The Sentra arrived to us a chilly summer evening. Its expensive-looking Red Brick color, 16'' alloys, black leather and heated seats made it feel like the Infiniti of entry-level compact cars.

We wanted to make sure we got to use every part of it. It was taken on the highway, around the city and even on a roadtrip to Darien Lake Theme Park. The Sentra dealt with the biggest rain storm of the year that evening on the two hour drive back home and it never let us down.

Check out the other subsections to see how it did.

Nissan engineers did a great job at making a compromise between ride comfort and handling. The steering system had the perfect amount of weighting and road feel, and the Sentra felt secure at highway speeds. Driving around town was smooth thanks to the responsive transmission.

Our Sentra SL featured a continuously variable transmission, the type where you don’t feel any gear changes. CVT’s have essentially replaced “geared” transmissions in Nissan’s lineup since they are more efficient, compact and more buyers are liking their linear operation.

Pickup around town and on the highway was great. The 2.0-liter 140 hp, four-cylinder engine never had any issues getting us up to speed and sounded refined as it revved with a continuous “vrrrrm”. Nissan offers paddle shifters for the CVT on SE-R trim to mimic shifts, but if you’re a real performance nut then go for the 6-speed on the SE-R Spec V that features closer ratios and a dual-mass flywheel. Upgrading to the SE-R level also gets you a 2.5-liter engine with 177 hp and 200 hp on the Spec V.

Brakes are vented discs on the front and drums out back, but upgrading to the SE-R gives you discs all around and larger ones too. The brakes on our SL gave smooth, linear stops and the ABS system modulated each wheel with no fuss when tested. They were a bit grabby just after initial depression though.

The interior of the Sentra looked great in a black on black theme. The perforated leather and leather wrapped steering wheel gave the car a very upscale feel. The seats were bolstered pretty well, with firm cushions and good side support for the turns. The seat was adjustable in six ways and had more than enough length on its track for drivers over six feet tall.

We came away impressed by how much attention Nissan paid to the steering wheel. The stitching was smooth, the rim was thick, and it just felt great in our hands. The overall diameter of the wheel wasn’t too small or large and it offers tilt adjustment.

The ventilation system didn’t offer any surprises. It cooled when we asked it to and did an OK job on a hot summer day. One cool feature was the 26 fan speeds available to give us just the right amount of air where we needed it. We can only imagine how big (and expensive) that regulator is under the dashboard though.

The Sentra doesn’t feature automatic on/off headlights, which was a bummer for such a feature-full car, but atleast there were splashes of yellow lighting throughout the interior at night that gave it a cool ambiance. Another neat detail was the turn signal chime. It was different from others we’ve heard before and added to the Sentra’s personality.

Headroom in the back was a bit scarce for a 6-foot tall person, but legroom was plentiful. The center seat as a hump for the exhaust system, so don’t expect three of your friends to fit across the back seat in comfort.

The Sentra SL comes with keyless entry and start, an awesome feature that makes dealing with keys, key rings and the thousand other things on your keychain a thing of the past.

The 340-Watt RockfordFosgate audio system has some truly amazing bass for a car in this class. It offers eight speakers, a 6-disc changer, AUX input and XM satellite radio.

Steering wheel controls are standard on all but the base 2.0 trim level, which is great since other manufacturer's make you upgrade to the premium sound system to get them. Bluetooth hands-free phone calling is standard on the SL and upper trim levels.

Cruise control is also standard on all but the base model, another feature that makes the Sentra a great value in a competitive market.

The Sentra offers six airbags as standard equipment on every trim level and anti-lock brakes as standard on all but the base model. A vehicle immobilizer is built in to each trim as well and Nissan’s vehicle security system is standard on all but the base.

Anti-lock brakes, electronic brake-force distribution, and brake assist are standard. Stability and traction control are not available.

The Sentra had the right mix of features, a somewhat modern feeling interior and well tuned suspension. The list of pros definitely outweighed the few cons, such as a small rear window. Overall, we’d recommend the Sentra to anyone looking for a fun-to-drive car that's efficient stands out in a good way.