Arousing or polarizing; duke or puke (sorry, we just had to play with the name); refreshing or controversial; whatever the case, one thing is for sure: there's no way the all-new Nissan Juke will go by unnoticed when it hits the road in Europe and North America this fall.
Roughly sized between a Fiesta and a Focus, the production version of the Qazana concept blends design elements from numerous cars including the Murano and Qashqai as well as from the 370Z and even the Cube with a busy face that looks like it evolved from the unforgettable Pontiac Aztec.
Despite the playful color options inside, the Juke's interior is far less provocative from a design standpoint. The dashboard is dominated by a centre console design that is said to have been inspired by a motorcycle fuel tank, while several parts are finished in high gloss colors.
Beneath the modernized sheetmetal lies an evolution of the Renault Nissan Alliance 'B-Platform' that's used on the Clio and Micra superminis.
The Juke measures 4,135mm in length, 1,765mm in width, 1,570mm in height and has a wheelbase length of 2,530mm.
In European guise, the Juke will be available with three different engines, one diesel and two petrol units.
Sitting at the top of the range is a new 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with direct injection generating 190PS and 240 Nm or 177 lb-ft of peak torque.
The second petrol engine is a newly developed version of Nissan's naturally aspirated 1.6-liter gasoline unit that develops 117 horsepower, while the diesel range is limited to Renault's 1.5-liter dCi with 110HP and 240Nm of torque.
In terms of transmissions, the two-wheel drive turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine is available with a six speed manual, while a CVT transmission with a six-speed manual mode will be available on the range-topping all-wheel drive version.
The naturally aspirated 1.6-litre petrol is available either with a 5-speed manual or the updated XTRONIC CVT and the 1.5-litre diesel engine is available with a 6-speed manual.
For the time being, only the 1.6-liter Turbo with the CVT is offered with all-wheel drive, with the rest of the range keeping the basic front-wheel drive layout.
Nissan claims that the ALL-Mode 4x4-i electronic all-wheel drive system has been enhanced with torque vectoring technology to further enhance agility and reduce understeer when cornering.
Surprisingly, on front-wheel drive versions, the Juke gets MacPherson struts at the front with a torsion beam at the back, while four-wheel drive models are equipped with a multi-link rear suspension modelled on the system found on Qashqai.
The Juke will have its world premiere at next month's Geneva Motor Show. The European market models will be manufactured at Nissan's UK plant in Sunderland.
