The Nissan Qashqai from its launch was a runaway success and the Japanese firm's brand new Juke 'Junior Crossover' has me smiling just as much!
Juke features technology that is functional, but there is nothing particularly groundbreaking. Of course Juke is efficient and green, but that is not why I like the pint-sized crossover SUV so much.
Why do I love it? Juke just looks brilliant; you simply have to smile picking up the keys.
Juke starts at just over €18,000, so it is as affordable as Qashqai was relative to its competition. Juke is gunning for the MINI, DS3, A1 and other style-oriented machinery.
What Juke offers is a high driving position, five-door practicality and an incredibly cute chunky exterior styling that if you're not in the first flush of youth will definitely make you feel young!
Juke features a high waistline, good ground clearance plus big wheels sitting in flared wheel arches - it almost looks like an SUV concept sketch brought to life.
Inside Juke is spacious yet the car has quite a small footprint on the road. The cabin features some well thought-out elements like the motorbike-inspired centre tunnel console that mimics the lines of a motorcycle's saddle and petrol tank area. Optional red plastic trim brightens up the interior. The small boot features a built-in load cover and a moveable floor shelf that lifts to reveal a removable storage area. Underneath the pull-out tub there is a space saver spare wheel. In the rear there is plenty of headroom although legroom isn't a strong point - then again, this is a compact car!
Juke sits in the same category (B) as the likes of Fiesta and Polo albeit at the higher end of their price range. Juke was designed in Europe and Japan and will be sold globally. Rally cars, motorbikes and beach buggies inspired its designers and the result is a car that looks like it should be delivered in a giant toy car box.
On the road Juke is predictable and nimble enough. The driving position is good and the car throws up no surprises. It is relatively quiet on the open road, too. As for party tricks? Juke does feature a few buttons that alter the responsiveness of the car. With Nissan's 'Dynamic Control System' you can select Sport, Normal or Eco and each does what it says, so Eco dulls the responsiveness of the throttle and Sport does the opposite etc. The positioning of these buttons and the info display is set too low in the centre console to be useful, but the buttons are big and easy to use.
The font-wheel drive Juke features ESP as standard and is available in three trim levels: XE (€18,195 petrol/€20,195 diesel), SV (+ €1,300) and Sport (+ €500) and with a standard five-speed manual gearbox, or for a premium of €2,900 there is an XTRONIC CVT automatic available for SV and Sport grades. The engine range from launch features the 1.6-litre petrol (117bhp/tax band 'B') and 1.5-litre (110bhp/tax band 'B') DCi diesel we know well from Nissan's Qashqai. Coming down the line is a very interesting 190bhp (240nm) four-wheel drive, tax band 'D', 1.6-litre petrol turbo (€23,995/Sport trim only) that is worth a closer look - especially if the bad weather returns!
Juke is one of the best cars I've driven this year.
Michael Sheridan
