Nissan Juke test drive since 2010 SUV

Nissan Juke. Blank

Nissan Juke. Price: from 17,000 euros*. On sale: since the beginning of 2011

Juke is not a beetle, and even more so not a bug, like Nissan’s novelty managed to christen in Runet. So in American football they call hard contact with the opponent during the game. But what does the small crossover have to do with it?


Test pilot
Maxim Fedorov, 32 years old, automobile journalist, driving experience 6 years, personal car - Ford Focus II

Indeed, and what? After all, there is no one to push with this model! As in the case of Qashqai, the Nissanists again managed to get ahead of competitors, creating a car that had no analogues in the market. Two Mini Countryman and Kia Soul are closest to Juke, but the first is much more expensive, and the second is not equipped with all -wheel drive, and outwardly more like a regular hatchback than a crossover. Another blow to the empty gate?

Juke design may seem too bold. And really, what is just not mixed here! Three -story front lighting technique with huge headlights. Bindo-shaped cockpit with disguised rear door handles, highly littered rear window and lamps-lumberglasses in the Nissan 370Z style. And powerful wheels protruding from the body are generally confused, causing associations with Infiniti crossovers.

In the cabin, designers also pulled out in full. They blinded the central console in the form of a corps ... Sports! When you look at the console on the side, a motorcycle -tank with a lever of KP stuck into it is clearly drawn. The eyepieces of the speedometer and tachometer are also stylized under the motorcycle board, and it is even somehow strange that the steering wheel here is the most ordinary, automobile.

The steering column is regulated only in height, but this does not cause any inconvenience. And the profile of the front seats is so successful that, sitting in the car, I did not even want to engage in their fitting only to push the chair. Having settled behind the wheel, I try to move back. What can I say? Nobody promised limousine comfort. And the fact that with a wheelbase of a crossover is 2530 mm (70 mm less than that of Nissan Note) and my height of 186 cm, I could still sit down at myself. But it doesn’t press in the shoulders, because among the models built on the B-platform the Renault-Nissan Alliance, this crossover is the widest.

But the trunk does not please its volume of only 251 liters. And then this applies to the front -wheel drive Juke, which under the trunk floor has an additional compartment for luggage in the form of a light -removable plastic trough. Versions with all the leading wheels do not have such a compartment (under the bottom it was necessary to release a place under the rear differential), and the luggage volume is ridiculous 207 liters almost like Nissan Micra. Moreover, in both cases, we are talking about cars without a full -fledged spare wheel, if one appears on the Juke versions for the Russian market, then the sizes of the luggage compartment will become even smaller.

In addition to less cargo capacity, the all -wheel drive Nissan Juke has another disadvantage of the worst geometric cross -country ability. We were not given an offroide car to try the car, but without this it is clear that the low -hanging release system, laid bypassing the drive shafts of the rear axle, gives a guarantee that on a good bump you can easily be left without a muffler. At the front -wheel drive modification of this, the release pipe is not observed here neatly on the bottom, and is reliably covered with a short -dependent suspension with a torsion beam.

However, a Juke all -wheel drive is not for off -road driving, but to improve running qualities on road roads. The latest TVC system, which distributes torque not only between the axes, but also between the rear wheels, is designed to reduce insufficient rotation, allowing you to pass at higher speeds. But is it so necessary? We failed to feel the difference in the behavior of the front and all-wheel drive versions during the test. Perhaps on slippery coating the effect of TVC will be more noticeable or not, it will be possible to answer no earlier than the start of Russian sales of the model scheduled for the beginning of next year.

As Juke behaves with a modernized 117 -horsepower atmospheric engine 1.6, we also do not take the test exclusively top versions equipped with the latest 1.6 -fuel unit with a turbocharged and direct fuel injection, developing 190 liters. with. and 240 Nm. With this engine, the crossover starts like a rocket and provides excellent patch on any gear, especially if the NDCS system (Nissan Dynamic Control System), which controls the settings of the motor, variator, steering wheel and air conditioner, is converted into SPORT mode. The same system is able to amuse the presence of an accelerometer, measuring overloads in corners, as well as during acceleration and braking. All this information is displayed on a color (!) Screen that leads a double life, part-time playing the role of the climate control system display.

 

We do not love
The profile of the front seats is selected very successfully: to take a convenient position, you need a minimum of body movements. Comfortable

The central console in the form of a motorcycle gas tank can be painted in red or gray. Bright

Rybi tail, colored inserts of door panels in the Juke interior look very picturesque. Unusual


Driving
The dynamics of the Juke with the turbo engine is impressive: the 117-horsepower crossover is unlikely to give the same emotions.

Salon
With such a bright design of color variations of interior decoration, there could be more.

Comfort
The convenience of the rear passengers, like the capacity of the trunk, clearly did not stand in the priorities of the Juke developers.

Security
The base includes 6 eirbags, as well as ABS and ESP systems.

Price
In Europe, Juke costs 2500 euros cheaper than Qashqai. In our market, the difference in the price of these models will be approximately the same.

 
Advantages and disadvantages
+ Bright appearance, peppy turbo engine, good chassis settings, lack of direct competitors.
- A small trunk, a cramped rear row, a full -wheel drive version is not designed to ride an off -road.


Specifications
Mark and model - Nissan Juke
Dimensions - 4135x1765x1570 mm
Engine-gasoline, with boost, 4-cylinder, 1618 cm3, 190 hp/5600 min-1
Transmission - mechanical, 6 -speed
Dynamics - 214 km/h; 8.0 s to 100 km/h
Competitors - Mini Countryman, Kia Soul


Our opinion
The next Nissan bomb in the crossover segment spreads the usual ideas about compact cars in the trash. Without a doubt, Juke expects success, including due to the lack of competition from other brands. And this state of affairs will remain at least the next year and a half.

 
Author: Maxim Fedorov



 

A source: Magazine 5 wheel [September 2010]