Compact cars rarely get respect, unless they’re hot performers. Certainly that’s the case with the Nissan DET Sentra. It’s one of three Nissan vehicles being given a serious injection of sex appeal. What’s the occasion? The 2023 SEMA show, which opens on Halloween at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The Nissan DET Sentra is inspired by Nissan’s Sentra Cup spec-racing series, which takes place over six weekends in two provinces in Canada using modified Nissan Sentras. And here’s why that matters. A U.S. round is being added for 2024 at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut on July 19th and 20th.
And so this Sentra nods to NISMO as well as the Sentra SE-R. The DET name refers to dual overhead cam, electronic fuel injection and a turbocharger. It’s a moniker used on a number of hot JDM Nissans, such as the Silvia/180SX, Pulsar GTI-R, Skyline and Stagea.
The heart of this little beastie is a performance-built turbocharged 2.0-liter engine mated to a 6-speed manual transmission and a prototype stainless-steel NISMO B18 performance exhaust. Output is not disclosed. Its then fitted with a prototype NISMO coilover suspension featuring twin-tube shocks and linear-rate springs, new 18-inch NISMO LM-RS6 wheels with Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD09 tires. The finishing touch comes inside, with Recaro front seats and a NISMO GT shift knob.
The result leaves us wondering why this vehicle isn’t in production. Yum!
That said, the Nissan Sentra seen in showrooms gets a facelift for 2024, along with more standard safety tech and some powertrain improvements.
