A different way of looking at things...

There’s a good car lurking beneath the Juke’s divisive looks, writes Matt Allan

The Nissan Juke has never been a car for shrinking violets.

When the first generation launched a decade ago, its offthe-wall looks split opinion and despite that love-it-orhate-it reaction, Nissan has stuck to its guns with the second generation.

The looks are sharper but with many of the same features - such as the multi-tiered front lights - that made it stand out so much in the first place. The segment has a few weird and “wonderful” looking cars so the Juke isn’t out of place but its design means it won’t appeal to everyone, although I am a fan.

Where Nissan has been busy rethinking things is inside. Not only is the new Juke a vast improvement on the old one but it’s also miles ahead of every other Nissan.

The old Juke tried too hard to be quirky and ended up messy and irritating. Here, a m o re s tra i g ht fo r wa rd ap - proach means simple, clear controls are where you’d exp e c t o r wa nt , rath e r th a n Nissan’s usual scattergun arrangement. Your eye is drawn to the large circular air vents, which give character, and the large touchscreen which juts out of the dashboard.

A l eath e r d a s h to p a n d ambient lighting help make the Juke feel a little more upmarket and the materials are among Nissan’s best. They’re still not luxurious but less brittle and more in keeping with the car’s £25,000 price.

As with any B-SUV, space isn’t the Juke’s strong point b ut ave ra ge - s i z e d d r ive r s and passengers should find it roomy enough. It’s definitely a four-seater, though, with a narrow rear bench, and heaven help anyone in the back if your driver is over six feet tall. Rivals are more spacious and that’s true of the boot as well.

At the opposite end of the car lies a 115bhp 1.0-litre engine linked to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Zero to 62 takes a substantial 11 seconds but the engine at least feels willing, if a little noisy.

The car’s selectable sport mode is hardly a dynamic revelation but overall the Juke is actually quite a pleasant thing to cover miles in. At higher speeds the ride is good but the Juke is let down badly by harsh low-speed performance on urban roads.

The range starts at £17,860 but we were driving the Tekna, which comes in at £23,895. Add in our car’s two-tone paint and it totalled £24,870. It’s well equipped for the money though, with high beam assist, all-round LED lights and a heated front screen as well as the Pro-Pilot assistance. The eight-inch touchscreen incorporates Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, all linked to a Bose stereo with speakers in the front headrests.

The Juke was one of the first small crossovers to make it big but it’s got a tougher challenge now. This second-generation car is much better than the first but so are its rivals. Its appeal is limited-byitslooks,relativelack of space and that single-engine line-up. However, it offers relatively good value and is more characterful and fun to drive than similarly priced rivals.