Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre

San Francisco, California. On a very un-sunny day on the West Coast, Nissan presented two of their most important models in all-new 2007 guise. In the case of the Sentra, the nameplate has existed for 25 years and more than 250, 000 have been sold in Canada throughout those years. This is the 6th generation of the car and although it has nothing to do with the previous car; Nissan retained the name for the reasons given above. With short and eloquent presentations completed, we were sent on our way.

2007 Sentra
The 2007 Sentra looks like a shrunken twist between the Maxima and the Altima. I did not make this up; the Nissan people mentioned it themselves: the headlights are reminiscent of the Z's, the hood is styled à

Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre

la Maxima and the "C" pillars are directly inspired by the Altima. The oddest part of the Sentra, even though the car's looks were "recalled", is that it still sports the old family grill. The Prototype II models we were given were well assembled and presented no flaws per se. I found the overall looks of the car to be questionable as the Sentra does not break a mould or spark up emotions as the Honda Civic or the Mazda3 can. Inside, the Sentra is decked out in new softer materials with more room in every direction with its total passenger volume being the largest in the segment. The shifter is now located on the lower portion of the center stack much like the Honda Fit or Toyota Matrix. As the norm now dictates, the Sentra has 6 standard air bags and front active headrests.

More interestingly, the Sentra shares its platform with the Renault Megane. The Megane is a well regarded compact from the French manufacturer and if you ask me, I believe that we can expect good things from the Sentra on the road. Only a few minutes into the drive, the Sentra was speaking volumes about its refined ride, improved dynamics, well calibrated electric steering and a finely tuned Xtronic CVT transmission.

Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre

Now for some specifications. All Sentras are delivered with an MR20 2.0L 4-cylinder engine. It develops 140 hp and 147 lb/ft of torque. Transmission selections include a 6-speed manual and the CVT. The do-it-yourselfer is borrowed from Renault while the variable one is reprogrammed and re-educated and is shared with the Altima. Nissan devised the Sentra somewhat like a backpack or something handy to carry all your belongings in. To do so, they increased the interior volume of the car (more than the 1994-2001 Altima), gave it a huge glovebox, a trick trunk with a flat-folding second row and a nifty trunk separator called Drive-N-Hide for the items that may stay in the car or that are of value. The cup holder has multiple adjustments and there is plenty of storage space everywhere.