Nissan Juke 1.2 DIG-T 115 Tekna Review (2016)

2016 Nissan Juke Tekna DIG-R 115 Review

This week we’ve had the urban SUV Nissan Juke with the 1.2 litre DIG-T engine and Tekna trim in for review. Can the Juke still cut the mustard?

It’s more than six years since the Nissan Juke arrived, in the process heralding a whole ‘Ugly is Appealing’ view of car design – particularly when it comes to little urban warriors – with cars like the Lexus NX, Renault Captur and more now having the freedom to be far more adventurous with design thanks to the Juke’s success.

Nissan gave the Juke a bit of a makeover in 2014 to keep it up to date, with the usual bumpers and lights tweaks, a bit of re-jigging to make the boot more usable, and the arrival of the 1.2 litre DIG-T engine to replace the 1.6 litre petrol.

And that’s the engine we’ve got in this week’s review car – the Nissan Juke 1.2 DIG-T 115 Tekna – which promises decent economy and, as it’s a Tekna spec Juke, plenty of goodies to make this little urban warrior nicer to live with.

But is the 1.2 litre DIG-T and high spec enough to keep the Juke competitive after six years?

Nissan Juke Tekna – Inside & Out

There’s no question that it’s the quirky styling of the Juke that’s had droves of UK buyers heading in to Nissan showrooms in the last six years, so Nissan would have been daft to change the way the Juke looks too radically when it updated the car a couple of years ago. And they didn’t.

But what Nissan did do is update the Juke without spoiling the look, so new bumpers and lights and a new ‘V’ grille were enough to make the Juke look fresh without losing its appeal. And, despite its age, the Juke is still the most original looking of its genre.

“…it’s raison d’etre is to blat round the urban landscape, looking fun and being practical, with the toys you want to hand and great visibility. And the Nissan Juke still manages to do all that.”

The quirky and appealing exterior isn’t quite carried over to the interior, where the Juke is more functional than funky, not all the materials are of the highest quality and there’s little to get too excited about. There’s also something of a lack of room in the back, but the boot, remarkably, increased in size with the 2014 facelift.

But, certainly in this Tekna trim Juke, there’s plenty of toys and treats including auto lights and wipers, Cruise, Climate, electric windows, touchscreen Sat Nav, DAB, Bluetooth, a personalised interior pack, leather seats and lashings of chrome, with the exterior getting 17″ ‘Urban’ alloys, Privacy Glass and LED running lights

And we have to remember the Juke is really an alternative to a supermini, and it’s raison d’etre is to blat round the urban landscape, looking fun and being practical, with the toys you want to hand and great visibility thanks to the faux SUV ride height.

And the Nissan Juke still manages to do all that.

Nissan Juke Tekna DIG-T 115 – Performance and on the Road

However you look at it, a high riding compact SUV is never going to be the most dynamic thing on four wheels, and the Juke is no Ford Fiesta on Nissan stilts. But it’s a lot better than you might expect.

Yes, the steering is a bit light and not overly endowed with feel. But it’s more than good enough to know what the front wheels are doing and to dart and thrust through urban streets in the knowledge the Juke will go where you point it.

It’s much the same on back roads too, where the extra roll from the higher-riding body is there, but not too bothersome. And once you’ve been playing for a little while it’s easy to make quick progress without upsetting the Juke’s, or your passengers’, equilibrium.

…it’s a proper little high-riding go-kart, with the willing engine never intruding and never harsh and coaxing you on all the time.

But what makes the Juke particularly appealing is the fun little 1.2 litre petrol turbo.

The engine delivers 114bhp and scoots to 62mph in a quite leisurely 10.8 seconds, according to the stopwatch. But in the real worlds it feels much more lively and much more impressive.

It has a decent lump of torque from just 2000rpm, and keep the Juke buzzing above that and it’s a proper little high-riding go-kart, with the willing engine never intruding and never harsh and coaxing you on all the time.

It’s a properly good little engine, and the sun it shines on the rest of the car probably makes it better than the sum of it’s parts. But it is actually fun to drive.

2016 Juke Tekna DIG-T 115 – Verdict

We had expected the Juke to be feeling a bit past its sell-by date, and in some ways it is.

The packaging is not as great as other more recent competitors, and even though the boot is now a more usable size it’s still not huge. And nor is there a lot of room in the back, and not all the materials in the cabin are ones you’d want to be running your finger nails across.

“It still looks original and quirky – no mean feat after Nissan have sold a gazillion in the UK – without looking like a caricature, and the relatively recent addition of the 1.2 litre DIG-T has give the Juke a properly appealing personality”

But like all things that have a bit of magic to them, the Nissan Juke is better than the sum of its parts.

It still looks original and quirky – no mean feat after Nissan have sold a gazillion in the UK – without looking like a caricature, and the relatively recent addition of the 1.2 litre DIG-T has give the Juke a properly appealing personality.

Yes, there’s a new Juke due in 2017, and it will no doubt address the cabin quality and packaging, but it’s going to have to be special to retain the character the Juke has.

The Juke Tekna 1.2 DIG-T is not cheap at £19k – although it has a lot of spec for the money – but with a new Juke looming on the horizon you can pick up this exact spec for under £15k.

And at that price, coupled with its huge originality, character and great little engine, it’s a terrific little urban warrior.