Nissan Juke 1.6 Tekna

Nissan has dubbed itself the creators of the compact crossover – which effectively means they made some vehicles (see Qashqai, followed by Juke) and put them out there hoping people would catch on. A risky move, but one which has paid off if you look at their sales figures.

Nissan’s Juke has been around for some years now, with a fair bit of popularity I might add. Its looks can only be described as, interesting, while all other elements are something of a compromise between a super-mini and a proper Qashqai-like crossover. I recently had the opportunity for a refresher in the 1.6 litre turbo charged Juke, the one with the manual six speed gearbox and no All-Wheel Drive system.

I’ll start with the most obvious feature, being exterior design. Nissan describe their creation as having unconventional styling; which is just marketing speak for it looks ridiculous. Nothing is as it seems with the Juke, where what looks like the fog lights are actually the headlights. And what look like the headlights are in fact the indicators, which to me resemble a hippo’s ears. Then just to make sure the front end was a right mess they nicked the grille off a Murano and bolted it to the front.

Under the debatably unlikeable skin is something quite fun though. The motor, which incidentally is also used in the new Renault Clio RS, churns out 140kW; which is a good start. This means it’ll do the 0-100km/h sprint in something like 8 seconds and allows for plenty grin-inducing fun. What’s nice is that there’s usable torque throughout the rev range, provided the turbo’s are spooled up of course. Plant your right foot and watch the surprise on many a face and the Juke takes off at an unexpected rate.

Dynamically the Juke is undoubtedly compromised. Its high riding stance might be something people enjoy in and around town, but it detracts significantly from the Juke’s ability through a series of fast corners. Electrically assisted power steering adds to the woes by not offering any meaningful feedback, although nicely weighted.

From a practicality stand point the Juke doesn’t live up to what a crossover should offer. Match it up against any of the mid-range hatchbacks (for eg VW Golf 7; Ford Focus etc) and you’ll be wondering how they managed to get such a small boot and so little rear leg/head room out of the Juke’s seemingly sizeable body.

Based on the exterior’s design antics, you’d expect Nissan to have continued the theme inwardly; and to some extent you’d be right. A single form of moulded plastic creates the futuristic looking centre console (available in a variety of colours), while the I-CON Control System catches the eye as a sort of throw-back to Windows 98. It does however allow one screen to change its purpose, flicking between climate control settings and the driver modes function, being Eco, Normal and Sport, along with a full array of tacky and generally useless graphics. On the up side everything is well put together and made from decent materials, so it shouldn’t fall apart or appear dated in a hurry.

I struggle to see the need for the Nissan Juke. But then again I didn’t see the point of the Qashqai and they’ve sold like hot cakes. So it would seem Nissan has a knack for creating odd-ball vehicles and then actually getting people to buy them. Or their marketing team is very good at predicting trends. Either way, if you’re into the Juke’s looks and don’t need any traditional crossover practicality, there’s actually a decently built car hiding underneath.

Price: R 291 500
Engine: 1618cc turbo charged petrol
Power (kW): 140
Torque (Nm): 240
Acceleration (0-100km/h): 8
Fuel Consumption (l/100km): 6.9 (claimed)

First published in Autodealer KZN