Friday, June 16, 2000 - North Shore News NORTH SHORE NEWS AUTOMOTIVE GUIDE Redesigned Sentra is utterly sensible — JUST for a minute, imagine you have no character flaws. You don’t need an expen- sive car to boost your image use your self-esteem is -established; you don’t need an overly powerful car to beat the next guy from one traffic light to the next because you ourgrew thar urge years ago; you don’t want to waste gas because you're sensitive to the needs of the environment; and you've decided not to spend a lot of money on a new car because you’re saving for your kids future and your own comfortable retirement. What kind of car should you buy? High on your list should be the new 2001 Nissan Sentra — possibly the most sensible car on the road. Ir’sinot that there arcn’t other sensible cars out the the Henda Civic sedan and Toyota Corolla come to mind — but the new Sentra has just been redesigned and it’s such a well-rounded car (in more ways than one) that it’s hard to find fault with it. For example, it’s roomy and comfortable for a small car, yet is small cnough to drive in downtown traffic with ease; it’s fuel-efficient and cmissions-fricndly, yet with a new 126-horse- powcr 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine, has better-than-average performance; and it offers a level of quality that’s equivalent to cars costing considerably more. In the words of a thirty year-old Datsun advertising slogan, the 2001 Sentra is “all you really need.” Bigger, roomier The all-new Sentra is about 165 mm (6.5 in.) longer, 20 mm (0.8 in.) wider, and 28 mm (1.1 in.) taller than the previ- ous Sentra, but it has the same wheelbase. Its extra height pro- vides more headroom while clever interior design adds more legroom than in the previous model — raised front scats pro- vide generous footroom under the font seats. The Sentra will seat four adults comfortably. - The interior of my GXE test car included comfortable cloth seats with supportive side bolstering, matching cloth door inserts, and chrome door handles — an attractive combination. For 2001, the front seat was raised 20 mm and widened by 10 mm to make entry and exit easicr, increase seat comfort, and improve outward visibility. [ really liked the driving posi- tion; in addition to great outward vision, all the gauges and controls are easy to see, and things were where I could reach them casily. For example, the round gauges are bigger than average with bigger numerals. And I liked the covered storage ATE I a in the centre of the upper dash area, a great place for stor- ing a garage door opener — casy to reach when you necd it. The centre dash protrudes towards the driver and in the GXE model, includes an AM/FM/CD stereo with four speak- ers. Good sound, but the Seek controj will only seck “up” nor “down”. Iu the centre dash area below the radio are large, easy-to- use rotary heater and ventilation dials, an open storage bin, a 12 volt outlet, and two cuphelders in front of transmission lever. For storage, there are door map pockets, 1 small centre storage bin and armrest. At the rear are two fold-out cuphold- ers. A 60/40 split folding rear seatback is now standard equip- ment on all Sentras — useful for carrying bulky cargo — but the opening to the trunk is smaller than you might expect. Standard safety features on all Scatras includes dual front airbags, five three-point seatbelts, adjustable front head restraints, and two fixed rear head restraints. photo Nissen FRESHLY redesigned, the 2001 Nissan Sentra sedan offers a bigger standard 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine with 126 horsepower, a roomi- er interior with more headroom and legroom, and comes fully-equipped for under $20,000. Sentras are available in XE, GXE and sporty SE trim — the latter has a 145-horsepower 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine. It’s got the power A new standard 126-horsepower 1.8-litre DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder engine replaces the previous 115-horsepower 1.6-litre engine in base XE and GXE models. This is now the most powerful base engine in the small import sedan class, and includes such new technology as variable valve timing, direct ignition, a single timing chain, improved computer controls, and micro-finished crankshaft and camshafts. Many of these technologies were borrowed from the Maxima’s award-win- ning 3.0-litre V6 engine. Sporty Sentra SE models have a revised 145-horscpower 2.0-litre DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder engine — it’s up from 140 horsepower fast year. I’ll cover the SE model in a fheure test-drive. With an auromatic transmission, the Sentra GXE with a 1.8-litre engine delivers 9.0 1/100 km (32 m.p.g.) in the city, See Overall following page woxvo DRIVEA NEW 2000 VOLVO WITH A LEASE RATE AS LOW AS SEE US NOW FOR DETAILS ABOUT THIS SPECIAL 1.0% RATE ON NEW 2000 S80S, S70 SEDANS, V70 SPORTSWAGONS, 1D V70 CROSS COUNTRY AWDS. SPECIAL EQUIPMENT PACKAGES ARE INCLUDED. 1.9% LEASE RATE IS BASED ON A TAX-FREE VARIABLE INVESTMENT WHICH WILL BE RETURNED IN FULL AT THE TERMINATION OF THE 36-MONTH LEASE. HURRY IN! OFFER ENDS JUNE 30, 2000. Volvo of North Vancouver Service & Parts 108 Bowser Avenue (604) 986-6669 Saies & Leasing 710 Marine Drive (604) 986-9889 010969 === JIM PATTISON AUTOMOTIVE GROUP