【Nanda van Bergen】

Nissan just bolted an 188-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine to the Sentra. Why?Nanda van Bergen Because it can.

Sporty Sentras have always been popular. Sure, it might not make a ton of sense, but neither does the popularity of Jeremy Renner. But let's not get bogged down in the "why" and instead focus on the "what."

For the 2017 model year, Nissan -- as mentioned above -- has blessed the subcompact Sentra sedan with the power of 188 ponies thanks to a new turbo'd engine. For those of you keeping track at home, that's 50 percent more horsepower than the Sentra SR's non-turbocharged 1.8-liter engine. Giddy up.

Mercifully, the SR Turbo is offered in both a 6-speed manual or an automatic Xtronic transmission with manual mode. This means that driving-enthusiast SR Turbo owners living on a budget can still enjoy the crisp connectedness of a manual transmission in their subcompact Japanese sports machine.

Nissan engineers also upped the car's braking and suspension components. The springs are 10 percent stiffer. The damping of the front struts has been increased 23 percent. And the rear shock damping was upped by 50 percent.

The standard 11-inch front brake rotors on the Sentra have been replaced with vented 11.7-inch front rotors, which are complimented by 11.5-inch rear rotors. These should ensure that the SR Turbo stops as well as it accelerates and corners.

Nissan's Sentra SR Turbo doesn't include Apple CarPlay. However, the Japanese automaker boasts: "SR Turbo also includes standard Siri Eyes Free Voice Recognition, which makes it easy to make and receive calls, receive and send text messages and emails, select and play music from a compatible device, get notifications, request directions and more via a hands-free voice connection to Siri commands."

A Nisan representative confirmed for Mashable that the 2017 Sentra SR Turbo will go on sale October 2016 and will have a base price of $23,000.