You have to forgive Nissan for its early 1990s transgressions: 4000-pound 300ZX convertibles, the 240SX and the like. But this century Nissan's proving their addiction to speed is real by spinning some low-end fervor from the Sentra and beefing up just about everything it offers through NISMO's magic party catalog.
First thing's first: by now, Nissan's NISMO performance brand has been up and running--and running hard. NISMO started in Japan in 1984, taking its time to get here. Now in the U.S., The word is that through NISMO you'll be able to order up all sorts of stuff to deplete your bank account while miraculously lifting horsepower in your Sentra SE-R, 350Z and later this year, Altima, Frontier and Xterra. The parts come in three strengths: regular S-tune with full factory warranty, R-tune for weekend dragging and really weak. They also have jackets, baseball hats and everything you can imagine with a NISMO logo. Next on the playlist are some serious upgrades to the Sentra SE-R. On sale now, the SE-R gets new front and rear treatments, new headlamps and new Volcano Orange or Sapphire Blue paint. The Spec V also gets ten more horsepower, boosting it to 175, thanks to new exhaust tuning. If you've experienced the joys of brake fade, you'll be happy about the Brembo package for the Spec V that ups its grabbing power to four-piston, 12-inch front vented discs and 10.9-inch solid rear discs.
Last but not least--depending on your attention span--is Nissan's new racing effort in the Speed World Challenge Touring Car Championship. Nissan will team up with TeamRTR to campaign a Sentra SE-R Spec V. Returning champion, Peter Cunningham, will drive the new entry, which will push out more than 250 hp and will be ladled generously with NISMO parts.