At mere mention, the names of some cars simply stir the soul. The Nissan Sentra is not usually one of those cars. However Matt Burke has been dealt his hand and has decided to ante up, and go all in on this car. What started life as a simple 1998 Nissan Sentra, has become a comfortable, and yet menacing street terror.

Starting with the relatively clean and yet exciting exterior of this car yields some welcome surprises. The stock front facia on the Sentra might be fine for mom going to get groceries, but Matt wanted something that would set his ride apart from the millions of others like it on the road. He called the folks over at Steve Millen Motorsports, A.K.A. STILLEN and ordered up one of their custom GTR front bumper covers. He then decided to attack the lighting situation on the front end. The factory amber corner lights were 86’d in favor of a set of clear one’s, and the stock headlights have been retrofitted with a set of 8000K H.I.D.’s. Burke also wanted to get the antenna to a lower, less obtrusive profile, so he had a short model installed while he was there. That wrapped up the outside of the car, and left Burke feeling pretty confident that his car was unique enough to not be mistaken for your mom’s grocery getter.

Then, as most of us spend more time inside our ride driving it, than we do looking at it, he turned his attention to making it a more appealing space than Nissan had. First he ditched the stock seats in favor of a set from Sparco, complete with the Sparco sliders as well to finish the pairing of the seats he added a set of Sparco 4 point harnesses. Wanting the rears to fit in with the same design he had the rear seats re wrapped with matching Sparco fabric, as well the door inserts and dash trim all fit in with keeping everything looking alike. Keeping up with the Italian manufacturers theme on the inside Burke added a Sparco shift knob. Then to capture all the fun that he has while driving and also to keep the upper mounts of the harnesses tethered, Burke had a custom Harness bar fabricated, along with a camera mount. Finishing up the interior, are a set of RAZO pedal covers, and an aluminum gauge cluster bezel.

In today’s market, people aren’t satisfied often with what the manufacturers have chosen to install in their vehicles, all the way around. Especially, when it comes to in car entertainment. What with mobile video, and audio rivaling even the best home theatre equipment, it’s no wonder that Matt wanted to make his car a rolling theatre, with sound to die for as well. Controlling the source of the system is a Kenwood KVT-910DVD. This unit is TV/DVD playback capable, as well as being a touch screen, it really is one of the top end screen equipped head units. From there the signal is passed through a trio of Audio Control processing units. The Audio Control DDC EQ Controller, Audio Control DQT Digital and EQ Audio Control DXS Digital Crossover work flawlessly together to create some of the clearest and most precise sound available. Moving to the amplification side of things Matt chose to go with the best. He went with 3 Butler Tube Driver Blue TD475's. Tube drivers are said to be a little lower on power than competitive solid state units, but more than make up for it with sound quality. Butler manufactures some of the best tube amplifiers on the market today. Using the high quality sound that the amps and processors create are a set of Aura separates in the front stock location, while a set of Kenwood coaxials create rear fill in the stock locations as well. Burke decided to go with 2 IDMAX 10" Subs In a fiberglass enclosure that again was wrapped in the interior matching Sparco fabric. Interconnect was handled with all stinger components with the exception of the 3.5 farad capacitor from Super cap.

Motivation for this super powered Sentra comes in the form of a T3/T4 hybrid turbo. With the Tial 38mm wastegate set at a modest 12 psi of boost the car really moves out when needed. HP #’s were unknown at time of printing. A custom heat shield keeps the heat away from other precious components under the hood. Fuelling is taken care of by way of a Walbro in tank 225 fuel pump, and MSD 50lb injectors. A NISMO fuel pressure regulator, helps keep the fuel pressure constant, while a fuel filter from a 300ZX turbo lets enough fuel flow through. A JGY customs fuel rail finishes off the fuel system. Spent exhaust gasses travel away from the turbo with the help of an FMAX turbo manifold, and a 3” turbo back custom exhaust terminated with a Magnaflow muffler. Breathing starts with a K&N filter, and flows through FMAX intercooler and intake plumbing, a Spearco intercooler was used for the bling factor, as well as cooling the intake charge. Inside the stock motor sits a set of Jim Wolfe Technology S3 cams, and Greddy rocker arm stoppers. The short block remains stock, and proves the Nissan knows how to build bottom ends. Cooling the motor is helped out with the fact that the stock A/C system has been ditched, and 2 10” slim cooling fans now reside in it’s place. The motor remains steadily in place by using SR20 Development motor mount inserts.

Electronics associated with keeping a check on what’s going on under the hood consist of a Greddy Profec B Spec-II, Greddy Turbo Timer so as not to allow the turbo to eat itself, if the owner gets a little careless on shut down. Visually keeping a check on the temperature, and oil pressure, and boost pressure falls under the watchful eyes of some very trick gauges, Greddy Electronic Boost Gauge, Greddy Electronic EGT Gauge, Greddy Electronic Oil Pressure Gauge, Engine management is handled by a custom programmed Jim Wolf Technology ECU, An ApeXi SAFC-II Air Fuel Controller is used for minor adjustments on the fly or on the dyno.

Driveline enhancements come in the form of an ACT 6 puck clutch and pressure plate for grip, and a Phantom Grip limited slip differential. Redline heavy duty shockproof fluids are also present in the transaxle. The driver rows through he gears by way of a Stillen short shifter.

Using all the power that he’s created Matt needed to make sure that his suspension, wheels, brakes and tires were all up to the task. He decided to go with B&G S3 Coilovers at all 4 corners to absbord all the bumps and humps in the road, as well as keeping the car at an acceptable ride height. Motivation Engineering Rear Mounts were used, along with Cusco Camber Plates Suspension Techniques Sway Bars. A Stillen Front Strut Bar was used to be sure that the front shock towers don’t flex under severe cornering. Willwood Dynalit 4 Piston Calipers 11.75" Two Piece Rotors, Steel Braided Lines, Willwood Polymatric Pads, ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid were all placed in the car to make sure that the owner could haul the car down from the stratospheric speeds it was now able to achieve. The wheels were chosen for great looks, and style as well, 17" Enkei Evo 5 Wheels are classic and simple. Kumho Ecsta MX Tires 205/40/17 now take up the space formerly held by the 14” stockers, and help keep this sentra planted to the road.

Sometimes people say that certain things just can’t be done, like making a Sentra cool, Matt Burke has proven that statement to be not only, untrue, but also made that statement an understatement of great proportions. Props to Matt for making the grocery store a lot quicker trip in his 4 door street menace.