Yes, there’s a spec racing series featuring the current Nissan Sentra. In fact, it’s even backed by Nissan itself.
The series regularly attracts fields nearing 20 entries, delivering fierce yet surprisingly clean racing. It even gets TV coverage–not just on social media, but on a major network.
Oh yeah, did we mention that a brand-new race car costs only $47,000 …
I just checked racing.ca and the listing is still there for a race ready 2021 Sentra shows as sold listed at C$29,000 . There is also two Micras $8500 each with a deal to be made if you buy both.
It's too bad the Micra cup had to go, it was a killer deal. I think the cars cost about $25k Cdn in ready to race form and they were so freakin' cute.
The VINs are flagged IIRC. No turning them into street cars. Not that a friend of mine asked or anything.
Over the last couple of years there were some deals on Micras that looked intriguing - car, 16 wheels and tires plus various spares approx $12,000.
Do you have to compete in the series to buy one? Also asking for a friend...
I coached a young lad that was running in the micra cup...he was an English speaking guy in a Quebec series mostly filled with french speaking drivers.
The crap other competitors AND the series organisor pulled agains't him in favor of the french was appalling.
That alone would keep me away.
In reply to kevlarcorolla :
So it's like racing at Le Mans or in the Monte Carlo rally then :)
kevlarcorolla said:I coached a young lad that was running in the micra cup...he was an English speaking guy in a Quebec series mostly filled with french speaking drivers.
The crap other competitors AND the series organisor pulled agains't him in favor of the french was appalling.
That alone would keep me away.
My first visit to Montreal, first morning, woke up, walked to local coffee shop. They were busy, plenty of people drinking coffee/espresso and steady prepping behind the counter.
I began speaking my order in English and was cut off mid-sentence by barista telling me something in French. I don't know any French, and apologized and said as much. Her English reply: "we have no more hot water, no coffee available today". I looked around at all the people drinking coffee, looked back at her, and her expression didn't change a bit. "Got it, thanks."
I was pretty bummed and was just standing outside pondering my next move when a customer who'd been in there, and apparently witnessed enough of the exchange came up and asked if I was visiting, etc and then pointed me to "a little more friendly cafe, over that way another block". Which greatly improved my mood.
On topic, where do those cars benchmark relative to a spec Miata or spec e46 as far as lap times?
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Pretty much :)
In reply to Spearfishin :
I've met loads of friendly french,but when you find one with that elitist attitude it sure ruins your day.
I've relocated from Ontario to southern New Brunswick and picked this part of the province(about 45 min to Maine)because the french are mostly well north ;)
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Oh yeah you forgot about a certain french guy formerly at the head of the FIA and made some obviously biased calls agaisn't a certain driver that rymes with Tena.....
Spearfishin said:On topic, where do those cars benchmark relative to a spec Miata or spec e46 as far as lap times?
From the article:
How fast are these cars? Glad you asked. Let’s use the ever-popular Spec Miata as a benchmark, as they shared the Lime Rock Park weekend with the Nissan Sentra Cup.
Fastest Spec Miata time? A 1:01.421 lap.
And the quickest Sentra Cup driver? A 1:04.578 lap, so about 3 seconds slower.
I will say this: Sentra Cup would love to expand beyond Quebec and surrounding areas. The interest is there.
Keith Tanner said:Spearfishin said:On topic, where do those cars benchmark relative to a spec Miata or spec e46 as far as lap times?
From the article:
How fast are these cars? Glad you asked. Let’s use the ever-popular Spec Miata as a benchmark, as they shared the Lime Rock Park weekend with the Nissan Sentra Cup.
Fastest Spec Miata time? A 1:01.421 lap.
And the quickest Sentra Cup driver? A 1:04.578 lap, so about 3 seconds slower.
Reading is tough for me. And I swear I "read" the whole article.
In reply to Spearfishin :
Just pointing out that the author thinks the same way you do :)
It was a pretty long article.
In reply to Spearfishin :
It's been a long time since I went to Quebec...but when I did, people in Montreal tended to the snooty and assholish.
People outside Montreal (Quebec City, and Levis) where I traveled were amazingly hospitable. Little less likely to speak English, though.
Apparently it's similar in France. Parisians are utterly over any Anglophone travelers. Get outside the capital, and people are quite a bit friendlier.
In reply to Max P. Dingrods (Forum Supporter) :
Parisians are also a lot friendlier outside tourist season. Can't say I blame them, as they're effectively living in a theme park all summer and are under siege.
I grew up on the Ontario/Quebec border, never had any snooty issues. I could speak French but with an accent that revealed my squarehead origins. My most recent visit to Montreal was after that accent had degraded badly, again no problems.
My dealings in Quebec (including the rural areas) and Montreal have been fairly positive. I've always tried speaking in French first, which I feel has gone a long way, even if I do come across as obviously an anglo. That's been my strategy in countries where English isn't the main language and it's always made for better relationships - although there are jerks everywhere.
The series seems to be making a push to go beyond Quebec. It seems like a good model. We'll see how successful of a push that is.
The series runs 3 of 6 races in Ontario and 2 in Quebec, and one of those is an airport circuit and the other a street circuit. They would be fun to watch at the Trois-Riviere race.
I had a very good time on that first trip to Montreal, overall, and I've been back a few times since without issue. I took Latin in high school, Spanish in college...no French for me along the way.
My experience in France (mostly Paris) was that if you tried to speak French, they would respond in English, and were very pleasant. I had heard all the stories of the French being real jerks, but that wasn't my experience at all.
Oh, I think it's great that this race series exists!
Back to the Micra's, who will be the first to K-Swap one and start giving Porsche's a hard time around the track?
Im one of the drivers in the series and I have spoken to Jacques (the promoter of the series) and his intentions are to expand in the US if the demand is there. Orders for cars are still very much possible. Lime Rock was a very fun weekend for us and crossing the border either way was a breeze.
Please don't hesitate to email me with any questions you may have. Im bilingual so I may be more help than Jacques who's english is not his primary language.
matt@191motorsport.com
Cheers
In reply to adam525i :
They roll plenty easy at the pace 109hp affords,not sure doubling that # is a great idea lol
Nissan just released a story about the Lime Rock event: Nissan Sentra Cup makes historic debut at iconic Lime Rock Park (nissanstories.com)
In it, the series promoter said this, "The Sentra Cup is absolutely going to come back to the U.S.," Deshaies said.
I guess more to come.
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