The 2015 Nissan Juke is not for everybody. First, you need to love the styling. Second, you need to accept space limitations. And third, you must dismiss unimpressive crash-test ratings and a lack of safety technologies.
In all versions of the Juke except for the NISMO RS, a turbocharged, 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine generates 188 hp at 5,600 rpm and 177 lb-ft of torque between 1,600 and 5,200 rpm. While these figures match last year’s Juke, this is actually a next-generation version of this engine, one updated for 2015 to provide better fuel economy, emit fewer pollutants, and provide better responsiveness. Read more about the Juke on CarGurus: http://cargur.us/4j2f8
Presenter: Chris Wardlaw Producer: Dan Sharp
When it comes to design, Nissan is unafraid to take chances. With no more than a glance at a GT-R, a Maxima, a Murano, or the subject of this review, the diminutive little Juke crossover SUV, it’s clear that Nissan prefers to push the styling envelope with those vehicles upon which the company is not dependent to drive the bulk of its profits.
Representing an acquired taste, and looking like something Andrew Zimmern might crunch into with his teeth while visiting a jungle, the Nissan Juke’s design is nevertheless well balanced and deftly detailed. This undersized crossover has an oversized personality, one that you either love or you hate, and this bold appearance serves to endear the Juke to the people who adore it.
As if Solar Yellow paint weren’t a large enough virtual exclamation mark for this crossover, the 2015 Juke can be customized through Nissan’s new Color Studio, which provides contrast-color trim pieces to help personalize a Juke to its owner’s tastes. My test vehicle did not have any Color Studio upgrades, which is just as well, as it attracted plenty of attention without them.
For this review, I drove a Juke SL with front-wheel drive, an optional floor and cargo mat kit, and an extra-cost center armrest, bringing the price to $26,525, including the destination charge of $825. Two additional models, called the S and the SV, are available at lower prices, and two performance-tuned variants are also for sale, known as the NISMO and NISMO RS.
The Juke S, SV, and SL all look the same on the outside, including the silver-painted 17-inch aluminum wheels shown on my test car. The NISMO models get a sportier appearance along with dark-finish 18-inch wheels. Stacked front lighting includes turn signals on top, round headlights flanking the grille, and fog lights located on either side of the lower air intake.
Bulging, almost obscene fenders combined with hidden rear door releases and a rakish roofline further ensure that you’ll mistake this vehicle for nothing other than a Nissan Juke, while around back a set of boomerang-shaped taillights are said to resemble those on the automaker’s 370Z sports car.
Inside, the Juke features what Nissan claims is motorsport-inspired design. The center console is meant to evoke an Italian motorcycle’s fuel tank, and Nissan says the instrumentation conveys information with a glance. My test car’s red interior panels didn’t go well with the Solar Yellow exterior paint, but should contrast nicely with every other color offered for the Juke.
Overall, the interior’s design looks sporty and purposeful, the snug driving position and immediacy of the dashboard and controls conveying a clear sense to a driver that the Juke exists for having fun. Plus, once you’re inside, you can’t see what it looks like on the outside.
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Content
0.35 -> Hi, I'm Chris Wardlaw for CarGurus, and
today we're going to talk about the pros
6.05 -> and cons of the 2015 Nissan Juke,
8.74 -> one of the founding members of the new
mini
11.86 -> SUV class of crossovers. Let's get right
to it,
15.15 -> starting with the things that I really
like about the Nissan Juke.
21.75 -> Now it's probably stating the obvious to
say that the Juke is not
25.279 -> an attractive vehicle. It's an acquired taste - it takes some time to get used to it to
30.169 -> let it grow on you.
31.39 -> Every time I look at one of these I
feel like I'm looking at some TV show on
35.6 -> the Discovery Channel.
36.8 -> But the thing is is that it is a very
proportionate design, it's a very well
41.219 -> balanced vehicle,
42.719 -> and ultimately whether or not its loads
of personality
46.26 -> match your own loads of personality is
completely up to you.
49.42 -> Now for 2015 Nissan has introduced a new
color studio program
54.14 -> which allows you to pick various parts
and pieces to personalize the way the
58.739 -> Juke looks.
59.539 -> My test car doesn't have any of those,
because this new solar yellow paint
64.65 -> grabs all the attention this thing needs
on its own.
71.54 -> Now a Juke is a lot of fun to look
at, and it's also
75.13 -> a lot of fun to drive. What you've got
under the hood here
78.82 -> is a turbocharged 1.6-liter
4-cylinder engine.
82.02 -> It makes a 188 horsepower and 177
pound-feet of torque,
86.369 -> and while that doesn't sound like a lot, you
gotta remember that this
89.77 -> is a small lightweight vehicle, and the
torque is peaking basically from
94.509 -> around 1600 rpm all the way up to 5200
rpm.
98.02 -> That makes the Juke very responsive and
athletic
102.64 -> pretty much no matter where you are in the
rev range. Now you combine those
106.75 -> attributes with a taut suspension and
responsive steering
111.409 -> and decent brakes, and you've got a super
114.56 -> fun little crossover to drive.
119.78 -> Now it's true that the Juke is small
inside, but I was
123.17 -> unexpectedly pleased by how comfortable
it is. Even somebody my size
127.74 -> fits behind the steering wheel with no
problem, and the steering wheel is really
131.91 -> nicely shaped,
132.86 -> it's terrific to grip, and there's an
intimacy associated with the controls
137.05 -> that
137.29 -> really heightens the driving experience.
Now believe it or not
141.38 -> I can even fit in the backseat.
148.6 -> It is a bit of a tight squeeze, but the
way that Nissan has dished the seats out
153.54 -> here
154.16 -> and padded them softly so that they're kind to shins and knees,
158.31 -> makes it real easy for adults to ride
the back seat of the Juke
161.72 -> for more than just a few minutes. You can
actually sit back here for a cross-town jaunt.
170.56 -> At this point we've talked about some
the things that I really like about the
173.299 -> Nissan Juke,
174.11 -> so let's find out what I'm not so crazy
about. First of all,
177.849 -> cargo space. For an SUV this doesn't have
much.
181.37 -> Behind the rear seats there's 10.5 cubic feet of space.
185.39 -> You take that full-size suitcase out, and
you can see that there's a bin
189.409 -> underneath the cargo floor and that the
floor is designed to stay up so that you
193.189 -> can put grocery bags back there.
194.95 -> If you need more space, it's real easy
to fold the seats down,
198.849 -> and then you end up with 35.9
cubic feet of cargo space.
203.17 -> Now to put these numbers into
perspective, they're both
206.389 -> just a little bit bigger than your
standard MINI Cooper.
212.76 -> Now previously I said that the Juke's a lot
of fun to drive, and that is true,
217.859 -> but the problem is is that it's got
221.159 -> the CVT - continuously variable
transmission -
224.769 -> and
227.439 -> while Nissan has done a fairly decent
job of making it
231.17 -> sound and feel more like a traditional
automatic, and they even give you this little
235.09 -> manual shiftgate
236.239 -> here, so that you can shift your own gears,
240.109 -> it still really sucks some of the life
243.78 -> out of the power train.
247.069 -> Another problem is that I'm driving a
front-wheel-drive version of the Juke,
251.93 -> and torque steer is ridiculous if you
really
255.81 -> punch the gas. Under part-throttle
acceleration it's fine
260.28 -> and this car's really zippy, but when
you really stomp on it,
264.599 -> like if you're turning right to get yourself
into traffic on a fast-moving road,
268.449 -> you're really wrestling with the steering
wheel.
272.33 -> Now if there's any reason for me to
recommend against buying a Nissan Juke,
278.889 -> it has to do with this vehicle's crash-test performance.
282.13 -> The Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety says that in the new small
286.25 -> -overlap frontal impact test, which
measures
288.97 -> protection if this section of the car
hits an oncoming vehicle or a tree,
293.979 -> that the Juke gets a poor rating. Also
the federal government says
298.8 -> that frontal impact protection in
general rates
302.02 -> only 3 stars overall, and that's
measured against standards that have
305.9 -> been in place
306.69 -> since 2011. Additionally, while you can get
a Nissan Connect infotainment system
312.63 -> in the Juke,
313.47 -> you can't get Nissan Connect Services,
which would supply
317.28 -> automatic crash notification service. In
my opinion
321.09 -> Nissan really needs to step it up in
terms of the Juke's safety.
329.61 -> So what's the verdict when it comes
to the Nissan Juke?
334.77 -> Should you go test-drive one right away,
is this vehicle still a work in progress,
339.18 -> or should you just cross it right off your
shopping list? While it's true that the
343.28 -> polarizing styling and the cramped
interior
345.68 -> only fit certain lifestyles, the real
reason to skip this
349.62 -> in favor of one of its competitors are
those crash-test ratings,
353.31 -> especially if you're planning to have a
teenage kid drive one of these things.
357.18 -> To see my full review, be sure to visit
CarGurus.com, and
