Ride Report - 2008 / '08 Nissan Sentra 2.0 (base)
Feb 20, 2008, 12:03 am
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Ride Report - 2008 / '08 Nissan Sentra 2.0 (base)
Yet another saga at the SJC Hertz. Rented a compact for $89/4 days. Got there and they had given me a Chevrolet Cobalt with manual windows and it reeked of cigarette smoke. I went back and asked for another car. She then gave me a Chevrolet Aveo, which is economy. Went back and to another agent and got a 2008 Nissan Sentra 2.0 (base). This is the 3rd time, I have had to switch a car at least once at SJC. They suck.
http://www.nissanusa.com/sentra/index.html
This was a white Nissan Sentra 2.0 base model with 1601 miles on the odometer. Absolutely no options. For $15,830 - no ABS, no power mirrors, and no remote unlocking. ABS should really be standard in today's compacts.
Powertrain: 2.0L 140HP four cylinder with a CVT transmission. My first time ever driving a CVT. A CVT is very uninvolving even considering a standard A/T. There is an overdrive turn off and it just serves to suddenly make the revs jump higher. It is rather interesting to not have the engine revs drop and rise with regular acceleration. The engine is peppy enough on the highway and city streets. As a passenger, I noticed that the CVT just wants to immediately make the engine rev and drone at any pressing of the gas pedal, which is rather annoying more for the passenger than the driver. Gas mileage seemed pretty decent overall. Mid to high 20s for LA city driving and highway.
Ride/Handling: The ride seemed firm over bumps and wasn't particularly quiet over them. Even worse, the electric steering was dead numb and had a strong self centering action and the brakes were touchy. They seemed to want to grab the minute you touched the pedal. And I repeat--no ABS!
Interior: Contemporary in a plastic way and not very space efficient. Has the shifter sprouting from the center of the dash, robbing the console of any storage below. Small door pockets, deep glove box, top storage box with no rubber bottom to stop rattles. Had a decent armrest. It had a horribly misaligned top dash. Seats and fabric were comfortable. Aux input on base CD player was great. It has grilles for tweeters but not separate sweeters like in next model. HVAC were easy to use and we liked the continuously variable fan control.
Design: Car And Driver said the exterior was tortured looking. My friend and I had to agree. Odd proportions.
Features: Completely base model.
Value: Compacts to compacts, I'd rather drive a Mazda3, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Spectra, Toyota Corolla, or a loaded Cobalt. I'd take this over a Ford Focus or Chrysler product anyday.
To sum it up: Purely ordinary for a completely new design and already bypassed by older and newer competing compacts. But better than the ugly Focus and horrid Chrysler compacts.
The Good
Good space
Aux input on base
The Bad
Numb driving experience
Droning CVT
No ABS on base model
http://www.nissanusa.com/sentra/index.html
This was a white Nissan Sentra 2.0 base model with 1601 miles on the odometer. Absolutely no options. For $15,830 - no ABS, no power mirrors, and no remote unlocking. ABS should really be standard in today's compacts.
Powertrain: 2.0L 140HP four cylinder with a CVT transmission. My first time ever driving a CVT. A CVT is very uninvolving even considering a standard A/T. There is an overdrive turn off and it just serves to suddenly make the revs jump higher. It is rather interesting to not have the engine revs drop and rise with regular acceleration. The engine is peppy enough on the highway and city streets. As a passenger, I noticed that the CVT just wants to immediately make the engine rev and drone at any pressing of the gas pedal, which is rather annoying more for the passenger than the driver. Gas mileage seemed pretty decent overall. Mid to high 20s for LA city driving and highway.
Ride/Handling: The ride seemed firm over bumps and wasn't particularly quiet over them. Even worse, the electric steering was dead numb and had a strong self centering action and the brakes were touchy. They seemed to want to grab the minute you touched the pedal. And I repeat--no ABS!
Interior: Contemporary in a plastic way and not very space efficient. Has the shifter sprouting from the center of the dash, robbing the console of any storage below. Small door pockets, deep glove box, top storage box with no rubber bottom to stop rattles. Had a decent armrest. It had a horribly misaligned top dash. Seats and fabric were comfortable. Aux input on base CD player was great. It has grilles for tweeters but not separate sweeters like in next model. HVAC were easy to use and we liked the continuously variable fan control.
Design: Car And Driver said the exterior was tortured looking. My friend and I had to agree. Odd proportions.
Features: Completely base model.
Value: Compacts to compacts, I'd rather drive a Mazda3, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Spectra, Toyota Corolla, or a loaded Cobalt. I'd take this over a Ford Focus or Chrysler product anyday.
To sum it up: Purely ordinary for a completely new design and already bypassed by older and newer competing compacts. But better than the ugly Focus and horrid Chrysler compacts.
The Good
Good space
Aux input on base
The Bad
Numb driving experience
Droning CVT
No ABS on base model
Last edited by CApreppie; Feb 20, 2008 at 11:08 pm
