ON FRONT PAG E N O R T H E AST V I C TO R I A , A L P S A N D H I G H CO U N T RY
JULY 3, 2015
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Duking along in a Nissan Juke
Already a standout vehicle, even more so in the bright yellow model we’ve just stepped out of, Nissan Juke is now even more radical thanks to a major makeover that arrived a couple of months back. Nissan Juke is all big curves and unexpected angle. While not to all tastes, indeed only suited to those who like to be different, we fell in love with it when we first saw a swag of them during several European trips. So radical was the style, with huge foglights that look like driving lights, and headlights that sit on top of the front guards (and look like blinkers) that Nissan Australia decided not to bring it downunder.
By EWAN KENNEDY That is until other mini SUVs with interesting shapes arrived – Ford Kuga and Holden Trax being standouts – that Nissan decided it was time to bring it to our market. Juke Series 2’s frontal makeover is based on the Nissan so-called ‘V-Motion’ shape which gives it a huge area and a slimmer upper section. The Nissan designers tell us the headlights are based on a boomerang shape, we struggle to see any resemblance, perhaps the designers should be sent downunder for a while to do a rework.
The front and rear wheel arches bulge up and out and seemingly last forever. Juke can be mistaken as a crossover of an SUV and a two-door coupe thanks to its disguised rear door handles. The rear bumper is bigger and the taillights, again, have what Nissan calls a boomerang design. Juke’s blinkers previously sat on the top of the headlights. Many drivers found this distracting at night, so as part of the facelift the designers have shifted them to a conventional position in the door mirrors. New colours have been added, including Bumblebee Yellow (as on our test Juke), Magnetic Red and Ink Blue.
It’s great to see a bit of colour coming back into cars in recent times. Juke’s cabin isn’t as radical as the body, but oversize instruments, the centre console and gear lever housing continue the exterior’s curvaceous theme. There have been major changes under that bold bonnet. The biggest is the use of a 1.2-litre turbopetrol engine. Fitted in the entry level 2WD Juke ST it produces 85 kW of power and 190 Nm of torque, it is mated to a sixspeed manual gearbox. We found this combination performed well in the relatively light 2WD Juke.
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STYLISH: Nissan Juke already had the boldest shape of any vehicle currently on sale in Australia - now it’s even more radical.