The Nissan Sentra gets a few stand-out tech features, most notably an excellent voice controlled Bluetooth hands-free phone system. But the Sentra's lack of GPS navigation or satellite radio makes it difficult to like in the long term.
Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
Nissan's Sentra belongs in a small car segment that has recently been undercut by a set of even smaller cars, including Nissan's own Versa. The current Sentra got its most recent update in 2006, but cabin tech improvements make it a reasonable car for 2010.
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The Sentra employs tame, unoffensive styling. From the sides and rear, it looks generic, but some unique Nissan design comes through in the flat-sided front fenders.
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The 2-liter engine powering the Sentra makes 140 horsepower, while getting 26 mpg city and 34 mpg highway.
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The high roofline of the Sentra affords good headroom in the cabin.
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The ride quality is unremarkable, fairly typical for a small car in this segment. The Sentra uses disc brakes on the front wheels and drums in back.
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The Sentra's trunk is on the large side, capable of holding three golf bags. A convenient cargo net keeps groceries upright.
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Nissan kept the Sentra's cabin tech updated with a Bluetooth hands-free phone system and iPod compatibility, but a navigation system is only available as an option at the top trim.
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Nissan includes good audio, voice, and cruise control buttons on the steering wheel.
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A digital gauge in the instrument cluster shows temperature, fuel level, and trip information.
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Nissan mates the 2-liter four-cylinder engine to a continuously variable transmission, in our opinion a much better choice than a fixed-gear automatic transmission.
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The iPod connectivity lets you access album, artist, and track lists through the car's stereo, but the design is poor, forcing much button pushing to select music.
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The Sentra's Bluetooth hands-free phone system is excellent, letting you dial by name with voice command.
