The Juke

lupinsea · 05-09-2016, 03:53 PM

.

The Juke

Last week we bought a Nissan Juke as a replacement for the Mazda Miata (NC) that I was using as my daily driver. I've driven it in enough varried road conditions I feel comfortable with a little write up.

Miata ---> Juke, Really?
Yes. Really.

The Miata is gone and I've moved on to the Nissan Juke of all things. And I'm finding I quite like the little Nissan. It's an odd, quirky, weird little machine with (admittedly) polarizing styling. While I was somewhat aware of Jukes, I'd never paid much attention to them before. They were just too ugly or weird to hold my attention. It's still not clear to me why I even thought to test drive one when considering a Miata replacement but I'm glad I did.

What I Got
Specs on the new (to me) ride:

2011 Nissan Juke S (base model)
1.6L Direct Injection Turbocharged engine
- 188 hp @ 5600 rpm
- 177 lb-ft @ 2000 rpm

CVT transmission

AWD
- FWD mode (mostly useless)
- AWD-V mode (torque vectoring, typical setting)
- AWD mode (for snow, mud, or crappy road conditions)

Suspension
- Front: macpherson strut
- Rear: independent multi-link

Curb weight 3,146 lb.

Power locks / windows
A/C
Bluetooth
iPod / aux connectivity

The Juke is effectively a compact 5-door hatchback with a modest turbo motor, torque vectoring AWD system, and raised ride height. In size it's about 2" wider than my old Miata and 5" longer despite riding on an 8" longer wheel base. Cargo volume and practicality are were never the focus of the Juke. It's funky styling and fun factor are what it banks on and . . . it largely delivers.

Ride and Handling
One of the things that struck me immediately was how taught and "sporty" the suspension felt. And no wonder as Nissan specifically tuned this for a firmer-than-normal ride. I actually prefer how this rides and handles to the Miata. While you definitely feel the bumps in the road it doesn't crash over imperfections the way the Miata did. In the sweepers it feels much more planted and confidence inspiring than the Miata's wallowy handling. And less "twitchy" for freeway cruising. And surprisingly, despite the increased ride height and COG, the Juke feels like it has less body roll than the Miata. This can't be right but it feels that way.

On a twisty back road near home I pushed the Juke a bit (though still feeling out what it can do) and was pleased to see that it doesn't plow through the turns. I've run the road several times in the Miata and both cars felt good. There were some quirks related to the Juke's CVT that I need to figure out (more later) but it's a fun little machine for corner carving. Certainly playful.

I also drove the Juke up and down a lumpy, uneven gravel incline leading to an empty lot near one of the hardware stores just to see how well it handled the rutted conditions. I'm pleased to say I was impressed. It's no Jeep trail but the ruts were deep enough to get the Juke up on three wheels occasionally. Not once did it scrape it's belly and the AWD / traction system pulled it right up the hill. This is much worse than any conditions I've seen on the Forest Service roads around here so if the Juke could handle this with ease I think it'll do well as a camping / backroads exploration buggy.

This is what impresses me about the Juke, is its sporty enough to play with on the road but can do ok on the gravel as well.

Power Delivery
I've never driven an engine with such little displacement (outside of the Suzukie Samurai and that was a trail-only 4x4 buggy) on any of my road vehicles in 20 years of car ownership. But I like this little mill. Despite it's size it has a strong pull to it in most situations. It pumps out a hair more torque than our Forester and 37 more lb-ft than the Miata . . . while reaching peak torque at 2000 rpm vs. 4100 and 5000 rpm respectively.

The weakest power delivery is off the line from a dead stop or if you're rounding a street corner and the engine drops down to 1000 rpm or so. In these situations the 1.6L shows it's gutlessness and launches feel "soft". Fortunately, these are rare occurrences.

In nearly any other situation where you're rolling along above 15-20 mph you're pretty much right at peak torque. Arterials, highways, and especially freeway driving the engine is humming along at about 1800 - 2000 rpm so if you want to accelerate just put your foot into it and the car zips off down the road confidently.

The CVT
I've read much hate about CVT transmissions all over the place. But after experiencing the Juke's CVT two things are happening: either CVTs are not as bad a people whine about or Nissan did a good job tuning the Juke's CVT. And I suspect it is the later. Especially since Nissan has been running CVTs in their cars for at least a decade+, so they have the experience with them compared to other marques.

Honestly, I'm having a real hard time discerning the difference between the Juke's CVT and a normal automatic transmission. Except that the Juke is veeerrry smooth. Want to go faster? Step on the throttle, the engine revs up, and the Juke surges ahead. Reaction is brisk and there's no lag from a traditional auto downshifting to a lower gear. As you reach your speed and ease off on the throttle the engine settles down and CVT finds a new ratio oh so smoothly.

Occasionally it "sounds" like something odd is happening as the CVT and the engine do their dance and work their magic to find the best fit between drive ratio, engine RPM, and throttle position but even then, it's so subtle I don't really notice it.

Oddly, the Constantly Variable Transmission does have a "manumatic" shift-it-yourself feature. When I first heard about this I scoffed. What's the point in a CVT? But it makes sense if you're running the twisty roads hard. I mentioned there are times where the engine and tranny will drop down in RPM and it takes a moment to climb back up to the torque band. Well, this is what I find the manual shift is useful for, keeping the engine in the RPM band that you want if you're really hustling the car. That and if you're heading down a long down hill and you don't want to ride your break, bump it down a "gear" or two and let the engine compression keep you from going to fast.

AWD Modes
Jukes with AWD offer two different modes: a standard AWD and a Torque Vectoring AWD mode. With the standard mode power is shunted to the rear largely as-needed where a pair of electronic clutch packs engage the rear driveshafts more or less every split left-to-right. This is typically used on gravel and dirt roads or snow or wet roads where maximum traction is needed.

With torque vectoring the system can shunt more power to the outside tire to help the Juke rotate quicker in the corners. For the most part, this is the "normal" setting for us on dry road to improve handling and is probably why I didn't feel the Juke plowing through corners on the twisty road.

There is an option to put it into a FWD only most but it's largely pointless. It doesn't appear to improve fuel economy and the driveshaft going to the rear diff is still turning (AWD only engages the rear diff).

Overall I wouldn't match the Juke's AWD system up against Subaru but I think it'll do well for my intended uses.

Inside
The interior is . . . cozy. I mentioned this is a compact hatchback and it is. The front fits adults well. The back, well, no body would want to go on a long distance drive back there but that's not what I need this vehicle for. It's tight for adults but it works in a pinch.

Most interior surfaces are standard economy car plastic. However, there are a few odd touches (as is a theme with the Juke):

Steering wheel: Nissan decided to use the 370Z's steering wheel in the Juke. I have no idea why, but I'm glad they did. The steering wheel feels very good in the hand.

Door handles: Are polished solid aluminum (I think form the 370Z again). I'm sure plastic would have been fine but I appreciate the solid metal under touch.

Center console: I think the interior designers were smoking something with the Juke as they opted to sculpt the center console to evoke the styling of a motorcycle gas tank. This fits with other "motorcycle-y" design touches such as the shape of the side windows to look like a motorcycle helmut visor.

Rear cargo room is almost comically small for a hatch back. With the rear seats up there is ~ 10 cf behind the seat due to the sharply raked rear window. Folded down there's ~38 cf of cargo room. So volume efficiency and practicality are not the focus here. Still, this is a lot more than I was used to in the Miata.

.

JST · 05-09-2016, 04:02 PM

This is the only thing I can think of when I think about this car.

Nick M3 · 05-09-2016, 04:11 PM

Does the CVT do the fake gear thing where it revs up and "shifts" so that you think it's an automatic?

Jeff_DML · 05-09-2016, 09:24 PM

Congrats, enjoy

rumatt · 05-09-2016, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Does the CVT do the fake gear thing where it revs up and "shifts" so that you think it's an automatic?

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. For realz?

rumatt · 05-09-2016, 09:28 PM

Looks good in gray.

I kind of want one.

*clyde* · 05-09-2016, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Does the CVT do the fake gear thing where it revs up and "shifts" so that you think it's an automatic?

The CVT in the Murano my dad briefly owned was the worst thing ever. Not sure what year it was or if it's the same (or related) used in the Juke. It was just awful.

The CVT in my wife's Outback actually seems decent and works the way I'd expect a CVT to work in a good way. It has paddles you can use to manually shift to make it feel more like a conventional auto, but I think I've used them three times, just to see what they did.

Like a lot of things, I think there's a range out there. Some better than others.

ZBB · 05-09-2016, 10:51 PM

Congrats…

I thought the first gen Juke looks OK. Its a fun design.

Alan · 05-10-2016, 08:36 AM

Nissan definitely improved the feel of the cvt ... I've driven a few cvt' over the years when Nissan started putting them in their cars and I really didn't like them.

Recently had the new Maxima as a rental and the cvt was much better. I really enjoyed that car and yes Nick it did the pretend automatic thing.

Biggins · 05-10-2016, 09:34 AM

Congrats! I'm glad you're enjoying it and thanks for detailed write-up.

05-09-2016, 03:53 PM	#1
lupinsea Jeeped Join Date: Sep 2005 Carmudgeonly Ride: Modified Jeep Tj and '07 Miata Location: Seattle Posts: 10,214	The Juke . The Juke Last week we bought a Nissan Juke as a replacement for the Mazda Miata (NC) that I was using as my daily driver. I've driven it in enough varried road conditions I feel comfortable with a little write up. Miata ---> Juke, Really? Yes. Really. The Miata is gone and I've moved on to the Nissan Juke of all things. And I'm finding I quite like the little Nissan. It's an odd, quirky, weird little machine with (admittedly) polarizing styling. While I was somewhat aware of Jukes, I'd never paid much attention to them before. They were just too ugly or weird to hold my attention. It's still not clear to me why I even thought to test drive one when considering a Miata replacement but I'm glad I did. What I Got Specs on the new (to me) ride: 2011 Nissan Juke S (base model) 1.6L Direct Injection Turbocharged engine - 188 hp @ 5600 rpm - 177 lb-ft @ 2000 rpm CVT transmission AWD - FWD mode (mostly useless) - AWD-V mode (torque vectoring, typical setting) - AWD mode (for snow, mud, or crappy road conditions) Suspension - Front: macpherson strut - Rear: independent multi-link Curb weight 3,146 lb. Power locks / windows A/C Bluetooth iPod / aux connectivity The Juke is effectively a compact 5-door hatchback with a modest turbo motor, torque vectoring AWD system, and raised ride height. In size it's about 2" wider than my old Miata and 5" longer despite riding on an 8" longer wheel base. Cargo volume and practicality are were never the focus of the Juke. It's funky styling and fun factor are what it banks on and . . . it largely delivers. Ride and Handling One of the things that struck me immediately was how taught and "sporty" the suspension felt. And no wonder as Nissan specifically tuned this for a firmer-than-normal ride. I actually prefer how this rides and handles to the Miata. While you definitely feel the bumps in the road it doesn't crash over imperfections the way the Miata did. In the sweepers it feels much more planted and confidence inspiring than the Miata's wallowy handling. And less "twitchy" for freeway cruising. And surprisingly, despite the increased ride height and COG, the Juke feels like it has less body roll than the Miata. This can't be right but it feels that way. On a twisty back road near home I pushed the Juke a bit (though still feeling out what it can do) and was pleased to see that it doesn't plow through the turns. I've run the road several times in the Miata and both cars felt good. There were some quirks related to the Juke's CVT that I need to figure out (more later) but it's a fun little machine for corner carving. Certainly playful. I also drove the Juke up and down a lumpy, uneven gravel incline leading to an empty lot near one of the hardware stores just to see how well it handled the rutted conditions. I'm pleased to say I was impressed. It's no Jeep trail but the ruts were deep enough to get the Juke up on three wheels occasionally. Not once did it scrape it's belly and the AWD / traction system pulled it right up the hill. This is much worse than any conditions I've seen on the Forest Service roads around here so if the Juke could handle this with ease I think it'll do well as a camping / backroads exploration buggy. This is what impresses me about the Juke, is its sporty enough to play with on the road but can do ok on the gravel as well. Power Delivery I've never driven an engine with such little displacement (outside of the Suzukie Samurai and that was a trail-only 4x4 buggy) on any of my road vehicles in 20 years of car ownership. But I like this little mill. Despite it's size it has a strong pull to it in most situations. It pumps out a hair more torque than our Forester and 37 more lb-ft than the Miata . . . while reaching peak torque at 2000 rpm vs. 4100 and 5000 rpm respectively. The weakest power delivery is off the line from a dead stop or if you're rounding a street corner and the engine drops down to 1000 rpm or so. In these situations the 1.6L shows it's gutlessness and launches feel "soft". Fortunately, these are rare occurrences. In nearly any other situation where you're rolling along above 15-20 mph you're pretty much right at peak torque. Arterials, highways, and especially freeway driving the engine is humming along at about 1800 - 2000 rpm so if you want to accelerate just put your foot into it and the car zips off down the road confidently. The CVT I've read much hate about CVT transmissions all over the place. But after experiencing the Juke's CVT two things are happening: either CVTs are not as bad a people whine about or Nissan did a good job tuning the Juke's CVT. And I suspect it is the later. Especially since Nissan has been running CVTs in their cars for at least a decade+, so they have the experience with them compared to other marques. Honestly, I'm having a real hard time discerning the difference between the Juke's CVT and a normal automatic transmission. Except that the Juke is veeerrry smooth. Want to go faster? Step on the throttle, the engine revs up, and the Juke surges ahead. Reaction is brisk and there's no lag from a traditional auto downshifting to a lower gear. As you reach your speed and ease off on the throttle the engine settles down and CVT finds a new ratio oh so smoothly. Occasionally it "sounds" like something odd is happening as the CVT and the engine do their dance and work their magic to find the best fit between drive ratio, engine RPM, and throttle position but even then, it's so subtle I don't really notice it. Oddly, the Constantly Variable Transmission does have a "manumatic" shift-it-yourself feature. When I first heard about this I scoffed. What's the point in a CVT? But it makes sense if you're running the twisty roads hard. I mentioned there are times where the engine and tranny will drop down in RPM and it takes a moment to climb back up to the torque band. Well, this is what I find the manual shift is useful for, keeping the engine in the RPM band that you want if you're really hustling the car. That and if you're heading down a long down hill and you don't want to ride your break, bump it down a "gear" or two and let the engine compression keep you from going to fast. AWD Modes Jukes with AWD offer two different modes: a standard AWD and a Torque Vectoring AWD mode. With the standard mode power is shunted to the rear largely as-needed where a pair of electronic clutch packs engage the rear driveshafts more or less every split left-to-right. This is typically used on gravel and dirt roads or snow or wet roads where maximum traction is needed. With torque vectoring the system can shunt more power to the outside tire to help the Juke rotate quicker in the corners. For the most part, this is the "normal" setting for us on dry road to improve handling and is probably why I didn't feel the Juke plowing through corners on the twisty road. There is an option to put it into a FWD only most but it's largely pointless. It doesn't appear to improve fuel economy and the driveshaft going to the rear diff is still turning (AWD only engages the rear diff). Overall I wouldn't match the Juke's AWD system up against Subaru but I think it'll do well for my intended uses. Inside The interior is . . . cozy. I mentioned this is a compact hatchback and it is. The front fits adults well. The back, well, no body would want to go on a long distance drive back there but that's not what I need this vehicle for. It's tight for adults but it works in a pinch. Most interior surfaces are standard economy car plastic. However, there are a few odd touches (as is a theme with the Juke): Steering wheel: Nissan decided to use the 370Z's steering wheel in the Juke. I have no idea why, but I'm glad they did. The steering wheel feels very good in the hand. Door handles: Are polished solid aluminum (I think form the 370Z again). I'm sure plastic would have been fine but I appreciate the solid metal under touch. Center console: I think the interior designers were smoking something with the Juke as they opted to sculpt the center console to evoke the styling of a motorcycle gas tank. This fits with other "motorcycle-y" design touches such as the shape of the side windows to look like a motorcycle helmut visor. Rear cargo room is almost comically small for a hatch back. With the rear seats up there is ~ 10 cf behind the seat due to the sharply raked rear window. Folded down there's ~38 cf of cargo room. So volume efficiency and practicality are not the focus here. Still, this is a lot more than I was used to in the Miata. . Attached Thumbnails __________________ . My website "Jeep is the only true American sports car" - Enzo Ferrari Or something to that effect.

05-09-2016, 04:11 PM	#3
Nick M3 Relic Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Bethesda, MD Posts: 12,458	Does the CVT do the fake gear thing where it revs up and "shifts" so that you think it's an automatic? __________________ 2011 M3 2006 Sierra 2500HD 4WD LBZ/Allison 2004 X5 3.0i 6MT 1995 M3 S50B32 1990 325is 1989 M3 S54B32 Hers: 1989 325iX 1996 911 Turbo

05-09-2016, 10:51 PM	#8
ZBB Relic Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: A very fast golf cart Location: The Valley of the Sun Posts: 12,821	Congrats… I thought the first gen Juke looks OK. Its a fun design. __________________ ZBB

05-09-2016, 04:02 PM	#2
JST 195 Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 24,611	This is the only thing I can think of when I think about this car.

05-09-2016, 09:24 PM	#4
Jeff_DML Old Fart Join Date: Oct 2005 Carmudgeonly Ride: T4R,GTI Location: San Diego Posts: 8,564	Congrats, enjoy

05-09-2016, 09:28 PM	#6
rumatt Mugwump Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3 Location: NY Posts: 17,475	Looks good in gray. I kind of want one.

05-10-2016, 08:36 AM	#9
Alan Carmudgeon Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 4,668	Nissan definitely improved the feel of the cvt ... I've driven a few cvt' over the years when Nissan started putting them in their cars and I really didn't like them. Recently had the new Maxima as a rental and the cvt was much better. I really enjoyed that car and yes Nick it did the pretend automatic thing.

05-10-2016, 09:34 AM	#10
Biggins Crotchety Join Date: Aug 2007 Carmudgeonly Ride: 22 Tiguan, 11 328i Posts: 912	Congrats! I'm glad you're enjoying it and thanks for detailed write-up.