2011 Nissan Juke: What's It Like to Live With?
Read the latest updates in our long-term road test of the 2011 Nissan Juke SL as our editors live with this car for a year.
What do you want to know about?
- Introduction
- Wanna See a Neat Trick?
- Snappy
- Long Live Turbos
- Cool but Useless G Meter
- Useless Sun Visor
- Maxing Out the 10.5-Cubic-Foot Cargo Bay
- What Does the World Think of it
- Perceived Quality
- More Interior Details
- 2011 Nissan Juke vs Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models? Ok!
- I-CON Drive Select
- Slam That Hatch
- Thick Hips
- Is it Just the Lights?
- Small Cargo Area
- In Color
- Swimsuit Model Inspires Car Buying?
- Mobile Etymology
- The Airbag Seam
- iPhone 4-Ready
- Is It Really on the Fringe, Really?
- Say Thanks to the Box
- Design Inspiration
- Crash Tests Plus Video
- Who's Laughing Now?
- More Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Spots
- Just Say No To Eco
- Feeling This Wheel
- Looks Like...
- Our Favorite Caption
- You Write the Caption
- Zero Range
- Why My Brother Bought One
- Filling it with Regular
- Spotted in the Wild
- Track Tested
- Who Drives in Eco Mode?
- Now I Want One
- Which Ones Are the Headlights?
- Paint Chips Easily?
- The $50 Fill Up
- What's the Difference?
- Funky Interior Bits
- Insufficient Interior Lighting
- Baby Navi
- Engine Transplant Part 2
- 4 Quarts Low
- The Official Word on AWD vs. AWD-V
- Stating the Obvious
- 5,000-on-the-Button Milestone
- The Four-Cylinder Cute-Ute Hits Its Stride
- Who's This Car For?
- What Mine Would Look Like
- Practically Useless Trunk
- A New Owner's Paint Chip Issues
- Can't Read the Nav
- Fungly
- Johnny 5 Looking at Me
- Oh Noes
- What Do Those Buttons Say?
- Some Owners Getting $400 Back
- Sport vs. Normal
- Scratched Center Console
- There Is Another
- The Child Safety Seat Diaries
- What Do the Kids Think?
- IIHS Top Safety Pick
- Interior Door Handles
- A Real Hazard
- Does The Bike Fit?
- Steering Wheel Like Sexy Sister's
- No, No, No, Wait, Maybe?
- Camera vs. Trunk Release
- The BMW X6 Connection
- Is That a Kia?
- Controls Feel Cheap
- Stealth Fighter Over 26th
- The Other 911 GT3 RS
- Trunk Closure
- Setting World Record on Two Wheels
- Ooooooh, Washout!
- On the Weird List
- Low Tech Answer to High Tech Problem
- Can I Get an Armrest?
- I Want That Plate
- Hatch Hitch Redux
- Yes, I'm Still Interested
- Where to Look First
- 10 Miles of Bad Road
- 2011 Nissan Juke vs 2011 Kia Sportage (On Paper)
- The VehiCROSS Connection
- +12
- Don't Juke About Style
- Waffling
- The Hitchhiker
- Tidy Storage Nooks
- 4 Guys, a Juke & a Baseball Field
- Pontoon Front Fenders
- Pretty by Comparison
- Nice Manual
- Cargo in the Open
- Not The Biggest Sunroof — And That's Okay
- Dogs Love Trucks
- Atonement
- Nice Seats, Etc
- Makes an Excellent UAV
- Minor Service and Recall
- Your Mileage May Vary
- Stick It Anywhere
- Family Practical?
- Purple
- Driver Seat is Creaking
- Innovation & Efficiency
- Hint of Infiniti
- What's Under The Floor
- Dirt Bag
- Who Else Wants a Nissan Juke-R?
- Dog Is My Copilot
- Words of Wisdom
- Good Morning Eye Candy
- Gives You Wings
- Sales Compared to Others
- Nice Car ... What Is It?
- Could Use A Telescoping Steering Wheel
- Dead Tire
- I Shouldn't Like It But I Do
- Tire Replacement
- Expectations For Fuel Economy
- Highway Driving Quality
- Rush Hour Tamer
- 15,000 Miles
- Come Out, Come Out, Wherever
- Is This Really Necessary?
- $1,000 Nite Lite
- Antenna Problem
- The Kid Needs a Desk
- 15,000 Mile Service
- How About a Gamer's Version?
- Separated at Birth?
- Leap, Froggy
- Weatherproof Rearview Camera
- Bump In The Night
- 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD Meets Rally Fighter
- Slippery
- Stick Action
- 2011 Nissan Juke versus 2012 Kia Soul
- International Consensus
- Bird Strike
- Hauls a 13-Foot Tree
- What the Juke-R Sounds Like
- Recall
- Driver's Seat Squeak
- Wearing Well
- Snow-Friendly Ground Clearance
- Grinched and Ungrinched
- Peeling Paint
- Do You Fill In the Blanks?
- Room for (a Little) Improvement
- 2011 Nissan Juke Owners, Do You Fit the Target Demo?
- Interior Paint Job
- Detroit Auto Show Time
- Ramp Travel Index
- One, Maybe Two
- Mister Fuel Economy
- Did I Win?
- Wrap-Up
Introduction
"Is it electric? It looks like something kids [people in their 20s or 30s] would like. It's quirky. What is it?" This woman's golden retriever's nose is uncomfortably close to our crotch ("Don't worry, he's friendly!"...sure is) and she's poring over our new 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD like it was from outer space. We don't blame her.
"No, Ma'am, it's not electric. It's actually turbocharged and designed for fun. It's kind of sporty. But you're right, it is quirky and probably something for kids."
Her dog wanders into a nearby stream and she belts out one last, "Is it even a hybrid? What is it?" before rushing down the embankment to save a dog from having fun.
Of course, the 2011 Nissan Juke SL is not a hybrid or an EV or any other type of newfangled alt-fueled world-saving contraption. But "What is it?" That's a real question. It's the strangest-looking car we've ever had in the long-term fleet and it handles better than anything riding on the same platform as the Versa should.
It's quirky and different and so what if we don't know what it is; we've got a Juke for 12 months and 20,000 miles to figure that out.
What We Got
Our 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD CVT starts out with a turbocharged 1.6-liter direct-injection gasoline (DIG) four-cylinder engine making 188 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque. As the name implies, power is sent to all four wheels (when the switch is flipped — the AWD system isn't permanent and is disabled, enabled or locked via rocker on the dash) through a continuously variable transmission. In this trim, the Juke is good for an EPA estimated 25 city and 30 highway mpg. It's also good for ripping $25,330 (including $760 destination fee) from your wallet.
Sure, there are less expensive options. The S model with FWD, the same 188-hp motor and CVT, cloth seats, iPod integration and Bluetooth runs $18,980. Upgrade to the SV and you get a sunroof, rear privacy glass, keyless ignition/entry, leather-wrapped steering wheel, satellite radio, automatic climate control and the Integrated Control (I-Con) system which allows control over Normal, Sport and Eco settings for throttle, steering and transmission as well as the climate control. This package runs from $20,280. The SV is also the lowest trim where you can select a six-speed manual transmission instead of the CVT.
The top dog is the SL. For the SL you take the SV and add automatic headlights and foglights, leather, heated front seats, an upgraded six-speaker Rockford Fosgate audio system with 8-inch subwoofer, a rearview camera and an SD-card-based navigation system. This option is, of course, the most expensive at $22,570. Add all-wheel drive and the CVT and you're up to $24,570.
And then comes the options. These are limited as the Juke SL is already well equipped with USB and Bluetooth, navigation, leather and keyless entry. We got carpeted floor mats for $170 and a rear roof spoiler for $390. If you're going to go quirky, go all out.
All told, our Juke rings up a tab of $25,890, though this vehicle was not purchased by Edmunds, rather it was loaned by the manufacturer for this test.
Why We Got It
The Nissan Juke is billed as a "Bold Urban Sport Cross." Separately, we can define all of those words, put them together to define a car and somehow things get blurry. In our full test we wrote, "From the Group B-esque headlights to its comically swollen wheel arches and taillights that could have been pilfered from a 370Z, the 2011 Nissan Juke throws together a bizarre mishmash of styling cues. You keep staring at the thing trying to get your head around it, but the Juke is defiantly head-wraparound-proof. It's funky. It's ugly. It's funkly."
The French are familiar with crazy as they've had Citroen uglying up their streets for decades, but this is a new level of weird for a nation who values three-box design and classic values. After all, we're last in the developed world for modern architecture. It's just not how we roll.
And that's exactly the point here. The 2011 Nissan Juke is odd in a big way. From its hood-mounted lights to the trio of intakes in the lower fascia to the sports car taillights crammed onto a high-riding AWD sport cross, the Juke should be some sort of insubstantial flash in the pan. Thing is, though, it's not.
We know it drives well. But is the funky packaging useful? Will we be able to see through it over time? Does all-wheel drive and a turbo overcome all obstacles? Will the Versa in the Juke's DNA show through in the long run, or is this the book we're happy we judged by its shocking cover?
Current Odometer: 1,004
Best Fuel Economy: 22.9
Worst Fuel Economy: 21.5
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 22.2
This vehicle was provided to Edmunds for the purpose of this evaluation.
First off, I love this little car. It's so fast and such a blast to drive. Was so lucky to have it for a couple of days. Found it perfect for getting around the city what with maneuvering around sloww drivers on the freeway, finding parking spaces (it fits in my tiny garage with ample room to spare) and just flat-out fun.
But what was extra cool was the above "magic" show. Climate control and "D-Mode" (Driver Mode) share the same six buttons and screen and can be switched by hitting a button. Great way to really mess with your passenger's mind. "Heyyy, I just saw the A/C button. Where'd it go?"
The only "issue," though, is that the driver mode doesn't stay in the mode you left it in when you restart the car. No biggie but could be bothersome. Apparently the owner's manual doesn't cite a way to change this.
This little toad, our longterm 2011 Nissan Juke, has handling that is best described as snappy. No, that's wrong. Spunky.
Whatever, it changes direction with enthusiasm and gives the driver heaps of confidence.
This is because its steering is quick, body roll is minimal and the AWD system actively routes torque to the outside wheel when negotiating corners. Doing so nullifies understeer. In lay terms, this AWD system helps the Juke turn in like a shark bending towards a meal. It's something you definitely notice when you pilot this little guy.
Side note: the Juke's AWD system lacks a center differential, and therefore does not have a fixed front-rear torque split. As such it generally does not transmit torque to the rear wheels when the front wheels have traction and are pointed straight ahead. So the AWD version of the Juke torque steers like a front driver. Mind you, it's not an offensive amount of torque steer (I'm looking at you, Mazdaspeed3), but it's there. AWD cars that have a center differential don't really torque steer, even ones with a lot of torque (Evos, for example).
Anyway, not a huge deal in any event. Doesn't tarnish my appreciation for the engaging manner in which this car handles. Yay fun cars!
I have to agree with Kavanagh, the Juke is shockingly fun to drive. He focused on the suspension, which I agree is dead on, but I think the engine deserves plenty of credit too.
Even with a potentially soul sucking CVT, the little 1.6-liter four cylinder still launches this car from a stop with a shove. It builds power smoothly, stays composed at high rpm and even has decent pull down low. The only problem? It encourages a flat foot, so don't expect to see us getting anywhere near the EPA mileage ratings.
First off, wow. The Juke is a fun car to buzz around in. I thought I'd be busier watching people on the street recoil in horror to the oddly styled nose of the Juke. Instead, I was braking late and picking-off apexes. Then I found the G-meter...
Our beloved GT-R had a G-meter, as well as a host of other performance logging devices — and it made sense in that car. The Juke? Not so much. In here, it seems like a novelty — and a rather optimistic one, at that.
Here's why I can't take it seriously. It doesn't have any kind of measurable result. There's nothing on screen that shows how much cornering force there is. There's no "1" marker or smaller increments, nor is there a numerical readout. There's also no logging, so you can't see what the peak g-force is unless you're watching the screen. And that screen is way down by the gear selector.
So really, this cool little G-meter is just a distraction for passengers — something to grab their attention while the madman driver saws away feverishly at the wheel. And I'm OK with that — mostly because the car is so fun to drive. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it will be the surprise hit of the summer (at least in our long-term fleet). Watch out Countryman, the Juke's gunning for your spot.
Note the ample gap between the headrest and the rear-most edge of our longterm 2011 Nissan Juke's sun visor. Yeah, that's where my head lives when I drive this thing. There's no extendable flap or way to slide the visor out, either.
Booo.
Yesterday afternoon my latest Zappo's order was delivered to our office. Getting the 32 inches long by 22 inches wide by 18.5 inches tall box down to the garage was an adventure on its own. And when I arrived at our 2011 Nissan Juke, the box was just a touch too wide and tall to slide into the cargo bay.
But not to worry.
The 60/40 rear seats in the Juke fold perfectly flat, and by turning the box, I was able to get it around the rear suspension towers.
Once nice touch in this very small SUV are the carved out front seatbacks; they allow you to fold the rear seats down without having to scoot the front seats forward on their tracks. This is key if you have a long inseam — I can remember driving a 2002 Jetta wagon that was basically undrivable for me with the rear seats folded, because the front seats had to come so far forward.
I should also note that despite the height of the box and the slope of the Juke's rump, I still had a mostly clear view out the back (plus our long-termer's camera to fall back on), so no excuses for backing into that 2011 Chrysler 300.
What Does the World Think of it
OK, the 2011 Nissan Juke is still a brand-new car to the world but I was still able to find some commercials on it from around the globe. It's fun trying to figure out what they're trying to sell here.
Turkey: Club kids think it's very photogenic.
Japan: "Rock n Small."
OK, this is more a making-of-a-commercial but figured you'd appreciate the models "washing" the car.
Perceived Quality
I'll admit it. I have certain hang ups when it comes to quality. Knobs that move laterally are a big one for me. These are controls you touch virtually every time you get in the car. And when you can't turn them without noticing that they want to move in multiple dimensions, there's a problem. Also, the sound the shift-release button makes is cheap.
And another thing...
I don't like the fact that my first post on the Juke is critical. So here's some good news: This goofy little thing is actually fun to drive. It's got enough power to get out of its own way, there's reasonable control of the power through the continuously variable transmission's simulated manual mode and...it makes me want to rally.
We'll have a dirty editorial solution to that soon enough. Meanwhile, enjoy the powerslide in the middle of this funny Juke television spot.
The Juke's center console is red. Yes, red. Red like Superman's cape. Red like the dashboard of an overlowered Civic at Battle of the Imports. Gross, screaming, retina-piercing red.
But it's that second one that really kills me. I can't help but imagine some kid with spray paint, spikey hair and a little too much ambition going after this thing in his front yard. But it comes that way from the factory. What do you think?
More interior investigation after the jump.
After fixating on the console for far too long, I sat in the backseat. And it was nice. I'm 5'9" with an inseam somewhere between 32 and 34 inches. Fit just fine. Knees didn't even touch the driver's seat when it was adjusted for my position.
If you haven't been in a Juke, you should know that it's not a big car. So this is significant. And comfortable.
Agility, Aerodynamics, Curb appeal and Acceleration. These are all good traits for a car to have. The 2011 Nissan Juke covers these bases fairly well (coefficient of drag is 0.35), but in these areas, how does it compare with some Sports Illustrated swimsuit models? And not just any models, but ones viying for your votes for a spot in the magazine. Confused? Don't be. Cars and models. Win-win.
Pick a favorite and cast your votes at http://www.SI.com/ModelSearch when it goes live tomorrow.
I-CON Drive Select
Our long-term 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD is equipped with a customizable drive mode selector.
Dubbed I-CON (for Integrated Control) the driver can choose settings for throttle response, CVT transmission, steering, and even HVAC. These are grouped into Normal, Sport, or Eco modes. This is the first time I've seen an adjustable drive mode incorporate the HVAC.
The video from Nissan USA will break it down nicely. During my brief drive, I noticed a discernable difference between modes, particularly the throttle reponse.
And even in Eco mode the Juke is a quick, urban commuter. The Juke is not genius, but it's quite good.
Turns out latching our longterm 2011 Nissan Juke's hatch requires a pretty serious slam. Even when you think you're giving it plenty of gumption it may not be enough.
It's deceptive because when the hatch is flush with the bodywork (above left), it is not actually fully latched. I learned this when the hatch rattled immediately when I set off after having just tossed something in the cargo area.
Once you really whing the hatch down — or give it the ol' double-tap where you close it and then lean on it with your body weight — will it catch for real (above right). Note the hatch is misaligned with the surrounding bodywork when it is well and truly latched.
Could be a simple adjustment issue where the striker plate is too far inboard and the weatherstripping is acting like a spring.
Any other Juke owners notice this, or is it isolated to our longterm example?
I agree with my colleagues who've already weighed in on the Juke: it's a fun, whippable little pod that somehow feels bigger and stronger than you'd expect. It's got quick reflexes and the CVT works with the turbocharged 1.6-liter better than that marriage might suggest (our experience with the Nissan Rogue CVT predisposing us to bias).
For some folks, the exterior styling ends the discussion. Can't say I blame them. Then again, I'd echo Niebuhr's Sonata sentiments on the Juke. Props to Nissan for presumably designing without reams of focus group insights. Why is it we moan the collective invisibility of the CamAccorLexMW's plying the roads, but then turn around and cap on models that poke at our tolerances?
Then again, a turd is a turd, and bad design can't simply be dismissed as bold experiment. But the Juke is not a turd. It's amphibian. It's Na'vian. Look at that thick slab of hips. The Juke feels like a car built with only a sketch idea of its buyer. Someone beyond the basic youth consumer profile who might gravitate to the styling, performance, tech interfaces, and the low/mid $20k price points (base MSRP on a Juke S is just under $19,000; our loaded long-term comes in just under $26,000).
Sure, some of the interior feels brittle and cheap. Some of the pieces look like they came from guys who do car audio installs for spring break events. But the seats are nice, especially in leather. For city dwellers, the Juke is a snap to park and slingshot around trawling obstacles. But most of all, it's simply got some character and its performance doesn't suck.
So there I was again, standing in my backyard, studying the long-term car of the day. I was pondering if it was just the lighting arrangement that draws so much fire. I began equating it to one of my favorite motorcycles — the Triumph Speed Triple — which is immensely fun to ride and, for the most part, quite attractive. But the headlights always seemed to bug me (for 2011, they changed them).
My curiosity ran amok, and I brought the Juke into my shop...Photoshop, that is. Click through to see if my tweaks are an improvement.
My first order of business was to get rid of the lights and fill the gaps with more grille. Whoa...I like! As Riz and JDP commented, it's reminiscent of the old Camaro RS. James was lobbying for the return of hidden headlights. In this case, I agree with him.
Then I dropped in some headlights.
What do you think? Better? Worse?
Small car = small cargo area? Not always.
With the rear seats in place, the Nissan Juke offers 10.5 cubic feet of cargo space. Yes, that's small. But for me, it was plenty room for my grocery run.
Maximum cargo capacity is 35.9 cu.ft. Not bad for a little tike.
See the full specs on Edmunds.com.
Isn't it nice to see a car in a vivid color? Check out the location of those rear door handles.
Swimsuit Model Inspires Car Buying?
For some reason Nissan decided to compare the 2011 Nissan Juke to a swimsuit model in its latest TV ad campaign, "Model vs. Model."
OK, the carmaker does have a reason. It's sponsoring Sports Illustrated's search for the next swimsuit issue model. However, some folks find the campaign offensive since a car's agility, acceleration, aerodynamics and curb appeal are being compared to that of a model. Yes, they actually have a bikini-clad model run through a slalom in her gold platform sandals. An unfair fight for sure.
But I'm just curious if these ads will in fact motivate anyone to buy the car. What say you?
More swimsuit-related commercials here.
If there's an official story for how Nissan named the Juke, I haven't heard it yet, although I've read that it's a football allusion. I don't know from sports, but I play with words for a living, so here’s my free-association etymology for Juke, based on vehicle types of various sorts. Of course, this probably is nothing like how Nissan arrived at the monicker for its "bold urban sport cross." Or maybe it is.
Start with "ute," Aussie-speak for utility vehicle.
Mix in some Moke, such as the Mini Moke you see here. According to the oracle of Wikipedia, "moke" is an archaic term for donkey.
Throw in the front of a junk, the boat of many weird angles.
Voila: "Juke." Improbable, but how do you think Nissan arrived at the name?
I enjoy driving our long-term 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD. A lot. It's a great urban commuter that's quick and has sharp handling.
But I don't like the passenger side airbag. In most modern cars you can't even detect that a P-side airbag is in there if there wasn't a label. But our Juke has a huge, ugly seam that circumvents the bag.
So Old Skool.
It's as if to remind you not to pick your nose before that big rear-end crash.
Nissan put a nice, rubberized, grippy coating on this little shelf under the 2011 Juke's center stack. Good idea, of course, since the USB and aux inputs are right here. And wouldn't you know, an iPhone 4 fits perfectly here. If you have some gargantuan 'droid-based phone, well, it might not fit so well.
Never fails. I give somebody a ride in the 2011 Nissan Juke, and they take up the first two minutes giving me a design review of the bodywork, the funny headlights, the waning crescent parking lights. Thanks. Now can we just drive?
See, when you start driving the Juke, it doesn't feel like it's on the fringe at all. And honestly, it has really opened my eyes to the weaknesses of the Mini Countryman.
Here's the deal. The Juke has a much more usable powerband. There's torque right away, right where you can use it in cutthroat traffic, and that's something the similar 0-60 times for the Juke and Countryman (both in the 7s) won't tell you. Yeah, the CVT takes some getting used to if you're used to doing your own shifting (as in our three-pedal Mini), but it does its job well even if you don't like the process of it.
Further, the Juke has a better ride. It's not a soft ride, but with go-flats instead of run-flats, and a (slightly) more relaxed approach to tuning the suspension, there's more cushioning over impacts.
Finally, the folding rear seats. I find myself using them frequently in both of these pint-size SUVs, and the Juke's go down more easily — and go completely flat — and there's no silly rail system getting in my way.
Yep, I could do with more steering feel from the Juke, but in everyday traffic, this little SUV is proving more endearing than I'd expected.
Probably we should say thanks to the Box.
If you’re wondering where the Nissan Juke came from, look no further than the original Scion xB. The counterculture Toyota broke the mold of conventional automotive styling — you know, the one that old designers use to bash the proposals of young designers until they fall in line.
Old designers hate it when someone reshapes the mold. It makes them run around with their hands in the air like old grannies, wailing about the impending decline of Western Civilization.
Once the mold has been broken, it’s finally okay for a young designer to make a car look exotic. That’s what the Scion xB really was — exotic. And that’s what cars like the Kia Soul, Nissan Cube, Mini, Smart Fortwo and the Juke want to be. They each succeed or fail on their own merits, but it’s really about being experimental, and it’s not about being cute or retro or like that.
The look of the Nissan Juke is totally not for me. It makes me want to run around wailing with my hands in the hair like an old grannie myself. But I like the way it’s pressing forward, something that too few cars do these days.
Meanwhile, Scion is sitting around, wondering which way everybody went. Wherever it is that things are happening in car culture, Scion is far away. It’s just too bad that the cars that original Scion xB made possible are all at other car companies.
Design Inspiration
Yeah, our long-term 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD is a super urban-commuter, but its looks are controversial, to say the least.
Alfonso Albaisa, VP of Nissan Design Europe, breaks down the inspiration for the Juke's design and explains the target demographic, which I've been very curious about myself.
Albaisa said that the target demo is a 30-something active lifestyle guy with a love of motorbikes, dune buggies, and rally driving. Interesting.
And according to Albaisa, design influences include rally cars, motorbikes, the Nissan Z for the rear lamps, and the GT-R(!).
Whatever you think of the Juke, there's nothing on the road that looks like it, at least in The States.
When I see a car wreck out on the roads it usually makes me second guess my personal choices in transportation. Between a 54-year-old car, a Lotus that's glued together and a few motorcycles, I think responders would be more likely to use a wet/dry vacuum rather than the jaws of life to extricate me. Zipping around in the Juke, however, gave me a little comfort.
The Juke hasn't been crash tested by NHTSA or the IIHS yet — or at least, the results aren't posted yet. The Euro NCAP results are in, though, and the Juke received a top five-star rating. Oh how I love slo-mo crash videos.
Not bad, right? It's certainly a lot better than these tests:
That should give you something to think about when renting a car overseas.
Proving that beauty is only skin deep is the Nissan Juke. Make fun of its looks all you want, but make sure you drive it before you pass final judgement. As you all know by now, we enjoy driving this sprightly little runabout and some of us are so taken by its charming personality that we can now overlook its frog-eyed expression. Heck, it seems that enough people overlook Ryan Seacrest's frog-eyed expression for him to make $15 mil a year hosting American Idol. But I digress...
For its first five months on the market, the Juke has tallied up 14,719 in sales. That averages out to 2,944 a month. So should the Juke maintain that pace, that would add up to 35,328 for the year. According to Erin's First Drive, Nissan was hoping to move 25,000 to 30,000 Jukes a year.
Thankfully the voting for the newest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition model ends tomorrow. I just don't know that I could take any more videos of beautiful women running around with a NIssan Juke. It's torture.
At one point during the weekend, I inadvertently pressed the Eco button in our longterm 2011 Nissan Juke. My life sucked for 21.3 seconds.
Until I realized my folly, the Juke was a slug — in Eco mode the Juke stubbornly refuses to move until the throttle is practically pinned. Ugh.
They should rename it "Suck". Does anyone actually use the Eco mode of the sundry vehicles thusly equipped? Do these people hate their lives?
On a somewhat unrelated front, I got to thinking that the Juke's puny 1.6 turbo mill would play nicely in, say, a small, mid-engined sports car. It's got to be a featherweight thing, and the transverse layout means the engine (and 6-speed manual, of course) could just be slapped directly into such a car as-is. Okay, sure, throw in a twin-scroll turbo and a little extra pep. I won't complain.
Yeah, maybe I've got too much Alfa Romeo 4C on the brain since I returned from the Geneva show...
I love our 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD's steering wheel. Not only because it feels good to drive but also for its intuitive placement of audio and cruise control features and the leather-wrapped wheel feels comfortable to grasp. But enough about me, what do you think? A closer look after the jump.
Just one glance at Nissan's Juke and everyone forms an instant opinion. Quite often that opinion isn't overly flattering. It's fair to say Nissan went a little whacky with the Juke's styling. Whether it's bad whacky or good whacky is completely subjective, and we're not all going to agree.
But it seems too easy to just make a blanket statement that the Juke is ugly. We can be more creative than that, can't we?
For instance, a passerby once commented to me that the Juke looked to her "like the largest mosquito ever to escape from the Amazon Forest." Now there's a good analogy.
So what does the Juke remind you of?
Thanks to ergsum for this week's favorite caption. Here are the others that flipped our lid:
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (ergsum)
I knew the juke had cargo space but dang! (chirsch3)
I may be slow, but I'm ahead of you. (good_2_go)
Whatever's in the trunk will be gone in 60 seconds. (vt8919)
As the Italians say, "What's behind you isn't important!" (technetium99)
Quick, hide in here. They'll never find you. (elgac)
The Toad Warrior (ergsum)
The Hatchback of Willow Springs (ergsum)
Worst application of a pop-up spoiler ever. (drhorrible)
And Rex thought that mooning a Cobra was a good idea.... (technetium99)
GET IN MA BELLY!!! (jacton)
Oil slick? check! (cantdrive92)
Hatch release, sport button ...who can keep track? (ms3omglol)
Never bring a Juke to a snake fight. (ms3omglol)
The Juke's on us. (ms3omglol)
Takahashi's Great Escape. (stovt001)
FULL MOON!! (gxp_mike)
Can someone please change the track on the Juke-box? (questionlp)
Willow Springs gets juked on. (robert4380)
Playing a practical Juke on the Mustang. (ergsum)
Juke of Hazzard (ergsum)
Pull over, I think I'm going to Juke! (ergsum)
Airbrake FTW. (opfreakx)
Spoiler alert! (shaddai)
Takahashi has taken his trunk fetish too far this time. (technetium99)
What was your favorite?
To the winner:
You can select one of these three prizes:
- Top Gear Season 14 DVD or Blu-ray
- Top Gear puzzle book (not for kids)
- red fuzzy dice
Associate Vehicle & Content Coordinator Rex Tokeshi-Torres sent me this photo of our Nissan Juke at The Streets of Willow Springs.
What is your caption?
We'll post our favorite this afternoon.
P.S. We have more Top Gear gear in stock for prizes.
Those four dashes is the Juke's fuel range readout. At 30 miles to empty it began flashing and at 14 miles to empty it just packed up and became these four dashes.
I hit the nearest gas station, where the Juke swallowed 11 gallons exactly. Now the Juke has a 13.2 gallon tank and an EPA rating of 25 mpg city and 30 mpg hwy, so I figure I could have kept driving for nearly 50 miles.
Oh well, maybe next time.
The above cell phone photo is of my brother's new 2011 Nissan Juke SL
AWD
. Woo hoo! He had been in the market for a car for awhile. Initially he was looking for an SUV since he was tired of "getting bullied" on LA streets. But I had told him that he was going about it the wrong way and instead should get something small with great handling and decent power to get around bullies. But he still needed a car with enough space to tote his camera equipment and lights (he's a producer/director).
Through the course of his many months of car researching, I tried helping him out by sending him Edmunds reviews of cars I thought would be up his alley. Nothing really struck his fancy.
But as soon as I got behind the wheel of our own Juke SL I emailed him a link to our long-terms right away. "You should get this one!" I hadn't heard back from him regarding that since January. Until last night when he texted me the above photo.
"Wait, are you getting that?"
"Got it."
"OMG u did? That's perfect for uuu!"
And he called me this morning. "I calling you from the car!" he was excited. So why did he decide on the Juke?
"I like how fast it turned around the curves and love its power and I love the technology," he gushed. I knew that car would be up his alley, especially for the fact that he's a technogeek."Did you see the 'magic' climate control and driver mode buttons?" I was so excited for him.
Also, he said that the dealer told him that because of the recent devastation in Japan the stock at Nissan dealerships is low and "will be kaput for the next 120 days, as the docks have been wiped out." So he had to act on it now. Yeah, don't know if that was a dealer tactic but it's plausible, I guess. He had had a bronze Juke bought right out from under him so he went with the above red one.
In any case, he's happy with his purchase.
We just did an article on Edmunds.com telling the masses that a quick way to save significant money on gasoline is to use regular even if your vehicle recommends premium.
The article states, "Today, engine control systems can compensate for low octane by monitoring knock activity and adjusting ignition advance to quell the knock. This sophisticated electronic capability effectively gives drivers more flexibility in the grade of fuels that they can safely use.
Compared to premium gasoline, lower-octane fuels don't allow the engine to run as much ignition advance during situations where lots of throttle might be used. More ignition advance allows the engine to make more power during these conditions. Since the engine doesn't make quite as much power with lower-octane fuels, this translates into slower acceleration in cars for which premium fuel is recommended. The performance loss is especially noticeable in turbocharged gasoline engines.
The performance loss, however, is something you will only notice if you have a heavy throttle foot. In part-throttle conditions, you can achieve full ignition advance with no knock, regardless of whether you use premium or regular-grade fuel."
The next day I hit a gas station in our long-term Juke. And there is was on the inside of the Nissan's gas door in all caps, "PREMIUM FUEL IS RECOMMENDED FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE."
So I practiced what we preached. I filled the CUV with regular. It took 11 gallons exactly at $4.039 a gallon. Price was $44.43.
If I had used premium at $4.239 a gallon the bill would have been $46.63. So I saved Edmunds Inc. $2.20 and the Juke's performance around town seems to be exactly the same.
Was is worth it?
I know many of you said that you've seen lots of 2011 Nissan Jukes out and about, but in LA I haven't been as lucky. So when I was taking the dog for a walk around the neighborhood and spotted this Gun Metallic Juke, I had to take a picture.
I dunno, it looks really "grown-up" in this color. Too serious and almost like an Infiniti EX, not that that's a bad thing, but it mutes the funkiness, I think. I like our Cayenne Red but would be interested to see what the Electric Blue looked like in real life. What color do you like for the Juke?
By now it seems like almost everyone is over the froggy, concept car looks of the 2011 Nissan Juke. Part of that has to do with the Juke being a darned good place to spend time and a fun partner on a twisty road.
But twisty roads have limitations like speed limits, other drivers and the occasional cliff. Our testing facility, however, has none of those limitations and is the perfect place to see how our Nissan Juke stacks up in 0-60, quarter mile, slalom, skidpad and braking.
188 horsepower, 3,170 pounds, AWD...Follow the jump to see how it did.
Vehicle: 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD
Odometer: 2,497
Date: 3/8/2011
Driver: Mike Monticello
Price: $25,890
Specifications:
Drive Type: Transverse, front-engine, all-wheel drive
Transmission Type: Pulley-regulated continuously variable transmission with console shifter with Sport mode
Engine Type: DOHC, four valves per cylinder, variable intake + exhaust-valve
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 1,599/98
Redline (rpm): 6,500
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 188 @ 5,600
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 177 @ 2,000
Brake Type (front): 11.7-inch vented discs with single-piston sliding calipers
Brake Type (rear): 11.5 -inch one-piece solid cast-iron discs with single-piston sliding calipers
Steering System: Electric speed-proportional rack and pinion power steering
Suspension Type (front): Independent MacPherson struts, coil springs, stabilizer bar
Suspension Type (rear): Mullti-link, coil springs, stabilizer bar
Tire Size (front): P215/55R17 93V
Tire Size (rear): P215/55R17 93V
Tire Brand: Goodyear
Tire Model: Eagle RS-A
Tire Type: All Season
Wheel size: 17-by-7 inches front and rear
Wheel material (front/rear): Cast aluminum
As tested Curb Weight (lb): 3,170
Test Results:
Acceleration
0-30 (sec): 2.9 (3.5 with T/C on)
0-45 (sec): 4.9 (5.5 with T/C on)
0-60 (sec): 7.4 (8.1 with T/C on)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 7.1 (7.7 with T/C on)
0-75 (sec): 10.9 (11.8 with T/C on)
1/4-Mile (sec @ mph): 15.5 @ 88.9 (16.1 @ 87.8 with T/C on)
Braking
30-0 (ft): 32
60-0 (ft): 122
Handling
Slalom (mph): 67.3 (61.8 with T/C on)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.84 (0.84 with T/C on)
Sound
Db @ Idle: 39.5
Db @ Full Throttle: 74.0
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 65.8
RPM @ 70: 2,300
Comments
Acceleration: Extremely laggard-like off the line, then moves smartly once turbo spools up. Sport mode proved no quicker than normal as it uses shift points instead of holding the revs high like in CVT/rubber band mode. Quickest run was in normal, ESC off and some power braking. Once the CVT gets to 6,500, it holds the revs there. Manual shifting via console lever; does not hold gears, blips throttle on downshifts.
Braking: Minimal nosedive, yet the rears would still lock up slightly, causing the car to squirm to the right. Stops with violent motions like its diving then squatting over and over. Good pedal feel. The travel didn't lengthen any, but each stop proved longer than the last.
Handling: (done in AWD) Skidpad: ESC-on / ESC-off numbers identical, as the stability system hardly cut in at all. I had to work the throttle on and off even with the system on as the ESC would let it understeer off the circle before it would finally cut in. Slalom: ESC can be fully defeated — nice. Steering is very quick and the Juke changes direction well, feels like it has a relatively low center of gravity. Short wheelbase also helps it sneak around the cones. ESC-on was frustrating, though, as it added so much brake at times that it would force the Juke to drive straight instead of completing the turn.
EDIT: And here's a link to our full test of a front wheel drive Nissan Juke for comparison. Speed read: 0-60: 7.3 (7.0 w/ro); Quarter: 15.5 @ 89.9 ; slalom 66.2; skidpad 0.83.
In a previous post, Engineering Editor Jay Kavanagh said of our 2011 Nissan Juke's Eco mode: "They should rename it 'Suck.' Does anyone actually use the Eco mode of the sundry vehicles thusly equipped? Do these people hate their lives?" So when I was talking to my brother, a brand-new Juke owner, about his recent purchase I relayed Jay's opinion about the Eco mode.
However, bro was quick to disagree, saying that he found merit in the fuel-efficient mode. "I'd use it to save gas on road trips. And I'm sure people who are trying to save money probably appreciate it," he said.
He has a point. But I mistakenly figured that anyone who buys the Juke would be looking to have fun driving it. And it just seemed odd that a zippy car like the Juke would even have such an option. However, I suppose Juke owners are just happy to be presented with either choice of fun or frugal.
I had our 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD all weekend and I don't mind saying that I am now so in love with it. Sure, it's not conventionally attractive but so what? It's got quirky funkiness, more on that later, and a lot of character to keep it interesting long after its looks have faded into dated territory. I love the feel of its steering, its handling, and yay for Sport mode and get-up-and-go. I just love driving it, and bonus that it can actually tote a couple of passengers and some cargo in the back, too.
This weekend I used it for everything, from hauling groceries to toting my dog around (with seatbelt harness) and to negotiating Rainpocalypse 2011. It turned every mundane errand into a fun excursion. I'm really jealous that this is my brother's daily driver. Pout.
Some of you had asked about our 2011 Nissan Juke's headlights.
From a previous Juke post ed341 asked: "What do the lights on the hood actually do? Just indicators, or nifty driving lights?"
Even though editor Mark Takahashi did a really cool post explaining the lights, even going so far as to Photoshop how he'd like them to look instead, I figured it couldn't hurt to show you what the owner's manual said about them.
In any case, with the headlights, clearance lights/turn signal/front side marker lights and the fog lights on different levels of the car's front end it just makes it seem like a whole lot of lights. Couldn't Nissan have consolidated them and saved some space instead?
No, not our 2011 Nissan Juke's but rather my brother's. Actually his brand-new Juke hasn't suffered any chips yet but after he read this forum he's under the impression that Jukes in general chip easily. One forum member's paint chipped after only 2,000 miles.
Any Juke owners experience the same issue? If so, any recommendations for what he could do to protect his paint? Right now, he's looking for "good places that do car paint protectors." However, he also read that when some forums members talked about taking their cars in to get paint protector applied another member told them to wait because there are sure to be more chips anyway. Oh boy.
Remember when a $50 fill-up was rare, and it could only be accomplished by running a big truck or SUV dry?
Well, admittedly the Juke's fuel gauge had hit bottom and the remaining range number was a flashing "---" but I was still suprised by the fuel bill this compact crossover managed to ring up.
Sure, it was premium fuel, which is only recommended for this car and not required. But half the fun of driving the Juke is watching that boost gauge spool up in the central display while the little trucklet rockets past slower traffic. Gotta pay to play.
For those who care, this trip meter divided by the gallons it took to fill it equates to 20.2 mpg.
So there's this button on the lower left side of the Juke's dashboard labeled as you see above. I've never touched the thing until today when I noticed it has three settings: 2WD, AWD-V and AWD.
It's not immediately obvious what the difference is between the Juke's AWD-V and AWD modes. So I looked it up. This didn't clarify much.
If I had to speculate, I'd say the difference is that AWD-V mode utilizes torque vectoring on the rear axle and that AWD mode does not. Note the use of the word "slippery" in the AWD description. And note its absence in the AWD-V description. Also note that the 50:50 front/rear torque split is called 4WD in the AWD mode yet in AWD-V mode the 50:50 split is called AWD. These are subtle differences which don't offer much explanation about the torque distribution strategy, so it's hard to be sure.
We've got a call in to Nissan on this. Perhaps the PR team can clear it up.
In the mean time, what do you think?
Not only does the 2011 Nissan Juke look funky on the outside but it has unusual bits on the inside as well. Erin Riches already covered the nifty, grippy smartphone shelf, located conveniently next to the USB port but check out all this other stuff. Seems like features that would appeal to young 'uns, but what do you think?
This weird hood for the instrument panel. Stylish way to minimize glare. Wonder why make it look like a movable visor when it's fixed. Also, what's up with the hole in the center? Not that that's bad, just wondered.
This door panel isn't especially unique but it is funky. And, look, another place to store my iPhone.
And I already blogged about this magic driver mode/climate feature, but I still think it's pretty cool.
There are several controls in the Nissan Juke which are low in the cabin and sheltered under some design elements. The mirror controls, for example, are down and to the left of the steering wheel. In the above picture can you see where they are? They are above the two glowing lights.
You can see them here when I use my camera's flash.
Underneath the climate controls, I found the USB port but only with the flash. It is tucked under a plastic lip.
These features are not lit on their own so you can't see them in the dark. You can't even see them during the day in our parking garage. That's when I took the darker pictures.
Even with the overhead lamp on, the lighting is so dim and the plastic elements block the view, that you can't see them. This needs some rethinking, especially for the mirror controls.
Our long-term 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD has a standard navigation system. It's a Secure Digital card (SD)-based system with 5" color touch panel display and comes with XM NavTraffic. It's standard on our high-zoot Juke SL.
And it looks tiny. I measured 5" diagonal, same as advertised. The Garmin Personal Navigation Device (PND) measured up at 4.5". But I do prefer factory navi — usually good usability and it won't be stolen.
But...
If you were to get the mid-grade Juke SV, you can purchase the navi package that includes upgraded speakers with Rockford Fosgate subwoofer, and USB port for iPod, all for $800.
I haven't had to navigate anywhere in the Juke yet, but in playing around with it the usability seems fine. Which is more than I can say for the navigation on my iPhone 4 (with much higher resolution, btw.) Unless you use voice input for the iPhone, I don't see how people can use it safely.
But most people driving nowadays don't seem to care — their phone is their priority.
Yesterday, Brent suggested that Nissan stuff its big V8 into a special 560Z model. Today, I'm going to suggest another Nissan-related engine transplant.
The Juke's turbocharged 1.6-liter engine is a real riot and every time I dip into its super boosty goodness I think to myself, "Self, it seems like a waste to have such a neat little engine in such a weird, ugly, tall, hatchback, SUV, alien space pod thing." It should be in a sporty car, and no, some version of the next-generation Versa doesn't count (as has been recently leaked).
No, I want a new Nissan 160SX. The original 240SX was one of my favorite cars when I was a wee lad, and I know that Miss Riches would probably be on board as well. Erin had second-generation 240SX that used to sit under a layer of dust and cat prints down in the editorial graveyard (picture thereafter). It's not there any more, but I'm not sure if she sold it or if the dust's just so thick now that it blends into the concrete.
We came to a grave realization last night. Our 2011 Nissan Juke was down 4 quarts of windshield washer fluid. Yes, an entire gallon. So we filled it up. Luckily we caught the problem before any significant damage occurred.
Perhaps you remember my post last week pointing out the confusion in the Juke's owner's manual regarding the difference between AWD and AWD-V modes. Following is the official word straight from Nissan PR.
"AWD-V has full torque vectoring and AWD has minimal torque vectoring.
The AWD system uses two multi-plate electromagnetic couplings to shift torque from left to right on the rear axle, one on the left and one on the right. The drive shaft to the rear axle spins the rear pinion gear whenever the vehicle is moving. The AWD control module uses data from the stability control system (steering angle, wheel speed, yaw rate, etc.) to determine how much torque is distributed to the right or left rear wheel. In AWD-V mode up to 100% of the available rear axle torque (50% of the total torque) can be sent to the outside wheel to help rotate the car through a corner.
In AWD mode the torque vectoring still takes place but with less torque transferred to the outside wheel. The idea being that pushing extra torque to the outside wheel on a slippery surface may cause additional slip in that wheel and may trigger the stability control system to intervene which is not desirable.
Bottom line – AWD-V has full torque vectoring capability and AWD has minimal torque vectoring for slippery surfaces. AWD-V is designed to primarily enhance handling while AWD is designed as a traction aid on slippery surfaces."
So there you have it. Hope that clears it up.
First thing my girl said when she got into the Juke as "Sure is red!"
This past weekend was the first time I've ever been in our Juke. Yes, it's funky looking, and yes it's very red all over. Normally I'm not a big fan of Cute-Utes. But to my surprise I really enjoyed driving this ugly SUV.
Yeah, I said I think it's ugly. I don't think there is an argument about that.
But it's like an ugly dog that has a great character. Might not be cuddly, but it's a great little buddy.
I loved the turbo charged engine, I really liked the interior design with all the red, and I dug just how fun the Juke was to drive. Believe me, when there were four adults riding, the performance suffered. This is enjoyable with two adults max.
I see this more as a vehicle for the young and possibly childless, so the demands will be well met. The Juke is all about having fun and it delivers that in spades.
I went on vacation last week, and I secreted away our 2011 Nissan Juke, thinking it would offer a best-of-both-worlds combination of warm-hatch performance and reasonable utility (more reasonable than our Countryman, anyway). As I rolled into the office this morning, the Juke's odometer clicked 5,000 miles exactly.
In honor of that, I checked the oil.
And Nissan gets a nice compliment here, as the dipstick is right up front and easy to reach, as it pokes up out of the plastic engine cover. No worries about burning your hands or getting grease on your clothes. The oil level was just fine, so no need to add any. I'll post a more thoughtful entry or two on my long weekend with the Juke tomorrow.
It's hard to believe it was 15 years ago that the first compact crossover SUVs appeared on the market. These have always been and, likely, will always be strong sellers due to their ever compelling combination of utility, ride height, maneuverability and affordability — but with rare exception (turbo Forester), I have never liked driving them and that includes most of the current-day models. Invariably, they're too slow, too clumsy-handling, too plasticky or some combination of those three.
But after five days in our long-term 2011 Nissan Juke, even I have to admit that this is a pretty darn nice vehicle to drive, cute-ute or not.
To start, the Juke is just not slow. It runs a 15.5-second quarter-mile, which is a half-second slower than the current Forester XT. The Subaru, however, has an outdated four-speed automatic, whereas the Nissan has a well-calibrated CVT, and once you adjust to its way of doing things, it's your friend in freeway traffic. There's a bit of lag from the 1.6-liter turbo (as there should be, it's a turbo), but even with a not-quite-full-throttle input, the Juke gets up to 70 mph smoothly. And it's easy to get back into the boost when you step out to pass.
Of course, there are plenty of other small crossovers that are decently quick (most with a V6), but most of them don't handle well (RAV4, I'm looking at you). Here again, the Juke is a pleasant exception. Its electric-assisted power steering actually has good on-center feel and adjusts the effort level appropriately as you add input to its compact steering wheel. Turn-in response feels quick to the point that you actually look for opportunities to toss into a corner instead of avoiding them. Brake pedal feel is good, too.
Finally, there's my complaint about the plastickyness of small SUVs. Now, the Juke is not a bit posh. But none of the plastics the cabin feel overtly cheap. Everything looks good. And except for the silly liftgate issue, the fit and finish is good inside and out.
Seemingly, the Juke is immune to all the things I usually dislike about cute-utes, and amidst my post-Mazdaspeed-3 delirium tremens, I am starting to fall for it.
Since the 2011 Nissan Juke arrived in our long-term test fleet, my boyfriend and I have started informally keeping track of other Juke drivers we see in our travels. We've seen quite a few, both in Southern California and during a recent trip to Georgia. But to date, we've only seen one man driving a Juke (one man not employed by Edmunds that is). That Juke was black. Of course.
I'd like to say I'm surprised, given that at least initially Nissan officials said they were positioning the Juke as a crossover SUV that would appeal to men in their 20s. But I'm not.
However, just like with countless ugly-duckling Subarus, the real appeal of the Juke comes into focus once you're inside the vehicle and unable to see the sheetmetal.
I've already gone on about how the Juke is actually pretty good to drive — good acceleration, respectable handling — and it rides well, too. Whereas our Mini Countryman can feel wound up over LA freeways, the Nissan is reasonably compliant and relaxed over the rain-grooved slabs.
I'm also liking the cockpit ergonomics, which sets up a 5-foot-10 driver up for a good seating position; although, the reach to the steering wheel is a bit too long. A telescoping steering wheel would be nice to have.
Finally, I'm finding more and more situations where the Juke's 35.9-cubic-foot cargo max perfectly suits my needs. For example, after a late night coffee (it's dark at night, hence the inelegant use of my point-and-shoot's flash) with friends last week, I gave one friend with a bike a lift home. I know I'm not the official "does the bike fit?" tester here, but her normal adult-size Schwinn just fit into the Juke with the seats folded... the liftgate just closed.
That was convenient. So maybe the answer to "Who's this car for?" is "Erin." Maybe.
I really like our Nissan Juke. It's nimble, fun to drive and has more than enough room for my needs. If I were to buy one, this is what mine would look like: I like my cars heavily optioned, so I'd choose the SL trim level, like our test car. This trim starts at $22,930 (plus $760 destination) and adds automatic headlights, fog lights, leather upholstery, heated front seats, an upgraded audio system, a backup camera and navigation. I don’t need all-wheel drive, so I'd be saving $2,000 that I would spend on other options.
I don’t want a manual transmission because I always drive in heavy traffic. Opting for the CVT transmission adds about $500. I would choose is Gun Metallic for the exterior, because it looks — and sounds — cool. I'll pass on the red interior trim and instead choose silver, because I want something more understated.
Next there are a few packages to choose from. I like accent lighting in cars, so I'd choose the Interior Illumination Package for $490. This adds illuminated Juke kick plates and 20 other lit pieces. The Sport Accessory Package is pricier ($1,300), but it adds 17-inch gunmetal wheels (which would look good with the matching paint), stainless steel exhaust finisher, and a rear roof spoiler. Lastly, I'd get a set of floor mats — a must for any car — for $175.
This brings the total MSRP to $26,165. That's only $275 more than our long-term Juke. But I wouldn't pay MSRP. The TMV value of this car is $25,102, which is about $500 over invoice. I'd probably start the negotiation at $100 under invoice and work my way up from there.
If you were interested in a Juke, how would you configure yours?
I once called the Nissan Juke "the new face of ugly," and I still think that. But styling is ultimately not my biggest beef with the Juke. Unlike the Mini Countryman, which has a sliding back seat that allows for a useful trunk or a useful back seat, the Juke has a fixed back seat that doesn't really allow for either.
There is zero room behind me when I drive, and as for the trunk, that paltry amount of items was too much for the Juke as the tailgate failed to close. Now, compare that above picture to the one of our VW GTI after the jump. Different items to be sure, but they were larger and more voluminous.
(Yes, the back seat is lowered, but not for the items shown. I'm not cheating here, I promise. Also, since you'll probably ask, there is quite a lot of legroom behind me in the GTI).
The reason for this limitation in capacity is the Juke's chopped roofline, as you can see by the below picture. Not only does this prevent you from carrying around bulkier items that would normally fit in a hatchback or small SUV, but it also limits rear seat headroom (should your legs be able to fit).
With the seats raised, the Juke has only 10 cubic feet of cargo space and the maximum is 36 cubes. For comparison, the Countryman has between 12.2 and 16.5 cubic feet depending on where the seats are and 41.3-cube max. The GTI is 12.4 and 46, respectively.
Sorry, I just don't get the Juke. It may be reasonably priced (which is obviously something the Countryman can't claim), but you're giving up a lot of practicality to sit high and drive something that looks like the result of an alien frog mating with an insect.
So I checked in with my brother, new owner of a 2011 Nissan Juke, to see how he's liking his new car. He still loves it a lot but his worse (well one of his worse) fear has been realized: lots of chipped paint and even a chip in his windshield.
He went to a car wash and paid extra to have them "fill in the chips so they won't crack more." Cost was $40 and the guy told him that "the front of the car might contribute to the rocks hitting it in a certain way since it is shaped more rounded at the front, causing the rocks to fly in...or something." I dunno. What do you guys think of that?
In any case, bro is frustrated. He says that he's been careful of keeping space between the Juke and other vehicles but still his car gets dinged, particularly in the center of the hood. "There were soooo many," he lamented. And this is why we can't have nice things in the city.
In other news, when he took the Juke up to visit our folks in Northern California, our mom loved it and a little kid he encountered in a church parking lot on Easter squealed, "Look, Daddy! IT'S the NEW JUKE!" Aw.
Editor Al Austria said he liked our 2011 Nissan Juke's standard navigation, "the usability seems fine." But while I, too, haven't had to use its nav to find a destination yet, I dislike its layout. The other night when I was trying to navigate downtown LA to get to a concert venue and glanced at the nav to figure out how many streets we were away from our destination I had a difficult time reading it. No, I wasn't struck by spontaneous dyslexia. Rather, it was because as you can see from the above picture, unlike maps where the names of the streets follow the line of the streets, here the street names are all horizontal.
If I didn't already know the streets in the above picture (when the nav was in 2-D mode), I wouldn't be able to tell which one was Colorado Avenue and which Pennsylvania. Sure they have teeny checkmarks to indicate which streets belong to which street names but you can barely see those.
Here it is in 3-D mode, which is a little better.
But when I try and zoom out to see more nearby streets... Where'd the street names go?
I dunno, maybe it just takes some getting used to.
And just for the heck of it, here's a shot of the map setup screen.
I like fun cars (who doesn't?). I also like attractive cars. Every now and then, there's a fun, but ugly car that I like. The Juke is one of them. This became clear to me this weekend on a 180-degree freeway onramp when a Porsche Cayenne driver had a decent grasp on the idea of acceleration, but not handling. He blasted past the Juke without any problem, but he hit the brakes far too early and far too hard going into the sweeping curve. I broke much later and trailed it into the bend, leaving him far behind in my mirrors.
The whole time, I was using my play-by-play commentator voice. "And Takahashi passes him on the outside! A masterful pass for the leeeeeeeeead!"
My girlfriend called me a dork.
I gave the Juke a little congratulatory pat on the dash, as if to say, "good car, good car."
And that got me thinking about that word, "Fungly." If this Juke had more power and a manual gearbox, I'd consider buying one — looks and all. And there are only a few other cars that I'd be willing to do that for. Foremost in my head is the BMW M Coupe (1998 - 2002), Porsche Panamera Turbo and most second-generation Subaru WRX STi models.
What do you think? Are you willing to drive something as controversially styled as the Nissan Juke for performance? Are there some fungly cars on your list?
Hmm...I wonder if the designer of the Juke ever saw the movie Short Circuit? I mean, clearly the odd looking instrument panel hood is an homage to Johnny 5 right? There's already a whole website, why not an instrument cluster?
So back to the Juke. I'm still liking the way it drives. It's quick enough, feels good through fast corners and is generally easy to get along with. I agree with Oldham that it would benefit from a standard automatic transmission. The CVT isn't the worst I've ever experienced, but like all CVTs, it's never really that great either. Too many instances where you want a "downshift" and it just kind of sits there in the wrong ratio.
The seats are surprisingly good too. I haven't done a long trip in it yet, but from my limited seat time they feel well bolstered and nicely shaped. The adjustment controls are easy to use too, a good thing in a car with a manual controls.
After my brother lamented about how his 2011 Nissan Juke's paint was vulnerable to chipping, I kept meaning to check on the status of our own Juke's paint. Today after the weekly car wash I took a close look at its hood. And found this gnarly chip...
Fortunately that was the only one I spotted and it's actually not the gouge that the picture above makes it appear to be. (Sorry, should have put a penny or something next to it for scale.) If this were my car, I'd be bummed as well. As it is, my brother said he now prefers driving in the city rather than the highway because he deems it less dangerous to his paint job. Aw.
Don't know how we managed to avoid getting our paint chipped more considering the Juke goes through a variety of drivers, and most of the editors have long commutes to work via the highway.
By the way, the mottled coloring in the picture is actually a reflection of the clouds, just in case you were wondering.
I was driving to work this morning in drizzling rain. I had the headlights set to Auto. And when I looked down at the temperature controls, (I was in Climate mode) I couldn't read any of these buttons. They actually came out clearer in this photo than they looked in real life. They were a total blank while I was driving. In the daylight you usually can't read them.
Then the sky became a darker gray and these button became easier to read as you see in this second picture.
In the darkness of our parking garage you can see them fully.
But in the daytime, you have a hard time seeing them unless you have the headlights turned off, not set to Auto.
Perhaps because it shares this space with other controls when in D-Mode. See Caroline's video to see the transformation.
So it turns out there was a little typo (they happen) on the original equipment list for the 2011 Nissan Juke AWD. Early product information had it listed as having a 13.2 gallon fuel tank like the FWD Juke. Unfortunately, it doesn't. It's got an 11.8 gallon tank. The error was corrected, and Nissan has recently sent out apology letters.
That's not all, though, they're giving Juke AWD owners who may have been put out by the error a check for $400. A copy of the letter can be found at Consumer Search.
Still no word from Ford if there will be a refund for Mustang GT owners who bought the Brembos thinking they were getting two-piston sliders in the rear.
Would you be upset? Clearly this impacts range, but most people don't run that far between fillups anyway. ( I do.) And if you would be upset, if $400 enough to ignore it?
(Autoblog via Consumer Search)
I had these grand plans this morning of showing you how much of a difference the Juke's power delivery is between Sport and Normal driving modes. Sorry, dear readers, I failed you...
I was running Dynolicious on my iPhone and set off on a few acceleration runs to 50 mph. I didn't floor the pedal, I kept it steady right around 70 percent throttle. Without looking at the results, I thought Sport mode would be quite a bit quicker. It even managed to spin the tires slightly, whereas in Normal mode, there was none.
I looked at the graphs quickly and saw a big difference — or so I thought. Above, is the Juke's run in Sport mode. Below is the run in Normal. The problem here is the graph itself, since the time scales are different, but just looking at the time to 30 mph and to 50 mph, the numbers are virtually a dead heat.
I superimposed the Sport onto the Normal graph on the bottom. The Sport is slightly ghosted back. Not a lot of difference on paper, but it sure feels livelier from the driver's seat. After a little more investigation, I dug up Mike Monticello's notes from the test track.
Extremely laggard-like off the line, then moves smartly once turbo spools up. Sport mode proved no quicker than normal as it uses shift points instead of holding the revs high like in CVT/rubber band mode. Quickest run was in normal, ESC off and some power braking. Once the CVT gets to 6,500, it holds the revs there. Manual shifting via console lever; does not hold gears, blips throttle on downshifts.
How Nissan managed to make Sport mode feel so much quicker (without actually making it quicker) is still a mystery to me, but I still prefer it over the others. I do, however, drop it into Eco mode when I'm stuck in traffic.
When I first checked out the Juke's cabin, my thought was, "I'm not sure if all that metal-look trim on the center console is the most practical idea."
Seemed like the trim — which, says Nissan, was inspired by, of all things, a motorcycle's gas tank — would be prone to scratches. And guess what, it looks like the whole situation is indeed scratch-prone. Spotted a scrape during my time in the car last night. It's more obvious in person than it is in this photograph.
Sometimes those design peeps need to take a long, hard look at functionality before they go traipsing down the road less traveled. I wonder what that console will look like by the end of the test?
I finally saw another Nissan Juke on the road. What do you think of it in black? Have you seen any out and about?
It could happen. You buy a Nissan Juke because you love it and then the stork makes an unexpected appearance at your door. Just because you might not buy a Juke as a family car doesn't mean it will never ever ever do duty as such. (My husband and I had two Civic coupes when we had our first kid 5 years ago, and we still have one of the coupes even though we now have two life obstacles, I mean, adorable munchkins).
Technically, the seat fits back here. It's not touching the back of the front passenger seat in this shot.
So, how would life as a front passenger be in a Juke with a rear-facing child safety seat? Bounce with me to the jump to find out...
In a word, cramped. I measured the space between the seat cushion and the dashboard: 6 inches. I also sat there. I'm 5"8'. My knees and shins were firmly wedged against the glovebox.
Now you could sit in the back with the baby, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recently changed the recommendations on how long to keep a baby rear-facing, upping it from one year to two years. Those two years of your kid's life will seem to be gone in a flash. The time in the back seat? Not so much.
I've been wondering what the kids (well, kids compared to me anyway) think of the Juke. So...just an informal poll here for you guys and gals.
But please, despite how young you may look and/or feel, only respond if you're 18 to 24 years old ; )
a) Do you think the Juke's styling is OMG ugly, funky cool, or arrestingly handsome?
b) Have you driven a Juke?
c) If you've driven it, would you consider buying a Juke?
d) What other car(s) would you consider in the $20,000 to $25,000 price range?
The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) released data on a number of small cars that got "Top Safety Pick" by their team of crash testers and amongst them was the 2011 Nissan Juke.
To win the Top Safety Pick designation, a car needs to get a good rating in front, side, rear and rollover protection and have stability control — as optional . Stability control in the Juke is standard.
There's a video after the jump provided by the IIHS. Juke crashes at around the 0:08 second mark.
Not a huge fan of the Juke's interior door handles. They're awkward to hold and their design causes them to feel a bit uncomfortable in my hands when they're being used.
As you can see, the handles are flat in places and have edges. I think a more rounded, tubular design would fit in the hand in a more natural way.
This obviously isn't a huge issue. Still, it's one I'm reminded of each time I exit the car.
Now that's a well-placed, well-sized hazard button in the Nissan Juke. Off on its own, up high, nice and large.
Which is probably of little concern to most, but when you live in an area where the traffic goes from 80 mph to a dead stop, back to 80, then back to a dead stop quicker than you can say "Southern California drivers truly suck," well, you'd understand why it's utterly important to be able to find the hazards quickly and easily.
As someone who has been rear-ended twice, so to speak, in test cars, I've learned to reach for those flashers to warn the person bearing down on me that traffic is completely stopped; you never know if they are actually paying attention. More usually they're texting, checking e-mail, talking on the phone, putting on makeup, shaving...basically anything they can possibly find to keep them from, you know, concentrating on their driving.
So yeah, thanks Nissan for an easy-to-find hazard button in the Juke.
Temporarily forgetting about the Juke's styling, it's time to address its usefulness as an everyday vehicle. For me, one of the first questions I ask is: "Will I be able to fit my mountain bike in there this weekend?"
I mean, the Juke is pretty dang tiny. I actually wasn't 100-percent sure.
Yep, it can be done, and without taking the rear wheel off or lowering/removing the bike's seat. Obviously the Juke's hatchback and folding rear seats help greatly here.
Although it wasn't that hard to stuff the bike in, it did require moving the front passenger seat fairly far forward; the driver's seat, too. And I couldn't recline the seatback quite as far as I would've liked, because of the bike's rear wheel. Luckily, my drive was only about a half hour each way, so it was no big deal.
Would I take it again for the weekend? Sure, why not. The bike does fit, and the Juke is kinda fun to drive.
It has been noted several times here that our long-term 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD is a sporty ride. And some of those mentions were from me.
One feature that contributes to its sporty feeling is the steering wheel.
I love the cross-section's shape, the quality stitching and perforation, and the thumb notches at 9 and 3 o'clock. The diameter is also nearly perfect for me; not too small like on some cars that pretend to be sporty.
Overall, the Juke's steering wheel reminds me of that on the 370Z (bottom pic).
And that's a good thing.
I am not, nor have I ever been a member of the tuner community. Body kits and "go-fast" stickers make me laugh — especially when I lap overly modded cars in whatever stock vehicle I might be driving. Impul, a Japanese tuner, came out with the hideous monstrosity you see above. Personally, I think that rear wing can be classified as a hate crime. The grille isn't as bad, though, and I quite like the dark wheels. But hang on, there's something going on here that's more than skin-deep.
There's a new ECU that promises more power and improved response, an upgraded throttle body, stiffer shocks and springs, better brakes and a stainless exhaust. Okay, I'm intrigued. What do you think? Would you keep it stock or rice this baby out?
Yesterday I explored this issue on our long-term Kia Optima. The problem is balancing the need to place the rear-view camera near the middle of the car vs. the fact that most people are going to search for a hatch/trunk release in the same location.
Here you can see how Nissan handled the problem on the Juke. My hand is on the release.
As you can see, the two share a very small bit of real estate near the middle of the hatch. The camera is offset slightly to the driver's side and Nissan still found room to squeeze in not just a latch release but also an "unlock" button.
So it can be done. And this is one way to do it which preserves the sanity of anyone looking for a release where intuition tells them to.
Brought the Nissan Juke home this weekend because the son of a friend of mine is thinking about one.
Predictably a big hit. Looks great. Drives better than any other small thing from Nissan. And it is so the opposite of what the Honda CR-V is about.
But it makes me wonder why it’s okay to like the Juke – which is basically a sport-ute slimmed down to a coupe-style package — and yet we fear and despise grow-up Jukes like the Acura ZDX and BMW X6?
It’s as if the word “sport-utility” triggers associations with massive Suburbans of the distant past, packed to the roof with seven people and all the paraphernalia of a summer vacation, plus pulling a boat besides.
What is the obsession we have with the back seat – a place where no one wants to sit no matter how big it is? After all, does anyone wring their hands over a coupe like the Dodge Challenger, which is as big as a school bus but can’t really carry anyone in the back seat whose age exceeds their hat size?
Can a crossover utility vehicle be about all-wheel drive, enhanced cargo utility and useful towing capacity without having a back seat? Can it be about grown-ups instead of a family vacation to grandma’s? Can it be about combining sporting driving enjoyment with utility features rather than just rear-seat headroom?
The Nissan Juke tells us that it can.
So I brought the Nissan Juke to the neighborhood and the guy up the street who knows a little something about cars asks me, "Is that a Kia?"
This is no diss to the wacky guys at Nissan who designed the Juke (if indeed their design studio is even on this planet). As much as we make jokes about the Juke's cartoon-like resemblance to an atomic frog, we all like it.
Instead it's a surprising recognition that it is Kia and Hyundai that have become known for design experimentation, not the Japanese labels. Just think of the way the car world has changed so that Kia would come up in a casual discussion about car design with an everyday American.
The controls in our Nissan Juke feel cheap. What that means is, the plastic feels flimsy and lightweight, and the knobs feel loose and indecisive when you turn them.
A few years ago, it was a given that cheap cars like the Juke felt cheap inside and out. But these days, with so many refined choices available on the affordable end of the price spectrum, expectations aren't nearly as low.
Nissan has made it clear that the Juke is aimed at a youth market. Maybe they figure kids don't like nice things.
Is it just me or does this Nissan's navi system's position indicator seem inspired by the Stealth Fighter? No? Well, if nothing else my observation allowed me to share with you one of the coolest aircraft ever made. On a more serious note...
...the navi's nearly-delta-winged icon works just fine and some folks may prefer its easier seen, broader wingspan to the typical slimmer arrowheads seen on most systems. I do have mixed feelings over how the navi shows street names — they are displayed horizontally with a small check mark underneath indicating the actual street. At first, this may seem odd, but once you acclimate to this method it seems to make more sense than showing street names parallel to the streets themselves, which can make for head-tilting reading.
Ever wonder what the Juke would look like done up (apart from matte versus shiny black) in Porsche 911 GT3 RS-inspired livery? Neither did we, but follow the jump if you're wondering now...
Saw this on the Juke Forums site. What do y'all think? Cool or Ewww?
I used the Juke's cargo area quite a bit this weekend. When I got back into the driver seat, there was a warning light on the dash that said a door wasn't closed properly. And I had to get out and open and close the hatch again.
The warning light doesn't tell you which door is ajar. It was showing a door open on the left of the car. But since I had never opened the left rear door and had just closed the driver door, I knew it must be the trunk.
This also happened at the car wash today. When I got in the car after the wash, the warning light was lit again. So, it's not just me and my closing skills. The car washer had the same issue.
I wonder if it has anything to do with the rubber trim at the bottom center of the photo. See how it is not meeting properly.
What fun things are people doing with the 2011 Nissan Juke? Last week during the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Nissan wanted to set a new record so, since driving a Leaf at 90 mph in reverse on the Goodwood course was deemed too risky, the carmaker had stunt driver Terry Grant break the record for "fastest four-wheeled machine to climb the entire course on two wheels"! He did it effortlessly in the Nissan Juke, circling the track in 2 minutes and 55 seconds and claiming the Guinness World Record. And this Juke wasn't tweaked for this stunt, unless you count its new Yokohama production tires.
Hit the jump to see the video of Grant cruising by on two wheels. Fun!
But how did they get the Juke on two wheels in the first place? They set the Juke up on a ramp before the start line and before the first corner, a 90-degree turn. (carpages.co.uk)
With apologies to the Surfaris, (dig this groovy video, man) there's one thing about the Juke that's really annoying — the center display's washout in direct sunlight. Granted, the Nissan isn't the only car to be plagued by this, but it seems to happen more often and with greater, ummm, effectiveness. Perhaps having the display more vertically oriented or even reverse canted (angled so the bottom edge is more rearward than the top) would help matters.
The other day, I started to realize that weird cars hold a special place in my psyche. And the Juke is one of those weird cars. Follow the jump to see what I'm talking about.
Subaru Brat: Every now and then (most of the time, actually) when I was in elementary school, I'd stare out the window and daydream about cars. I'd sketch them on any surface I had in front of me, much the the annoyance of my teachers. Then this weird pickup thing passed by. "What the heck was that?"
I furiously scribbled it down before the memory of it faded. Then later that week I saw it parked on the street. I saw these super cool plastic seats in the bed, facing backwards with grab handles on each side. It reminded me of an amusement park ride and I instantly fell in love with the Brat, and they still make me smile when I see one.
Subaru SVX: This car came around when I made a push to make a living out of vehicles. It was around the time I was in art school, learning to design cars. When I first saw it, I thought it was the shape of the future and way ahead of its time. Then I found out that it was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and ItalDesign. Giugiaro had already cemented his place in my heart with designs that became the Lotus Esprit, Alfa Romeo Giulias, BMW M1 and VW Scirocco. I almost bought one, but opted for a 1995 Mustang GT Convertible, instead.
Citroen SM: I saw this bizarre creation when I was in 4th grade. It was sitting in the shade in a local park and it stopped me cold in my tracks. What got me were the plastic coverings on the headlights and nose, where more traditional cars of the era had big metal grilles. Then there were the enclosed rear wheels. For the next year or so, every car I doodled had curved plastic noses and wheel spats. Today, I just think it's ugly, but in a fun nostalgic way.
What do you think? What cars are on your "weird" list?
I'm not sure why this simple USB/aux jack pod appeals to me. Some complain that it looks added on at the last minute. Others don't like its placement so low in the dash.
Me? I like the fact that it's easily accessible yet doesn't take up room any room on the dash.
The Juke center console is already packed with buttons and controls, the last thing it needed was another feature jammed in there. And as clean as it looks to have USB jacks like this buried in the center console, it's just plain easier to have it right out in front where you can see it. Seems like a simple solution to an issue that other cars often get wrong.
I like front center armrests, whether you're on a long freeway cruise or slogging through stop-and-go rush "hour" traffic, sometimes it's nice to just be able to plop your right arm down. As long as they're the right size and height, I don't care whether the armrest is the center console lid- or the flip-down type. Some small cars (such as a Mini Cooper and Fiat 500) offer the latter, as they don't have the space in their small cabins for a large covered console bin.
On the Juke Forums, I've noticed that more than a few owners/potential buyers have stated that they'd like Nissan to offer one for the Juke. But after checking out Nissan's options/accessories for the U.S. market Juke, it looks like no dice.
Doing a little digging, I found two. On eBay, there's a leather one that's an official Nissan accessory in the U.K. Little info is provided, but it appears to be the flip-down style. The price is 69 pounds, or about $113 U.S.D. The photo above is of a cloth-covered version.
And then there's another one (also located in the U.K.) that looks like it drops into the shallow open bin located towards the rear of the Juke's center console. It costs anywhere from 80 to 90 pounds (about $131 to $147 U.S.D.).
Have any of you Juke owners out there checked out and/or installed a center armrest for your ride?
Spotted this license plate on the way in today while driving our 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD. It would have been more fitting on an M3 or a white VW GTI but still one of the best (funniest) "I like to go fast" vanity plates I've seen.
By the way, I'm currently in the middle of a move and for some reason (brain fart) picked the Juke as my supplemental moving vehicle to transport the odds and ends that I didn't want the movers to deal with, like potted plants, picture frames and liquor bottles. I completely forgot about editor James Riswick's post about its small trunk and its current annoying problem with trunk closure. I don't know how many times I've had to pull over to re-slam the trunk lid. I already feel like I'm doing it too hard but apparently not hard enough. Argh. I don't want to break the car. Anyway, Donna speculated it might be because the rubber trim isn't meeting properly while editor JayKav said it might be that "the striker plate is too far inboard and the weatherstripping is acting like a spring." In any case, nope, we didn't get it fixed yet.
There's user error, there's unfriendly design and there's fitful fitment. My problem this morning with the Juke's hatch might have had a helping of each.
As Jason and Donna have noted, the Juke's hatch needs a mighty slam to close completely. I apparently didn't whap it hard enough this morning, so I was rewarded with the non-specific "door ajar" light. I got out and pressed the rubberized button that (I thought) was the latch release. The hatch wouldn't open. But it wasn't completely closed, either. It was locked in limbo.
Mike Schmidt has been keeping an eye on the hatch problem, which appears to be an intermittent issue. He'd noted it on the sign-out sheet, but I didn't think much about it. Just my luck, I thought this morning, that it would go 100 percent failure on my watch.
The locked-but-not-closed hatch didn't seem to be going anywhere, however, so I drove to the office, "ajar" light glaring and hatch rattling. I was concerned that the Juke would hit a rough patch of road just right and send the hatch flying open. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
Given the previous complaints, Schmidt came downstairs to look over the Juke with me. And here's where user error comes in: The button I'd been pressing to release the hatch was actually the lock. Lock=round button. Release=rectangular bar next to it. I'd apparently locked the hatch into its partially closed position.
I'll take my lumps for being a lock/release dummkopf — let the catcalls begin. But I fault Nissan for user-unfriendly lock-and-release placement and the excessive effort it takes to close the damn hatch in the first place.
Not sure what it is just yet, but I still find the Juke strangely satisfying to drive. I say strange because it doesn't have any of the hallmarks of a typical sportscar.
It's not a particularly fast, it doesn't sound cool and it has a CVT. In other words, on paper it's a dud.
On the road, though, it's another story. The Juke feels light, tossable and plenty quick. There's something about the way you sit up a little higher combined with the view over the hood that makes it feel more capable even if it's not. The idea of the Juke as a mild, street legal rally car isn't all that far off.
I have a feeling that any off road excursions would result in some bent metal on this lightweight, but it's the idea that often counts more than the actual follow through.
There's a neighborhood in Long Beach, California called Naples, built on a series of islands located in the Alamitos Bay. Naples consists of three separate islands, divided by canals (complete with gondolas for hire) which open into the bay. There you can find an astounding number of different styles of architecture all within a half-mile, old craftsmans snuggled next to glassy ultra-moderns.
Oddly reminds me of the Nissan Juke. All those smooth, straight and curvy lines, all wrapped up into one interesting melting-pot design.
I'd wanted to climb Telescope Peak, overlooking Death Valley, for years but was stopped by warnings that the last 10 miles to the trailhead required a vehicle with high clearance. The 2011 Nissan Juke SL certainly fits that description so I headed up there Saturday morning with two hiking buddies. What I didn't know was that a week ago that area was hit by a severe thunderstorm and the road was deeply rutted and almost washed out in sections.
It was a strange experience because, between the 1.6 liter engine, the turbocharger and the CVT, I never knew what I was going to get when I put my foot on the accelerator. There was no feeling of connection with the road at a time when I needed to be feeling every stone and rut under my wheels. I found myself wishing I was driving my 1987 Dodge Raider which had a manual transmission and a low range.
To be fair, the road was tougher than I expected — more suited for the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor than the Juke — and we did make it to the trailhead at 8,100 feet. The suspension handled the rocks and ruts without bottoming out and the Juke only lost traction once. The problem was the power train. It didn't deliver power predictably. I had noticed the same thing the night before when we climbed to the Mount Whitney Portal at 8,400 feet on pavement. At times it seemed completely out of power.
I did like the way the Juke handled and at highway speeds it felt solid with little wind or road noise in the cabin. The controls take a lot of getting used to and the nav screen is too small. The fuel economy is a disappointment too: the very best figures I got was the run from Lone Pine to Long Beach, 230 miles, during which the Juke delivered 28 mpg in ECO mode with cruise control set at 74 mph.
The road passes these charcoal kilns built back in 1877 but which look like they might have been the home of aliens landing in UFOs.
Here's a view from the summit of the salt lake around Badwater, the lowest point in the U.S.
The Nissan Juke is a surprisingly affordable little thing. It has a lively engine and lots of equipment, but then it's also in fact a little thing. The back seat is crunched and the trunk isn't what you'd call cavernous. As such, I thought I'd take a look at a larger, more practical compact SUV that also offers a value proposition and interesting styling: the Kia Sportage.
I used our long-term Juke SL AWD as a starting point. Though it's not possible to find an apples-to-apples Sportage in terms of equipment, the closest trim level is the EX AWD. That starts at $26,200 with destination versus our Juke's MSRP of $25,890. OK, now the fun begins.
So, here's what the Juke offers that the optionless Sportage does not. The Nissan has leather upholstery, a sunroof, keyless ignition/entry and the compact navigation system. Furthermore, it gets better fuel economy, has more power and is quicker from zero to 60 by more than 2 seconds.
The Sportage gets a telescoping steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control, a front center armrest and a power driver seat. These items are not presently available on the Juke. Of course, the Sportage also gives you a more usable back seat and trunk as well. Now, you can get the Juke's extra items through a pair of options on the Sportage. This results in the price rocketing up to $30,100, though to be fair, you get additional items not found on the Juke like a cooled driver's seat, a panoramic sunroof and an auto-dimming mirror. If you want the turbocharged four-cylinder, that'll bump up the price to $32,200.
Now, should you want to compare the Juke to something a little closer to home, a Rogue SV AWD starts at $24,710 and when optioned to almost identical levels as our Juke, it costs $28,610. It too would be bigger, but also slower (and not as distinct looking).
So, which would you buy? Frankly, I think the Juke makes a pretty compelling case for itself in terms of value, but does its advantages outweigh the Sportage's or Rogue's?
“What is it?” Jim Poste asks me. “You can’t tell if it’s coming or going.” This is the usual smart remark about the Juke, only it has some irony since it comes from a guy who has owned so many Porsche 911s, a car that you really can’t tell if it’s coming or going.
Everyone is eager to diss the Atomic Frog, our 2011 Nissan Juke. It took me a long time to get it what it's about, but finally enlightenment came to me when I thought of Shiro Nakamura, Nissan’s chief designer.
Because it was Shiro Nakamura who brought us the Isuzu VehiCROSS.
I remember driving that first VehiCROSS in 1999, when Isuzu brought it to the U.S. Derived from a 1993 concept shown at the Tokyo auto show, it came to production in Japan in 1997. It combined the basic hardware of the Isuzu Trooper with a cool BorgWarner all-wheel-drive system that vectored torque to all four wheels based on inputs from a dozen sensors (a big number in those days).
Isuzu hoped the VehiCROSS would support its aspirations in the Paris-Dakar rally raid, but as I discovered on Glendora Mountain Road (with Nakamura in the passenger seat and urging me on), it was actually better on asphalt, sliding through the corners like an angry although oversized rally car. As I told Nakamura, this was an SUV turned into a sports car.
But it’s hard to be first. The VehiCROSS was a spectacular flop, dissed by the usual narrow-minded observers in the automotive media who hated sport-utilities, couldn’t understand a high-performance sport-utility, and were disoriented by the styling. Only 4,153 were sold when U.S. sales ended in 2001.
Ironically, the BMW X5 also went into production in 1999, and within a few years it morphed into the X5 4.5i, an SUV sports car with big tires and lots of horsepower that prepared the way for the hot-rod Audi Q7, Infiniti FX45 and Porsche Cayenne. They all made it big, but they were actually just following in the VehiCROSS’s tracks.
Satomi Murayama developed the design in Isuzu’s European design studio with a group of British designers, but Nakamura (educated at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calfornia) championed the design. And apparently Nakamura's same willingness to be different came into play again with the Nissan Juke, a design from Nissan’s design studio in London that led to the Qazana concept car for the 2009 Geneva show.
Nakamura has just published a book about about design in Japan, Stories About Shapes in Japanese Cars. He notes, "I think design is becoming much more complex, not as simple as just making a nice-looking car, so I really want the young people to open your eyes and try to be, or should be, much more interested — with more curiosity. You must have curiosity for everything. Curiosity is the power of creation."
Personally I like the Juke because it doesn’t look like a shopping basket. It drives a bit like a rally car, too. Let’s hope it meets a better fate than the VehiCROSS.
Ten thousand twelve miles. We're supposed to photograph odometers at major milestones, like this one, on the dot. But this is how I stick it to the man. Take that, man.
Actually, I missed the all important mileage mark because I was stuck behind a slower car. Click ahead to see what caused the holdup.
The Ferrari 360 spent about 5 minutes holding hands on the freeway with the 308, no doubt admiring their cars' red paint and the chrome ponies glued to their trunks. All the while, driving 55 in a 70.
What a stroke.
Nissan revealed a new special edition Juke for the Euro market, and after reading some of the comments on the news story, I was interested to see owners still defending the Juke's styling. There was even an Aztek comparison.
Yes, it's different, but Aztek?
No waffling on whether or not I like the Juke. I do. Not quite enough to buy one, but not because of any serious flaws. Just not my preference. Otherwise, the Juke is a fun, whippy downtown car that looks bizarre and can snag a tight parking space without fuss.
But I'm not ambivalent about the door's waffle-cloth armrest material. Probably seemed like a hip idea at the time, but when wearing a short-sleeve shirt, it's just scratchy elbow sandpaper. There's gotta be some kind of Sanrio covering we can buy for this.
"Warning. Film may cling to nose and mouth and prevent breathing."
It looked to be the size of a grocery bag when I picked it up, but when I pulled over two hours later for gas, I found out it was a just a little bigger than that. I hoped it might help the aero a little bit but according to my calculations, it did absolutely nothing to help the Juke's morbid highway fuel economy - more on that later.
Where was I going, you ask? I was on my way to Monterey (sick of the road trip to Monterey posts yet?) for the weekend to cover some of the events and let you guys see some of what goes on up there.
In order to preserve the environment, several communities in Southern California have recently banned grocery stores from supplying plastic shopping bags. Some places also instituted a ten-cent charge for a paper bag. That means that shoppers now have one more thing to schlep around in our cars.
I'm a big believer in keeping a tidy car interior, lest I become that person who drives around in what looks like a recycling center. I don't like the idea of having bags flopping around on the back seat or in the trunk — particularly in a hatchback. So I scouted the Juke for places in which I'd store a collection of grocery bags if this car were my everyday driver.
The front-door pockets are the first logical place for bag storage, but in real life, they'd probably fill up with an antique CD or two, tissue packets, a change pouch and maybe an old-fangled map. Three folded bags also would also fit in the glove compartment — until the service records took over.
After more inspection, I decided that the perfect place would be the three niches under the lift-up trunk floor. I don't know what they're really meant for, but they make great grocery-bag caddies.
Takahashi decided that he wanted to learn how to throw a baseball properly so he enlisted myself, Kurt Niebuhr and veteran LT blog guest star Chris Mehl to help him cross that particular activity off his bucket list. There was a slight problem, though: The biggest car in the group was my ride, the Juke. Not ideal, but this is the stuff blog posts are made for.
As the shorter members of the team, Niebs and Takahashi rode in the back and immediately declared that it wasn't that bad back there. They found a surprising amount of legroom. Of course, that was because Chris and I had got in first to move our seats up. His legs were up against the dash and mine were at a less-than-ideal position for comfortable driving. It was practically a flashback to my MarkIV Jetta days.
In the end, the Juke did just fine for transporting four guys of above-average height for a short distance to a baseball field and then on to lunch. It would not have been a viable choice for a longer journey, such as our last group adventure. As for Takahashi, he still needs to work on his throwing form, but as it turns out, the "kid" can hit.
Second baseman Mark Takahashi
Coach Niebuhr hits fly balls at Mehl in the outfield
While the rest of the team takes a moderately deserved breather in the dugout, the Mehl Man stands prepared for anything in center.
Because of its short overall length, you would think that our long-term 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD would be easy to park. And for the most part, it is. However, it's hard to tell where the front end of the car is when parallel parking due to the pontoon-like front fenders. With the Juke's front visibility, I have difficulty figuring out where the corners of the car are.
And on top of that, it's just plain weird to see the marker lights — which really look like headlights — when you gaze out over the hood and the fenders.
After the baseball clinic on Sunday, we all piled into the Juke to hit a Canadian-themed diner near Redondo Beach. While there was quite a bit of snickering about four dudes in a Juke, I got a bigger kick out of this PT Cruiser that parked next to us.
Yes, that's right. Not only is it gold, but it's a tri-tone gold, black and red. Why? Why would anyone do this? Honestly, I couldn't photoshop anything worse than this. Apologies if I ruined your appetite, carry on.
So I thought I would spend a relaxing evening RTFMing with the Juke. Imagine my surprise when I opened the glovebox and found this little contraption. It's made partially of leather, or a reasonably facsimile of leather, and a few springy straps, all designed to keep the manuals from flying about the cabin.
Good thing too, as there are many of them. There's the main owner's manual, the navigation system manual, the maintenance booklet, the printed quick reference guide, the quick reference guide on DVD, the addendum to the owner's manual and the service guide. I got about 10 pages into the first one before dozing off.
Thankfully, the handy holder is removable, and it even has Velcro strips on the back so you can stick it to the carpet or maybe the headliner if you prefer. In a world where most owner's manuals are merely tossed in a plastic pouch, this is quite nice for a relatively inexpensive car.
There's one thing I'd like to see added to our Nissan Juke: a cargo cover. I don't like having my stuff out in the open, especially when that stuff is expensive (camera bags, the spoils of shopping, Faberge eggs, you get the idea).
The tinted glass helps a little, but once you're next to the hatch, you can easily see what's inside. It would also help me get my boxes of popsicles and family-sized KitKat bars home without arriving partially melted. Nissan offers one for $135, but from the picture shown here, it doesn't look as easy to use as the conventional covers that operate like roller blinds.
Does anybody out there have one? Does it work well?
The trend these days is toward panoramic sunroofs that are big enough to leave you feeling as if you're driving with the top down. Even compact cars like our Outlander Sport have gotten in on the action.
Though the Juke is (painfully) trendy in certain respects, this is one trend that it hasn't embraced. With this Nissan's sunroof you get a standard-sized slab of glass that's no bigger than you'd expect — a panoramic sunroof isn't available.
I love oversized sunroofs, but the Juke's doesn't leave me feeling shortchanged. Given that its cabin is so small, the car's standard-sized sunroof is more than up to the task of giving the interior an airy feel.
How about you? Is a panoramic sunroof a feature you look for in a vehicle?
As that elderly Japanese fellow said back in the '90s, dogs love trucks ... or whatever the hell the Juke is. Actually, I can't really tell if Maggie loved the Juke. Certainly not as much as she likes convertibles, but she seemed content enough chilling in the back seat. OK, I really just wanted to throw a picture of my dog on the blog. Hey, that rhymed.
Actually, this was one of the last times I'll have to use my bootleg dog-securing method (dog harness + carabiner + dog collar looped around a locked seat belt, not pictured). I just received Maggie's new dog car seat yesterday (photo after the jump) , so expect copious posts about that in the future. Oh boy!
I didn't drive our long-term Juke anywhere this weekend. It sat in front of my house looking forlorn, so I promised we'd get Primo's doughnuts today to make up for it.
It's not my fault the Juke can't eat doughnuts.
I commute more than 100 miles every time I drive to the office and back. It's a haul. As a result, and because I'm becoming a sissy in my old age, I find myself gravitating toward the easiest cars to drive in traffic.
Combine that with my four-strong family and I too often shy away from the smaller cars in the fleet. But I really like the Juke. And that favor starts with the seats.
These buckets, for me, offer a perfect balance of comfort and support in a bizarre machine like this. No, they're not cloth so drive too aggressively and you'll need to hold yourself in place. But this isn't a car so lateral loading is limited. And there's enough bolstering to keep me in place when I find the rare unclogged on-ramp. Plus, the leather is holding up well. This is the outermost bolster on the driver's side where our butts rub every time we climb in or out. And it's looking virtually new at more than 11,000 miles.
Also, and I've said this before, the Juke is actually fun to drive. I drive it infrequently enough to forget this between visits. It's not underpowered, has reasonably quick steering and decent spring and damping rates. There's even some ground clearance. In fact, this thing is probably really fun in the dirt. Which gives me an idea...
When I moved out here (L.A.) from the east coast, I expected smooth roads given the temperate climate and all. Back in New England, an annual bumper crop of potholes and frost heaves is a right of spring. Temps there can range from sub-zero in winter to triple digits in summer. Throw rain, sleet and snow into the mix and you've got a recipe for asphalt upheaval.
Yet the roads out here in L.A. (I'm looking at you Pico and La Cienega) are just as bad if not worse than some of New England's finest. Perhaps the state not having two nickels to rub together has something to do with it.
But the Juke takes all the bumps and ruts in stride, absorbing them without a shudder. And thanks to its minimal front overhang, it doesn't require you to take deep dips (seen around some intersections here) at a 45-degree angle to avoid scraping its chin. Those attributes, along with its sprightly nature and compact dimensions (which make getting around inattentive traffic zombies and parking much easier) make the Juke one of my top picks for an Urban Assault Vehicle.
I took our Nissan Juke to get a minor service today. When the service advisor ran the Juke's VIN, he noticed that it was subject to a recall. I turned up this information after a bit of searching in the Juke owners' forum:
"Nissan has determined that some model year 2011 Juke vehicles manufactured through December 13, 2010 are equipped with an improperly functioning on-board diagnostics (OBD) system that may illuminate a Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) when a malfunction does not exist. To remedy this condition, Nissan is conducting a Voluntary Service Campaign to reprogram the Engine Control Module (ECM) at no charge for parts or labor."
The MIL light is the "Service Engine Soon" message you see in the above photo. This is the first time I have seen a warning light like this. "Service engine soon" seems more like a maintenance reminder to me. I prefer the more obvious "Check Engine" light or the word "Check" within the outline of an engine light.
Which "check engine" light makes the most sense to you?
Total Cost: $81.65
Days out of service: 0
The EPA says our AWD 2011 Nissan Juke earns 27 combined mpg (see above). The four people using its "Your MPG" tool earn 24.5 mpg combined. Our experience, well, our experience is a little different.
In fact, a quick look back at our most recent fuel economy update shows the Juke earning a combined 22.4 mpg — 4.6 mpg lower than the EPA combined rating. That's not insignificant. Nor, apparently, are our editor's right feet.
Here's the deal: I like driving the Juke because if you keep your foot in it (keep it on boost) it makes adequate power. Drive it off boost and, well, it drives like a 1.6-liter normally aspirated car that weighs 3,200 pounds. And it's slow.
So if you want to have some fun in your Juke, plan on buying more fuel.
This, apparently, is a Nissan thing. Perhaps you remember a similarly sticky situation in our long-term Infiniti M56. In that car the manual is huge and would consume the entire glove box. The Juke, however, has a smaller owner's manual and a larger glove box.
Still, it's nice to have the option should you want to maximize storage space in the glove box.
Last weekend we took the Juke Challenge. You know, we challenged the possibility that this tiny Versa-based crossover can get a family of four through a weekend without anyone getting hurt or losing their mind.
This one didn't care in the slightest.
And short of it being a tight squeeze between the B-pillar and rear seat, she fit just fine.
On the other side, however, things weren't so comfortable. I'm 5'9" and had to move the driver's seat forward a fair bit to accommodate the rear-facing infant seat. Wouldn't want to drive like this for very long.
But we made it work.
Here's a picture of the giant purple GMC motorhome I saw on the 5 freeway this morning. This guy looked at the Juke like I was the one driving the funny car, which seemed mildly ironic.
That's all I have to say about that.
Our long-term 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD is fun to drive — we've said it a million times. We've also said that a few of the interior bits, particularly the radio, don't convey the greatest quality.
So it's not too surprising that when I rolled into the office garage this morning and turned off the radio I heard the driver's seat creaking.
We'll try to have this looked at during its next service. But I doubt they'll be able to do anything.
In my experience, I've never been able to have a dealer successfully fix a creaking seat.
How about you? Any luck with that?
Nissan is an innovative and efficient company. This is embodied by the groundbreaking Nissan Leaf EV, and our long-term 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD.
Maybe you've seen this one already. In another one of my Friday out of left field posts, Nissan was so concerned about efficiency that they designed their own cargo ship.
The awkwardly named City of St Petersburg has a semi-spherical prow which reduces wind resistance and increases fuel-efficiency. It also makes this thing look like a space ship out of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Hit the jump for the interesting video.
A couple nights ago, I took our long-term Nissan Juke out for 10 miles of errands in West L.A. I always forget how much fun this tiny crossover-hatch can be when you're just running around the city. Throttle response is kind of lively, the electric power steering feels quick and the little car likes to change direction.
Another thing I like about the Juke and it's a little thing, is that while you're driving along, you can always see the crescent-shaped auxiliary lighting units that house the turn signals and parking lights. So, you get to enjoy these design elements while your inside the car. This reminds me of driving the G37 coupe and M37/M56, as I've always liked that you can see the curvy hood contours on these cars from the driver seat.
Our longterm 2011 Nissan Juke's high-bustle cargo area got me curious — why such a tall floor in such a little kumquat of a car? (Excuse the bits of detritus in the cargo area; the lead pic was taken pre-wash)
And you know what happens when my curiosity is stoked — stuff gets taken apart.
Hey, look at that — a real life (temporary use / donut) spare tire. I thought these were pretty much extinct. These days, it's hard to find a new car that packs anything more than a little air compressor and a can of goo. A bit of sealant won't help you if you've got a particularly nasty puncture.
Then again, when was the last time you checked the inflation pressure of your spare?
Did some scouting yesterday for an upcoming feature story/video in the Juke. Both the story and the scouting are a good excuse to get this car in the dirt. And, unlike Phil's experience, which consisted of more serious off-roading, I came away impressed.
Turns out, this ugly little pug really gets with it on a smooth gravel road, It doesn't like rocks, but when it comes to blasting around on roads with minimal grip, the Juke is surprisingly rewarding to drive. Sure, there's no way to launch it hard thanks to the CVT, but launching isn't everything. Once up to speed there's enough control over the power delivery to effectively manage the Juke's cornering attitude — which is happily tail out if you drive it right.
Largely, this is because of the Juke's high-tech AWD system, which is designed to minimize understeer.
Drive it hard for too long and the CVT will overheat and you'll be relegated to lower power output until things cool down — something I've experienced with other Nissan CVTs. But there's enough heat capacity that you can have some fun before the self protection demands a cool down. A few minutes of easy driving or idling returns things to normal.
Give this thing a manual transmission (only available with 2WD models) and it would be blindingly quick in the gravel. Stay tuned in the next few weeks for an ironic test involving the Juke and a slightly older, slightly uglier
Nissan
Datsun.
A couple of days ago, Nissan announced something pretty exciting: the Juke-R, a GT-R-powered Juke! I want one! Our 2011 Nissan Juke is already fun to drive so I can only imagine what an absolute blast it would be with that 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6. Pair that nimble handling with 520 horsepower? Trouble! But the good kind.
Unfortunately they say that this isn't actually for production but a one-off. Bew! It's really cool but what's the point of not making more? I mean, come on look how much fun we had with our long-term GT-R.
I fired the gardener. As a result, my lawn was becoming over grown and the yard just looked terrible. I had no gardening implements other than a rake, so I resorted to borrowing a push mower and trimmer from a coworker.
When I picked up the gear, I did so in our Fotovan. Plenty of room to swallow up the gear with my dog comfortably resting in the second row. But when I returned it, I was in the Juke. With the dog. Yikes.
The Juke is small, but I don't think anyone had airs about the dimensions of the vehicle. I folded down the second row and moved my dog to the front seat (safely secured) lest he get tangled/chopped in the mower. The mower barely fit, but barely is just enough to get the job done.
While I dig driving the Juke, this kind of situation does illustrate why it couldn't be an SUV for me. I do stuff that requires more space than I get in the Juke. 10.5 square feet with the seats in place and 35.9 with the second row folded is shy of my personal mark. In this price range, I think I'd look to a Sorento, a RAV4 or a CR-V. All have a cargo capacity (seats in place) that is nearly equal to the maximum capacity of the Juke.
The Juke is a blast to drive. But for me, I'd want an SUV not only for it's fun nature, but also for capacity to carry in additional to a number of other qualities. Barely enough, in this instance, is not enough.
My dad was a clean freak. He had three rules when it came to cars:
1) No dogs
2) No sand
3) No eating
I broke his three rules in one go this past weekend.
Los Angeles county allows dogs off leash at one beach and my dog loves to swim. If he doesn't get enough exercise, he'll drive us nuts at night. A happy dog is a tired dog. After dropping off the gardening gear at my coworkers house, I headed south to Long Beach.
After two hours running and swimming, I rinsed him off in the public showers, placed a multilayer blanket/towel sand barrier in the back and secured him with a seat belt harness for safety. After stopping off to grab some tacos, I rolled north. My dog slept most of the way back so I hoped any sand that remained on him would be kept in one place.
When I got back home, I learned why my dad those rules. First, there was a blob of hot sauce on the front seats. Dog hair had gotten into the fabric of the cargo area and then there was the sand. The stuff is insidious. I spent about 45 minutes vacuuming out the nooks 'n crannies the sand seemed to thrive in. The hair took 10 sheets of a sticky roller to get out. I'm glad I took my dog to the beach but what a pain in the butt!
Pops and I didn't always see eye to eye. But his rules on this matter I think are going to stay in place for the time being. I say that because if I get an SUV, I'd have to get one of those heavy duty rubber mats for the cargo area that's lipped to keep water and sand in place. Hopefully.
Do you have these rules or do you let the dog run the show? How do you keep your vehicle clean?
A lot of folks think the Juke is ugly. I agree with them to a point. It might be funky, but it's different than the sea of vanilla vehicles out there. That counts for something in my book.
When I walked out the house this morning, I was struck by how cool all the angles on the Juke glistened in the morning dew. I had to take a couple shots to share.
There aren't many ways to make Nissan's Juke prettier, This, perhaps, is the only one.
Nope. This is even better.
And it won't be the last time you see these images. I promise. Stay tuned.
It's safe to say our Juke has been a hit with our staff for the eight months or so it's been in the long-term fleet. But I was curious to know if that's translated to popularity with the general public. So I pulled up sales figures for September along with a sampling of other cars.
Nissan Juke - 3,310
Kia Soul - 6,666
Honda Fit - 4,734
Mitsubishi Outlander Sport - 1,512
Scion xB - 1,415
Mini Cooper Countryman - 1,207
Suzuki SX4 - 997
Big picture, 3,000 units isn't very much. But I'd say it's also pretty respectable given the Juke's niche appeal.
Target parking lot last Sunday. Thirty-ish guy, new Detroit Lions hat. (Has the bandwagon started already?) He's getting out of his CR-V.
"How do you like your Juke?" he asks.
I'm a bit taken aback. For the two days prior, nobody seemed to know what it was. But they all seemed to like it. Mostly.
Previous to the Target encounter, I was picking up some BJ's pizza on Friday. I had opted for curb-side delivery. The waiter/runner, after giving me my food, said: "Hey, nice car!"
"Thanks," I said. Pause. Then I waited for it. "Uhh, what is it?"
"A Nissan Juke." I said. Another pause. "Oh. Cool!" he replied back, apparently not knowing what else to say. Still, it was an uncommon compliment for an inexpensive hatchback/crossover thing.
But then there was my wife. I took her out on Saturday night in the Juke for the first time.
"What is this?" she asked as we were driving.
"It's a Juke!" I said, perhaps with a little more enthusiasm than intended.
"A what?" she replied.
"A Juke." She still looked puzzled. "You know, like a fake out," I told her. I struck my best Heisman trophy pose while still in the driver seat.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"What, you don't know what "juke" means?" I said, not bothering to go into why I'm sticking out my arm.
"No. You mean a jukebox?" my wife said. *Sigh.* I grabbed my iPhone and told her to look it up.
"Oh," she said after typing it in. She continued: "It's a football reference. No wonder I didn't know. [Pause] Still, it's a dumb name." OK, that'd be a loss.
Somewhere in the middle of these reactions was the older guy (grandparent age) on Sunday. He saw me pulling up in the Juke at a church event. He didn't quite know what it was, but he said he owned a Versa right now and but was interested in something like the Juke for its higher seating position. (He had recent back surgery and said it's hard for him to get in and out of vehicles. He went on about this for some duration.) I told him he could very well like it.
So there you have it. Just in a few days, the Juke garnered some uncommon attention.
There are many things I like about our Juke. But I do wish it had a telescoping steering wheel. I'm 5-foot 10-inches, but my legs are proportionally long, so I often find myself either adjusting the driver seat for my arms (making my leg positioning too tight) or my legs (arms too far away).
It's not a huge deal. We've had other cars in the fleet over the years (including our current Mustang) with the same issue. But given that almost all new small cars these days have a telescoping wheel, it'd be nice to see one on the Juke, too.
Bullseye. Right in the "O."
Perhaps you remember last week's antics in the dirt. If not, check here to see what I'm talking about. And then let the gloating begin...
Or don't.
Because this didn't happen during the 'fun part' of our gravel dance with the Juke last week. Yes, it did happen in the dirt. At about 15 mph. Driving straight. I put the Juke's right rear tire on top of a small rock instead of driving around it. Turns out, that was a mistake. That particular rock was shaped perfectly to hole the Juke's ultra-soft sidewall Goodyear.
The rear tires, after being rotated from the front, weren't going to make it to 20,000 miles anyway. I spent $45 on a same-size used tire to get home — a safer and more practical option than the space saver. So it looks like we now have solid motivation to replace the Goodyears sooner.
Also, just so you know, with this minor exception — something that could have happened on any pothole in Los Angeles — the Juke fared perfectly. It tracks straight. It makes no funny sounds. And its suspension wasn't injured in the making of those photos (and video, you'll see). In fact, remote guy, Brent Romans, is relying on it as his daily ride this week.
It's styled for styling's sake. It's ugly. Its luggage area is small. There's not a whole lot of rear leg room. It's related to the Cube and Versa. Its fuel economy is nothing special. It has a CVT paired to a turbocharged engine. It's kind of expensive. It rhymes with "puke."
By most measures, I shouldn't like our Juke. But I do. I like it a lot more than our Mini Cooper Countryman and worlds more than our Outlander Sport. It's hard to say why. In many ways the Juke is like a baby Infiniti FX or BMW X6, two compromised vehicles I've never had much affinity for. But the Juke is just fun. I like getting in it every day and driving it. It's nimble around town. Its suspension soaks up broken pavement. It squirts through traffic. It's anything but anonymous. Other people find it interesting.
Whereas most cars today are designed for everybody, the Juke is a genuine rebel. And it doesn't suck.
It was inevitable that our 2011 Nissan Juke would end up in this position. By now you've already seen what we put it through. And you witnessed what Josh's careful aim can do to a sidewall.
We didn't want to put too many miles on the used tire, and the opposing tire was already well-worn, so we changed them both. For two new Goodyear Eagle RS-As we paid $462 including mounting and balancing. The car was out of service for about 30 minutes.
Alright, so you've got a Juke. It's small (it's 15 inches shorter than a 2012 Civic). It weighs just 3,170 pounds. It's got a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. You might think that this would be a good recipe for high fuel economy. But right now our Juke is averaging just 22.3 mpg.
By itself, 22 mpg isn't a terrible number. But compared to the EPA combined estimate of 27 mpg, it's well off the pace of what we're "supposed" to be getting. If you turn that into a percentage, our Juke is only at 85 percent of its EPA target. That's one of the worst figures for our fleet right now. For reference, our Ford Mustang, the king of burnouts and hooligan driving and 3.73 gears, is still at 83 percent of its EPA combined target.
I don't have an explanation for why this is. Some cars in our fleet do really well for matching EPA combined (Mazda 2, Fiat 500 and Jetta). Others don't, like our Juke and Optima (84 percent). Maybe it's a turbo thing. But our Mini Countryman is at 90 percent. Our Volvo S60 is 95 percent.
But if I had to guess, I'd say it's the combination of a few different things. For one, I've noticed with our turbocharged long-term cars over the years that you can get pretty good fuel economy if you stay out of the boost. Our old GTI was like that, too. But because our Juke's turbo 1.6-liter engine just doesn't have much torque on its own, you almost have to have the turbo spooled up in order to get acceptable acceleration.
Actually, this is pretty noticeable when you select the Econ driving mode. Jay once called this the "suck" mode. And it's true. There's a noticeable difference between this mode and the Normal mode when accelerating from a stop. In Econ, the Juke builds rpm a little (maybe to 2,500 or so) and then drops back down in rpm and out of boost pretty quickly for better fuel economy. Press on the throttle and hardly anything happens. In normal mode, the Juke might go to 3,000 and then hold it there longer (all possible because of the CVT). The turbo is up to speed, and it drives just fine. It's even more responsive in the Sport mode, where the throttle adjustment is even more aggressive.
Maybe the EPA ran its test of the Juke in the Econ mode. Maybe everybody in the office is driving our Juke in Sport mode. Maybe we've only done a lot of city driving and no long trips, and that's hurt the car's average. But even when I'm driving our Juke normally (and in Normal mode) I'm only seeing 22 or 23 mpg.
I've probably expended too much thought on this already. I like our Juke, and the positives of snappy acceleration and a fun spirit greatly outweigh mediocre fuel economy. But I suspect the average Juke owner, having bought a little car and seen the official EPA numbers, will be disappointed in his or her actual mileage from real-world driving.
I've done a couple four-hour drives in our Juke. Most of it was highway driving. Following are some observations on how the Juke does on long distances.
On the positive side, the turbocharged 1.6-liter engine and CVT are pretty responsive. It's easy to pass or climb steep grades. The Juke also rides pretty well even though its suspension is tuned to be fairly sporty.
However, I've noticed that wind noise can be distracting. The major culprit seems to be the Juke's big side mirrors that push a lot of air. Then again, our as-tested decibel reading for our Juke at a steady 70 mph is 65.8 db. Our Mazda 2, which is also pretty loud, checked in with 77.1 db. The Fiat 500 is 72.5 db. So maybe I'm just imagining it. The other issues I've noticed are mediocre fuel range (the longest we've ever gone on a tank of fuel is 270 miles, but low 200s is more typical) and iffy comfort at times due to the non-telescoping steering wheel and sun visors.
It's all pretty minor. I wouldn't have a problem taking our Juke cross-country. But it also seems to me that the Juke is best suited for urban driving.
A couple of nights ago I was tasked with having to drive to Placentia in Orange County, some 46 miles and five different freeways away. Might not be a big deal to most but it's a downright PITA when you have to do the drive during rush hour at night, when I swear Angeleno drivers just go on auto-pilot.
When the sign-up car list came my way and I saw that the 2011 Nissan Juke was available, I didn't hesitate to claim it. With its sharp handling, turbocharged engine and automanual shifting, I knew it would make the black-and-red snake of death (aka stopped traffic as depicted on Google Maps) bearable. And I was right. Five freeways? No problem. I especially love using the automanual during stop-and-go traffic.
That wind noise that editor Brent Romans mentioned in his post wasn't that much of an issue to me since I just happily tuned into my fave satellite radio stations.
And another great way to pass the time during stopped traffic? Returning calls via Bluetooth. Loved being able to catch up with my family which helped me not sweat the wall of red taillights so much.
Our 2011 Nissan Juke hit the 15,000-mile mark on Sunday. It's cost us $543.88 so far (for one minor service and one set of tires), and it's had zero days out of service.
We'll let you know how our 15,000-mile check-up goes.
Everything about the Juke is funky. It's just one of those oddballs you never know quite where to place. In just another illustration of its funksauce, the ignition button is fairly well obscured from view by both the steering wheel and the wiper control stalk. Our tallest drivers boosted up high in the Juke seat could probably spot it, but most folks unfamiliar with the Juke might need a second or two to sort it out.
I'd be tempted to call this poor or indifferent design, but it's just another element that makes the Juke unique and somewhat inscrutable.
Is it a crossover? A mini-SUV? A high-riding Versa? Whatever. It's a fun, unique car and the auto industry needs more of them. It's ugly, it's not. It's got a great personality. Personally, the fewer family sedan clones, the better.
But not sure how I feel about the Juke rubbing off on the new Murano and Versa though, the whole big-hipped quarter panels and blistered lamp motifs. I say keep the Juke weird, like Austin. Don't make everything else weird along with it.
Monticello may think the hazard button that's smack-dab in the middle of the Juke's dash is well-paced. But it bothers the heck out of me every time I drive the thing. Seems like such an odd place to put it, and aesthetically it sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.
Sure, the cute ute's cockpit is tight on space. But couldn't Nissan have put in lower in the dash, say, where the poorly placed USB port is located? (Sorry, Ed, but I'd prefer to see it in the center console, where I can more easily store my iPhone in the cubby at the back or in one of the cup holders — and not in that silly slot at the front, where the device can easily slide into the foot well.)
And if you have to live with that eyesore in the center of the dash, I can think of a couple of things that would be a better and more practical fit for the space.
The Juke's Rockford Fosgate system could use a center-channel speaker.
Or even an analog clock would be better in the space.
When you park the Juke in the middle of the night in your driveway and look down on the driver-side armrest for the door unlock button for your passengers (or anything other than the driver-side window switch), this is what you see.
If you ever wondered what it is that car-makers do to save five cents here and two cents there, you have only look down to the driver-side armrest to count the declining number of lighted switches.
You would think that such a small thing would escape notice, but instead you notice it every time you drive the car at night.
Every time.
The next time some product planner tells me such small details make no difference, I’m going to tell him that I’m going to charge him 5 cents for every time I look down into the darkness and fumble for a switch. So over the life of a car, what’s that 5 cents add up to, $1,000?
When you make your car $1,000 cheaper, people are going to notice.
I tried to use the XM Radio in our Nissan Juke last night. It didn't work and the screen told me to check the antenna.
Ok...antenna looks fine? (This photo is simulated. When I actually checked the antenna I did so out of doors so that XM radio would work.)
Every so often the XM Chanel 1, the preview station, would come on. I managed to get a shot of it doing that, but the preview station quickly dies out and the screen just tells me to check the antenna.
The Juke is due for a service appointment soon; we'll add this to the list.
Who knew that kindergarten kids had so much homework?! What happened to a whole year of eating paste and watching bean plants grow in styrofoam cups (if you didn't stuff your bean up your nose)? Ah well, times change.
When you're a kindergarten kid with a toddler brother who is really good at getting into your stuff, you need a real desk, all your own, that the brother can't reach. We didn't have such a thing. But Savior of After-school Sanity Michael Jordan had a desk for me in his garage. A really nice one. Plus, he kindly offered to load it into the Juke and drive it all the way from his house to my house this weekend in the rain. We don't live close. I just won the busy parent jackpot.
Read Michael's notes from the experience (plus see a photo of the disassembled desk in the back of the Juke) after the jump.
Thanks again, Mr. Jordan.
"The Juke's low liftover height makes loading heavy objects much easier, as does the fairly flat load floor. That last detail is a nice surprise, since vehicles with comfy reat seats (like the Juke), often can't also achieve a flat load floor. The thick seat cushion usually creates a big incline.
"Inside, the Juke is long enough for hand-me-down furnishings from/for friends and family, and our SL's standard navigation system helps find your way to their inevitably small/remote/hard-to-find domicile."
(I think he just insulted my house. — BAM)
Here's the short list of things that needed attention on the Juke: a 15,000-mile oil change/service, a diagnosis of the "check antenna" message and non-functional XM satellite radio and a fix of the balky hatch latch. On Friday, I took the Juke to Hooman Nissan of Long Beach, which is, of course, not in Long Beach at all, but in the adjacent car-dealership-friendly town of Signal Hill.
I had planned on walking home after dropping off the Juke, but when I set up the appointment, the service advisor, Kirk, offered me a free loan car. Hooman has its own fleet of 100 rental cars, from which came the 2011 Altima loaner. It came with a full tank of gas, and being a base-trim Altima, not much else. But it was fine for its purpose.
Kirk checked in twice on Friday, once to point out that I hadn't signed up for an extension of XM service, which I knew, and again late in the afternoon to say that while the car might be ready Saturday, it could take until Monday. It all hinged on the availability of a replacement audio/nav unit, which apparently had failed, generating the antenna-check message. I resigned myself to a weekend in the Altima. Kirk said he'd be off Saturday, but told me that Michael, another service advisor, would be in touch if the car was ready.
And lo and behold, Michael called Saturday morning. I had the Juke back by 11 a.m., serviced, repaired, washed and ready for duty.
I opted for what Hooman calls the "Mini" 15,000-mile service for the Juke. It's actually the Nissan recommended service for the interval, sans a change of the cabin air filter. If you want that, you'll find it in the dealership's $373 "Premium" service, which also included a lot of other stuff not called for by the manufacturer. The out-the-door cost for the "Mini" 15,000-mile service was $210.92. The warranty covered the replacement of the audio/nav unit and the hatch's latch-striker adjustment.
I'd go back to Hooman, if the need arose. The service team was professional, personable, stayed in touch and engaged in only one mild upsell effort. Since I didn't hang around, I can't vouch for the popcorn, coffee or doughnuts in the customer waiting room. But I did try out the free WiFi. That's a nice touch if you do wait while a car's being serviced.
I checked in with my brother, an owner of the 2011 Nissan Juke SL, to see if he was still happy with his car purchase. First words he IM'd me? "Yeah, they already are talking about the new Juke-R and it's pissing me off."
OK, he was half kidding about that but he was irritated how fast things get updated and a la Apple products you're left feeling like your car is already out of date. Since tech-savvy bro is one of those types who suffer from gadget-lust, always wanting the newest technology, he's sensitive to this more than most people. "I wish this car could morph into the next model...every year," he went on.
But how awesome would that be if you could update your car as easily as you could update the software in your iPhone or an online video game? (Reflashing aside, which requires a pro to do it.) Maybe one day. As it is, my brother's suggestion for the next Juke remodel? "I wish they put the car driving modes on the wheel so it would be more like playing video games. It sucks to have to look to push for Sport or Normal, but I've gotten used to it."
Judging by the 18.5 mpg his car is getting (EPA average is 27, Edmunds averages 22.3), sounds like he's driving it like he's in a video game. "I've been driving mostly in Sport mode. Only way to get through these streets!"
There are two gorgeous auto-related artifacts at the design show, "Living in a Modern Way," at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art: A 1936 Airstream Clipper trailer and a 1963 Studebaker Avanti. I want them both.
The work of art that caught our eye at the museum last weekend, however, wasn't a car image per se. It was an element of a bronze sculpture installation, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads" by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. But if you look at our Juke from a certain angle, you can see a certain resemblance (hit the jump for the reveal).
As a 2011, the Juke belongs to the Year of the Rabbit. But it sure looks like something from the Year of the Rat to me. Distinctly rodential, but endearing.
There have been some rumblings in the comments about the Juke's downsized, direct-injected turbo engine not living up to its fuel economy estimates. Here's a reason — torque. Turbocharged engines have it. And where there's torque, there's fun.
Exploiting our longterm 2011 Nissan Juke's ability to cut and thrust and squirt past traffic is hard to resist, that's all.
One thing I've noticed about a couple of our long-term test cars is that performance from their rearview cameras is often compromised by rain or cold weather. When the weather turns foul, what you're left with is an image on the display screen that's too vague and foggy to easily discern.
The other night as I was running some errands in the Juke, the rain was coming down at a steady clip and it was cold enough for me to see my breath in the air. Happily, though, the Juke's rearview camera wasn't too badly affected, delivering an image that was clear enough to help me back up with a fair amount of confidence.
How does your car's rearview camera fare in colder weather and rain?
In the past, whenever I've driven the Juke, I've been too busy enjoying its sharp reflexes and playful disposition to notice that its sporty suspension tuning can lead to some bone-rattling times over harsh road surfaces. This past Saturday night was different.
It was rainy out, and the water had settled into ruts and potholes, making it difficult to spot and avoid them as I approached. The Juke's suspension wasn't very forgiving and it put a strain on our relationship. Ouch. Ouch. And ouch.
On the plus side, handling remained poised and secure, despite the slick streets.
Check out what me and our 2011 Nissan Juke spotted on the way to work this morning. A Veloster jacked up on monster truck tires.
Actually it's the Local Motors Rally Fighter, which I didn't know when I shot the photo but when I showed the picture to the boys in the office...well, I never heard such giddy screaming. Editor Takahashi called it the "automotive version of Nutella."
Anyway, you hate on the Juke's looks. What do you think of the Rally Fighter's?
No, I'm not talking about the Nissan Juke's coefficient of drag (which is 0.35, in case you were wondering). I'm referring to the slippery leather covering the Juke's front seats. The seats are comfortable enough and have decent side bolstering, but that doesn't matter too much if the leather is hard and slippy. Side bolsters don't stop you from sliding forward. I find myself having to re-position in this seat more often than usual.
There's nothing wrong with a good quality, soft and supple leather seat, but in the Juke's case I'd much rather have cloth. Warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, you know the story. And cloth definitely holds you in place better.
As has been stated before, the Nissan Juke is a pretty entertaining little vehicle to drive. Truly capable handling via stiff suspension, decent grip from the tires and perky turbo power from the little four-cylinder.
But while I enjoyed my time zinging around in the Juke this past weekend, more than once I found myself wondering: "How good would this thing be with a six-speed manual?"
Unfortunately our all-wheel-drive model can only be had with the continuously variable transmission. In truth it's not bad as far as CVTs go. At least it has a simulated manual shift mode, and it blips the throttle for smooth downshifts. But the lack of a clutch pedal and The Rubberband Effect make it far less engaging than a proper stick.
To me, the Juke's fun-loving nature makes it one of those vehicles that begs to have a manual transmission.
As I walked down to the garage last night to drive the revised 2012 Kia Soul home, I found this sight. "Man, the Soul looks bigger than the Juke," I said to myself. "Yet, the Juke is considered to be an SUVish thing whereas the Soul is considered a hatchbacky Scion competitor. Oh look a penny!"
It had been hard to think of competitors for the Juke given its size and price, but I think I stumbled upon one last night in the Soul. Follow me for some excellent table-age.
Now, for the purposes of this comparison, let's use a front-wheel-drive Juke since the Soul cannot match our long termer's all-wheel drive. Maybe it should, but it doesn't, and consider that a point for Mr. Toad's Mutant Ride.
I also used the top of the line models of both, though the Soul's price advantage is more evident in its base form (prices and standard features below are indicative of the base Soul with an automatic transmission).
As I see it, if you want space and a few extra bucks, buy a Soul. If you want performance and handling, buy the Juke. If you want fuel economy, it would seem to be a wash, but remember what happens when you utilize the Juke's turbo goodness.
As I don't consider the Juke fun enough to actually be called fun, I'd go practical and get the Soul. They made a lot of nice changes for 2012 — more power, better interior materials, more stuff — and I greatly prefer its styling inside and out.
While I was walking in Japan's Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood (which, if you haven't been there, is just what you imagine Tokyo to be like — lots of people, high-rise department stores, ramen diners, pachinko bars, love hotels) at night last week, I saw three red Nissan Jukes in a 15-minute span.
One of them was driven by a 30-ish woman who was semi-aggressively trying to negotiate a gap in pedestrian traffic with her Juke. I couldn't hear if hers was a turbo; Nissan also sells a naturally-aspirated version of the 1.6-liter in Japan. But she was certainly making use of the Juke's tidy dimensions (well, it's not that small by Japan's standards, but still) and sharp handling to get through traffic.
We've enjoyed using our long-term Juke in city traffic, too. Los Angeles is a different kind of city than Tokyo, but evidently, this very compact crossover is more cosmopolitan than I'd realized.
This weekend our long-term Juke survived a bird strike. The bird? Not so much.
It was on the 105 Freeway westbound, not far from LAX. About 75 mph. A bird swooped down in the Juke's path, hit the car's grille with a thud, grazed its hood and then bounced up and skimmed the top of the Nissan's windshield. I looked in the rearview mirror just in time to see the car behind us drive through a cloud of flying feathers.
It could only be classified as a direct hit. The thud was so loud it caused my kids in the back seat to look up from their video games and ask me what had just happened. "Nothing," I said.
No real harm to the Juke, just some down stuck in its grille. Sorry bird.
I know, I know, the Nissan Juke-R isn't our long-termer (sigh) but if I was the owner of a 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD, I'd be all about the GT-R'd crossover and hearing and seeing news on it. I know my brother, a Juke owner, is obsessed with the high-performance version of his daily driver.
Nissan came out with a bunch of videos detailing the development of the Juke-R. The most thrilling one I've seen is the one which includes the car's exhaust note. Squeee! Hit the jump for that video (exhaust note is at the 0:48 mark) as well as video on the Juke-R hitting the track (exhaust note at 1:35).
Nissan is recalling over 28,000 2011 Jukes, including ours.
"The turbocharger boost sensor bracket may separate from the air inlet tube due to a defective weld," says NHTSA. "If the bracket comes off, the vehicle could stall without warning, increasing the risk of a crash."
The recall affects Jukes manufactured from April 9, 2010 through May 12, 2011.
Nissan dealers will check the lot number on the air inlet tube and replace it.
The recall begins on January 9.
Friday afternoon I noticed a squeak coming from the driver's seat. It was so annoying, I attempted to record it on video so Test Fleet Commander Mike Schmidt couldn't call me crazy when I complained about it on Monday.
It took the entire weekend, but I finally figured out how to mitigate the fairly constant squeak. As long as I didn't accelerate, brake, or drive over any bumps, everything was fine.
It's about this time in the life of a long-tern car (almost 17,000 miles in this case) that it makes sense to look at the most obvious wear points. The Juke is holding up well, There's virtually no wear on the driver's side seat bolsters — points which we touch every time we drive the car.
Slightly more wear on the seatback bolster, but not anything I'd be too concerned about if it were mine. Steering wheel looks new.
One thing that sets the Juke apart from some of the vehicles it's cross-shopped against is its ground clearance. With 7 inches between its undercarriage and the road, the Juke sits higher than models like the Mini Cooper Countryman (just under 6 inches), Kia Soul (6.5 inches) and Scion xB (5.1 inches).
An advantage of higher ground clearance is that it facilitates easier travel through snow. Combine this with the Juke's available all-wheel drive and the hatch with the odd sheet metal starts looking like an attractive choice for shoppers who frequently battle lots of white stuff on the road.
Do you live in a region that gets lots of snow? If so, is ground clearance something you consider when car-shopping?
See that? Looks like some mean old grinch took his claws — or a key, more likely — to our Juke over the holiday weekend. Maybe it was an act born of the holiday blues, or maybe someone found the Juke's sheet metal so "polarizing" that he just had to make a statement.
Anyway, in the end, holiday cheer prevails.
The Juke got some extra love from the buffer at the car wash and the scrape was rendered almost invisible.
We've reported that some owners of the Juke have had problems with paint chipping; seems to be a much-discussed thing on many Juke forums. Well, it looks like we're starting to have some paint-job problems of our own.
The photo above is of the Juke's passenger-side front door handle. Doesn't look too good, and it's obviously not the kind of thing that you can blame on flying rocks or riding the bumper of the car in front of you on the highway. This handle is the only one with this problem; the paint on the driver-side front door handle is fine.
Probably something for us to mention during our next trip to the dealer. We'll let you know what develops.
Since I was the one who took in our Juke for its 15,000-mile service and a satellite radio repair in November, I also was the one who got the customer satisfaction survey from Nissan North America. It arrived Tuesday.
The dealership itself had already called me to make sure everything was OK, but (not surprisingly) Nissan corporate is not just taking a dealership's word for how customers feel they're being treated. To that point, Nissan mails you a paper survey, but asks that you complete it online. I did, giving the service department at Hooman Nissan high marks.
The paper survey also implores the consumer, "Please do not return the survey to your Dealership." I guess a misdirected survey full of "Unacceptable" ratings could find its way into a trash can at an underperforming dealership.
I used to edit an HR publication, so I'm interested in what organizations do to measure and improve their performance and raise the bar on "delighting" customers. For that reason, I get a mild kick out of reading and filling out these forms.
How about you? Do you respond to customer-service surveys about your car-buying or service experiences? Why or why not?
There are a few things I'd change about the Juke's driving position. Nothing major, just a few tweaks here and there.
The first adjustment would be the steering wheel angle. In the Juke, I feel like it's tilted just a bit too far forward. It's not like it's on a flat plane like an old school bus, just a few degrees or so towards vertical would do the trick. It's so slight, it doesn't affect comfort, it's just my personal preference.
The next adjustment is a bit more important to me. There's no lumbar adjustment for the seat back and there's not quite enough support for my tastes. This ends up putting me in a slight slouch, and that can get annoying on a long road trip. It can easily be fixed with a lever or knob-type mechanism, no need for the pneumatic or power-adjustable units.
"I told you I am seeing more women driving these in L.A. I am a woman now," my kid brother IM'd me about his 2011 Nissan Juke. I told him that he was probably just noticing the women more than the men, especially since the Juke is actually marketed to younger males like him.
"No, I always look to see who is driving when I see one. There aren't that many," he replied. So I decided to do a little research. I mean, could he be right that there are more women than men who buy the Juke? Not that that would be so terrible.
But sure enough, I was right. ::Doing Told You So dance:: Last year, Nissan reported that Juke owners tend to be men...of the 59+ persuasion. What did bro say when I showed him that press release? "I knew I should have got the white one to match my iPhone."
But seriously, Juke owners, do you fit the target demographic? (Borrowed this from this Juke forum.)
— Are you male?
— Are you in your 30s?
— Do you lead an active, sporty lifestyle?
I'm a sucker for body color trim inside the cabin of a car. Any car. Keep your wood, your leather, your faux wood, your fake leather. I love the way the paint brightens up the center console and doors.
I was making a mental list this morning of how many current models carry the paint job into the interior.
How many can you name?
Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. I parked the Juke back in the Edmunds' test garage and caught a cab to LAX, headed for the Monday's Detroit auto show.
How many Juke's might I see in the Motor City? My guess is two or less. And one will be on the auto show floor.
Oh yes we did. Our RTI ramp isn't just for Jeeps. Any vehicle that shows the barest hint of off-road potential (or marketing, for that matter) is going to face the music.
This morning I lined-up the 2011 Nissan Juke AWD with the ramp, locked it in AWD and drove it up the incline to an RTI of...
Place your bets.
Incidentally, this photo illustrates why the NSX hasn't visited the ramp, despite your pleas. A certain approach angle — 20 degrees, in fact — is the price of admission to this ride.
This is what they call the "all she wrote" point. The Juke's left rear tire said goodbye to the concrete when the left front was 8.75 inches off the ground.
But I was easily able to drive the Juke farther than this without wheelspin thanks to a pair of torque-vectoring clutches in its rear diff. The AWD lock button shunts exactly 50 percent of the total torque to the rear axle, and once there the clutch connected to the tire with the most grip gets the lion's share, up to a full 100 percent of that 50 percent. In short, once the left rear lifted off the Juke's right rear received 50 percent of the engine's total output while the left rear got nada, zip, zilch.
Ergo, the Juke will go beyond the point where it is teetering on three wheels without wheelspin.
But an RTI measurement pertains to suspension articulation, so 8.75 inches is the number we're after.
That amount of lift amounts to a trip of 25.6 inches up the ramp. Dividing that by the Juke's 99.6-inch wheelbase, we arrive at an RTI value of 257.
For reference, our 2012 Jeep Wrangler Sport started off at 561 on stock tires.
I'm thinking of attaching a metal leaderboard to the side of our ramp, with magnetic tags indicating how far each vehicle got. What say you?
I know the Juke has four doors and can technically hold five people, but as my recent trip to Vegas to cover CES showed, I don't think the Juke could hold the bags of more than two people.
As I went to photograph the absolutely massive convention for two days, I packed a normal sized duffel bag, a camera bag, a pair of boots and a gear belt. Looking at the picture shows that not much of the trunk remains. Any other bags would have wound up in the back seat.
Is that the end of the world? Hardly. But, if you're in the market for a little adventure vehicle, it would be wise to lay out the stuff you, and possibly your companion, bring along and imagine having to stuff it all inside the Juke. Maybe you don't need to bring the big cooler after all...
That's not my name.
I drive to get from point A to point B. And when Point B happens to be work related and also happens to be located on the other end of 280 plus miles of Interstate, I do my damndest to get there as quickly as possible. So with the Juke packed with gear, I rolled out of the local gas station and hit the road.
On a round trip to and from Las Vegas, the outbound leg out of Los Angeles is not going to deliver the best fuel economy. Just climbing over the Cajon Pass (3,800 feet) causes big-block levels of fuel consumption, not to mention the Halloran Summit, the usual swirling winds and elevated speeds you encounter on the 15.
That being said, I still got all scientific and stuff with the fuel mileage just to see how the Juke would fair under these conditions. Click on through for the numbers.
My first tank took me from the Westside of LA to Baker; home to a Greek restaurant, a bunch of gas stations and a tall thermometer.
198.6 miles driven. 8.979 gallons of fuel used. 22.118 miles per gallon.
The second leg took me from Baker to Las Vegas, around Las Vegas and then back to Primm, where I gassed up before my trip home.
142.5 miles driven. 6.528 gallons of fuel used. 21.829 miles per gallon.
Hardly stellar, but these were not ideal conditions for maximum economy. It should be noted that I did this driving in 2WD with Sport mode engaged.
Riveting, I know, but this is the part where you come in. On the drive back I was asked to try and maximize the mileage from the Juke. No high speeds, no Sport mode, no AWD and no traffic. Any guesses as to what I managed to wring out from our Juke? Do you think I managed to meet the EPA numbers?
Stay tuned.
So when I last left you, I was about to leave Primm, Nevada for home, on the west side of Los Angeles. Instead of my "get the hell to Vegas as quickly as I can" approach that I used on the first leg of my trip, this time, I'd be in full conservation mode.
Before I left, I engaged ECO (aka SUCK), made sure the Juke was firmly in 2WD and promised to lock the cruise control to the posted speed limit. Unlike the trip to Las Vegas, the majority of the trip home would be downhill. I figured my chances of matching the EPA number of 30 mpg, as well as beating our in house personal best of 28.2 mpg, would be a piece of cake.
A little less than four mind-numbing hours later, I arrived home.
Numbers, along with the name of the lucky reader who guesstimated the closest to the actual MPG, is but a click away.
255.5 miles driven. 9.017 gallons used. 28.335 miles per gallon.
Not even close.
I knew I could beat our in house number, but I thought for sure I could match the EPA's number of 30 mpg. I figured the elevated speeds, a posted 70 mph limit, wouldn't be the most efficient but I thought the 2,000 plus feet of descent would more than cancel out the higher speed. Plus, the winds were light and the roads were empty. How empty? So empty that other than lowering my set speed to 65 mph once I hit the outskirts of Los Angeles, I did not touch the cruise control for four hours. You don't get a better opportunity than that.
So what gives?
Maybe it has to do with the CVT. Maybe is has to do with the frontal area of the Juke - remember, just because it's curvy, doesn't mean it's aerodynamic. Maybe it has to do with the small-ish four cylinder engine running a fair amount of boost even under light loads. Maybe it's all of the above. Whatever it is, I just don't think 30mpg is very realistic. Ever.
PS. Congratulations to elgac! You were 0.135 off my recorded MPG. Scary.
Wrap-Up
When we first introduced our 2011 Nissan Juke SL, Features Editor Mike Magrath asked, "What is it?" A mini SUV? A compact crossover? A hatchback with really weird headlights?
Our test sought to figure out where the all-new Juke fits. From our first drive of the Nissan we knew it was fun to drive. Senior Editor Erin Riches wrote, "Of course, you're never going to have the same feelings for the 2011 Nissan Juke that you would for a Z-car, but the Juke is the most interesting drive in Nissan's small-car lineup by a wide margin."
With that kind of enthusiasm behind it, the Juke was a natural fit for a long-term test. Would it still be fun after a year? Or would the sportiness fade and its limited size become a liability? A good 12 months behind the wheel would answer them both.
Order Up
Nissan offers the entry-level Juke S for under $20,000. Standard fare for all Jukes is a 1.6-liter direct-injected and turbocharged four-cylinder that generates 188 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque. This most affordable Juke also had cloth seats, a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and a front-wheel-drive configuration.
We decided instead on the top-level Juke SL, which extended the list of available features. The comfort of leather seating, convenience of navigation and panel-saving assistance of a back-up camera were the more significant amenities. Our SL had the CVT, the 1.6-liter engine and the optional torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system. This AWD system does not have a traditional center differential. Torque was instead distributed 50/50 when it was locked or 100 percent to the front wheels when unlocked.
The only options on our Juke SL were its $390 rear roof spoiler and $170 carpeted floor mats. In total, our Juke had an MSRP of $25,890.
Early Driving Impressions
Everyone was eager to drive the newest oddity in our long-term garage. Engineering Editor Jason Kavanagh drove the Nissan the first night and had this to say: "This little toad has handling that is best described as snappy. No, that's wrong. Spunky. It changes direction with enthusiasm and gives the driver heaps of confidence. This is because its steering is quick, body roll is minimal and the AWD system actively routes torque to the outside wheel when negotiating corners. Doing so nullifies understeer.... It's something you definitely notice when piloting this guy. Yay fun cars!"
Inside Line Editor Ed Hellwig added, "I have to agree with Kavanagh; the Juke is shockingly fun to drive. He focused on the suspension, which I agree is dead on, but I think the engine deserves plenty of credit, too. Even with a potentially soul-sucking CVT, the little 1.6-liter four-cylinder still launches this car from a stop with a shove. It builds power smoothly, stays composed at high rpm and even has decent pull down low. The only problem? It encourages a flat foot, so don't expect to see us getting anywhere near the EPA mileage ratings."
Interior Quirks and Quality
Inside the cabin we weren't quite as pleased initially. Secondary control knobs felt more flimsy than we liked and some thought the snapping sound made by the shift release button was flimsy. Although the onboard G-meter, which is similar to that on our Nissan GT-R, was neat, it was quickly deemed more gimmicky than useful.
But it was not all jeers from within the cabin. We grew to appreciate the quirky interior layout of the Juke. The interior panels were painted to match the exterior Cayenne Red of our test car, and contrasted with the SL's black leather, which looked pretty cool. As for the leather itself, it engulfed the steering wheel, shifter knob and seats. It appeared to be stitched together with care and made us curious as to how it would wear over time. (It held up just fine.) The fact that a car in this price range also came with navigation and a back-up camera as standard equipment was another nice touch.
Commuter and Dirt Devil
As a commuter the 2011 Nissan Juke soon drew comparisons to another long-term test car in our fleet, the Mini Countryman. Both CUVs were unique in their design. And both considered themselves to be sporty, performance-oriented alternatives to the typical crossover.
Senior Editor Erin Riches compared the two: "The Juke has really opened my eyes to the weaknesses of the Countryman. Here's the deal. The Juke has a much more usable power band. There's torque right away, where you can use it in cutthroat traffic, and that's something 0-60 times for these cars (both in the 7s) won't tell you. Further, the Juke is a better ride. It's not a soft ride, but with go-flats instead of run-flats, and a slightly more relaxed approach to tuning the suspension, there's more cushioning over impacts."
Now we did not order our Juke with all-wheel drive for commuting alone. When the time came to test the system, we had some fun with it. On the road to Telescope Peak, high above Death Valley, we subjected the Juke to 10 miles of road that we probably shouldn't have. Senior Consumer Advice Editor Philip Reed told the story: "What I didn't know was that a week earlier the area was hit by a severe thunderstorm and the road was deeply rutted and almost washed out in sections." Softball-size rocks required a slow crawl. This pace was not ideal for a turbocharged engine with little initial torque and a CVT that didn't offer a low gear. Still, the Juke handled it just fine.
Where it struggled with rocks, the 2011 Nissan Juke excelled on gravel roads. We learned this the fun way, in the form of a Juke vs. Datsun 510 dirt showdown. Senior Editor Josh Jacquot explained what made the Juke so great off-road. "The magic, the reason this car is actually enjoyable to drive on the gravel, is its torque-vectoring center differential, which is capable of sending 100 percent of the available torque (50 percent of the total torque) to the outside wheel while cornering. It's like a turning brake that actually accelerates the car rather than slowing it down. And it's more effective than you'd ever imagine."
Minor Problems, Moderate Cost
The process of accumulating miles introduced us to a few minor mechanical issues. The most annoying involved the rear hatch. For a time there was no measure of strength or finesse that could convince the dashboard-mounted warning light that the rear door was, in fact, closed. An adjustment of the striker by our local dealer remedied the glitch under warranty. An antenna fault warning light, which required the complete replacement of the head unit, was similarly addressed by the dealership. The cost for this repair was one day of missed seat time while we waited for parts.
We didn't escape a year of Juke ownership scot-free. Routine maintenance at 7,500 and 15,000 miles averaged a moderate $83 per visit. Some unfortunate luck with tires also set us back a fistful of dollars. A rock punctured a rear tire sidewall during the Datsun dirt-fest. Upon closer investigation, we realized the opposing tire was worn to the point of no return. We replaced the pair of 17-inch Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires for $462, mounted and balanced.
After the Honeymoon
Once the initial excitement waned, we had to make an effort to keep the odometer rolling in the Juke. It didn't come as naturally as in some other long-term cars. Perhaps it was the firm ride quality that bordered on rough or its compact size. Sure, a child seat fit snugly in the second row and the cargo area fit two carry-on bags, but there wasn't much left after that.
Other practical concerns brought the 2011 Nissan Juke down a notch or two. We averaged 22.4 mpg for the life of the vehicle, with our best single tank at 28.3 mpg. Considering the EPA ratings of 25 city and 30 highway mpg our results bordered on unreasonable. We blame some of this on the Nissan's fun-inducing demeanor, but that excuse only stretches so far.
Hard interior plastics were unaffected by our abuses and its leather seating remained in near-new condition over time. A driver seat creak developed, which inflicted the lone chink in its otherwise impressive build quality. From a mechanical perspective it was not without its snafus. But thanks to a spare tire, never once did the Juke leave us stranded.
The Verdict
We fell short of our 20,000-mile goal, yet still learned plenty about the Nissan during its stay. First and foremost, the 2011 Nissan Juke is an undeniably entertaining compact SUV. It's one of those rare cars that looks average on paper, yet feels lively from behind the wheel. Whether on the asphalt or in the dirt, the Juke's torque-vectoring AWD really worked well and provided the perfect complement to the well-tuned suspension.
According to Edmunds' TMV® Calculator our Juke depreciated just 19 percent from its original MSRP, based on a private-party sale. This equaled that of our recently departed Mini Cooper S Countryman. So add a respectable resale value to the list.
Like any SUV in this class, the Juke requires a certain level of restraint when it comes to packing. The limited cargo and passenger room means you need to travel light or have fewer friends/kids/dogs. The Juke is also a little on the thirsty side for its size, so there's a trade-off for its lively performance. As far as we're concerned, it's a fair trade. There aren't many compact SUVs that we actually look forward to driving, so the Juke is largely in a class of its own in that regard.
| Total Body Repair Costs: | None |
| Total Routine Maintenance Costs: | 165.54 (over 12 months) |
| Additional Maintenance Costs: | $462.23 |
| Warranty Repairs: | ECM reflash, replaced head unit, adjusted hatch striker |
| Non-Warranty Repairs: | Replaced 2 tires |
| Scheduled Dealer Visits: | 2 |
| Unscheduled Dealer Visits: | 1 |
| Days Out of Service: | None |
| Breakdowns Stranding Driver: | None |
| Best Fuel Economy: | 28.3 mpg |
| Worst Fuel Economy: | 17.9 mpg |
| Average Fuel Economy: | 22.4 mpg |
| True Market Value at service end: | $20,925 (private-party sale) |
| Depreciation: | $4,965 (or 19% of original MSRP) |
| Final Odometer Reading: | 18,337 miles |
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.