2017 Nissan Sentra SR Turbo Dashes IDx Dreams

Nissan is filling in all the unfilled niches today.

The automaker unveiled a turbocharged variant of the sensible and unexciting Sentra today at the Miami International Auto Show, promising a performance version of a sedan known mostly for its value and grocery capacity.

In doing so, Nissan implies that a hotter NISMO version is around the corner, while closing the casket lid on the IDx concept once and for all.

The 2017 Sentra SR Turbo ditches the vanilla sedan’s 1.8-liter in favor of a turbocharged, direct-injection 1.6-liter four-cylinder borrowed from the Juke subcompact crossover. Making 188 horsepower and 177 pounds-feet of torque, the mill boosts the Sentra’s power by 50 percent. Transmission choices are a six-speed manual or a CVT with manual shift mode.

Also part of the package are 17-inch wheels, ventilated front brake discs, larger brake calipers, stiffer front springs, and increased damping front and rear.

Nissan’s newly muscular Sentra arrives just in time to compete with the looming Honda Civic Si and Hyundai Elantra Sport. Pricing hasn’t been announced.

There’s plenty of evidence that Nissan has an even hotter NISMO version in the works. Besides the Sentra NISMO Concept (unveiled at the 2013 L.A. Auto Show as a “performance study”), Car & Driver has snapped photos of a disguised Sentra sporting an aggressive front spoiler — something you won’t find on the SR Turbo.

Anyone holding out hope that Nissan’s rear-wheel-drive IDx concept would one day make it to production can consider their dreams completely and utterly dead. Last year, Nissan’s Pierre Loing, North American vice president of product planning, told TTAC that it wasn’t economically feasible for the automaker to build a new RWD niche product. He added that certain elements could find their way into an actual production model — perhaps a front-wheel-drive compact.

Well, you’re looking at it. The 2017 Sentra SR Turbo is the IDx you don’t want.

[Image: Nissan USA]