Only reason I didn't buy one when I was DD shopping last year is because I needed more cargo space for my drums. The Juke has less space than my Mazdaspeed3 (which was my dead minimum for total cubic feet cargo space available with seats folded down).

The new Nismo Juke in 6MT trim starts in the $22k range. Almost wish I had a smaller kit because I'd rock one of these (even though the woman is strongly against it lol).

Drove my friend's when he bought his 2010 model (FWD CVT), and the only thing I really remember not liking was the seating position in the car (at the time I only had my Altima Coupe as the DD benchmark and was not yet in a Z). I found it to be very upright and awkward, but at the same time I didn't play with the settings much at all as it wasn't my car. I'm 5'8"-ish on a tall day so take that for what it's worth.

Also - depending on your driving style, I wouldn't take EPA MPG ratings for what they're worth. I consistently get 30MPG back and forth to work in my Speed3 (rated at 25MPG HWY) because I have found a sweet spot to rev to that keeps me out of boost. I also have a lot of 55mph roads before my interstate commute and don't have to deal with traffic much, which leads me to my point - get an MT on a Juke and take it easy and I think it could be capable of more than 30MPGs fairly easily.

(On the same commute, I could milk my Z for 27-28MPG with K&N drop-ins and synthetic oil. This was on my 2010 - still breaking in my 2013.)

My recommendation is the NISMO trim. It just looks really cool to me.

I'm sorry... that looks pretty sweet! :driving:

I wrote about it in the off-topic thread. b15 was asking about it too. I'll look for the post and post it back here.

http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/...psbd2be406.jpg

Found it...

So far so good we just rolled over 700km, engine break-in is 2000km.

We love the interior, specifically the seats. A little too much plastic on the dash, but that is par for the course with cars these days I guess. The overall fit and finish is good. The doors feel and sound very solid when closing, better than the Z. The interior is also quiet. The engine is peppy but it won't win any races. The suspension is great, firm but not jarring.

The only thing I miss is auto headlights. The euro version has them, I don't know why they deleted the option for North America (on the Nismo version). The other thing to get used to is the fuel tank capacity. It's only 50 litres. I managed to empty it to the point where I was able to put 42 litres in during the fill up last night, just 4 km shy of 500 km on that tank.

Great info! Thank you sir!

I would happily rock the Nismo as a daily. I checked all of the options and accessories I'd want, and it still came in under $25k on Nissan's website.

Thank you so much! Just the kind of info I was looking for!

I wasn't aware the Nismo version is already available! gotta check it out now.

:iagree:
Have had extensive test drives and i concur. but only with the AWD version. Loads of torque for such a small SUV, extremely fun. Eco mode is worthless.
Design is quirky, yet unique and good looking. High quality fit and finish. Roominess is questionable depending on what your plans are in terms of usage, it can go from roomy to tight.

Well, I did it. Picking mine up tomorrow. :tup:

I didn't get the NISMO or the AWD. I just picked up a base model but I got a really killer deal. The company I work for has an employee purchase program with Nissan so I got over $1000 off ($200 below invoice), plus an extra $1000 from Nissan.

This is a vehicle that I'd actually prefer the fwd, since that way you can get a manual. I don't cvt.

We dd drive one and love it. Like most cars it has its +/-'s but it drives great, the vawd is responsive, and for our needs (no kids, 1 dog) it holds bikes and groceries like a champ. My only real gripe was a lack of a center consol but we fixed that by ordering from overseas. It was a simple process thanks to the juke forum folks.

It sucks that they couldn't do AWD and Manual for whatever reason. But The AWD torque response is nuts. I didnt know 188hp could feel so powerful.

I'd assume it's because Nissan's AWD system is built around the cvt, and they don't see enough sales of manual equipped vehicles to justify making it work together. Realistically, I'd be surprised if more than 15% of Juke sold have manuals. It doesn't make sense to split that between two drivetrain types. Which royally sucks, because that would be a fun little car.

Pretty much what chuck said, we were told they would have to design a new setup if they did AWD with manual and it was not worth the cost, especially for a lower budget car.
I agree it would be fun, but driving the FWD with manual is not bad, nor is AWD with CVT if you like the CVT.