Turbo rightfully focuses on sharply tuned engines, honed suspensions and artful interiors in cars that dominate the street and strip. But what about the forgotten ones, cars that haven't seen the pavement in some time? While Supras are the rage, what about more affordable propositions?
The classic Sentra SE-R (1991-1994) is just such a proposition. The sporty two-door coupes can be had for as little as $1,500 in barely running order or less in poor condition. But these cars are still relevant. You get a 2.0-liter SR20DE engine, rated at 140 hp and 132 lb-ft of torque, four-wheel disc brakes, a snappy five-speed stick and available ABS in a fairly lightweight package.
Code Phoenix is my own 1991 classic and as a project car, it has lived a charmed life. I bought it new after landing my first real job 18 days after graduating from college-an editorial assistant position at what was then Petersen Publishing's Sport Truck magazine. I knew nothing of any import performance revolution; it was 1991, which is damn near the first stanza in the evolution of what's now an industry all its own.
Many wondered why I didn't drive a pickup, but I wanted a fast car; I wanted fuel injection and I had no money. I test drove a Civic and an Escort GT, but when I got behind the wheel of the all-new SE-R, I knew I had found a winner before I even got out of the parking lot.
A year and half or so later, I was at Turbo and the Sentra became the first turbocharged variant of the SE-R. It was boosted for five years or so and then taken back to stock by installing a $500 used engine. That junkyard powerplant was massaged with some bolt-ons, including aggressive cams. I had also put 17-inch wheels on the car and noticed the brakes were not as grippy as before.
I soon found myself driving the magazine's long-term Nissan Maxima SE, followed by a Lexus IS300. The SE-R sat. It was fired up occasionally, but it ran roughly and exhibited some typical SE-R gremlins. The brakes were getting worse and worse, raising safety issues. On the road, the engine ran fine, but when applying the clutch, it would stall; re-engaging the clutch would bring back the engine and it would idle in traffic only when the gas pedal was feathered. The culprit was the AAC (idle air control valve assembly).
Two high school-aged kids saw the car in my driveway and made offers. (Odd because it was under a Covercraft car cover.) In fact, one took a test drive with his dad and the car stalled; not a good first impression. My plan was to reinvest the SE-R money into a Datsun roadster and add SR20 power.
I later decided to keep the Sentra-it has 57,000 showing on the odometer, the suspension is tight and thanks to the Covercraft car cover, the paint and interior are in prime condition. The roadster project in truth would cost a lot more than what I was asking for the SE-R. Plus, I had bought the Nissan new and over the years drove many crazy supercars, only to get back in the SE-R and like it more. Too much history, I guess.
I kept the car, transitioning it to project car status, which means stocking it out and starting over. The cams were swapped for the stockers, and aftermarket air-filter and header were replaced by OE stuff. The only remaining mod is the HKS exhaust. I don't have the stocker and want the HKS system to remain; it is the best sounding exhaust I've come across for the SE-R.
The accompanying worksheet chart runs down what was done to bring the car back to road-worthiness. All work was performed at SP Engineering. The compression test showed 152-157 across all four cylinders, well within Nissan specs, so the engine is live. Braking is now a strong point, thanks to the HP Racing upgrade, which we featured as an installation story with our "Brake Parts Guide" in the April 2002 issue.
The HP Racing system features 11.5-inch rotors with anodized centers that match the caliper. The rotors are two-piece units constructed from FC30 rotor material. HP Racing employs a six-piston caliper constructed from 7075 T6 billet aluminum. The HP Racing caliper weighs 6 lbs, while the iron OE unit weighs 11 lbs. Overall, the HP Racing system was 3 lbs lighter than the components previously on the car.