Test drive Nissan Juke
Test Drive

Test drive Nissan Juke

The most extraordinary car of recent years has returned to the Russian market. He became even more noticeable, but lost all-wheel drive, turbo engine and manual transmission.

Nissan Juke is a kind of indicator of the state of the Russian automotive market. When things got bad, in the first place, brands began to abandon not the most practical, assembled abroad models, sacrificing bright personality and style in favor of practicality. The car has ceased to be a fashionable accessory, but turned into a boring but necessary means of transportation. And now he is back - the sales leader in the segment of foreign compact crossovers in 2011-2014. Nissan Juke was absent for only 1 year, but we already got bored.

Another thing is that Nissan Juke returned to Russia in a single version. Now there is no all-wheel drive, turbo engine and manual transmission. This urban crossover can now only be bought with a naturally aspirated 1,6-liter 117-horsepower engine, continuously variable variator and front-wheel drive. But there are new bright body colors, additional options for personalizing the interior, large 18-inch alloy wheels with color inserts. And most importantly, this car does not cost more than a Hyundai Creta, Kia Soul or Nissan Qashqai.

It was the price competition within Nissan's lineup with higher-end cars that caused the Juke's year-long sales hiatus. Indeed, not many are willing to buy the fancy Juke for more than the larger, more powerful and well-equipped Nissan Qashqai. And this happened because Juke is imported from Great Britain, and Qashqai is assembled in Russia.

Test drive Nissan Juke

Now the Nissan Juke costs $ 14, which is not bad for a crossover with an automatic transmission. True, an option like the test will cost $ 226. On the other hand, this final price includes all the available options: xenon headlights, sports front seats, navigation system, all-round camera, engine start button and more.

Juke lives exclusively in the city, and Nissan representatives once again confirmed this fact by staging a presentation of the new product in Moscow. Considering the good quality of the asphalt road in the capital, Juke liked its European-style rigid suspension. Perhaps, just a perfectly tuned chassis gives at least some sense of drive. On the other hand, the Nissan Juke cannot be called a slow car - from a standstill to 100 km / h, a small Japanese crossover accelerates in 11,5 seconds, although the Japanese CVT traditionally hides the feeling of dynamics.

Test drive Nissan Juke

But on sharp joints of the road and small holes, the extreme stiffness of the suspension, coupled with 18-inch alloy wheels, is fully felt. Therefore, if you need, first of all, comfort, and not excitement, then it is better to limit yourself to 17-inch disks. By the way, 17-diameter light-alloy wheels are available in the Nissan Juke as standard SE.

No major changes have been found in the interior of the compact crossover since the last restyling in 2015. There is a simple but well-readable instrument cluster, a convenient multifunction steering wheel with the ability to adjust both tilt and reach, a small screen (5,8 inches) of the Nissan Connect multimedia system, an air conditioning unit with a color screen of the on-board computer in the middle, on which, among other things, information about G-Force overloads that is not the most relevant for this vehicle may be displayed.

Test drive Nissan Juke

But the Nissan Juke has changed markedly in terms of active safety. The car is equipped with a system of recognition of moving objects, which will help you avoid trouble when reversing into the roadway, a system for tracking the lane, as well as monitoring the "blind spots". The Nissan Juke also has a tire pressure monitoring system and, of course, a proprietary all-round view, which, through four cameras, allows you to see not only what is happening in the back, but everything around in general. This makes the Nissan Juke a comfortable vehicle for the city, allowing accurate parking in tight spaces. By the way, the clearance of 180 mm in most cases allows you to skip the curb in front of the front bumper, resting against it with the wheels.

Test drive Nissan Juke

Only two people can go on a long journey with comfort, taking only the necessary luggage with them - there is very little free space on the back sofa. Unlike Korean crossovers in this price category, Nissan Juke boasts cruise control, which is very useful on long hauls and saves a little fuel, the consumption of which mainly depends on the driving style in a car with an atmospheric gasoline engine combined with a continuously variable variator. Although the manufacturer promises a gasoline consumption of 5,2 liters per 100 kilometers, it is hardly worth trusting these figures entirely.

Test drive Nissan Juke

Still, Nissan Juke is not about a trip, but about a bright style for little money. The real competitor in unusual design in the face of the Mini Countryman is in a completely different price category, and the Kia Soul is still not so unusual. On the other hand, the Korean urban crossover boasts a turbocharged 1,6-liter engine that produces 204 hp. from. and a classic 6-speed automatic transmission. However, the 154mm ground clearance does not allow the Soul to be called a crossover.

Times are good for the Nissan Juke, despite the de facto takeover of the compact crossover segment by a few models. The Russian market is growing steadily and gives a good chance for cars like the Juke. Now residents of two Russian capitals, where the number of sunny days per year tends to zero, and the colors outside the window for 9 months do not differ much from the Willow filter on Instagram, will see a little more bright cars.

Test drive Nissan Juke
A typeHatchback
Number of seats5
Dimensions (length / width / height), mm4135/1765/1565
Wheelbase, mm2530
Ground clearance, mm180
Cargo space, l354
Curb weight, kg1225
engine's typeGasoline 4-cylinder
Working volume, cubic meters cm1598
Max. power, hp (at rpm)117/6000
Max. cool. moment, Nm (at rpm)158/4000
Drive type, transmissionFront, CVT
Max. speed km / h170
Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h, s11,5
Fuel consumption, l / 100 km (average)6,3
Price from, $.14 226
 

 

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