2014 Nissan Sentra SL Review

Sharp looking compact needs a few additions to make it into my drive.

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Dec. 26, 2014



2014 Nissan Sentra S (2013 SL shown) – $16,815 to start incl. D&H while EPA rated at 30/39 mpgUS city/highway



Today's ride is courtesy of Nissan in the form of the 2014 Nissan Sentra SL. Our last drive in one was at the short lead when it was first introduced in late 2012.



2013 Nissan Sentra Pricing, Options and Specifications + First Drive



Now for the full review.



One item that Nissan has done extremely well over the last 3 years is give customers some of the best interiors in a given segment. The all-new 7th gen Sentra is no different with attractive colors, patterns, and soft touch materials where they belong. Single aux, USB and 12V keep the basics powered - could use another USB and 12V for the rear seat passengers - they included an ash tray and lighter, dual auto temp, sliding front armrest. Not sure about lesser trims but the SL includes unique front seat pockets in front of the lower seat cushion for all kinds of things you may not have thought of to place there (see pics). Like many B and C segment offerings, I wish it had another inch or two of driver's seat travel and another 2 to 3 inches of telescopic wheel for 6'+ drivers.

2014 Nissan Sentra SL Interior





One of the best interiors in the compact segment.





Vent detail – Nice bezel and chrome inlay ion the vent guide. Only nit here is the plain looking plastic roller wheel.





Front seat lower cushion pocket. Cool feature here.





Cloth textured headliner, sunglass holder, and focused map lighting.

Outside you can see Nissan's design language front and center. Large hexagonal chrome grille, smart headlamps with LED accent lighting, aggressive feature line from the grille edges, through the hood and up into the A-pillars creates one of the better looking front ends in the C-segment. If they added the all-new 2015 Murano grille design, I would say they have finally caught both the Elantra and Mazda3.



With the slick exterior, the 14 Sentra SL – EPA rated at 30/39 mpgUS city/highway – has a Cd of 0.29. The FE+ models with their underbody coverings – EPA rated at 30/40 mpgUS city/highway – have a Cd of just 0.27.

2014 Nissan Sentra SL Exterior





Nissan’s standard grille work design.





LED accent lighting within wraparound headlamps.

A swooping soft character line beginning at the top of the headlamps, up and over the front wheels - creates a robust fender flare - down and then up over the chrome handles and gracefully mating into the rear tail lamps is very attractive. A coupe like silhouette with complete chrome trimmed day light opening (around the side windows), chrome handles and 17" alloys (SL trim again).



Out back is the standard chrome Make, Model, and Trim badging with a hefty horizontal chrome trim piece across the mid trunk area. Large LED tail lamps are a bit too large for the unorthodox proportioned – to tall – rear end round out the modern exterior design.

On the drive train front a 130 hp 1.8L I4 mated to the company's Xtronic CVT provides the propulsion. There were some that thought the CVT was the weak link in this new design. For 2014, Nissan added the stepped shifting CVT programming making it feel more like a std. AT. Only have about .5 miles on it so far so cannot say one way or the other. EPA of 30/39 mpg city/highway has a lot to do with the 7.0:1 wide ratio CVT and clean aero. Under body covers and spats in front of all four wheels is just the start.

2014 Nissan Sentra SL Engine Bay

The SL as driven ($19,640 MSRP + $810 D&H) is equipped with dual auto climate, 6-way manual driver’s seat, sliding center armrest, PWs, PLs, heated outside PMs, CC, proximity key with push button start, AM/FM/CD with XM and Bluetooth, leather wrapped wheel and shifter, along with back lit controls and fog lamps. Mats add ($180). The premium pkg. ($1,200) includes a power roof with manual shade, auto dim mirror w/ compass, and 8-speaker Bose audio. The Navigation pkg. ($800), adds a 5.8" touchscreen over the base 4.3", rear view camera, and NissanConnect apps.



All in, a pricey $22,360 although discounts up to $4k+ off the sticker is not uncommon.



12-25-2014 - $14,995 for the new 2015 Sentra S’ with the CVT.



2014 Nissan Sentra SL Safety



Passively, Front, side and side curtain airbags along with LATCH System (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) are all standard.



Active safety features include Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), Traction Control System (TCS), Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA).



A RearView Monitor and Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) with Easy Fill Tire Alert feature are also available.

2015 Nissan Sentra 4-Star NHTSA Crash Test Rating







[b]2015 Nissan Sentra IIHS Top Safety Pick

She is topped off and ready to tackle the infamous 405/5 between LAX and San Diego at rush hour. The worst traffic in the country will once again provide a tough challenge for the first distance drive of the 2014 Nissan Sentra.

Stay tuned as we have a lot more planned with this one...



2014 Nissan's Sentra SL takes on fuel



I sopped at a Shell on the 5 and Leucadia for a calibration result but traffic was too heavy as I neared the 405/CA-73 toll road split. I was forced onto CA-73. Meaning first exit on CA-73 to loop back to the 405 northbound to Euclid to get back on the 405 southbound. My std. 97.2 mile measured segment was blown as well as seeing the Average Fuel Consumption Display (aFCD) drop from 64.2 to 61.2 when I reached the same exact interchange heading southbound about 45 minutes later. Unfortunately the 405 took me to the woodshed over maybe 6 miles and 45 minutes of wasted time to loop back to the same point on the right road this time.



A little road weary frustration showing up in the above paragraph.

2014 Nissan Sentra SL first drive displayed results

Arrived at the refuel point with 61.1 mpg over 101.1 miles displayed while traversing the std. 405/5 traffic hell including 20 miles of rain through Camp Pendleton. Pretty good showing for Nissan's C-segment offering in my book.



The odometer was way short and after finally mapping the route, it was. This is the highest percentage under report I have experienced in a car or truck at 4.95 percent. Good for a customer as they gain a free 5 percent more miles on their warranty. Not incl. the tire wear that will drop this down to 3 to 4 percent after 100k miles or so.



From the LAX Shell to the Shell on Leucadia and the 5 along with the messed up reroute and loop back at CA-73.

106.1 miles actual vs. 101.1 miles displayed

The full calibration including the odometer offset shows the aFCD of 61.1 mpgUS is actually 60.1 mpg or 1.73% over actual. Pretty close and the 60 number is more than acceptable given the 17” wheel equipped SL and the crazy traffic around Southern California.



With the calibration drive out of the way, the steady states followed soon afterwards.

The continuously variable transmission (CVT) action is also more than acceptable for most and pretty good for all. Like most CVTs, there is still drag in Neutral (N) or when throttling just off fuel cut. Terminal speeds on the 200+ ft. rollers near Dana Point allow a stick or std. Automatic (AT) in N to reach speeds in excess of 65 mph through those sections. The CVT would not allow over 50 mph in the same. The great news is the very quiet and comfortable 1,625 rpm@60 mph reading.



NAVI and infotainment... During night time hours, you are traveling a dark blue path on a dark red road with green, yellow or red traffic bands alongside on a black background. It is very hard to discern what the route is ahead. Zooming in and out does not really help matters.

2014 Nissan Sentra SL NAVI Detail





This one needs help.

The 5.8" display is cluttered leaving about 3.5" of usable real estate for routing display. I would personally skip the $800 NAVI option and buy a $100 lifetime traffic and maps 5" Garmin. You will lose NissanConnect and Bluetooth streaming but you can run Pandora or any if your other music apps through the USB port.



The NissanConnect Facebook (FB), twitter and Text Message read backs are very cumbersome for hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. Nissan should consider an alternate infotainment vendor and move to Apples CarPlay or Android Auto for all infotainment requirements including Apples or Google maps from the phone going forward.



Interior lighting also needs some help. The Sentra uses small right and left LED like point lighting for map lights that does not light up the driver and front passenger interior spaces. The center roof light in back is too far from the front for any useful illumination.



Finally the HVAC. Not sure why but it appears the air flow controls when off default to recirc (see pic). Harder than most to keep the windows defogged in cool yet humid and rainy weather like that experienced this evening. Turn on the fan with outside air to the windscreen and foot well with various windows closed or cracked configurations and it fogs up even worse. Going to AC through the front defrost is the easy way but is not efficient. Another item I have to find a workaround for.

2014 Nissan Sentra SL HVAC Controls





With the system off, Recirc is engaged?

Still have a ton of miles ahead for calibration and will hopefully find a few out of the way places to take some great shots. As you can infer from my first post, I love the Nissan design language - other than the grille - despite not knowing what it is called.



2014 Nissan Sentra SL goes shipping



The 2014 Nissan Sentra SL with its 15.1 cu. ft. of cargo volume passes the luggage and grocery load out tests with flying colors!

Best cargo volume in the segment.

2014 Nissan Sentra SL Conclusions



She's a good ship but like most global compacts, feels a bit cramped for drivers over 5'-10". At 6'-0", the lower seat cushions are too short despite being supportive and soft at the same time, not enough seat travel aft, and a wee bit short on wheel extension at its farthest reach.

2014 Nissan Sentra SL Front and Rear seat room





Another inch or two of front seat track would have done wonders for taller driver comfort.

Great looking interior and a very nice exterior are more than competitive.



The ride is comfortably soft. Handling and on-center feel are vague despite the quickened steering ratio for the 2014 model year. Acceptable for the segment however.



As I wrote about the Sentra above, the Infotainment needs a major upgrade. It is time to move to Android Auto and Apple CarPlay because those systems work better even in their beta form. NAVI, stereo/radio control, and voice command control work vs the Sentra's not so well thought out NAVI location entry, speed, and GUI, two step app access, and very slow responding Pandora launches with a brand new Galaxy S5.



Some SW supplier is going out of business soon with the OEM setup given there are so much better SW/HW systems out there. Too bad because the new Sentra and especially Sentra customers deserve better.



A suggestion. Forgo the OEM system and purchase a $100 5" Garmin with lifetime Maps and Traffic. Use your smartphone as the infotainment source in order to skip the OEM interface. You will be glad you did.



A little about value. Base S' are hitting the streets for $16k with the CVT. Maybe a step up with the SV and add your own hardware would be my choice.



I would not mind placing one in my drive but for the $s, a 2015 Altima for maybe another $1,500 fits better and would actually reach my drive instead.



Highs: Interior/Exterior design, quirt, well controlled CVT, large size - especially rear seat room - with caveats, efficiency and $4k off MSRP pricing around the country.



Lows: Poor taller driver ergo, interior lighting, missing backlit passenger and rear seat window switches and a poorly designed Infotainment system.



A good ship that will be giving someone hundreds of thousands of miles of reliable, nice looking and efficient transportation over the coming decade.



Now if only I could get my hands on the more fuel efficient 40 mpg rated FE+ or the stick.

2014 Nissan Sentra SL Review