On the road

The new Juke has been a long time coming, with Nissan stretching the life span of its pioneering baby crossover by around two years more than most manufacturers. That’s allowed others to steal some of the limelight, and some sales, although the Juke was still performing remarkably well as it entered the embers of its cycle.

But the new one is here now, with Nissan modernising but retaining the distinctive looks of its compact crossover, one of the key pillars of improvement for the new model.

Along with design, which the brand says is a key driver of around half of buying decisions, Nissan pinpoints agile performance and advanced technology as key strengths, as well as what it says is “changing a weakness to a strength” with moves to address the compromised rear passenger space and boot volume of the first-generation car.

The new model is 75mm longer, 35mm wider, 30mm taller and has a wheelbase 105mm longer than its predecessor, which markedly increases the rear space in particular, while the boot is up by 68 litres to land the car comfortably ahead of some rivals and within striking distance of the class best.

Engine-wise it’s a simple story, with just the one option available from launch. It’s a 117hp 1.0-litre petrol unit, offered with either six-speed manual or, for an additional £1400 and available on all bar the entry Visia trim, seven-speed automatic transmission. All cars are front-wheel drive. Nissan says there is “no requirement” from customers for a diesel in this small crossover class of car, claiming that a petrol engine, plus manual or automatic gearboxes, can cover the majority of buyer desires, helped by the claim that the new car is around 30% more efficient than the one it replaces.

The trim levels at least give a larger element of choice to the new Juke, with five choices plus the shorter-term Premiere Edition launch car at the top of the tree.

It all kicks off with Visia, which is the poor relation by some distance and there only for the price point rather than as a model anyone should buy; it has steel wheels rather than alloys and no touchscreen system. Still, all models at least get lane-departure warning and traffic sign-recognition safety systems, plus hill start assist. Moving up to Acenta adds 17-inch alloys, the 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a rear camera and Nissan’s Connected services, while the N-Connecta driven here gets heated seats, auto wipers, navigation, folding mirrors, front and rear parking sensors, climate control and rear privacy glass, along with several other comfort features such as the front armrest. From there, the range moves up to Tekna, which brings 19-inch alloys, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist and uprated audio system, and Tekna+ which adds the cosmetic upgrades of Pearl Black roof, bumpers and side skirts. However, these last two levels seem a little extravagant when the N-Connecta has pretty much everything required by business drivers.

Nissan’s focus on the Juke’s driving experience reaps partial rewards, with the chassis feeling impressively composed and a hefty step on from the first Juke, but the engine is less impressive. It’s a little too lacklustre and doesn’t feel as quick as the figures suggest, requiring a thorough workout when significant progress is required. Rival models with similar power figures feel more potent under acceleration, although it’s perfectly adequate when under less duress. The steering is also a little too light for times when the car is pushed harder. The overall ride quality is good, with no complaints about the comfort levels, despite the improved driver enjoyment from the chassis development.

The focus on enhancing practicality is more successful, with much-improved levels of rear passenger space – rear kneeroom is up by 58mm and rear headroom by 11mm – and a boot that feels more useful than the numbers suggest, helped by the user-friendly split-level arrangement. It’s 20% up on the previous Juke at 422 litres, and is big enough for most of what will be thrown at the car.

In the front, there are a couple of minor usability complaints, such as the armrest not sliding forward to increase comfort, while the door bins are small and stowage space is only reasonable. It’s also worth noting that there is no front Isofix fitting, and the keyless entry system, fitted to N-Connecta trim and above, operates on only the front doors.

Context

The Juke was the second Nissan in quick succession to launch a whole new sector of the market, with the model establishing a compact crossover, or B-SUV, segment when it launched in late 2010.

The Juke was based on the Qazana concept car (pictured) revealed 12 months earlier, and the crossover concept was described as a car that “reinvents small five-door cars”, with Nissan accurately predicting that its new model would, when the production car arrived, rewrite the rule book in the same way its bigger brother Qashqai had already done in creating the crossover segment.

When the first Juke was unveiled, Nissan said it would “inject some much-needed dynamism into the small car segment, offering European car buyers an alternative to the traditional hatchback”.

It worked, with the Juke leading the way while other manufacturers scrabbled to grab a slice of this untapped demand, and over 1.5m Jukes were registered worldwide during the nine-year lifespan of the first car. But nine years is a long time, and the Juke was showing its age next to cars such as the Renault Captur and Peugeot 2008, both launched well after the Juke but already with Mk2 models coming through.

Verdict