First Drive: 2011 Nissan Juke
 

08-26-2010 10:57 AM

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....jukefd2011.jpg

Remember the Nissan NX of the mid-'90s? The tiny, econobox-based sportster was as cute as a bug and spent its brief lifespan mixing it up with other long-gone, sporty front-wheel drive affordables like the Mazda MX-3, Honda Civic CRX, Toyota Paseo and even the Hyundai Scoupe. While there were a lot of inexpensive, racy looking coupes back then, most automakers just don't see any money in that segment anymore. Instead, when they look to spin something off of their entry-level B-class chassis, most veer toward the white-hot crossover segment.

Consider the latest example, Nissan's 2011 Juke. Come to think of it, this in-your-face city slicker has some startling similarities to the NX. For one, at 162.8 inches long, it's deceptively small – just 0.4 inches longer than the '90s coupe. Further, both the Juke and the NX1600 rely on 1.6-liter four-cylinder power. And like the Sentra-based NX, the more emotional Juke is based on the same humble underpinnings that give structure to Nissan's workaday offerings, in this case, the Versa and Cube. And while the Juke may not be cute as a bug, there's something downright insectian about its Predator-like mug.

Despite not being a traditional sporty car, Nissan has been talking up its controversially styled mini-ute with many of the same descriptors, so we hopped a plane to Vancouver to see if the Juke could bob and weave its way into our hearts. Follow the jump to find out how it fared.

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Interesting... it's true that the Juke would be in my list if I were looking for a new car.

... fugly

Nissan Juke | Video Features | Videos | Auto Express
http://theblogaboutcars.com/wp-conte...issan-juke.jpg

http://images-2.drive.com.au/2010/02...00-600x400.jpg

this is the one for sale

I can see a whole segment going after it because it looks weird. LOL Oh and its quite possibly another case of the Nissan that looks better in person than it does in pictures. Which seems to happen quite often of late. I.E. 370Z , Cube, New Maxima etc...

a lot of reviewers seems to like it as well.

thats a funky video. at least it comes in stick.

the way the lights are layed out doesn't appeal to me personally, but other than that it's a cool car. what's not to like about a car that comes with a turbo from the factory? i wouldn't be surprised if the engine starts popping up in other nissan vehicles.

If you're looking for a smaller size cross-over that's fuel efficient & reasonably fun to drive, yeah I guess it's a decent buy.
It does some like a better value than the rogue.
Come to think of it, i don't know why the hell nissan needs so many crossovers/suvs.

Now it's definitely a stretch to say it would appeal to those who want another 240sx.
I would not buy this, and even if I were to want to get something similar, Id opt for a truck.

I pretty much agree with all of this.

When I saw this at the dealership I was dissapointed. The salesman told me nissan was coming out with a new sporty turbo car. Then I saw this and was ultimately dissapointed. Looks like a suzuki. Its the nissan tracker. Of course its going to appeal to a certain segment but I think it will just be the segment that is currently interested in rogue, cube, scion and the likes. It just isn't cheap enough to reel in anyone else.

There's not enough gold in china to make me drive that thing. I'd honestly rather drive a turbo pt loser.

i still think if they put this drivetrain (AWD Turbo) in the cube it would be awesome.

a turbo cube would be sweet

New name:

The Nissan Puke?

The Nissan Joke?

A turbo Cube would be sick as fuck. Damn that funny looking box just made me look like shit. LOL

It would a FU kia Soul. LOL

yeah AWD turbo cube would be a big FU to the Soul and pretty much stick a fork in the Scion XB.

you wont feel the turbo that much but driving this juke is fun you can switch from normal to sport, or to economy mode.

well yeah it's not gonna be a monster out the box but the fact that it's comes stock with a turbo just gives it more potential for power.

....................har har har

Thought the Genesis accelerated slower than that, maybe in the mid sevens iirc.

6.8 is good though, very close to the Forester Turbo.
Certainly one of the quicker vehicles in it's segment.
The thing is probably pretty damn light, or so I'd guess.

Looks like a murano/versa cross, Im not a fan..

& the headlights looks like theyre gonna shoot laser beams at the Death Star

I'd buy this over Scion...
However, I do not have mask like someone so, I won't buy it !


But I am digging the specs...

MR16DDT – 1.6-liter Direct Injection Gasoline (DIG™) DOHC 16-valve turbocharged 4-cylinder engine
Horsepower – 188 hp @ 5,600 rpm
Torque – 177 lb-ft @ 2,000 – 5,200 rpm

Why couldnt they make the headlights square instead of being circles? I bet that would make the car look alot better...who ever designed it need to get punched, then stabbed with a rusty screwdriver in the face.

I think it actually looks fun, and I'm glad Nissan took some risks here.
Nissan's other designs like the Altima, Rogue, Maxima, Versa, Senta etc are boring as hell (if not also flat out ugly).
Come to think of it, the vast majority of designs todays are very derivative of existing stuff.
Almost everyone is trying to play it safe.

I would agree with the fact that its better to take chances with designs, rather than stagnate with derivative's. About the only derivative design I felt was on point for them was the Altima coupe. Had it been a rwd setup it would have been perfect.
Both the Juke and the Cube stand out because of the out of the box thinking. No pun intended.
Like it or not its a lot better than mundane look a likes.

I'm sorry but once you own a car or two. Keywords like "Direct Injected" and "CVT" equal "Crazy Expensive dealer only parts and service" to me. I picture someone telling my the kanoodler is broke in the gearbox at 100k and a new one is $2600 plus $1200 labor because it must be vin coded with the ECU.

If you get the stick. You get only FWD which replaces the rear multilink with some torsen beam shit. It just costs to much for what it does. Looks like it's good at everything but nothing fits in it.

i get that they are supposed to be quirky, but it looks awkward as fuck.

yeah the rear on the coupes are :boink:
they come with a v6 don't they? maybe they kept it fwd so it wouldn't interfere w/the Z sales...or not i dunno

isn't that the case with any new car? lol

ya they do come with a V6. They made it FWD because it was aimed directly at Scion TC sales.

The thing is Scion aka Toyota has based the marketing of the Scions on towards younger people. Nissan just marketed the Altima Coupe lol

I digress though.

Yes all new cars have unserviceable parts for the end user. TheWolf has just not realized that, yet.
LOL

We no longer can buy cars you can do all the work yourself on.

Unless you are a master mechanic schooled in all the latest and greatest and even they have problems sometimes. LOL

talk about romanticizing something. the pulsar was as ugly as they came, ever

that's how i feel about working on my titan. other than oil changes and other minor stuff i don't want to mess with the engine. everything is hooked up to some kind of sensor nowadays :\

^^ still not a fan
tho that looks 100x better

that just proves it...te37's can make damn near any car look good lol. can someone with photoshop know-how edit the above pic to show the car w/o the small turn signal/running light housing?

saw a commercial for the juke earlier tonite...the tag line at the end was "that's right, we put a turbo in a sports car"...eh!? this is nissan's newest sports car?

edit: they said sports CROSS...my bad :fawk:

I don't see the point of slamming a cross-over/truck/suv.
defeats the purpose of owning an suv imo.
If I want a car that looks like a sports car (and more importantly drive like one) I'll get a sports car,
not some half-assed compromise & spend $20k doing so.
That's some poseur shit right there.

I'll take a stock Juke anyday over that 'Hot Import Nights' special.

man i got an Nissan NX here at the shop last monday and i was suprise someone still has those running on the street and kept it clean and original.

my first nissan was the older pulsar nx...lol man that thing was ugly but reliable

i took the junk, i mean juke, crossed it with a 180sx and transformed it into something I think a Nissan enthusiast would actually want.

this could be Nissan's FT-86 fighter!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...to/oct2010.jpg

real rough but you get the idea...

for reference:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....jukefd2011.jpg

it's like an optical illusion-i keep thinking the little lights on top are the headlights and the pepperoni nipple lights on the bottom are the fogs (like them giant ones on subies)

Unless this is some sort of trend of putting turbos in their lineup, Nissan, you're doing it wrong. That Juke is fugly. Even with TEs.

You don't get it. Figures you wouldn't .
Weird and funny looking and ugly done right sells these days.

First company to pull it off successfully was Toyota with the Scion BB/XB . Nissan had the concept with the Cube but had not delivered till they finally released it stateside.

Now look , Kia Soul . Are you going to tell me it actually looks good? LOL

I see people driving Souls, Cubes, XB's even the worse new one! The Juke will sell to this crowd. Of course most 240 owners will bitch and moan and say Nissan is fucked up. What else is new? Current 240 owners are some of the most whiny ass motherfuckers this side of the sun.

Sorry if thats sounds fucked up and cynical and whatnot but its fucking true.
You guys would not be satisfied if you got exactly what you wanted. You would find something to bitch about.

New Z's you guys find something to complain about
GTR's you guys whine about them.
Juke you guys are whining again. Even though its the first turbo 4 Nissan has brought stateside since the mid 80's and it could lead to being the powerplant of a car you guys might like.
Instead of appreciating that Nissan is doing something interesting you bitch about it not being right. LOL

wha wha wha that's all 240 owners do these days.

you forgot cheap as well :keke:

hey what about the old 200sx from the 80's didn't they come with a turbo-4 motor?

LOL you are correct on both accounts. I edited my statement to reflect the old CA18ET in the 200sx, which I had forgot about. LOL

The day Nissan comes out with a 1.8 or 2.0 liter turbo engine in a rear wheel drive car is the day I go and trade the Audi off for one. The day it is released, do not care if I have to pre-order or not. I own an NX2000 and I love it, have owned 2 in my life and the my current one is what I wanted my original to be but could not find one at the dealer. Nissan wants customers then build a new Nissan 240sx/ Silvia S coupe and put the MR18DDT or MR20DDT in it and make it have around 200-220 horse power and I am down like a clown. There is not really a new car I want to buy or own but I would for sure own that Nissan. I knew I sold my 240sx sr20 swapped car for a reason. Build it Nissan and they will come. No more boring ass sentra spec craps with wings and shit but an actual balls to the wall Genesis coupe fighter.

I have owned the following Nissan cars

1993 Nissan NX 2000
1996 Nissan 240sx SE
19996 Nissan 240sx SE
1998 Nissan 240sx SE
1992 Nissan NX2000 - current
1996 Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo

So, I love Nissan but you all have built nothing of the past 10 to 15 years I would want to go to the dealer and spend money on. Build the cars people want and you will sell more -- the Juke is a start but give them what they really want. A small, affordable, light weight turbo RWD car for around 20 grand out the door and who cars if it eats sells up from the Z. While affordable the Z is your corvette the S coupe could be your camaro.

Yes but the difference is those cars have an appeal. Sorry if I don't think this car has any, even for that market.

No, that shits ugly too.

Well, you went off on a rant there, lol. I think you missed what I was saying, I do hope that its a trend of putting turbos in their lineup. It just seemed odd that they dropped it in this. For the record, I like the Cube, new Z, and GTR. And I know that Nissan doesn't give a flying fuck about the 240 crowd.

Ya I did because I am tired of people saying a lot of what you said in your post. Go back and re read it. It was basically a moan fest about Nissan doing it wrong.
Lately thats all I have seen 240 owners do. Truth be told you may be different from the average current 240 owner.
Whether you intended it or not your post did come off like that.

For the record the Juke is actually a lot smaller than it looks in pictures when you see it in person. Like I said it will sell and its the fact that it will sell that could give us a small RWD Nissan with a turbo engine. Though what Jamannrr is asking for is typically not what Nissan is going to do.

It will not satisfy him or most other 240 owners because they have to have their 240 exactly like it won't be.

It may sound cynical or jaded on my part but its the truth that so many do want to accept or hear.

I would most likely not buy a modern version of a 240sx because that's what it would be.

People still don't get it. The 240Z was a hit because it was not a Datsun 311 Roadster.
While the Roadsters sold they never sold in huge numbers. The 240Z was a grand slam.

The 240sx was not a grand slam in the United States. It only was successful the first 2 years. The 7 remaining years it sold dismally.

Why would they want to bring out a new version of a car that sold dismally? LOL

Though back to the Juke, till I see one in person will I declare full judgment of if I like it or not. I stated that earlier about the looks. It remains to be seen in person.

If they shared platforms then it would not be bad at all. They have the infiniti G25 coming out and they could use that platform to get us a new 240. They had an sr20det powered sport ute before in Japan the X Trail or whatever it was called so they have done that before. They did it before with the Sentra SE-R/ NX2000/ Pulsar GTiR and the Maxima/ Z car being on the same chassis. Look any new car that any car manufacturer puts out these days is going to weigh a lot due to the fact of all the federal requirements. If they build the car and it sells 20-30 thousand a year then that could be considered a small success but as evident from the lack of NX2000s in the United States. Small and quirky does not sell and the Juke will not sell so that will probably kill any chance of seeing a RWD turbo Nissan in the immediate future which will cause me and everyone else to buy something other than a Nissan. While I would not own the Hyundai, the Toyota/ Subaru FT86 is something I would own and more than likely the Subaru version since it will have the turbo engine from the WRX. It is a competitive environment even for car companies. They have to either build something people will buy or get left behind by other car manufacturers that do. I do not see Nissan being pussies and letting people who would buy a new Nissan S chassis car go buy something from Subaru and Toyota especially in their own home markets.

They build the g25 to compete against the is25 just like they will build a new S car when the others come to market with their RWD sport coupes.


If Nissan lets this http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/gal...cept-press.jpg


and this



http://www.autopage.us/images/2010%2...is%20Coupe.jpg


kick its ass then they have lost everything that has been Nissan through out the years and are truly Renault's cash cow bitch and should just build as many Maximas as they can.

lol how did this thread devolve into another 240 revival?
lots of people (myself included) thought the cube was ugly. the looks have since grown on me and i've seen some done quite nicely.

I would place a good part of the Blame on Jamannrr lol. Though GNNR complained and mentioned a 240 concept. I only rebutted his comments and we were having a discussion of 240 owners likes and dislikes in relation to the Juke.

Jamannrr just went off the deep end on the whole 240 thing.

Ugh, Jukes make make me gag.

I'm sure we've all seen the JDM slammed and modded minivans, no? At least people are modding something, trying something new. Screw it, mod em up fellas. Kinda funny how much we hate when Nissan won't bring vehicles to American shores... and then hate when they do. poor Nissan. As much as I hate what I'm about to say, I don't mind the look or the specs on this little guy... though I do agree that there has to be a better place for the turn signals.

I think it looks nice, something different.

The headlights look like fog lights but you really should see the looks I get in my 92 NX2000, it is funny most people do not even know what it is and high school kids laugh at it. For what it is, it is one of the best handling sports cars ever produced and holds track and SCCA records for its class as such places as Watkins Glenn. I think Nissan should make more t-top cars instead of sunroofs like the old days. They will never bring another NX to market but why not a new Nissan 240?


Hey like the commercial said they put a turbo in a sport ute. Why not a turbo in a sport coupe? I think they would sell a lot more of the cars then the SUV and it is small looks about the size of my b13 coupe or the new versa.

^yeah engine-wise there's nothing to hate about it...now if nissan would bring over the elgrand :)

because most people want a car that does a little bit of everything. being an older consumer, i'd have more use with sport utility since it can fit my son (good luck with that with a 240), and i can use it as a grocery getter, or errands, etc. (hence the "utility" part).

I went to look at these and while they are nice they are evidently selling them for MSRP. So, that puts me off of one. I will not ever pay MSRP for any car on another note some Texas Nissan dealers are selling GTRs for 10-15 grand off MSRP which puts them in the low to mid 70s but yet will not budge on the Juke. Guess that puts me a year or so out for one.

it was just released only recently.
typically that's not the best time to buy.

i'm shocked they're discounting the GTR by that much.
maybe I can lease one next year (after paying off my pos mitsubishi) if the price is right.

Nissan, stop making fugly cars. That is all. Everything pre 2007 is ok.

^the sentras have always been ugly regardless of year lol

juke test drive
 

while i do think the car is weird and borderline ugly looking; it does have some pep in it.

all the reviews say the car is a blast to drive, but I feel lack of real offroad capability and offroad looks is lame, and the lack of space sucks, and the fact that its a four cylinder turbo, and not in a car is super lame. if they put the awd powerplant and four cylinder turbo into a versa they would have a mazdaspeed3 competitor. Shoulda made a new s chassis.

I just cant tell if that's the fender or a tire with a tall aspect ratio in this pic http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FoXyvaPSnV...uke-Tune-2.jpg

it's a fender...but i think it's a photoshop

I think/hope/wish they do continue putting turbos in their cars. Like hopefully there will be a 370z TT or something of that and of course the dream of a new s with a turbo.

And wow I didn't relize 240 owners could be such little babies when all Nissan is doing is trying to sell some cars and bringing some designs over sea (that is what you want, right?) but then get bashed when all you gotta do is see what they're doing to understad and relize it could be a start of something much better to come.

nissan juke? more like a joke haa. it does have potential though the photoshop pic with the te37s makes the juke look not that bad.

I own this car and all i can say is that it grows on you. I LOVE this car. It's perfect if you want more room than a car, great MPG's, and have fun driving.

I leased a 2012 Juke SL last year and traded it in on a 2008 Versa sedan base with a stick, no air, no power anything etc...Only did so to lower my payment from $325/month to $140/month. Liked my Juke a lot. But, didn't exactly love it...I drove a new Juke Nismo yesterday. Couldn't tell much difference in power. Just a bit of difference in handling. Big difference in the seats. And, the styling is better. I'll snap some pics tomorrow. Its on my showroom floor.

Put a pinstripe on the Nismo Juke today. Here are some before pics.

http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps6be1f8c0.jpg
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps8a97b48a.jpg
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps98f47fd2.jpg
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps3039b20d.jpg
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...psc7e0c10c.jpg
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps8c73c7d3.jpg
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps1fb36a00.jpg
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps9d363adf.jpg

And, the after pics.

http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...psc12ca619.jpg

http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps49064784.jpg

http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...psc7c4340c.jpg

http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps511aa91b.jpg

http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/n...pse08076db.jpg

This car is ugly. lets all be honest.
Put it up against the R34/ Z32, S13, and 240Z.
It is a big pile of Bantha PuDu with wheels.
Why are we brown nosing to Nissan on this?
where is our integrity?

They make these Jukes (and Leafs (Leaves???) ) in the Nissan factory just down the street from my house. If I could sneak in at night and sabotage their factory equipment so they would start pumping out s-chassis cars, I would :D

I sometimes have to restrain from vomiting whenever I see a truckload of them leaving the factory.... :barf: