Did You Know There’s A Whole Ass Racing Series For Nissan Sentras In Canada?

As you might expect from the nation that invented the snowmobile, Canada loves small cars and racing. However, we often don’t have the money to run cars like the Nissan Z GT4, which is why Nissan has another track weapon strictly for Canadian racers. It’s called the Sentra Cup car, and there’s one on display at the 2023 Canadian International Auto Show. You know what they say: Few show cars are race cars, but every race car is a show car, so let’s take a look at this slice of Canadian speed.

Every Sentra Cup car starts with a bone-stock Canadian-spec Nissan Sentra with the six-speed manual gearbox. Yes, you can still get the Sentra with a row-your-own option in Canada, and it’s pretty alright. It’s no Sentra SE-R and it won’t rival the best Hondas for shift quality but it’s reasonably crisp for a shifter in a compact car and it makes any CVT maintenance fears evaporate.

Aside from a MoTec M1 standalone ECU with a pit speed limiter, most of the spec car’s performance modifications don’t seem too crazy. As far as OEM plus upgrades go, this thing gets four-pot front calipers that look to be right off a Z, rear disc brakes from a Sentra SR, and the rear spoiler off of a Sentra SR. On the aftermarket side of things, these cars get coilovers, upgraded brake pads, an adjustable front anti-roll bar, braided brake lines, a performance exhaust system, Pirelli slicks, engine mounts with urethane reinforcement, and a set of 18-inch Fast FC04 alloy wheels that anyone can buy.

Of course, race cars also require some safety tweaks over street cars, so into the fab shop this Sentra goes for an FIA-spec six-point roll cage. Add in a six-point harness, an OMP race seat, a window net, a fire system, a battery isolator, and tow hooks, and you get roughly 149 horsepower of wheel-to-wheel fury. Not bad for $41,000 Canadian for last year’s turn-key model, but certainly not as cheap as the old $23,000 Canadian Micra Cup cars.

The result is properly exciting racing, especially since the old Micra Cup cars are allowed to mix it up with the bigger Sentras. Here’s some video of it:

I’m talking about squeezing three wide down straights, getting two wheels up over curbs, diving into corners side by side, all while being a contact sport. It gives some yet more credence to the slow car fast school of thought.

The Sentra Cup car on display at the Canadian International Auto Show is none other than the championship-winning car driven by Valérie Limoges. With twelve races under its belt last season, it proudly shows its battle scars. The right front bumper accent is smothered in duct tape, there are fist-sized dents along the right side of the vehicle, and the plastic chrome grille is cracked in a dozen places. With a brand new race car this cheap, who cares if things get bent?

I reckon the Nissan Sentra Cup could make it in America. Once you convert currencies, you end up with a proper brand-new race car for about the same price as a loaded Honda Civic Touring sedan, a solid entry point for wheel-to-wheel touring car racing. However, even without branching out to America, the 2023 season looks promising with twelve races across four tracks in Ontario and Quebec including Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (formerly known as Mosport), Circuit Mont-Tremblant, and Complexe ICAR in Mirabel. So, if you happen to find yourself near a Sentra Cup race, why not grab tickets and see some brilliant driving?

(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)

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