Sentra SER Spec-V's (learn me)

scubaru wrote: What year Spec-V has the issues with the butterfly valve screws falling off, and destroying engines?

I think all of them were suspect. I just loctited mine recently, and there were several that had backed out slightly - just enough to make the butterflys rattle around. That's after 6 years of banging off the rev limiter at autocrosses, too, so it's not like they're going to fall out in a week.

More: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/bottle-rockets/

jstein77 wrote:

Strizzo wrote: i have heard that torque steer on those things will yank the wheel into oncoming traffic if you're not paying attention.

You definitely heard wrong on that. The torque steer isn't bad at all; it's got unequal length drive shafts, and the LSD tends to keep things pretty straight by limiting wheelspin. You can feel a little movement, but not much.

dunno, maybe this one was out of alignment. the sales guy said it, and my friend that test drove it had it try to change lanes for him a couple times.

That article is about the latest generation, but there was an article an early 2002 issue - might have been April or thereabouts.

Strizzo wrote:

jstein77 wrote:

Strizzo wrote: i have heard that torque steer on those things will yank the wheel into oncoming traffic if you're not paying attention.

You definitely heard wrong on that. The torque steer isn't bad at all; it's got unequal length drive shafts, and the LSD tends to keep things pretty straight by limiting wheelspin. You can feel a little movement, but not much.

dunno, maybe this one was out of alignment. the sales guy said it, and my friend that test drove it had it try to change lanes for him a couple times.

I daily drove mine for 4 years and never had anything like that happen. Not sure what the deal with your friend's experience was, but I beat on mine pretty good with no drama.

When I bought mine used it had a bad tie rod and was way out of allignment. It had horrible torque steer but since the fix it is no worse than a lot of front drivers I have driven. The limited slip does help.

I would look at 2000 and 2001 Sentra SE's with the performance package w/LSD. The SR20DE is a sweet bulletproof motor. The acceleration numbers are pretty close to the SpecV's.

i had two friends who each had a se-r spec v. They both liked them but both agreed for the money they could do a lot better. But that was back when they were new. So this comment is probably worthless.

Gotta bring this back from the dead. Just started looking at these. They are crazy cheap. Is there any truth that you can drop the maxima 3.5 in these cars?

i have an 02 ser spec v got it brand new. it has only 93.000 miles on it my service engine light came on. i took it to nissan shop they said i need a new engine for all the probles listed. i call nissan corporation they did not want to pay for it after i bought like 3 other new cars from them in the past. that is berkeleyed-up. i spend $8.000.00 on up grades on it. and now need new engine. any of you know where i can get a good one for a good price? i really want to keep this car. but if i don't get a good deal on an engine i will have to sale it...

In reply to jstein77: hey man hwomuch did you pay for that. and if i get a new engine for this car do i have to do that?

My friend has an 03 he bought new. Daily driven year round. He is rolling up on 200k and its held up great. All he has done is basic maintenance and replaced the exhaust when the factory one rotted off. He put on an Ebay longtube header and full exhaust and it sounds decent and has held up fine for a few years now which is surprising for Ebay parts.

I had an 02 with 2 motors warrantied thru nissan after the 3rd one spun 2 bearings i gave up. My problem was an oil cossumption problem . Look it up its seems to be a very big problem with 2.5l nissan motors. The funny thing is this problem didnt show up till amost 93,000 . Then all of a sudden my car went thru all of its oil except for about 1/4qt in less than 3,000 miles. Thats when the bearings let loose at 6500rpm. Not really there fault on that one. I would say run away.

One of AutoX friends has one, its in SMF and is usually in the top contingency for FTD. Amazing, car the way its setup!

dankspeed wrote: Gotta bring this back from the dead. Just started looking at these. They are crazy cheap. Is there any truth that you can drop the maxima 3.5 in these cars?

"Drop in" is probably an overstatement. Several people have successfully done the swap and had some pretty decent results. One of last year's UTCC competitors was running a 3.5 swaped SE-R and has some videos of it out there it you want to see one driven well, and in anger. There's a guy from the New Orleans area that does swaps for a 3 or 4 grand last I knew, so if you've got a little cash reserve, you could always buy one planning to swap it if the motor goes bang.

I've had mine for about 4 years now. Its not the latest/greatest thing out there, but its fun to drive, holds its own at an autocross and hasn't gone kablooie on me yet. I've done all the recommended fixes and watch my oil levels like a hawk and, so far, so good.

robertg1016 wrote: In reply to jstein77: hey man hwomuch did you pay for that. and if i get a new engine for this car do i have to do that?

How much did I pay for what?

I bought the car new in 2003 and have put 68,000 street and autocross miles on it with absolutely no issues. Still on the original brake pads and clutch. The engine is perfectly exchangable with any Altima 2.5S, and there's probably many of those in junkyards.