Affordable, too
Nissan’s competitor is neither the fastest or most beautiful pocket-rocket on the market, though the nicely-loaded tester’s as-kitted price with navigation, backup camera and premium audio bested its ring-mates by several thousand dollars.
Like so many car buffs, this writer pondered the aftermarket goodies he’d pick up with the surplus cash.
Requisite looks, inside and out
The body needed few though-- as the SE-R Spec V ships with clear taillamps, fog-lights, side skirts, alloy wheels, a chrome exhaust tip, spoiler and an aggressive front bumper treatment. It’s all requisite stuff when appealing to a young, tuner-oriented buyer to be sure.
Inside, sporty touches contrast nicely with the boy-racer body treatment. Metal pedals and ‘SE-R’ embroidered seats, for instance, bring out the model’s fun side. There’s even a performance-style set of gauges capping the centre stack, with readouts for oil pressure and the current G-force level.
The latter gauge is sort of neat, and gets really busy when drivers rip around corners. Turns out, that’s something the SE-R is pretty adept at doing.
High-performance handling
Truthfully, the steering and handling might just be the SE-R’s biggest asset where performance and entertainment value is concerned. Steering is easy, eager and quick, and the chassis feels light, lively and entertaining when thrown around.
The slick front differential helps keep power flowing to the road's surface when flinging the SE-R out of corners, rather than simply incinerating the inside front wheel. Plant your foot at or before corner exit, and you can actually feel the front-end sucking more tightly into the curve.
Nissan’s competitor is neither the fastest or most beautiful pocket-rocket on the market, though the nicely-loaded tester’s as-kitted price with navigation, backup camera and premium audio bested its ring-mates by several thousand dollars.
Like so many car buffs, this writer pondered the aftermarket goodies he’d pick up with the surplus cash.
 |
| Inside, sporty touches contrast nicely with the boy-racer body treatment. (Photo: Justin Pritchard/Auto123.com) |
Requisite looks, inside and out
The body needed few though-- as the SE-R Spec V ships with clear taillamps, fog-lights, side skirts, alloy wheels, a chrome exhaust tip, spoiler and an aggressive front bumper treatment. It’s all requisite stuff when appealing to a young, tuner-oriented buyer to be sure.
Inside, sporty touches contrast nicely with the boy-racer body treatment. Metal pedals and ‘SE-R’ embroidered seats, for instance, bring out the model’s fun side. There’s even a performance-style set of gauges capping the centre stack, with readouts for oil pressure and the current G-force level.
The latter gauge is sort of neat, and gets really busy when drivers rip around corners. Turns out, that’s something the SE-R is pretty adept at doing.
High-performance handling
Truthfully, the steering and handling might just be the SE-R’s biggest asset where performance and entertainment value is concerned. Steering is easy, eager and quick, and the chassis feels light, lively and entertaining when thrown around.
The slick front differential helps keep power flowing to the road's surface when flinging the SE-R out of corners, rather than simply incinerating the inside front wheel. Plant your foot at or before corner exit, and you can actually feel the front-end sucking more tightly into the curve.
 |
| The steering and handling might just be the SE-R’s biggest asset where performance and entertainment value is concerned. (Photo: Justin Pritchard/Auto123.com) |