2k: Stock Up: 1994 Nissan Sentra SE-R
The conclusion to any conversation about the Nissan Sentra SE-R is that it is impossible to find a clean stock example of a B13 SE-R. Nissan built plenty of the SR20 powered sport compact special editions, but they have been abused, raced, wrecked and it is almost impossible to find a nice example. Of course, DT regular Kaibeezy did not give up hope and finally found this 1994 Nissan Sentra SE-R for sale in Daly City, CA for $2,500 via craigslist.
The basic Sentra was a forgettable econobox built cheaply and sold by the thousands to people looking for A-B transportation. It would be wrong though to dismiss the SE-R because it took the light Sentra body and turned the performance up a few notches, not all the way to 11…but let’s say… from 4 to 7.
The SE-R’s SR20DE twin-cam engine puts out 140 horsepower and 132 ft-lbs
of torque. It was put to the pavement through a 5-speed manual gearbox
with limited slip differential – both unique to the SE-R trim. The SE-R also got special sports seats and 4 wheel disc brakes allowing it to slow down quickly.
At such a low price for a clean car the next buyer may be tempted to race (or rice) this one out, but heed this prophecy: keep it stock, and in another 5 to 10 years you’ll have one of the only original SE-Rs left outside of a museum.
See a better economical 2-door with room for kids in the back but some sporting capability? tips@dailyturismo.com
Watch out for this one, CA residents. Exhibit A: Washington State plates. Exhibit B: scarlet number 2 on rear window means the owner has until the end of this month to complete registration before it starts to incur CA DMV fees. You typically (not always) see cars that can't pass smog wearing these numbers.
I have already talked with the seller and can confirm that this has a problem passing CA smog. It also has almost 250k miles on it. The seller actually lives in Vegas, likely you will see this in NV where the smogging is easy.
I love these – my third car was a 1993 and I thoroughly enjoyed it right up until I needed four doors to haul clients around and thus got an SVT Contour…good times. It really is rare to see a stock one, these days. Smog situation would be interesting, though.
I would be the cat is shot on the car. These engines seem to do a number on the cats. Rust is the biggest enemy of these cars and the main reason they seem to disappear from the landscape.