2007 Nissan Sentra Reviews

"ANOTHER AMAZING NISSAN OFFERING"

Overall Rating:
Performance: 10
Fun-to-Drive: 8
Build Quality: 10
Comfort: 10
Interior Design:8
Reliability: 10
Fuel Economy: 10
Exterior Design:10

2.0s manual-great car for it's class and initial investment. Drove both the manual/CVT although I was pleased with the CVT-went with the manual (like to get to the gear I want). I get an amazing average 34 mpg-99% of the time I am the only one in the car/don't carry a lot/and am on the interstate-so that has a much to do with it. Nissans fabric (mesh-like) choice was ingenious- shows zero wear-trunk is spacious-back seat is ample-int design is comfortable (I am 6,1'') and well thought-out. Had one issue (warranty) climate control fan went out-sounded like I had a helicopter blade rotating in the dash. Fixed and no issues since. Nissan always seems to embody quality and value (have owned 6) great- car!

Bluetooth and stereo controls on the stearing wheel - MPG and Distance read- out. Leather-wrapped stearing wheel and shiftknob.

Suspension and brakes wish they were tighter and bigger - but aftermarket options are vast...wish I had a moonroof...

"I LOVE MY SENTRA!"

Overall Rating
Performance: 10
Fun-to-Drive: 10
Build Quality: 10
Comfort: 10
Interior Design:10
Reliability: 10
Fuel Economy: 9
Exterior Design:10

I love my sentra from the inside out. It is very roomy and comfortable. I have 2 children that fell in love with the car just as much as i have. I haven't had any problems with the car at all. My family is very happy with our Nissan Sentra.

The shifter, seats, over sized glove box, sunglass holder, adjustable cup holder, I like everything about my car! From the interior to the exterior.

None

2007 Nissan Sentra Overview By Edmunds.Com

In the automotive world, age is weakness, an opportunity for younger, fresher adversaries to move in for the kill. Take the Nissan Sentra. When the fifth generation of the budget sedan debuted in model-year 2000, it was hailed for raising the bar within the economy-car class with its sporty styling, long standard features list and fun-to-drive character. Six years later, the picture had changed. The once-victorious Sentra had become the vanquished, surpassed by rivals offering greater room and overall refinement.

A redesign was in order, and it's come with the 2007 Nissan Sentra. Built on Nissan's new "C" platform, this year's Sentra rides on a 6-inch-longer wheelbase, and it's also 3 inches wider and 4 inches taller. As a result, the cramped cabin of old has been replaced with accommodations that are downright spacious: The 2007 Sentra offers class-leading amounts of head- and shoulder room in the front seat, and there's finally real legroom for rear-seat passengers. The large 13-cubic-foot trunk features an innovative divider that can be used to facilitate hidden storage for valuables. Inside the cabin, a unique overhead compact disc holder holds up to eight CDs, and there are extra pockets and bins designed to hold MP3 players and cell phones. Last year's Sentra fell short in interior style and materials quality, but the '07 model has addressed that shortcoming with a sharp-looking cabin that belies the sedan's budget price tag.

Under the hood of the 2007 Nissan Sentra you'll find a 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine good for 140 horsepower. While this figure isn't exceptional, the 2.0-liter does offer 14 more hp than last year's 1.8-liter engine, and it provides acceleration on par with most competitors in this class. Transmission choices are a bit unusual for an economy sedan, as the Sentra can be equipped with either a six-speed manual (five-speeds are the norm in this class) or a continuously variable transmission (CVT). A conventional automatic transmission will not be offered. These transmissions carry over to the sporty Sentra SE-R models that arrive midyear. The standard SE-R has a 177-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder paired with the CVT, while the hotter SE-R Spec V has a 200-horse version of the 2.5-liter coupled to the six-speed.

Nissan sedans typically offer sporty handling for their respective classes, but the '07 Sentra feels a bit tepid alongside its competition. It continues to use a non-independent torsion-beam rear suspension, which is cost-effective but provides less control through the corners than the true independent designs most of its peers use. Additionally, a switch to electric power assist for the steering contributes to better fuel economy but sacrifices feedback.

Upgraded running gear on the Sentra SE-R includes firmer springs and larger wheels and brakes. The SE-R Spec V goes even further by specifying a retuned and lowered suspension, complete with a thicker front antiroll bar and a V-shaped reinforcement brace in back. The Spec V also has larger front brakes and stickier summer tires. The SE-R retrofits result in a better-handling car, but even in Spec V form, the econosport Sentra lacks the spark of competitors in this price range. From behind the wheel, it comes across as heavy and distant as opposed to lightweight and engaging.

The all-new 2007 Nissan Sentra is no doubt a better, more refined car than its predecessor, with more capable engines and a more pleasant, flexible cabin. If you're looking for an economy sedan that'll give maximum interior room and versatility for your buying dollar, the Sentra is a solid bet. However, if inspired handling is your thing, you'll find your needs best served by the more athletic talents of the Mazda 3 or Honda Civic.

Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options

Buyers of the four-door, five-passenger 2007 Nissan Sentra sedan have a choice of five trim levels: base, S, SL, SE-R and SE-R Spec V. Standard on the base trim are 15-inch steel wheels, air-conditioning, a four-speaker CD stereo with an MP3 player jack, and power windows and locks. The S trim level adds 16-inch alloys, a height-adjustable driver seat, keyless entry, power mirrors, steering-wheel-mounted audio controls and an extra pair of stereo speakers. Step up to the SL trim and you get leather upholstery, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, keyless start, cruise control, an alarm system and a trunk divider.

The Sentra SE-R is equipped similarly to the SL, but the keyless start and steering wheel audio controls move to the options list. Additional standard equipment on the SE includes 17-inch wheels, firmer suspension tuning, larger brakes, a lower body kit, sport seats, aluminum-trimmed pedals, and oil pressure and G-force gauges. To that the SE-R Spec V adds summer tires, an even firmer and lowered suspension, and larger front brakes.

Options on all but the base Sentra include a sunroof, a spoiler, an upgraded 340-watt Rockford Fosgate sound system, Bluetooth, and either XM or Sirius Satellite Radio.

Powertrains and Performance

In base, S and SL form, the front-wheel-drive Nissan Sentra is powered by a 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine good for 140 hp and 147 pound-feet of torque. Base and S models are available with either a six-speed manual or a CVT designed to offer smoother operation and greater fuel-efficiency than a regular automatic. Sentra SL models come only with the CVT.

The CVT is also standard on the Nissan Sentra SE-R, which has 2.5-liter four-cylinder good for 177 hp and 172 lb-ft of torque. Slightly more frenetic in personality, the SE-R Spec V gets a high-output version of this engine capable of 200 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque. The Spec V's motor also has a higher redline (7,000 rpm versus 6,200 in the standard SE-R) and a preference for premium unleaded. A six-speed manual is the only transmission available on the Spec V, and it has an exclusive helical limited-slip differential option. Thusly equipped, the Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V gets to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds.

Safety

Front-seat side airbags, full-length head curtain airbags and a tire-pressure monitor are standard on every 2007 Nissan Sentra. ABS is standard on the SL and both SE-R models, and optional on other trims. Four-wheel disc brakes are standard on the SE-R and SE-R Spec V, but all other Sentras have a front disc/rear drum setup.

Interior Design and Special Features

The Sentra's cabin offers a modern, attractive design and agreeable materials quality. Accommodations are spacious, with ample head-, shoulder-, hip- and legroom for adults to get comfortable in both the front and rear. The cabin features lots of nooks and bins, as well as an overhead compartment that holds up to eight CDs. Luggage capacity is a respectable 13.1 cubic feet, and the trunk offers an innovative divider that creates a hidden storage place for valuable items. When more space is needed, the rear seats fold flat in a 60/40 split, so long as you don't mind folding up the seat-bottom cushions first. Note that the seats do not fold in the Sentra SE-R Spec V due to the encroachment of its rear chassis brace.

Driving Impressions

Handling is adequate in the 2007 Nissan Sentra, though somewhat uninspired compared to the more visceral driving experience in the previous model. The car's electric power steering is well weighted, but there isn't much road feel. The SE-R models, particularly the Spec V, fare better in this regard and can be driven quite hard on a curvy road. The limited-slip differential is a worthwhile upgrade on the Spec V, as it enables the driver to tighten the car's line through corners. Compared to similarly priced peers, though, the SE-R Sentra feels a bit ungainly and fails to involve its driver as closely as we think a true sport compact should.

In the standard Sentras, ride quality is smooth and the cabin stays quiet on the highway. The SE-R models are similarly quiet, but ride quality suffers, especially on the Spec V. The standard 2.0-liter engine has adequate low-end and midrange power for easy city and highway driving, but tends to get noisy as rpm climbs. The SE-R models offer plenty of power throughout the range, and a tall 6th gear on the Spec V keeps the engine placid at highway speeds. At an 80 mph cruise, the 2.5-liter is parked at a comfortable 3,000 rpm.

Above Review by Edmunds.com

Below Review From Cnet.com

Nissan launched an innovative, reality TV-style ad campaign for the all-new Sentra wherein intrepid young owner Marc Horowitz lives in his car for a week. While we're not quite ready to encourage that sort of extreme loyalty, we're hard-pressed to suggest many $20,000 cars that would make doing so as comfortable.

Thanks to an enviable roster of standard features, the 2007 Nissan Sentra 2.0 SL makes for a very nice base of operations in the modern urban rat race. Bluetooth cell phone integration is standard with the SL package, which is virtually unheard of at this price point. A continuously variable transmission helps make the most of the relatively meager power, working with variable valve timing to return very good fuel economy in all types of driving. A few less tech-centric features, such as a clever CD holder and the "Divide-N-Hide" rear cargo system, speak to thoughtful design and the potential of inexpensive enhancements to improve overall usefulness.

The Sentra doesn't offer anything approaching the performance of some other cars in its price range that have come through the CNET garage, most notably the Acura RSX Type-S and the Honda Civic Si. But, of course, the Sentra is a four-door vehicle, is better-equipped at the price than those pumped-up competitors, and deliberately trades outright speed for economy.

The 16-inch alloy wheels that come as part of the SL trim level spoiled the otherwise pleasant if unremarkable exterior for us, floating visually as they do in wheel openings that really need more filling. Otherwise, the styling both inside and out was generally well-done, in keeping with the mostly successful corporate design language we've seen from Nissan of late, the strange and ultimately ineffective cues in the interior of the last Quest minivan notwithstanding.

A car for the MP3 generation The Sentra is all new for 2007, and this sixth-generation car continues the model line's tradition of offering affordable value in a reasonably sprightly package. No sporty equivalent of the once-revered Sentra SE-R is yet offered on this iteration, the new Sentra appearing to cater more to the real-life Marc Horowitzes of today's multitasking world than the mythical "Bob" of advertisements gone by, who received special toll-booth and parking privileges by virtue of his Sentra ownership.

But Bob had never heard of an MP3 file, let alone had any need to play them from either home-burned CDs or his trusty iPod. The new Sentra values flexibility and economy over handling and pseudo-celebrity, and delivers successfully more than it fails in terms of keeping its occupants happy. Perforated leather seating surfaces, standard on the 2.0 SL, provide comfortable support, if lacking the kind of bolstering required for spirited driving. The steering wheel is pleasantly thick and offers Bluetooth activation and buttons for cruise control: audio mode, preset up/down, and volume.

The phone button on the steering wheel accesses the voice-command Bluetooth cell phone integration. Unfortunately, our inability to speak any but the most rudimentary Spanish precluded us from testing the Bluetooth functionality, as this was the only language our Sentra spoke or understood. We're not sure whether the car's language was due to some kind of early-production glitch or a setting we just couldn't adjust (our test car arrived without an owner's manual), but pressing the phone button on the steering wheel just muted the audio and produced a pause while the car awaited a (presumably Spanish) command before eventually launching into a lengthy Spanish explanation of whatever it was it wanted us to do. The Infiniti G35 sedan we reviewed recently used a similar voice-activated Bluetooth phone system, and if that one is any indication of how the Sentra's system works, then the Sentra's will provide good functionality.

On the upside, the rest of the interior gadgets performed flawlessly. The optional Rockford Fosgate six-CD in-dash audio system didn't win us over on sound quality, and unfortunately this $750 package is the only way to get MP3/WMA capability in the Sentra. Despite eight total speakers, including two 8-inch subwoofers, the sound didn't seem enveloping or particularly lush. We did appreciate the burned-CD playback (including folder and track/artist information) but given the fact that the sunroof package (another $750) is required with the audio package, we'd have to question checking those option boxes were we ordering a new Sentra. The audio package also includes the choice of XM or Sirius satellite radio prep, although the actual receiver is another $300 option (with the subscription extra beyond that). Our car was outfitted with Sirius, which we enjoyed, although as usual we wished for a larger screen to display full artist, album, and title information. We used the auxiliary audio input to play music files off our Sony Ericsson k790a, although in this mode AUX is the only thing displayed on the head unit's readout.

Two nice touches in the Sentra's interior are the aforementioned CD holder, which affixes magnetically to the driver's sun visor and the Divide-N-Hide trunk separator. We wondered if the magnetization of the CD sleeve might pose some problems with stashing other things such as parking garage cards or office security badges up there, but for CDs it's a feature you'll wonder how you ever did without (or perhaps why you had to buy one of the ubiquitous elastically affixed aftermarket versions). Similarly, the Divide-N-Hide system seems like something every sedan should have, especially given its simplicity. A flip-up divider creates a space behind the rear seats that's just deep enough to hold a row of grocery bags, or it could be used to keep something more valuable from being noticed should the trunk be broken into. The space is accessible from the cabin by folding down the 60/40 split rear bench (no, officer, that beer is in the trunk), while from the trunk side, a few hooks built into the divider provide a nice way to keep things where they belong during road trips.

http://www.edmunds.com/nissan/sentra/2007/review.html