Nissan Juke (2010–2019) review - Interior, design and technology

When it launched in 2010, the Juke was a breath of fresh air in a contracting car market bored with conventional superminis. Its divisive design meant you were either a fan of the quirky five-door crossover or you weren’t – but over the years, the car’s appearance has become more familiar. Following a spot of gentle cosmetic surgery in the middle of 2014, the Juke certainly looked a little sharper, but it has since been ‘out-Juked’ by the wild Toyota C-HR.

It remains a consistent top-seller, so the Nissan’s styling is still proving popular. The car’s trademark wide grille, big spotlights and angular light clusters higher up on the front wings mean it rivals the Mazda CX-3 for visual appeal and is more exciting than the Renault Captur – Europe’s most popular compact crossover.

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At the rear, the tail-lights are similar to those of the 370Z coupe and help give the Juke a sporty stance along with the raked hatch. Inside, the funky theme continues, with a coloured transmission tunnel that Nissan says was inspired by the shape of a high-performance motorcycle’s fuel tank. There’s also a gloss-black plastic surround to the sat-nav and climate controls, but, unfortunately, this is where the Juke’s interior highlights end.

The interior of the standard Nissan Juke, from the entry level Visia to range-topping Tekna, is more functional than upmarket. However, higher spec models do add some more premium features.

Sat-nav, a reversing camera, DAB radio and Nissan Connect, which features Google’s Send-To-Car technology (allowing drivers to send sat-nav destinations from their smartphone to their car) come as standard on N-Connecta models, while Tekna grade cars get leather seats and Nissan’s Safety Shield.

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The Nismo RS version is even more striking than any of the standard models, as it gets an aggressive body kit, lowered suspension, big black alloys and Nissan’s sports division’s traditional red highlights, including in-your-face red wing mirrors. There’s more than a hint of Nissan GT-R about it, and it was designed to clearly appeal to the so-called ‘PlayStation generation’.

The Nismo’s interior differs slightly from regular models too, as the hot Juke gets a splash of Nismo badging and lots of soft-touch Alcantara trimmings for the steering wheel and sports seats. It’s impressive, but it still can’t hide the Juke’s fundamental quality shortcomings.

Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

More basic Visia and Acenta models come without a central touchscreen, making do with a cheap-looking stereo head unit and, in the case of the Visia, a four-speaker setup of poor sound quality and with no Bluetooth phone connectivity. That issue is resolved in the Acenta, which also comes with six speakers.

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N-Connecta and above come with Nissan’s touchscreen infotainment and navigation system, which is easy enough to use thanks to shortcut buttons, but suffers from a small display. DAB is standard with the system though, as is a USB port for phone charging, steering wheel mounted controls and a colour reversing camera to assist parking.