Hey Dean
I've got a 1.8i its sweet. Unfortunately it was run up in the Free-state on hard water, so its getting a new head gasket/rebuild right now. But it does have a Sentra badge on it I assure you.
With the rebuild(to factory spec) new tires, radiator, and a few other minor things it tapped me for $3200 total so far. It came with a new clutch/rebuilt steering rack and a few other bits fixed as well.
Pretty hefty, but once I break it in I am so going to kick the piss out of it on a local track.
Any idea about the compression ratio on them? I read 10.5;1 in a few places, that seems awfully high.