Shortly after unveiling the new Almera to the Thai market last week, Nissan has drawn the curtains on the 2020 Nissan Sentra in the US – the company’s best-selling US model of all time.
Nissan says that the all-new Sentra aims to transform the storied nameplate into a head-turning compact sedan. Gone is the bulbous and reserved family car, and in place sits the all-new Sentra that is sharp, aggressive, and as Nissan quite rightly puts it, sexy.
The front fascia of the all-new Sentra seems to take on the biggest change. The signature V-motion grille is now bigger, and the headlights are now slim LED units. Nissan has also taken the word “sharp” quite literally, as there almost seems to be no curved lines to be found anywhere on the front, maybe except the Nissan logo.
The rear three quarters of the car also seems to be elongated for a more fastback-like look, and the floating roof design accentuates the sloping roofline even more. You can also specify the car with a dual-tone black roof exterior paint scheme to complete the sporty appearance.
Built on a new platform, the eight-generation Sentra now sits approximately two inches lower and two inches wider than the previous generation, which should improve driving dynamics, aside from the more intimidating stance.
Nissan says that the engineers also paid extra attention to the smallest of details in the interior, and we must admit that it does look quite nice – specifically the contrast stitching in orange that matches the exterior colour on the press photos, and the new circular air vents.
Sitting in the cabin, your attention is drawn directly to the free-standing eight-inch infotainment display on the sculpted dashboard, which supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The instrument cluster also gets updated with a larger digital display in between analog dials, but Nissan did not disclose the exact sizing in the press release.
Nissan is also making available a whole swath of luxury options for the interior, including “quilted, leather-appointed” heated front seats, heated outside mirrors, and Nissan’s renowned Zero Gravity seats.
Under the hood, a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine generates 149 hp and 198 Nm of torque – a 20% and 16% increase respectively over the previous generation’s 1.8-litre mill.
There’s no mention on performance figures, but we wouldn’t expect much as Nissan says that the engine is also tuned to provide a better fuel efficiency compared to the previous generation, hence the relatively modest power output.
However, Nissan says that driving dynamics has been greatly improved on the all-new Nissan Sentra, with the use of a new independent rear suspension and electric power steering system.
As for safety, the eight-generation Nissan Sentra comes with Nissan Safety Shield 360 as standard, which is the brand’s advanced safety suite that includes Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Rear Automatic Braking, and High Beam Assist.
The new Sentra also gets 10 airbags as standard, along with Rear Door Alert, Intelligent Forward Collision Warning, and Intelligent Driver Alertness.
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