Updated 2015 Nissan Juke Still Fun to Drive, Hard to Look At
It’s one of the most polarizing cars on the road today — either you love the way it looks or you hate it, but there’s no ignoring the 2015 Nissan Juke. The company updated the little runabout for 2015 with some minor, mild styling tweaks and a new engine, and invited the media to drive it at a recent event in suburban Detroit. I took a brief spin in the updated Juke, a loaded SL all-wheel-drive model with the new “second-generation” turbo engine and continuously variable transmission, done up in one of three new colors for 2015: Solar Yellow (the other two are Cosmic Blue and Super Black). So how is it?
Related: The $30,000 Cheap Speed Challenge
Thank goodness the Juke is fun to drive, as it still looks crazy ugly to me. Yes, that’s a subjective opinion, but there really is no middle ground for the Juke — you either totally dig the way it looks or just don’t get it at all. I fall into the latter camp — I think it looks like an angry Pokemon, and this new yellow paint isn’t helping that opinion at all. The proportions are odd, and the Pikachu front headlight and upper running light (now standard LEDs) treatment is bizarre; it all just looks wrong to me.
That changes once you slip inside. It’s very cozy in the Juke, that hasn’t changed for 2015, but it’s still possible to get comfortable fairly easily (up front) thanks to multi-adjustable seats and steering wheel. The backseats are tight, with legroom at a serious premium — they can accommodate adults in a pinch, but nobody’s going to want to ride any sizable distance back there.
The styling inside is meant to resemble a hot sports motorcycle, with the center console mimicking the shape of a sport bike’s tank. It’s far more successful inside than out, but the red metallic trim paint is a bit odd when paired with the yellow exterior — it’s a little too Ronald McDonald for me.
Thankfully, the new engine, a turbocharged 1.6-liter direct-injection four-cylinder that Nissan says is significantly new for 2015, still makes the Juke fun to drive. It produces 188 horsepower and 177 pounds-feet of torque, but the new motor shifts that available torque lower in the rpm range for better usability. The result is the same torquey, zippy little mini-SUV that we’ve loved to drive since its introduction; it’s good to know that its character hasn’t changed.
The only transmission available in the non-NISMO versions of the Juke is a CVT, and like most CVTs it keeps the engine fairly high in the rev range to maximize performance when called upon, with the downside being an annoying drone under hard acceleration. Punch the console button for Sport mode and the character changes, with the engine kept higher in the rev range so as to always be in the maximum torque band. The steering also firms up, providing excellent feedback and a sporty heft that makes the Juke feel like a true pocket rocket.
It’s a shame that the manual transmission is only available in the front-wheel-drive NISMO versions of the Juke, as the combination of manual, torquey turbo motor and subcompact dimensions would make the Juke even more fun. As it is, it’s still one of the most entertaining subcompact vehicles on the market. Keeping a careful hand on the options list will bring you one for a reasonable price — my loaded all-wheel-drive SL test car stickered at $28,225, which is a bit steep; we’re talking Subaru WRX money.
The Juke is about to get much more competition in the tiny cute-ute category, with the new Jeep Renegade, Chevrolet Trax, Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-3 and more arriving in dealer showrooms this year. All are more conservatively styled, but they might find it hard to beat the Juke when it comes to being fun to drive.
