Five-and-dime revival; Affordable performance returns to Nissan.(Brief Article)

Predictably, the first sentence of Nissan's press release on this car refers to the Datsun 510. Which makes one wonder: What does the target audience know of that cult car from 30 years ago? You need not be old enough to remember Datsun, though, to know Nissan got it wrong when it pitched the Sentra SE-R out of the tent after the 1994 model year. It was a move that pretty much replicated the bad call made 20 years earlier to abandon the 510.

Having made the same mistake twice, Nissan can hardly be credited for genius in recognizing that a revived SE-R could win back former friends and claim new ones. Still, give credit where it's due: The SE-R is back, emblematic of Nissan's revived focus on affordable performance. With every available option-including a Rockford Fosgate stereo that even audiophiles won't throw away-this SE-R stickered out at only 0.07 percent more than $20,000.

It doesn't take long behind the wheel to see that, especially in its most potent Spec V form, this is one quick bargain. You'd spend 20 percent more for a Subaru WRX or Acura RSX Type-S to pack more fun (and horsepower) into one ``Compacts Only'' parking garage space.

The new SE-R is a four-door where the old one was a two-door, but that's misleading. Mundane family-car styling gave both the 510 and original SE-R a Q-ship appeal. The underlying Sentra is a fairly ordinary shape with similar potential, but the SE-R dispenses with subtlety. A big rear spoiler, dual chrome tailpipes, a special mesh grille and sidesill extensions send Cafe Racer signals, heightened by the bright-red ``Lava-colored Skyline-style sport front bucket seats.'' Our eye-dazzling example combined bright-blue paint, bright-red seats and the red-lit dashboard. Trying to look cool rarely pays off when the striving is so evident, and the SE-R strikes us as a disjointed amalgam of bits rather than a cohesive whole. The aim is to get the attention of young street racers, though, and it may be more successful as a marketing tool than as a design. ...