Nissan 1.6 Acenta

Nissan Juke 1.6 Acenta Road Test

Test date 29 October 2010  Price as tested £13,795

For Concept-car looks, surprising agility, dynamic control screen, good value

Against Numb steering, poor sunvisors, plasticky cabin, seating five is a squeeze

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A smaller, cheaper car attracts a younger buyer, and the Juke plays to that audience. Its style is more exaggerated than that of today’s mainstream cars, and it takes the notion of crossing over in a whole new direction, plundering the gene pools of SUVs, sports coupés and, in the cabin, even motorcycles. Whether the mix creates a car capable of multi-disciplinary miracles, or whether each attribute is fatally compromised by every other, we shall find out here.

We’re testing the normally aspirated 1.6 with 115bhp and mid-spec Acenta trim. This particular Juke’s gearbox is a five-speed manual; a CVT is optional, but four-wheel drive is available only with the turbo eng

design Opinions are split on the looks. We’re used to seeing calmer concept cars make it to production more or less intact (the Audi TT and the Peugeot RCZ, for example), but the Juke seems to have made it from free-form design sketch to solid metal without passing through any credibility filters en route.

So what look like front foglights are the headlights. What look like headlights are the sidelights and indicators, seemingly bursting upwards through slashes in the bodywork. The lower half of the body is dominated by deep flanks and exaggerated wheel arches which, through a trick of proportion, make the Juke look smaller than it is. Setting the tone for the whole visual onslaught is that wide, leering grin.

Underneath all this is a mutated version of the platform also found under a Renault Clio, complete with struts up front and a simple torsion beam at the back. The engine is a Nissan HR-series unit, unrelated to any Renault engine, which features variable timing for both inlet and exhaust camshafts and, for its new Juke role, two injectors per cylinder (that is, a separate injector for each intake port of this 16-valve unit). Nissan says this is a world first, but the technology is still less sophisticated and efficient than direct injection.