Nissan Juke Nismo review (14/08/2013)

RECENT Nissan successes have been built largely on the unbelievable popularity of the Qashqai and, to be honest, I am quite convinced that when the company originally conceived and built that car it was hopeful rather than expectant about its sales potential.

Nissan were working in the dark with the Qashqai concept, particularly as the car was essentially a completely new endeavour — saloon-car-as-SUV, if you will — and in producing it, they unwittingly invented a whole new market segment, the crossover market.

The Qashqai turned out to be a massive worldwide phenomenon and outsold the car it replaced — the conventional Primera — by such a ridiculous degree that the company realised the car buying public was not the ultra conservative behemoth the motor industry believed it to be.

Buoyed by the success of the Qashqai, Nissan’s designers started coming up with other wacky ideas, one of which was the Juke. A

Mini-SUV, it too was another instant hit as its sporty and unconventional looks made it a big hit with the ‘yoof’ market and wannabe ‘yoofs’ of my generation (who really should know better).

These successes have not quite turned Nissan into a company which produces completely ‘out there’ vehicles and we have seen in recent times, what with the launch of the new Note and Micra and the promise of a new Almera replacement (which will not be called Almera), that it is still capable of producing mainstream vehicles.

However, what has been missing in all of this is anything really with any hint of sportiness within it. But Nissan has come up with an answer — the Juke Nismo. Nismo is the sporting arm of the Japanese giant and down the years has built the company’s various World Rally Championship contenders and its Le Mans prototypes — with considerable success.

However, its road-going efforts have largely — until now — been the preserve of the home Japanese market and only really found their way to this part of the world by way of special imports. That, however, is no longer the case and we can expect to see quite a few Nismo variants of the company’s mainstream products in the not too distant.

For now we have the Juke Nismo and, much like the car it is based on, it is something of a ground-breaker. The traditional hot hatch is just that: a hot version of a mainstream hatchback. The VW Golf GTi has perhaps been the single most successful of such cars and down the years it spawned a host of pretenders to its crown.

The Juke Nismo aims to explode conventionality by matching the traditional segment contenders in terms of performance and handling, but on its own terms and a bodyshape which is a new departure for the genre.

They’ve made a good job of it too and will certainly rattle a few cages with this car, although it will be interesting to see how many of those for whom the established hot hatch format is not something to be tricked around with. I will say though, that for open-minded types who are willing to experiment, the Juke Nismo will present an intriguing proposition.

And rightly so, too, because this thing is a little gem in many ways and an indication, if needed, of what Nissan is capable. It is very smart looking, with a raft of bespoke body kit making it look even more outré than its’ conventional sibling.

Under the hood is a 1.6 litre turbocharged petrol four cylinder engine which packs quite a deal of punch — 147 kW of it, in fact (see panel for full details).

While not quite being of epic proportions, this engine’s output is nevertheless impressive and when you press the ‘Sport’ button it becomes really aggressive.

The mere activation of this button not only sharpens up engine response, but it also tightens up the suspension and generally beefs everything up to a new pitch.

Not alone is the Juke Nismo on a par with most of those in its crosshairs performance-wise, but it is not far off the mark in handling terms either and its grip levels and cornering abilities are something of a shock — albeit a pleasing shock — for what is, after all, still a mini MPV.

It looks the part and it acts it too, and what with its red-capped door mirrors and pinstriping exterior panels (which will become the visible trademark of future Nismo products),

alcantara trimmed interior and steering wheel and sport seats, has all the correct styling visuals.

Whether or not it will persuade those staunch denizens of the GTi set that it is good enough to make them move to the Juke from their traditional hatches, remains to be seen. The bottom line is that it is good enough to do so.