I have looked at the Nissan Juke from all angles when it was on static display. Driving one, I have been overtaken on a motorway by another and given its lines close study then too. None of this has made a scrap of difference to my initial impression that it is a startlingly ugly car. But what do I know? Others tell me they think it looks great. Other still agree that it's ugly, but to such an extent that it becomes, if not exactly cute, then at least endearing.The Juke's fortunes depend on mine being the minority view and the opinions of others constituting the majority. At first sight the situation is fraught with risk for Nissan, which has already abandoned importing the equally wacky Cube into Europe (admittedly partly because of the euro/yen exchange rate) barely a year after its launch.Early indications, however, are that the Juke has a more secure future, and Nissan reckons that this - apparently - niche model will handsomely outsell the - also apparently - mainstream Micra.There are three engines in the range, and for our first Juke test we've gone for the 115bhp 1.6 petrol which is predicted to be the most popular (other options are the very sensible 108bhp 1.5 dCi turbo diesel and the quite bonkers 187bhp 1.6 petrol turbo). As with other Nissans, the Juke comes in three flavours called Visia, Acenta and Tekna, and we've gone for Acenta, whose specification includes 17" alloy wheels, climate control air-conditioning, Bluetooth connectivity and a USB port in addition to the Visia's ESP (electronic stability program), six airbags and sports seats.Like the Tekna, the Acenta also has the Nissan Dynamic Control System, which controls a wide variety of things from the air-conditioning to the dynamic settings of the car.The story is complicated further by the existence of the Sport Pack and the Premium Pack. The first of these includes a fancier design of alloy wheel, better seat upholstery and rear privacy glass, while the Premium Pack boasts all of these things plus a reversing camera, six audio speakers and the excellent Nissan Connect navigation/audio system. Cars fitted with the Premium Pack, which costs £900, are officially designated as separate models, hence the use of the term "Acenta Premium" in this one's name.Bearing a relatively small car, the Juke doesn't have a fantastic amount of luggage space. With all seats in place the capacity is 251 litres, or less than that of the Micra, though when you fold down the rear seats (a one-touch operation) this increases to 830 litres - more than the Micra provides this time, though that's largely because the Juke is a taller car.Assuming that the rear seats aren't folded, there should be no problem getting children into them. Adults may find it a bit of a struggle, though, since the door opening is quite small. Both myself (tall) and a colleague (shorter) banged our heads something awful against the top edge while trying to climb aboard. Up front there's no such difficulty.Rear passengers may also feel claustrophobic, since there's not much glass around them. Frankly, there's not much glass anywhere else either, and manouevring in tight spaces is correspondingly tricky.On the road, the best thing about the Juke is its steering, which feels smooth and accurate. The ride quality of the test car wasn't up to much, and this might be something to do with the 17" wheels (I haven't yet tried a Visia, which runs on 16s and may feel better), though the suspension didn't feel entirely able to deal with the body's high centre of gravity.The 1.6 petrol Juke also sounds fussy on the motorway thanks to its relatively low gearing which gives not much more than 20mph per 1000rpm in top. This might have been done to help the performance, as higher gearing - and therefore more relaxed cruising - would probably have made it quite a bit slower than the 1.5 diesel. As it is, it's only marginally quicker.Less economical too, and by quite a margin. Combined fuel economy is 44.8mpg, compared with the diesel's 55.4mpg, and the diesel's CO2 emissions are much better too, although because of where the two models appear in the VED tax band structure the 1.6 requires you to pay only an extra £15 per year (£125 rather than £110) to the Chancellor. The diesel is also £1350 more expensive to buy.I can't bring myself to think that the Juke is a great achievement on Nissan's part, but at the same time there's little wrong with it, or at least not much that couldn't also be used to criticise other cars. Whether it sells in greater numbers than that description justifies is, I suspect, entirely a matter of whether people have a different opinion than mine about its appearance. Engine 1598 cc, 4 cylinders Power 117 bhp @6000 rpm Torque 116 ib/ft @4000 rpm Transmission 5 speed manual Fuel/CO2 44.8 mpg / 147 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 11sec Top speed 111 mph Price From £15116.00 approx Release date 01/09/2010
Our Rating
