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Even though we’re living in an SUV-centric world, there’s still room for small cars, and the release of the 2026 Nissan Sentra shows the automaker is holding to that.
This compact sedan has been around since 1982 and has sold around seven million copies in Canada and the United States during that time. Much of it carries over from before, including its platform and engine. Instead, Nissan has made numerous improvements, including to its driving performance and interior, that update it nicely to compete in this segment.
New Styling Inside and Out
The Sentra’s styling updates make it look sleeker and give it more of a fastback look, primarily through its updated C-pillars, smoothed-out doors, and thinner rear lights. A chrome strip is now above the windows rather than below them, which draws the eye across the roof and back to the redesigned trunk lid.
That trunk still has 409 L of space as before, but its opening is now wider and lower, making it easier to load cargo in. At the media drive event, Nissan’s reps folded down the rear seats and packed in a box containing a 55-inch television.
Up front, the grille has been redesigned, and an accent bar ties the new headlights into the centre logo. On the top trim, they flash a welcome pattern when the car is unlocked.
The interior has been updated as well, with a new dash and a screen incorporated on top of it. That unit contains the standard 12.3-inch infotainment screen, up from a maximum of eight inches in 2025; and a 12.3-inch digital instrument display in the SV and SR trims. The entry S trim has a seven-inch cluster, but that’s up from the 4.2-inch unit it used in last year’s model.
The seats are Nissan’s so-called “Zero Gravity” construction both front and rear. This design reduces pressure points and they really are supportive and long-distance comfortable. Cloth upholstery is standard across the trims, but the top SR gets accent stitching, and it can be optioned to faux-leather and with a power driver’s seat. (A note on our photos: The first-drive event was in the U.S. and the car with beige upholstery is an SL, a not-for-Canada trim with a seat-stitch design that we don’t get, either.)
Plenty of Features
The Sentra’s standard features include LED headlights, heated mirrors, push-button start, heated seats, that 12.3-inch touchscreen, and numerous driver-assist technologies. Upper trims can add a sunroof, auto-dimming mirror, premium audio, heated steering wheel, automatic climate control, and a wireless charger, with that last item appearing for the first time in a Sentra.
That’s a nice list at this mainstream-compact level, and Nissan’s reps said the plan is to give customers “loud value rather than quiet luxury.” That may well be the case but we don’t know yet, as Canadian pricing for the 2026 Sentra wasn’t released at the time of writing. For the record, comparable 2025 Sentra trims range from $26,423 to $33,793, including a delivery fee of $1,850.
Same Engine, Improved Transmission
The Sentra retains its 2.0L four-cylinder engine as before, still making 149 hp and 146 lb-ft of torque. But the six-speed manual transmission available in 2025 is gone; and its automatic continuously-variable transmission (CVT) has been revised. There are also some structural tweaks to the body to reduce noise and vibration.
Thanks to the improvements, the Sentra is now better to drive. It’s still not a powerhouse, but acceleration is much smoother and it feels peppier moving away from a stop. It’s also much quieter, without the drone that a CVT can often exhibit. Overall, it’s very well-done, and with crisp and responsive steering. Putting it in sport mode tightens the steering feel nicely, and while that also means the engine revs higher, the quiet cabin and improved transmission prevent it from being annoying.
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) rates the 2026 Sentra in its top-line SR trim at 8.0 L/100 km in the city, 6.4 on the highway, and 7.2 in combined driving, a slight increase from 6.9 L/100 km combined in the 2025 version. It takes regular-grade-grade gasoline.
The Inside Story
The cabin is well-finished, with soft-touch surfaces on the dash and door panels; and where there’s hard plastic, it fits together well. I would have preferred the Sentra retain its previous and less-distracting buttons and dials for its climate control instead of the haptic-touch panel that replaces them; but there’s a dial for stereo volume, and the gear selector is a conventional one. The larger infotainment screen has intuitive menus and icons, plus standard Siri voice control, and its phone integration is wireless in the SV and SR trims.
Standard driver-assist features on all trims include adaptive cruise control, emergency front braking, blind-spot warning and intervention, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition, and the mandatory back-up camera. Its standard front collision warning uses a sensing system, initially introduced on Infiniti, that “looks” below the vehicle ahead to see if the one in front of that one is slowing down for quicker response when both stop. The top SR trim can be optioned with a panoramic camera, emergency rear braking, and hands-on highway driving assist.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the 2026 Nissan Sentra may not be completely new, but Nissan has done a good job of updating it with an improved driving experience, upscale-looking interior, and new features. But on this first-drive event, Nissan’s reps stressed value at every opportunity, and price is the major missing piece of the puzzle. We’ll have to wait to find out, but if the price tag is low enough in comparison to everything you get, this new Sentra will definitely be a contender in the segment.
