SE-R spec V

[Silver VR4]

I know there are pleanty of people on here with se-r's and pleanty of people that have owned one. I have been looking into them for a everyday car/college car. I have decided there is no way ill be taking my vr4 to school, and the integra is too small and a little too old for my tastes. Im going to be lugging around some tools and what not, plus, i hate having people stepping over me to get in the back seat. So I have been looking at Sedans, sporty obviously, as I would still like to be able to autox and just have fun driving around. I was looking into M3/4's, however, they are definitely stretching the budget, plus being RWD I would most likely regret it in the middle of winter in PA. The se-r seems to be a good choice, decent mpg, sedan, sporty, nissan(my family has had about 3 maximas and a murano, and they love them to death.) I just want to know if there anything to be aware of when looking for them? any common issues? I have been looking at 02's since i really prefer that body style myself, that and obviously less expensive. Also, any good forums to do research on? I was on b15.net or whatever it is, just want to see if there is any other sites I should check out. Thanks in advance.
-Matt

[piknockout]

www.b15sentra.net and www.thevboard.com


Stay away from the 2002's due to oil consumption issues, along with 2006's. If you like the '02 body style (as I do), pick up an '03. Make sure you locktite the butterfly screws and put a header on it ASAP, if it doesn't have one already. If you treat it well, it should do you well. I'm currently at 119k miles with no issues, but I know others who are on their 4th engine. But you can get one pretty cheap I'm sure. :wink:

[cmr076]

haha im also looking at them im testing a 02 tonight.. i was wondering about the aftermarket support, i found JWT and Nismo, there nice and ill post up what i think after i test drive it!

[Buster]

thats a tough one. Anyone who remembers my car can tell you. It was a love hate realationship. I loved my car and it hated me lol. I had 3 motors in mine. all warranty though.

[Jeffros Spec V]

I had two motors in mine. Just sold it (02 87,000) miles on it for $5,700.00

I loved that car and probably would have never let me down if I didn't mod it and beat the **** out of it!

[Buster]

**** i would have bought it for that much!!

You know the Blue one that sitting on the hill behind Davis Acura? its got 72k on an 02 and they want 14,9 for it. I bought my 02 4 years ago for less! with 11k on it!

[piknockout]

I loved that car and probably would have never let me down if I didn't mod it and beat the **** out of it!

I know I've just been lucky I guess. Still beating the $hit out of mine at 119k miles. Sent off an oil analysis last week, so we'll see if it comes back clean. If so, continue beating the $hit of it until it says enough. :thumbup:

[Silver VR4]

Other than some suspension things, I most likely wont mod it. All my spare $$ goes towards the VR4. Thanks for the info guys, thats exactly the stuff I was looking for. How common are these engine failures? Was there ever a recall on the motor?

[Bacon]

Well I have an 02 with 45k on the second motor.. beating it everyday and having no issues with it so far... im fully bolted and I locktighted my butterfly screws... Its a fun car to drive and modded nicely turns plenty of heads...

[Buster]

If you buy it you will probably forget the VR4, I would love another one and they are still one of my fav cars. the 02-03s are one of the most perfectly styled cars out there.

[2000MRDC2]

my brother had an 04 (the ugly front) but still i loved driving that car his had i/e/tein ss/eibach sways/nismo ltb/nismo stb and it was so much fun to drive i would let him drive my civic to take that thing out Ihave a spot in my heart for those cars no matter how many people rag on them. He sold his with 32k on it No problems

[piknockout]

They are definitely a blast to drive. Not really the best at anything, but good at most everything and a very balanced car with the right mods. :wink:

[cmr076]

i test drove one last night, i liked it alot, not nearly as powerful as my talon (the guy was like this thing is fast as hell check it out) and proceeded to do a 1 - 2 shift i guess it was decently quick... im gonna talk #s with him and see if i can pick it up...

[zerioustt]

I just recently gave my 06 spec v to my mom. I also had a engine replaced...at 2500 miles. It was a fun car for the few months I had it. Not incredibly quick but it has a good tq band. The reason for me getting rid of it is because its not that good on gas and that was the whole reason for me getting a dd. So now I have a honda fit sport and 35-40mpg have never looked so good. Also it handles like a champ. in the spec v I was only getting 215 miles to the tank, I guess having the 2.5 made a difference also.

[piknockout]

The early 2006's also had issues from the factory regarding the pre-cat. They actually replaced most of the engines early and in addition gave them a 100k mile warranty. Forgot about that one.

[Honest_Bob]

Have any of you guys driven a REAL SE-R? 91-94? Now those were a blast to drive. :cool:

Out of all the sporty little cars I was test driving looking for a replacement for my old SE-R the Mazda 3 was the nicest. Good luck finding one though. :(

[piknockout]

BTW, proof that a QR can be reliable...it's just not the norm. My most recent oil analysis. :mrgreen:

And a fellow b15 member's own analysis on the report. He's extremely knowledgable on these analysis as he's studied and reviewed and researched them for years.

Yea you could quibble with iron. But to me, Cr./Tin =0 and Al/Cu.=very small. I would be more than happy with it. Al/Cr are upper end (cyl./ring) wear. Nissans seem to have higher lead/Iron in general. And your insolubles=.3 and 420 flash is almost unheard of.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/293000-293999/293152_246_full.jpg

[Honest_Bob]

whats the procedure on getting your oil analized? I'm intrested in getting it done.

[piknockout]

www.blackstone-labs.com

They send you materials to collect the sample. Essentially when you do your oil change, make sure it's shortly after being driven for a while, let it drain for about 3-5 seconds, and then collect the sample as it's coming out of the oil pan. Then mail it off to Blackstone and they'll email you the results of the analysis along with a hard copy by mail. Voila!

[Omar_MSP]

ever consider an MSP?

its basically a sentra but with a turbo. i've killed a few sentra's in my MSP.

[Silver VR4]

ever consider an MSP?

its basically a sentra but with a turbo. i've killed a few sentra's in my MSP.

I havent really put any thought into an MSP, maybe I will take a look. I really was trying to avoid having another turbo car cause I know what a pain they can be sometimes. A WRX was a front runner for a while, but then I thought to myself, do I really want the headaches of another F/I car? Ill check some of those MSP's, whats the price range on them?

[Cutlass372]

A WRX was a front runner for a while, but then I thought to myself, do I really want the headaches of another F/I car?

Which would those be? Im pretty interested im picking up a WRX.

[Silver VR4]

Which would those be? Im pretty interested im picking up a WRX.

Its just more parts = more chances of things to break. And Ill be more prone to mod a turbo car by throwing a full exhaust/intake/no cats(gutted cats)boost controller on it. More boost means more strain on the motor/parts which means prone to more failures. Not like I wouldnt go threw that for my toy, just not my reliable DD.

[Bacon]

ever consider an MSP?

its basically a sentra but with a turbo. i've killed a few sentra's in my MSP.


I would love to give you msp a run for its money haha.. I still havent had the chance to find one on the highway....

from what ive heard the msp's dont hold boost well because of the aluminum motors... no more than 9-11lbs is save on the motor... if you want reliable theres no much to get in the sentra without a header and locktited butterfly screws, but with a stock boosted car you will be inclined to boost it more and get more power out of it...

[Omar_MSP]

I havent really put any thought into an MSP, maybe I will take a look. I really was trying to avoid having another turbo car cause I know what a pain they can be sometimes. A WRX was a front runner for a while, but then I thought to myself, do I really want the headaches of another F/I car? Ill check some of those MSP's, whats the price range on them?

they go for around 12k now.

its a very reliable car, good power and the car looks great. in fact, i think it looks sexier that a sentra.

[Omar_MSP]

I would love to give you msp a run for its money haha.. I still havent had the chance to find one on the highway....

from what ive heard the msp's dont hold boost well because of the aluminum motors... no more than 9-11lbs is save on the motor... if you want reliable theres no much to get in the sentra without a header and locktited butterfly screws, but with a stock boosted car you will be inclined to boost it more and get more power out of it...

if your thinking of leaving the car stock and just having it as a daily driver, the car has very good power and its def a head turner. simple bolt ons give it nice power, as long as you don't mess with the boost levels, you can put anything on the car to increase power and the block will stay intact. trust me.

now, im getting a completely forged block on my car so that 9-11lbs is gonna be weak sauce when i'm pushing 18lbs.

[piknockout]

its basically a sentra but with a turbo. i've killed a few sentra's in my MSP.

The maturity of this statement makes me laugh. Excellent analysis there. I'll refrain from actually responding to the ridiculousness of your comments...for now. :lol:


I first off must say that I have never driven an MSP, but I definitely think they're much better looking cars. They definitely look even better with a few cosmetic touches. I know a girl on here has one that looks spot on. I was never a fan of the two toned interior though...but that's just my opinion.

From a performance standpoint, you obviously have an easy way to gain whp with the nature of having a turbo. I have heard that you can't do too much with boost due to the nature of the engine, and I thought I heard of clutch/tranny issues, but I could be mistaken. Don't quote me on that. Also, does the MSP have and LSD? Just curious as I'm not sure on that one. I have to say the strong LSD in the Spec IMO combined with lots of nice torque is what makes the Spec so much fun.

From a price perspective, I'm sure you can get a Spec for a lot cheaper than an MSP. The Spec's just don't hold much value. But if you can get a good deal on one it could be worth it. Just depends on what you prefer and what you're willing to spend. There are pluses and minuses on both sides, you just need to weigh out the pros and cons and see what's most important to you.

[Omar_MSP]

The maturity of this statement makes me laugh. Excellent analysis there. I'll refrain from actually responding to the ridiculousness of your comments...for now. :lol:


I first off must say that I have never driven an MSP, but I definitely think they're much better looking cars. They definitely look even better with a few cosmetic touches. I know a girl on here has one that looks spot on. I was never a fan of the two toned interior though...but that's just my opinion.

From a performance standpoint, you obviously have an easy way to gain whp with the nature of having a turbo. I have heard that you can't do too much with boost due to the nature of the engine, and I thought I heard of clutch/tranny issues, but I could be mistaken. Don't quote me on that. Also, does the MSP have and LSD? Just curious as I'm not sure on that one. I have to say the strong LSD in the Spec IMO combined with lots of nice torque is what makes the Spec so much fun.

From a price perspective, I'm sure you can get a Spec for a lot cheaper than an MSP. The Spec's just don't hold much value. But if you can get a good deal on one it could be worth it. Just depends on what you prefer and what you're willing to spend. There are pluses and minuses on both sides, you just need to weigh out the pros and cons and see what's most important to you.

i didn't mean to brag bout me killing spec v's but i didn't say i beat YOUR spec v specifically. which the one's i beat were stock or had intake and exhaust work. nothing outrageous. nothing really to brag about.

also, the MSP do have an LSD. they are notorious for breaking. mines broke at 60k miles because i beating on the car and it just snapped. i have a modified LSD " i have a thread somewhere on here " which the LSD's case is completely welded instead of having 3 tack welds. I haven't had any clutch problems with mine. I had a new clutch put in recently. The boost level, unless you have Engine Management you can't go past 7lbs. i can run up to 10-13lbs because i have a Unichip installed. if you have no EMS and boost the car and wonder why it the motor blew, well... now ya know.

they are truely fun cars to drive, they hold there value very well. and like you said, i have to agree that they do look better then the sentra's.

[piknockout]

i didn't mean to brag bout me killing spec v's but i didn't say i beat YOUR spec v specifically. which the one's i beat were stock or had intake and exhaust work. nothing outrageous. nothing really to brag about.

Just had to comment on the way it was written, no harm no foul. Appreciate the additional information you posted on the MSP as well. I'm a fan of the cars in general as I think they're nice cars, just don't know a ton of specifics on them.

And you would probably beat my Spec, it's slow...but only in a straight line. :wink:

[Omar_MSP]

Just had to comment on the way it was written, no harm no foul. Appreciate the additional information you posted on the MSP as well. I'm a fan of the cars in general as I think they're nice cars, just don't know a ton of specifics on them.



And you would probably beat my Spec, it's slow...but only in a straight line. :wink:

I see you like to autox, how about you head over to mazdas247.com and speak with some of the autox ppl there? MSP's were made for autox'ing. It comes with a Racing Beat Suspension, Tokico Shocks, and great power to back it up while cornering. They teach a good history lesson if you head over there.

maybe you can meet up with some and see for yourself. MSP's aren't really made for straightline racing, there made for the corners.

[piknockout]

Well, before this turns into a pissing contest (as I am equally at fault), I understand that the MSP is great handling stock car, probably a bit better than the Spec.

My original intended point though was that your personal car is probably faster in a straight line than my personal car, while mine would probably take the corners. That's all, not trying to start an MSP/Spec V battle or anything, what would truly be the point? In reality it doesn't matter as there is way too much out there nowadays that's nicer, faster, and better handling. It is what it is. They're both solid quality cars that are fun to drive and mod. End of story.

[reveal1123]

Nothing but problems for my brother's '04.

[reveal1123]

Exhaust had to be replaced 4 times, along with a complete engine harness one time. No mods whatsoever.