Nissan JukeYou have to hand it to them, Nissan certainly can do interesting looking cars. The Juke’s the latest, and it joins their considerable fleet of crossovers, which now includes the Murano, Qashqai, and Qashqai+2.The Juke fits into the network below those other crossovers, sized as it is between a Fiesta and Focus, but somewhat leerier than either of them. To put it in the words of Nissan’s MD Paul Wilcox, Juke offers: “something innovative and exciting for the same price as a bland five-door hatchback. We firmly believe the Juke is going to be another huge success for Nissan and our Sunderland plant”.Nissan reckons the crossover genre produces apparent contradictions that are nonetheless welcome. So it’s a “roomy yet compact, robust yet dynamic, and practical yet playful supermini alternative”. Well if you try hard you can probably get it to fit all six of those adjectives, but it’s the last of them – that ‘playful’ tag – which probably will be the main draw for potential buyers. The Juke, with big radiator smile, narrowing window line and bulges dotted here and there all over its body, simply demands to be stared at. That’s why the TV ad appears so natural; the car might be doing odd things, but hey it looks suited to the task.Three engines are offered – two petrol and a diesel. Both petrols are of 1.6 litres, but the more powerful is a new turbocharged unit developing a remarkable 190PS. Unsurprisingly all those PS give it sporting performance: 0-62 in eight seconds and top speed of 134mph. I concentrated on the lesser petrol engine however, which in almost all respects is easy to live with, cheaper to buy and of course more frugal with the fuel. However, that ‘almost’ is brought on by the gearing, which is frankly annoyingly low. To put numbers on it, in top the gearing is actually 24% lower than the more powerful 1.6 engine, and on the motorway you certainly know all about that, constantly and hopefully grasping the lever to slide it down into the non-existent sixth. A 6-speed box is standard with the more powerful engine, as it is with the diesel, which is the Renault/Nissan Alliance old favourite 1.5-litre common rail device, and excellent it is too.Back to the 117PS petrol engine, and apart from the gearing it’s an easy and pleasant car to drive. Steering is a wee bit short on feel, but anyone buying a Juke for the driving experience is likely to go for the turbo engine, with which they can not only get 4WD (unavailable with the other two engines), but auto transmission too; in fact if you go for one of those you’re forced into getting the other alongside it.The Juke’s interior design is attractive in a mildly futuristic way, its facia blessed with a multitude of colours, thanks to the dark background, metal-effect surrounds to the gear lever and air vents, and brightly coloured pointers on the gauges. There are some unusual features too. One such is the Dynamic Control System (Acenta and Tekna models), a central command and display module which allows the driver to alter dynamic drive settings and make changes to more obvious functions such as climate control. The module adopts different displays, colours and functions depending on how it is being used; in Climate mode for instance, the display shows the interior temperature setting while the buttons display air-flow preferences. In D-Mode however, the buttons change to Normal, Sport and Eco driving modes, altering throttle maps, torque availability, CVT shift schedules, steering effort and even air conditioning performance.Pricing for the Juke looks sensible; indeed in installing the latest VAT increase that many manufacturers have used to lift the price of their motors a good deal more than the 2.5% rise (which should actually be just a 2.1% increase on the former vat-inclusive price), Nissan have gone the other way and raised them less than the mathematical requirement. Having said which, you still pay over 20K for the top 4WD auto model.Nissan have done extremely well with their crossovers, and the Qashqai is consistently in the UK top ten – a remarkable achievement for a car that’s a very long way from the everyday hatchbacks predominating in that chart. The charismatic Juke – smaller and less expensive than the Qashqai – is more than likely to continue the trend.Size: 4.14m x 1.77mEngines: Petrol: 1.6 litres – 117 & 190PSDiesel: 1.5 litres – 110PSGearbox: 5/6-speed FWD or CVT auto 4WDBest Consumption: Diesel engine – 55.4mpgPrice at Feb ’11: from £12,995Full details of the Juke are available on the manufacturer’s website: www.nissan.co.ukPeter Cracknell – Feb 2011
Nissan Juke
You have to hand it to them, Nissan certainly can do
interesting looking cars. The Juke’s the latest, and it
joins their considerable fleet of crossovers, which now
includes the Murano, Qashqai, and Qashqai+2.
The Juke fits into the network below those other
crossovers, sized as it is between a Fiesta and Focus,
but somewhat leerier than either of them. To put it in
the words of Nissan’s MD Paul Wilcox, Juke offers:
“something innovative and exciting for the same price
as a bland five-door hatchback. We firmly believe the
Juke is going to be another huge success for Nissan
and our Sunderland plant”.
Nissan reckons the
crossover genre
produces apparent
contradictions that
are nonetheless
welcome. So it’s a
“roomy yet compact,
robust yet dynamic,
and practical yet
playful supermini
alternative”. Well if
you try hard you can
probably get it to fit
all six of those
adjectives, but it’s
the last of them –
that ‘playful’ tag –
which probably will
be the main draw for
potential buyers. The Juke, with big radiator smile,
narrowing window line and bulges dotted here and
there all over its body, simply demands to be stared
at. That’s why the TV ad appears so natural; the car
might be doing odd things, but hey it looks suited to
the task.
Three engines are offered – two petrol and a diesel.
Both petrols are of 1.6 litres, but the more powerful is
a new turbocharged unit developing a remarkable
190PS. Unsurprisingly all those PS give it sporting
performance: 0-62 in eight seconds and top speed of
134mph. I concentrated on the lesser petrol engine
however, which in almost all respects is easy to live
with, cheaper to buy and of course more frugal with
the fuel. However, that ‘almost’ is brought on by the
gearing, which is frankly annoyingly low. To put
numbers on it, in top the gearing is actually 24% lower
than the more powerful 1.6 engine, and on the
motorway you certainly know all about that, constantly
and hopefully grasping the lever to slide it down into
the non-existent sixth. A 6-speed box is standard with
the more powerful engine, as it is with the diesel,
which is the Renault/Nissan Alliance old favourite 1.5-
litre common rail device, and excellent it is too.
Back to the 117PS petrol engine, and apart from the
gearing it’s an easy and pleasant car to drive. Steering
is a wee bit short on feel, but anyone buying a Juke
for the driving experience is likely to go for the turbo
engine, with which they can not only get 4WD
(unavailable with the other two engines), but auto
transmission too; in fact if you go for one of those
you’re forced into getting the other alongside it.
The Juke’s interior design is attractive in a mildly
futuristic way, its facia blessed with a multitude of
colours, thanks to the dark background, metal-effect
surrounds to the gear lever and air vents, and brightly
coloured pointers on the gauges. There are some
unusual features too. One such is the Dynamic Control
System (Acenta and Tekna models), a central command
and display module which allows the driver to alter
dynamic drive settings and make changes to more
obvious functions such as climate control. The module
adopts different displays, colours and functions
depending on how it is being used; in Climate mode for
instance, the display shows the interior temperature
setting while the buttons
display air-flow preferences.
In D-Mode however, the
buttons change to Normal,
Sport and Eco driving modes,
altering throttle maps, torque
availability, CVT shift
schedules, steering effort and
even air conditioning
performance.
Pricing for the Juke looks
sensible; indeed in installing
the latest VAT increase that
many manufacturers have
used to lift the price of their
motors a good deal more
than the 2.5% rise (which
should actually be just a
2.1% increase on the former vat-inclusive price), Nissan
have gone the other way and raised them less than the
mathematical requirement. Having said which, you still
pay over 20K for the top 4WD auto model.
Nissan have done extremely well with their crossovers,
and the Qashqai is consistently in the UK top ten – a
remarkable achievement for a car that’s a very long way
from the everyday hatchbacks predominating in that
chart. The charismatic Juke – smaller and less
expensive than the Qashqai – is more than likely to
continue the trend.
Size:
4.14m x 1.77m
Engines:
Petrol: 1.6 litres – 117 & 190PS
Diesel: 1.5 litres – 110PS
Gearbox:
5/6-speed FWD or CVT auto 4WD
Best Consumption:
Diesel engine – 55.4mpg
Price at Feb ’11:
from £12,995
Full details of the Juke are available on the manufacturer’s
website: www.nissan.co.uk
Peter Cracknell – Feb 2011
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