Nissan JUKE NISMO - Affordable Little Piece of the Racetrack

The Nissan JUKE is a strange little animal. It's a sporty compact crossover, with wheels at the corners and a high window line. Its face is not pretty. But it's practical, seating four and carrying nearly 36 cubic feet of gear when the seats fold flat.

NISMO stands for NISsan MOtorsports (just like BEVMO stands for Beverages & More). For nearly 50 years, this engineering group within Nissan has been specially tuning cars for racing, including the GT-R sports car for Japan's Super GT series. By bring the special look and tuning of NISMO vehicles to the JUKE, it's now possible for car enthusiasts of modest means (young) to have fun out on the streets without breaking the bank.

The JUKE NISMO contains nearly 100 changed parts compared to the standard car. Notably, the body wears aerodynamic enhancements, including adjustments to the front fascia and grille and sweeping side skirts. The tail wears a body-colored liftgate spoiler and fascia diffuser. Red is applied strategically to make an impact--it's even in the O of NISMO.

The lightweight alloy wheels on the JUKE NISMO are 18-inchers -- an inch larger than the standard JUKE's, and their spokes are sprayed a two-tone gray to go with the three available body colors -- black, white and silver. This is a serious racer, so no pretty shades, although the deep Sapphire Black of my test car was handsome in a manly way.

Inside, everything is geared to giving the driver an in-control feeling. The deeply bolstered, suede-covered buckets hold you in place. They feature NISMO badging embroidered into the seatbacks and red stitching. The ceiling is black, and there are soft sueded door panels, and piano black accents on the dash. The panels themselves have a round, "inflated" look, so despite the appearance of intense racing, there's a pleasant, comfortable feel sitting there. And, of course, there are more red accents, including a red section at the top of the leather and alcantara-wrapped steering wheel--a racing tradition of showing "top dead center" at a glance to busy drivers.

My tester had the Navigation Package ($1,170), which included a small-screen Nav system that I was able to confuse for a while while descending a parking lot ramp. The Rockford Fosgate ecoPUNCH premium audio had plenty of bass response, thanks to a subwoofer, but working its small screen took some care. Once I had my favorite XM and FM stations programmed in, I controlled everything from the fully-featured wheel.

NISMO is a performance-driven organization, so there are some real enhancements to the JUKE wearing the NISMO badge. The suspension, steering and transmission are adjusted for a sportier feel. In addition, the I-CON system lets you select Normal, Sport or Eco settings. Normal is fine for all driving, but Sport adjusts the steering for quicker response, firms up the road feel and with the automatic, adjusts the shift feel. I found myself in Normal most of the time and even that setting is more sporty than a standard Juke.

The JUKE NISMO carries a 1.6-liter direct injected inline four-cylinder engine under its bulging hood. It puts out 197 horsepower and 184 lb.-ft. of torque for the NISMO, The standard JUKE has 188 and 177 respectively. Direct injection is a fuel delivery technology that enhance engine performance and is becoming more common in the auto industry today, as manufacturers look for ways to maximize performance of smaller engines, so they can use them raise fuel economy.

The NISMO folks lowered the car an inch -- it's not only more hunkered-down looking but that creates a tighter fit between the wheels and wheelwells, for better aerodynamics.

JUKE NISMOs come with either front-wheel drive and a six-speed manual (like my test car) or all-wheel drive and the XTronic continuously-variable automatic.Manual shifting is more fun, in my opinion, but, as always, it's a bit more of a chore in commute traffic. The lever moves precisely so I never caught the wrong gear.

Regarding fuel economy, the manual version is rated slightly higher than the AWD with auto (probably because of the additional weight of the automatic): 25 City, 31 Highway, and 27 Combined. I averaged 28.9 mpg during my test week. That is not the highest fuel economy a compact hatchback can deliver, but the JUKE NISMO is not your ordinary little car. The EPA gives it a 5 for Smog and 7 for Greenhouse Gas -- a little better than average.

It's fun to take this little car around. At just under a ton and a half, it stays pretty smooth on the freeway, despite its short 99.9-inch wheelbase. It sticks nicely in the turns, and hums along with the 1.6-liter on the boil. Even nicer, it's highly practical, too, and takes in a tall upright bass with no problem, sliding easily along its flat, carpeted cargo hold. In the FWD models, there's hidden storage under the cargo area, too.

It's hard to find complaints. My wife wasn't keen on having to climb into the deeply-bolstered passenger seat. The sunvisors are short when used on the side (and don't slide). The XM Radio listings are truncated so you can't see the year of most songs on the oldies channels. That's about it, though.

Pricing for NISMO-equipped JUKEs starts at $23,780 for the FWD/manual models, and $26,080 for the AWD/automatic version. Just for comparison, the base S model JUKE (which comes only with the CVT automatic) is $19,780.

In the highly-competitive auto industry, it's essential to distinguish your products from the others -- in the right way. Nissan has some "interesting" styling, and the JUKE NISMO has the fun factor dialed up high. You don't need to spend a lot to own a little piece of the racetrack, and get nearly 30 miles per gallon as you race around your neighborhood.

Read about the standard JUKE here.

Nissan JUKE is Designed for Play

Have you seen a Nissan JUKE in traffic? It's the one with the lights along the tops of the bulging front fenders, tapered tail with lights that look like they came from a late model Volvo station wagon, and in all likelihood a young, smiling driver behind the wheel. The JUKE is designed for fun--and targeted to a generation that doesn't crave muscle car power or the wind in their face like the drivers of those old British sports cars savored.

No, today's youth likes some power and speediness, good handling and, above all, to make some kind of statement. The Juke has that effect on drivers, and I'd like to think, on anyone who sees it next to other cars.

Luckily, the driving experience is not a let down. The little 1.6-liter engine delivers a surprisingly robust surge of energy from its 188 horsepower and 177 lb.-ft. of torque. You can thank the inclusion of direct injection and turbocharging. The power gets to the ground through a manual transmission (if you're lucky) and an advanced torque vectoring all-wheel-drive system. You normally have to spend a small fortune to get this technology.

Now in its third year of production, the JUKE remains much the same as before, but there's a new accessory package called the Midnight Edition. It's available on all 2013 JUKE S, SV and SL models, and features unique 17-inch Black Wheels, a Sapphire Black rear roof spoiler, and Sapphire Black mirror caps.

Not much else new except for three new colors: Atomic Gold, Brilliant Silver and Pearl White.

But what needs to be new? The car already stands out, and not being a high volume vehicle, selling hundreds of thousands a year, it can be given a long lifespan.

Knowing that whatever impression you make with your car purchase, you'll spend most of your time with the car inside it, Nissan's designers have had big fun putting the inside of the Juke together. The console has a motorcycle tank feel to it, with metallic paint, and an instrument panel that resembles a motorcycle's as well. The dash and doors have an organic, convex, puffed up feeling. Surfaces are nicely rendered but not swanky luxurious. That would be the wrong way to go here.

The taut handling, good visability and amusing cockpit made time in the JUKE fun. I especially liked driving my Graphite Blue tester at night, because you can see the glowing lights atop the front corners from behind the wheel. 

The JUKE already gets my vote just by offering a six-speed manual transmission--although, oddly, not on the base S model, which comes with the CVT automatic only. I enjoyed changing gears in my tester, a top-level SL front-wheel-drive model. You can also order up all-wheel drive with it if you feel any urge to take your purchase off road.

The Integrated Control (I-CON) system drive mode selector give you three driving styles. Choose Normal for your regular route, Sport for when you're  feeling frisky and want a more intense feel, and Eco for maximum economy. The system adjusts the throttle, transmission and steering for each driving flavor.

The 3,900-lb JUKE is in that middle to upper middle of the mileage range, with 27 miles per gallon combined per the EPA. The 25 City and 31 Highway could actually be accurate. During my testing I averaged an honest 27.2 mpg. JUKE also carries the PUREDRIVE™ designation. PUREDRIVE is used on models utilizing Nissan's most advanced technologies to promote eco-friendly driving and lower CO2 emissions.

Pricing is reasonable. The base S model starts at just $20,770, including destination charges. The SL with CVT and all-wheel drive sits at the top, at $27,430. My test car hit $26,555, thanks to adding in floormats, a center armrest ($245 seems pricey) and the Sport Package. It adds a roof spoiler and the upgrade to the 17-inch gunmetal gray alloy wheels and a stainless steel exhaust tip.

Is driving supposed to be fun? In the era of the "sporty" SUV, the JUKE offers a great way to stand out (a little) from the herd but still get all the advantages.

Nissan Juke is No Joke

The Nissan Juke is an unusual looking car--tall, big wheels, oddly shaped high-mounted headlights, rounded window line... But who cares? Aimed at the Urban Sport Compact Crossover set (read: youth), it drives tautly, gives a broad view of the road (ahead at least) and is comfortable for four for hours on the freeway for when you leave the urban scene.

The interior shares the feeling of adventure, with a central tunnel and door armrests in a metallic sparkly plastic that evokes a motorcycle. The instrument panel looks like billet, for a custom accent.

I was lucky to get my tester with a manual six-speed, adding to the feeling of sportiness. Shifts were crisp and gave more feeling of control than you get with an automatic--even the manual paddle shift type. A surprising 188 horsepower comes from a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline four, so you can move along fast--and quickly. I earned just under 26 miles per gallon (on Premium).

A dash-mounted button lets you control the Normal, Sport or Eco setting, so you can decide how environmentally responsible you feel like being from moment to moment. You also get a screen in the same panel that shows you your torque or your G Forces. During acceleration or cornering the centered square in the latter moves significantly--but hey, why aren't you watching the road?

It being a hatchback, the Juke lets you drop the back seats and stuff in plenty of gear, making it a perfect "only" car. And with prices starting under $20,000 it's definitely within reach.

The Juke is the baby of Nissan's line of six SUV/crossovers, and is directly related to the all-electric LEAF and the whimsical Cube. What a family.