Moving inside the Sentra and much of that uninspiring design looms before you. It's not that it's ugly or horribly designed, far from it. The interior is actually quite pleasant and user-friendly to the nth degree. I quite enjoy Nissan's onboard entertainment/navigation system. While my husband continually complained about the minute-sized buttons and knobs, my apparently child-like hands had no problems with them at all.
Space up front is great, as it is in the back. This could, potentially, be a great little family sedan. With 371L of cargo space (in a trunk that's actually quite cavernous for a car that looks a small as it does), the Sentra is set up to be quite practical.
As my tester was an SL version of the Sentra, I was treated to leather seats as well as a full steering wheel of buttons, a standard USB connection port for an iPod, satellite radio and Bluetooth. And that's about it for extras and doodads. If you want to pony up for the Moonroof package you'll not only get a moonroof (shocking, I know), but an eight-speaker Rockford Fosgate sound system, as well as various other convenient additions throughout the vehicle.
I was hoping the interior would offer a bit of oomph, something of notable interest to make the drive just a tad more exciting, but no.
Some cars are meant to be driven – others, not so much
Here's the deal: I'm a driver at heart. I knew this when I drove my Sentra GXE nearly 7 years ago. I knew that my next car would be a manual and that it would have more power. The Sentra taught me to recognize all the things I didn't want in a future car.
So, when I got behind the wheel of the 2012 Nissan Sentra 2.0 SL, I was half hoping things had gotten better and I'd feel a spark of something, anything, while driving it. Such was not the case. The 2.0L 4-cylinder engine (featured across the Sentra model lineup, save for the SE-R model) that trickles out 140 horsepower and 147 lb-ft of torque performs as it should, but that's about it. Not even the electronic drive-by-wire throttle made a difference coupled with Nissan's Xtronic CVT auto-box.
 |
| The interior is actually quite pleasant and user-friendly to the nth degree. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour/Auto123.com) |
Space up front is great, as it is in the back. This could, potentially, be a great little family sedan. With 371L of cargo space (in a trunk that's actually quite cavernous for a car that looks a small as it does), the Sentra is set up to be quite practical.
As my tester was an SL version of the Sentra, I was treated to leather seats as well as a full steering wheel of buttons, a standard USB connection port for an iPod, satellite radio and Bluetooth. And that's about it for extras and doodads. If you want to pony up for the Moonroof package you'll not only get a moonroof (shocking, I know), but an eight-speaker Rockford Fosgate sound system, as well as various other convenient additions throughout the vehicle.
I was hoping the interior would offer a bit of oomph, something of notable interest to make the drive just a tad more exciting, but no.
Some cars are meant to be driven – others, not so much
Here's the deal: I'm a driver at heart. I knew this when I drove my Sentra GXE nearly 7 years ago. I knew that my next car would be a manual and that it would have more power. The Sentra taught me to recognize all the things I didn't want in a future car.
So, when I got behind the wheel of the 2012 Nissan Sentra 2.0 SL, I was half hoping things had gotten better and I'd feel a spark of something, anything, while driving it. Such was not the case. The 2.0L 4-cylinder engine (featured across the Sentra model lineup, save for the SE-R model) that trickles out 140 horsepower and 147 lb-ft of torque performs as it should, but that's about it. Not even the electronic drive-by-wire throttle made a difference coupled with Nissan's Xtronic CVT auto-box.
 |
| The 2.0L 4-cylinder engine that trickles out 140 horsepower and 147 lb-ft of torque performs as it should, but that's about it. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour/Auto123.com) |