Nissan Juke is about much more than its quirky looks

The Nissan Juke sitting outside Cavan Motors on the Ballinagh Road has been attracting lots of attention, says Peter Keogh, the sales manager there. Some people are pulling in to look at it, some have called in to ask about it, many just cast it curious glances on the way by. A look at the photos on this page might indicate the reason Nissan’s little rascal of a car is turning heads. Is it good-looking or weird-looking? Is that a face only a mother could love (it was designed in London and will be built in Sunderland), or is it something that will appeal to buyers? Nissan is hoping people who might have thought about a Mini or the new Audi A1 will be tempted by the Juke’s quirkiness, and its bravery in launching such an unusual vehicle is admirable. The Juke looks like a mix of two or three other vehicular ideas: there’s a 4x4-ness about its bottom half, a coupe-ness about the way the roof slopes down and the windows slope up at the rear (the rear door handle is hidden, adding to the coupe type styling), and a moonbuggy-ness about the frontal view... What to make of it? Well each to their own and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and any other cliche you can think of it. The Anglo-Celt likes it though, and not solely because of its looks. Step inside and a neat steering wheel greets you while your left hand falls naturally to a slick-shifting gearstick, and the combination of those two elements and seats you sit in (rather than on) lend the Juke a sportiness that its height suggests it wouldn’t have. It corners flat and true and the 1.6 litre petrol engine in the test car from Cavan Motors was willing, especially when it got above 4,000rpm. It produces its maximum torque of 158Nm at that engine speed and its power peaks (at 117ps) at 6,000rpm. That is enough to cover the 0-100kmh benchmark test in 11.1s and to push the car on to a maximum speed of 178kmh. Nissan claims fuel consumption of six litres per 100km and CO2 emissions of 138g/km. There’s plenty of space front and back and the cloth and soft-plastic finish to the interior gives a quality feel. You don’t notice the Juke’s looks from the inside, apart from the lights that sit like bubbles on top of the bonnet at either side. They won’t escape your attention but that’s okay as they could be useful guide when you’re manoeuvring in tight spaces... The Juke is a car that grows on you. Those people driving past Cavan Motors are probably getting to like it more and more with each day. If they capture even a slice of the enthusiasm Nissan has for it (see nissan.ie to get a flavour of it; this is a sample: ‘Infectious like a viral buzz, it turns up without warning.’), they’ll soon be calling in to place their orders. The test car we drove was the 1.6 XE, which costs €18,195, excluding delivery and metallic paint. Sixteen-inch alloy wheels, six airbags, an MP3 jack, air conditioning and ESP (stability control) are part of the package. It fits into tax band B (€156), the same as the 1.5 DCi, which costs €20,195. There are also SV and Sport versions in the range, powered by a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine giving 190bhp. Contact Peter Keogh at Cavan Motors for more on the Juke and other models; 049-4332133.