Test Drive: 2011 Nissan Juke
car review, test drive Nissan, Nissan JUKE, autos, automotive, automobiles, automaker, 2011 Nissan, test drive,Design
I know you’re all thinking it: It looks a bit like a frog. And it does. The Nissan JUKE has a distinctly amphibious look about it, which is decidedly off-putting at first. Squat and compact, the JUKE looks bigger in pictures than it is in real life. Park it next to Nissan’s Rogue (their small crossover) and the JUKE looks positively minuscule. Add to that the quad-light front facade and the JUKE has a little bit of a Stitch (from Disney’s Lilo & Stitch) look going on. Cute, in an ugly kind of way -- but the look does grow on you, trust me.
Inside the JUKE’s design is both modern and practical. The dash is well laid out and the middle console offers a funky control system that lets you switch up the way your JUKE handles the road (Normal, Sport, Eco). This can either make for a very spirited drive or save you on gas money -- up to you.
While the JUKE is a 4-door (something that’s not noticeable immediately), there’s not a whole lot of room in the car. It might be larger than a hatch Versa, but it’s not in Rogue territory yet -- and that’s fine because it shouldn’t be. The JUKE is a pleasant (and eccentric-looking) compromise between the two.
Drive
I really enjoyed driving the JUKE. It has character and spirit on the road. The engine, a 1.6-liter, is turbocharged and pushes out 187 horses and 177 lb-ft of torque. Those numbers might not seem impressive to you, but under the hood of the spunky little JUKE and they do just fine.
There’s quite a bit of torque-steer in the JUKE, but that’s to be expected. What makes this vehicle so nice to drive, really, is the visibility and the driver position. While it is a smaller vehicle, you still feel as if you’re sitting higher than other cars on the road and you can see everything and everyone around you. This is something Nissan seems to be consistent with in their vehicle line-up and something I’m very glad carried over into the JUKE.
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