The all-new Nissan Sylphy just made its debut in China today. It's a compact nameplate you're probably not familiar with, but you should pay close attention, as it could preview the successor to the Sentra in America.
U.S. models are traditionally less bold than their direct Asian counterparts. But Nissan USA would be foolish to mess too much with what we have here. Sure, a few of the interior elements seem over-the-top, but other than that, it's a decent Corolla rival.
The interesting new design for the front end is inspired by the large Altima and Maxima. The tall V-motion grille, connected with horizontal headlights makes the current Sentra look boring. To be fair, that's not a very hard thing to do.
The rear view is just as good. Designers tried that floating roof thing again, and while it's not totally convincing, at least it's something to talk about. The character lines down the sides of the bumper give it a more upmarket look.
Powertrain details aren't fully fleshed out, but we believe there's a 3rd generation HR16DE 1.6-liter making about 136 horsepower, going to the front wheels via a CVT. For the record, the current Sentra has a 1.8-liter generating 130 HP or a little less when you get the Xtronic. A Nismo version with the 1.6-liter turbo pushing 188-hp was introduced, but almost nobody had anything good to say about it.
As for the interior, well, it's probably the most interesting part. You get a two-tone finish with tan leather seats and a similarly trimmed dashboard. The new 8-inch infotainment tablet is paired up with a 7-inch digital gauge cluster.
The Sylphy comes packed with in-car safety tech, such as Intelligent Forward Collision Warning, Blind Spot Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Cross Traffic Alert, and Intelligent Driving Alert. Everything's intelligent here!
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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