Compare the2024 Nissan SentraVS 2023 Toyota Corolla

Safety
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Sentra have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Toyota Corolla doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Sentra are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Corolla doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Nissan Sentra has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Corolla doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Sentra has standard Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Corolla doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Sentra SV/SR offers an optional Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Corolla only offers a rear monitor.

The Sentra has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Corolla’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Sentra has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Toyota charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Alert on the Corolla.

Both the Sentra and the Corolla have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available daytime running lights.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Nissan Sentra is safer than the Toyota Corolla:

	Sentra	Corolla
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Leg Forces (l/r)	330/261 lbs.	330/310 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Nissan Sentra is safer than the Toyota Corolla:

	Sentra	Corolla
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	12 inches
HIC	160	239

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Nissan Sentra is safer than the Corolla:

	Sentra	Corolla
Overall Evaluation	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
Structure	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Neck Compression	67 lbs.	134 lbs.
Torso	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	.94 in	1.1 in
Shoulder Force	178 lbs.	268 lbs.
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Pelvis Force	1071 lbs.	1339 lbs.
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Shoulder Deflection	1.1 in	1.38 in
Shoulder Force	290 lbs.	312 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	.87 in	1.1 in
Torso Deflection Rate	6 MPH	7 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Pelvis Force	848 lbs.	1026 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 14 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is rated below average.

Engine

As tested in Motor Trend the Nissan Sentra is faster than the Toyota Corolla:

	Sentra	Corolla
Zero to 60 MPH	8 sec	8.2 sec
Quarter Mile	16.2 sec	16.3 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	87.8 MPH	86.4 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Sentra’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Corolla doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Nissan Sentra uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Corolla requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Sentra’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Corolla:

	Sentra	Corolla
Front Rotors	11 inches	10.8 inches

The Sentra stops much shorter than the Corolla:

	Sentra	Corolla
70 to 0 MPH	170 feet	179 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	114 feet	128 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	138 feet	143 feet

Tires and Wheels

The Sentra has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Corolla doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

The Sentra has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Corolla doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Sentra is 1.9 inches wider in the front and 1.1 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Corolla.

The Sentra SR handles at .89 G’s, while the Corolla XSE pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Sentra SR executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.1 seconds quicker than the Corolla XSE (27 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

Chassis

To almost totally eliminate engine vibration in the passenger area, the Sentra has an electronically controlled liquid-filled front engine mount. A computer-controlled electric current in the liquid changes its viscosity, allowing the mount to dampen the engine completely at all RPMs. The Corolla uses conventional solid rubber engine mounts.

The design of the Nissan Sentra amounts to more than styling. The Sentra has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .299 Cd. That is lower than the Corolla (.31) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Sentra get better fuel mileage.

The front grille of the Sentra uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Corolla doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

As tested by Car and Driver, the interior of the Sentra SR is quieter than the Corolla:

	Sentra	Corolla
At idle	38 dB	42 dB
Full-Throttle	76 dB	77 dB
70 MPH Cruising	70 dB	71 dB

Passenger Space

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Sentra a Mid-size car, while the Corolla is rated a Compact.

The Sentra has 7.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Corolla (96 vs. 88.6).

The Sentra has .6 inches more front headroom, 2 inches more front legroom, 2.4 inches more front shoulder room, .1 inches more rear legroom, 2 inches more rear hip room and 2.8 inches more rear shoulder room than the Corolla.

Cargo Capacity

The Sentra has a much larger trunk than the Corolla (14.3 vs. 13.2 cubic feet).

Ergonomics

The Sentra’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Corolla’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Sentra’s optional rear view mirror has an automatic dimming feature. This mirror can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on it, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Corolla doesn’t offer the luxury of an automatic dimming rear view mirror.

On extremely cold winter days, the Sentra SV/SR’s optional heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the car heater warms up. The Corolla doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

The Sentra (except S)’s optional dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. The Corolla doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Sentra is less expensive to operate than the Corolla because typical repairs cost much less on the Sentra than the Corolla, including $84 less for a starter, $20 less for front struts, $530 less for a timing belt/chain and $2 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

Car and Driver performed a comparison test in its October 2021 issue and they ranked the Nissan Sentra SR higher than the Toyota Corolla.

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