Nissan Juke
Our European editor gets behind the wheel of the latest Juke crossover
The Juke was an odd-ball design and looked funky and childish. All that has changed as the 2nd generation SUV is more mature. The shape with the sloping roof line and the squat proportions remain, but the lines and the front and rear are all new. The grille is now much bigger and triangular and the daytime running lights removed from the very strange and funky positioning. The typical round headlights remain while the fog lights and the apron below are only slightly changed.
Along with the maturity of design, comes the maturity of size and the 2nd generation Juke has become bigger in all aspects though not drastically. It is now at 4,210mm so bringing it down to under 4 metres would be a monumental task for the engineers and designers and one can say that it will be a premium SUV if it ever comes to India. Despite the increase in size the Juke is over 20kg lighter because of the use of higher tensile strength steels and thus the body shell has also become more rigid, claims the company.
The interiors are totally changed from the first gen car. The instrument panel becomes a 7in screen while
the dashboard is now straight. The infotainment screen is also larger at 8 inches. The interiors get a touch of Mercedes in them with the air con vents reminiscent of the turbine nozzles used by the German car maker. The boot is also bigger with now 422 litres of space.
Nissan has done a fine job with the overall usage of the materials as well as insulating the noise inside the cabin. Our test vehicle came with the 19-inch wheels,
which took on the undulations without a hitch and sort of danced around it, surely living up to its credentials.
The biggest surprise here is that Nissan is offering the Juke with only a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, with 117bhp. The unit is punchy and works its speed, so to speak. It is not too loud and is even surprisingly refined, but unfortunately the Juke is largely free of fun. Neither the 7-speed dual clutch transmission nor the manual transmission can encourage the petrol engine to come out of it emotionally. That will be enough for many, especially those who mainly cruise through the city and derive their driving pleasure from the low consumption, but the rest of us hope Nissan brings in more powerful engines in the future. The Juke comes with three driving modes (Eco, Standard and Sport) and is designed to match the car depending on the application and preference. There is no all-wheel drive, but since the compact SUV is built on a newly developed platform (CMFB), an electrified variant would also be conceivable in the future.
The 2nd generation Juke gets the latest tech as well which includes the new infotainment NissanConnect app along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as TomTom Maps and real-time traffic information. With the app, you can unlock the SUV remotely, check parameters such as the oil level or tire pressure outside the car or send routes directly to the navigation system. If you have a Google Assistant at home, you can also use remote commands to use individual functions.
THE SMALL THREECYLINDER ENGINE IS ENOUGH FOR MAINLY CRUSING THROUGH THE CITY, BUT DON’T EXPECT A SPIRITED DRIVE