Holy Spec-V, Nissan’s SEMA-Build Sentra Is the One We Want

Remember the Nissan Sentra Spec-Vs? The first, introduced in 2002, was an autocross-ready version of the Sentra SE-R, drawing 175 hp from a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine borrowed from the bigger Altima, plus a six-speed stick and a lively tune for its beam-axle suspension. The Spec-V’s 2007 replacement got a bigger, boxier body, more power, less low end, and the old car’s standard-fit LSD moved to the option list. Both versions could hold their own against the Volkswagen GTI and Honda Civic Si, if not beat them outright. Still, when the Sentra Spec-V slipped into the history books in 2013, no one lit any candles.

Now, if you had told us a couple of years ago that Nissan planned a Sentra Spec-V build for SEMA, we’d probably stifle a yawn—but the new Sentra accomplished great things at this year’s MotorTrend Car of the Year, and, well, just look at those damn photos.

SEMA Show stopping looks are one thing, but it would have been something of a letdown if it just used the stock Sentra mechanicals. Good news, dormant NISMO fans. For the Sentra Spec-V, Nissan is partying like its 2009.

The engine specs read, well, like a SEMA build. The engine started life as a regular Sentra-spec MR20, but it’s been, uh, massaged: New pistons, rods, flywheel, Garrett turbo and intercooler, and a secondary fuel-injection system. And it’s mounted to—God be praised—a six-speed manual transmission out of the Juke RS, complete with a limited-slip differential.

The chassis gets upgraded with NISMO coil-overs and a Brembo brake conversion from the GT-R, which was also the source for the seats and the huge trunklid spoiler. (It’s telling that most of the best parts of this SEMA build come from cars Nissan no longer makes.) The sheetmetal gets a BOMEX body kit, a tastefully restrained paint job, and 19 x 9.5-inch NISMO forged wheels.

Put it all together, and you’ve got us stringing together words in a sentence we’ve not uttered in nearly two decades: “Now there’s a Sentra we’d like to drive!”

And what are the chances of that happening? Pretty slim, we say; even if Nissan was to bring back the Sentra SE-R—a thing it absolutely, positively, 100 percent should do—it’d likely have the CVT between engine and wheels, which is never a good thing for performance. (Also, having driven the sporty-themed SR version, the Sentra has a long way to go to earn an “E,” let alone a “V.”) The goal of this Spec-V is to generate interest in sub-$30k Sentras, and we doubt we’ll see a production version.

Still, it’s nice to see that Nissan remembers what a Spec-V ought to be—and to dream of the days when Nissan could seriously be spoken about in conversations about performance. If the SEMA crowd responds as we do, maybe Nissan will consider a serious swipe at a real Spec-V. If nothing else, this concept reminds us that Nissan knows what to do.