissan facelifted the Maxima and launched the sixth-generation of the midsize Altima. This is all happening as sales of four-door cars continue to fall and some brands kill off their sedans to focus on red-hot crossovers.
Although the Sentra is the automakers best-selling model of all-time and Nissan has sold over 200,000 annually since 2015, the last generation’s homely sheetmetal, plasticky interior and weak 1.8-liter engine were, to put it kindly, uninspired. This time around, things are different. The new eighth generation of the compact sedan looks, drives and feels like Nissan’s design and engineering teams actually took some pride in their work.
For starters it no longer looks like it was designed in the dark. With a ruler. As is the case with the Altima and the new Versa, the Sentra has now taken much of its styling from the current Maxima, which was launched in 2016. Beautiful? Not exactly. A little busy for some taste? Maybe. But it isn’t boring and it’s thankfully lost all of its upright narrowness and frumpy proportions.
Unquestionably more dynamic, the new look has widened the car 2.2-inches, lowered its roof 2.0-inches and stretched its wheelbase half an inch. At 182.7 inches, it’s also about half an inch longer than before, but remains nearly 10 inches shorter than an Altima. Nissan is even offering several two-tone options that paint the top Super Black for an effect that’s presently all the rage.
Considerable effort was also made upgrading the Sentra’s interior. A driver’s seat that’s a bit lower than before provides a sportier driving position, and a thick flat-bottom steering wheel is standard. Its new seats are more comfortable and have more aggressive bolsters. Rear seat space remains about the same and still lags behind the Honda Civic, which is the stretch limo of the class, and its trunk has shrunk from 15.1 cubic feet to 14.3. That’s a bit larger than the trunk of the Toyota Corolla and a bit smaller than the Civic’s. A 60/40 split folding rear seat is standard.
All the materials have also been radically improved. The dash is no longer a sea of black plastic and its new design features knurled climate control knobs and round air conditioning vents like you get in a Mercedes or a Kia Stinger. A 7-inch touchscreen is standard on the base Sentra S, while the SV and SR have 8-inch units. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard across the line. The only interior miscue is the sedan’s foot-operated parking brake, which feels dated even for this price point.
Now on a new platform, the 2020 Sentra adopts an independent rear suspension. Only units sold in China keep the beam axle sabotaged recent Sentras’ handling, ride and response. Stephen Soley, Nissan’s vehicle program development manager, began tuning the 2020 Sentra in early 2017. “From an overall handling perspective we targeted the Honda Civic,” he says. “But not from a noise, vibration and harshness perspective, for those targets we focused on the VW Golf.”
There’s also a new steering system, which is standard on all three trim levels. This is the first Sentra with the dual-pinion electric power steering system also used in the Altima. It increases steering effort at higher speeds for improved feedback and control. Although the effort is a bit high around town, it feels right when pushing the sedan through corners, and it has the same quick 15.3:1 steering ratio as the Altima. Steering feel, which Soley said was also targeting the Golf, is radically improved.
Chassis hardware and tuning is the same across the board, with a few exceptions. The base Sentra S gets 9-inch rear drum brakes, while the SV and SR have four-wheel discs with vented 10-inch rotors in the rear. The wheels and all-season tires are specific to the trim levels. The Sentra S and SV ride on 16-inch rubber (17-inch tires are available on the SV), while the SR gets 18s.
Our SR test vehicle rode on 215/45R18 Hankook Kinergy GT tires that showed impressive grip and response in the hills above Malibu, California. Although 61% of the SV’s 3,084 lbs is up front, the Sentra feels balanced and understeers only mildly. Active Understeer Control System, which lightly applies the inside front brake during cornering, is standard on all trim levels and goes about its business in a stealthy manner. Although its braking performance was satisfactory both in and out of the city, pedal action was a bit mushy.
