For the 2013 model year, Nissan gave the Sentra a complete update, refining its looks and drivetrain while adding a new cabin tech package.
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 updated its compact Sentra for the 2013 model year, giving it new styling, refining the drivetrain, and offering some intriguing new cabin electronics.
The 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine makes 130 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque. In conjunction with the continuously variable transmission, it gets 30 mpg city and 39 mpg highway.
The Sentra's suspension felt like a good compromise between comfort and firmness under normal conditions, but showed heavy load shift when pushed in the turns.
One very unique feature on the Sentra is the capability to use a data connection through a smartphone to get points of interest for navigation from Google.
