[SERprise In WV]

Hey, gang;

Spent 4 hours at the local Mitsu/Nissan dealer today, doing warranty work on my Spyder. Took the time to look for the new Spec-V. I just so happened to be there when they unloaded their first one off the truck, a nice red one.

After cleanup and a check of the fluids, we were off on a 30 minute test drive. I never drove past about 7/10ths, as the car was brand-spanking new and wasn't mine.

General Impressions: The QR25 engine is a totally different beast than the SR20. It takes getting used to a 6,200rpm rev limiter (I have that in my Spyder, too). I hit the rev limiter about 20 times.
It appears the Spec-V runs out of fun at the very same point a Classic is just starting to have fun. However, this car squirts from corner to corner better than any 4-cylinder I have ever driven. The 180ft/lb of torque is very impressive, and is apparent from as low as 2,000rpm.
This will be an excellent autocrossing engine, IMHO.
The car is over-rimmed with 17s on it. 16s would be more than adequate. The ContiSport tires are pretty good for stockers.
Initial turn-in could use some help. Couldn't drive hard enough to get understeer out of it.
6-speed: Doesn't need it. 5 speeds would be more than adequate. The shifter is pretty nice, and I'd like one in my Classic.
Rockford-Fosgate Audio Package: Worth every penny.
Interior The red cloth woven in with the black won't look good on every car, but it worked on this red car, for sure. The new gauges are okay, take some time to get used to. The old Maxima white-faced/black-faced ones would be much better, IMHO.
Exterior: I like the new shape. The rear spoiler isn't as ricey as it appears in the photos, as it curves into the rear quarters nicely. Again, the 17-inch wheels are a bit out of place, but will sell the 18-25 year olds nicely.
Engine: It is a torque-monster. The thing won't be a dragstrip queen, but will be an autocross king, IMHO, because of this engine. The throttle-by-wire takes a lot of getting used to. Pedal travel is less than conventional cable-actuated throttles.
Overall: I'd give it a solid 9 out of 10. The price ($17,8xx for the one I drove, with sunroof and audio package) is damn-near impossible to beat for the performance you get. Aftermarket support will determine how hot this car becomes in the coming 12 months. As is, it's light years beyond the Mitsu 'Lancer' that was next to it. All 120hp of it.
With 4 doors, this is truly a practical zippy car. With very minor suspension tweaks, it'll be an autocrosser's delight. It's pretty damn good, right out of the box.

Just my impressions. Hope they are of some use.

 

[SmoothDaddyFig]

The SE-R god pulls thru again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll take that opinion over any Car and Driver/SCC/S.S./Turbo/Automobile/Driver/Road&Track/ crap!!!!1

Thanks for the input!!!!

 

[Guest]

True That

True man.. SCC spends too much time dissing it because it's making maybe 165 "only" at the crank (142 whp), and similar torque numbers.

Let's see them build an N/A engine with some torque right off idle, you know? Far as I'm concerned, they should just chill out.

Don't get me wrong, I like the mag (zillion times better than Import Ricer), but it's just trying too hard these days I think, esp. note there are mad cuss words in the latest edition, which I don't care about, but man, 12 year olds are reading it nowadays, and they put like the F and S word in it almost unnecessarily a few times. Oh well, not to sound like a grandpa..

Good to have a SE-R man's opinion. I can't wait to check it out (Spec V) myself, I tried going to the Nissan dealer here in Jersey but they say not until December, what gives? Is that right? Holla back anyone... Later.

SeRKid

'91 stock, 178k and creepin'

 

[JimR]

It seems like all of the problems with the new SE-R could be easily fixed. Here's your first clue, Nissan: it starts with "SR20" and ends in "T."

My dealer is getting a white Spec-V in on Friday (supposedly), and I'm going to have to take a look.

 

[98SERwTricks]

I just want to see when all the people who bought a new SE-R start missing the older ones!

I'll stick with my SR20 thank you very much!

 

[skyliner]

I went by my local Nissan dealer (after dark), I hate salesman because they are taught to sell to the general public and frankly piss off the well informed such as me. They had a silver SE-R there not a V-spec, it was right beside an SE. I found the wheels looked an awful lot alike only difference was 15s on the SE, 16s on the SE-R. Interiors almost identical, gauges only difference. Wings were Identical(?) SE=$15,895 SE-R=16,669. I really didn't look over the options very close. My first thought was why did Nissan bother to make 2 different model SE-Rs? They could have given the SE model the 165hp and the 5 speed and made the SE-R with 175hp and the 6 speed. Anyways I know the QR is a different beast but I just hate to see the SR go, especially when Nissan never brought us the VE. O well thanks for the driving impression Greg.

 

[Stiletto]

I went by my local Nissan dealer (after dark), I hate salesman because they are taught to sell to the general public and frankly piss off the well informed such as me.

not all salesmen are that way. at least i wasn't when i sold nissans.

My first thought was why did Nissan bother to make 2 different model SE-Rs? They could have given the SE model the 165hp and the 5 speed and made the SE-R with 175hp and the 6 speed.

i'm confused. you said that a SE was next to a SE-R. so am i correct in that you are comparing the 2001 SE to the 2002 SE-R? because AFAIK and according to nissandriven.com, there is no such thing as a 2002 SE. just wanna know if i missed somethin'.

 

[NismoNx2000]

Your impressions and thoughts are really helpful, and greatly appreciated due to the fact that you own an sr20 and you can compare and contrast the two like none of these other magazines can...plus, its more personal. I would be curious myself to test drive the new se-r, however, one major downfall already is that 6200 rpm rev limit....whats up with that??? Ill keep my 7500 redline thank you very much. Thanks for the info though...very helpful.

 

[skyliner]

i'm confused. you said that a SE was next to a SE-R. so am i correct in that you are comparing the 2001 SE to the 2002 SE-R? because AFAIK and according to nissandriven.com, there is no such thing as a 2002 SE. just wanna know if i missed somethin'.

I'm sorry I didn't clarify, Yes It was a 2001 SE, and a 2002 SE-R my point was to have only one SE-R model(175hp,6spd) and then have a SE model(165,5spd). Instead they have 2 SE-R models just some knit picking on my part.

 

[nismo00]

They had a silver SE-R there not a V-spec, it was right beside an SE. I found the wheels looked an awful lot alike only difference was 15s on the SE, 16s on the SE-R. Interiors almost identical, gauges only difference. Wings were Identical(?)

If the SE had the performance package(same wing and sides as SE-R, titanium faced gauges, etc.) then it had 16s also. Were they the 6 spoke rims that were on the SE-R? If so, then they were the same. Just to let you know. later

 

[Guest]

Sorry to be super ignorant guy here, but could someone post a link to the Spec-V? Not really sure what it is. Is it replacing the SE-R?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Tailwhip]

Hi
Just wondering if the guys who designed the new "SE'R", actually drove an SR20 powered SE-R???

The new SE-R Feels NOTHING like the old one, and the low(by se-r standards) rev limit BLOWS.

Also, was the 6 speed added just to say it had a 6 speed??

I will give it this though, the LSD Kicks ass, and the torque down low is AWESOME. If there is a way to bump up the redline I'd buy one, if not I'll stick with my classic, thanks.

TW

 

[Son Of Skyline]

If there is a way to bump up the redline I'd buy one, if not I'll stick with my classic, thanks.

TW

Let's start dropping hints to JWT

 

[spnx]

Well, it shouldn't be a problem. Haven't I read somewhere that in test mules the engine could safely rev to 7000+ rpm ranges?

Weirdly, I had a dream last night that I was at a lapping day, and I was getting passed and lapped repeatedly by Spec V cars while I was driving my NX2000.

That shouldn't happen. Just like a Spec V, I have 142 wheel hp (142.6, actually), and my car weighs less

 

[Zak91SER]

Hey, I love the NX as much as anybody, probably more than most people, and I hot-lapped with mine. But believe me, the Spec V will kick your ass all over a road course. It has about 40 lb-ft more torque, it has it down low, it has a vastly better LSD, it has much bigger wheels and tires (a lot more grip) the suspension is better, it has less body roll, it's damped better, it's balanced better... it really does rip, handling-wise. In fact, I drove an NX2000 with an ECU, S3 cams, exhaust and CAI the same day I drove the Spec V... in fact very nearly back to back.

The Spec V felt just as fast as the NX in a straight line, and the Spec V very clearly outhandled the NX by a wide margin. I'll reserve final judgement until some of us track racers can flog a Spec V on the track for ourselves, but from everything I've experienced, even a modded SE-R or NX will have a hard time keeping up with one on a track. Unless it's really modded, like Rob Cadle's or Naji's or something.

 

[Driven97]

I agree with Zak... The new Spec-V seems like a major killer. Sure, it's not powered by an SR20, but so what? Displacement rules. Even with the tighter emissions, it puts out more power than an SR with cams and header. My buddy's Type R has a helical LSD, and that makes a huge difference. It's like the difference between our VLSD and an open diff. That much. Sure, I'd like to see some more revs, but TORQUE baby! It's easy to complain about not getting a Silvia or GTR, but praise Nissan for giving us a hardcore car- finally! I think I remember the same sort of backlash when the 200sx came out...

I say- Welcome to the family, and thank you Nissan for this gift!

 

[nj1266]

I have not driven the Spec V, but I really have doubts that it can beat an NX w/s3, cai, header, pulleys and AGXs/GC. I really cannot see it. Granted it has way more torque than the sr engine. But the engine needs to rev more than 6200 for it to keep up with a 7500 redline sr20.

I believe that Ryan's NX (which zack is refering to) with take the Spec V on a road course especially if it has the AGXs/GC/ST bars.

The car really needs a 7K redline. Then and olny then can it live to its potential. The redline is too close to peak power, so when you shift @ 6200 you are falling off the meat of the power band. Nissan should have kept the regular SE-R qith the QR engine at 6200 and raised the Spec V redline to 7K. I would pay an additional $500 for 800 extra rpms

 

[Guest]

So what exactly is the reason for the rev limiter? After reading over this thread it really seems to be the main complaint people have with our newest member in the SE-R family. Did they use softer valve springs in order to reduce vibration for the sake of the Altima, or maybe eek out an extra MPG? Anyone know exactly why it was brought down from the original 6,500 limit?

 

[Scarpa]

The car really needs a 7K redline. Then and olny then can it live to its potential. The redline is too close to peak power, so when you shift @ 6200 you are falling off the meat of the power band.

I agree that the car would be better with the higher redline, which may be fairly easy to remedy, who knows.

But I also think that with the closer 6-speed ratios and huge torque at low rpm the Spec-V will easily run with or outrun a prepped NX. Perhaps someone needs to get a Spec-V to the feb. streets event and have Sheening drive it back to back with the NX. I would love to see the results of that.

 

[aknapp]

Here's my opinion:

I haven't driven the new SE-R (yet), but I would think with all the torque, the 6000 rev limiter for a *stock* engine like this is not bad...take a look at the BMW 330i motor...6000 redline there and not too many people complain about it. Torque is what wins races...you need to only look at Corvettes and Vipers and BMWs over the last few years to see that. Also, remember the HP wars of the 60's...want more HP? get more cubic inches!

Having said that, it would be a lot nicer to have a higher revving QR25 (7000 would be just fine with me), and I would think JWT would be able to figure out how to do that. Also, more volume (2.5 vs 2.0) should respond slightly better to most mods (i/h/e, cams, etc.)

Now, if Nissan would just make a coupe of some kind...or if someone can figure out a way to drop a QR25 into an NX...

One last thing regarding torque...it appears *to me* that Nissan has started to put more empashis on torque vs peak horsepower. I personally would much rather have a 2.5 with gobs of torque than a 2.0 liter with 200 peak HP, but only 130 lbs of torque (like the Acura RSX), especially on a tight road course or autoX. Sure, peak HP is great in a straight line, but torque will get you out of a corner faster. Anyway, Nissans new engines (2.5, 3.5) all have lots of torque. I'm guessing their new V8 will be much the same.

Just my .02