WEEK 1
There are only two possible reactions you'll have upon taking in Nissan's odd-ball Juke crossover: a) you'll love its convention-defying looks, or b) you'll be overcome by an urge to inflict harm upon your peepers. I'm still sitting on the fence on this one. However, if you're the daring sort who likes to be different, then you need to know that this car grabs serious attention. Some will gawp, others will point and laugh; rest assured the Juke will never go unnoticed.
From certain angles, and with adequate imagination, its face, with those ancillary headlights perched high up on the bonnet, looks sort of like an NSX's. Albeit with a double chin. And an extra pair of eyes.
The strong character line that swoops along the side, shooting up to merge into the shoulders, and culminating in the pointy taillights, means that there is plenty of visual entertainment here.
The good news is that unlike most cars of this type, the design flourishes do not give way to a dull parts-bin special interior. The steering wheel is just the right diameter and the leather seats in our top-spec SL model do not reek of cost cutting. An LCD display sitting atop the motorbike petrol tank-inspired centre tunnel shows climate control and driver mode information. But here's the interesting bit. Select the appropriate mode and the writing on the buttons magically changes. Very cool.
It's not the most spacious car around and the 1.6-litre turbo engine has a nasty habit of coming on boost midway through a corner. On several occasions it caused me to nibble on the seat from the wrong end, if you know what I mean.
Sure, the Juke is a stylish alternative, but how does it handle the vagaries of real life? Is it worth 95K dirhams that Nissan wants for what's essentially a propped-up hatchback? We've got eight weeks to figure that out…
Facts
- Driven by Amit
- Start mileage 4,350km
- Recent cost Fuel
- Average fuel economy NA
- Highs Quirky styling and stylish interior
- Lows Looks are hugely polarising
