2016 Nissan Juke Nismo RS Review

To better figure out what we’re dealing with here, you need to take a look back into Nissan’s history. The Nismo division is nothing more than the modern-day version of the legendary Nissan Motorsport Club, an exclusive group that brought us amazing cars over the years. They are the Japanese equivalent of BMW M and a lot of the time they showed the Germans how it’s done.

Over the last 30 years, the engineers involved in the making of such brilliant cars have evolved alongside them, and that’s what actually makes this Juke unusual, at least at a first glance.
The standard model was controversial, to say the least, but this thing takes the basis it was presented with and lifts it to a whole new level.

Everywhere you look you’ll notice the add-ons that wear the Nismo signature, such as the red accents up front, on the sides and in the back, the mirror caps, new spoiler for the front bumper, 18” wheels with red calipers behind them, the big exhaust tip at the back and the diffuser right above it. The wheel arches also seem to be a bit wider while the door sills received new extensions.

Of course, the Nismo RS badges can be seen all around, wherever possible, letting us know that marketing is alive and well these days.

To be fair, the car doesn’t look half bad, but that’s probably the most subjective matter you’ll end up discussing with anyone when talking about the Juke. Rarely has a car been as polarizing as this. Maybe the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen can be included here, but even then, the difference in opinions isn’t as diverse as in this case.

There are some people out there that like the way the original Juke's design. They loved its courage to stare you into your eyes and let you know that it doesn’t care what you think. 'So what if the headlights are split in two and are excessively big? That’s how they are supposed to be in the first place!' To those people, the Nismo RS version will be more attractive than ever.

Then there are those that just loathe this car for how it looks and for what it stands for. In this case, the added Nismo wizardry will not be doing the car any good, their general opinion remaining the same or turning worse depending on the person.

For more rigidity, the car received structural reinforcements, mostly along the transmission tunnel and pillars. You won’t be able to see them, but you’ll feel their contribution when pushing the car hard.

Step inside and you’ll be greeted by an awkward mix of materials and gadgets that seem to hail from the 20th century. The biggest disappointment was probably the Dynamic Control System, which allows you to choose between Eco, Comfort and Sport driving modes, but it was integrated into the controls for the air conditioning, a questionable decision, to say the least.

As a result, you can’t change the driving mode while adjusting the AC or the other way around. Furthermore, the only display in the car for telemetry reading is just about 2 inches wide. Yes, not the best decision either.

The infotainment system is also pretty hard to use, and you have to make due with a small touch sensitive screen and the extremely counterintuitive interface of the Nissan cars that will get a bit of getting used to.

If that can be considered subjective, some of the editors around the office finding the controls easy to use, there was a general consensus regarding the quality of the plastics inside. They are shiny, hard and feel cheap to the touch. Unfortunately, the cabin is filled with them.

From the dash to the steering wheel column and the door panels, the plastic used reminded us of the Nissan 370Z Nismo, but that isn’t saying much. The only upside is the set of optional Recaro seats that offer excellent support and are more comfortable than you’d expect. However, the height of the car combined with the side bolsters of the bottoms of the seats makes climbing in and out of this particular Juke a tiresome chore.

Another downside of the interior is the lack of an armrest on the center console, especially if you’re used to having one. On the plus side, the paddle shifters for the transmission are fixed on the steering column, not the wheel. However, few people will actually care because this is a non-issue especially since the automatic version uses a CVT gearbox.

Yes, you read that right. This Nismo RS Juke comes with a continuously variable transmission which, in turn, means that driving it won’t be as exciting as you probably imagine. Of course, you can also go for the manual version, which would be our wholehearted recommendation as a matter of fact.

The differences between the two are enormous, and they even reflect on the car’s engine. The Nissan Juke Nismo uses the same 1.6-liter DIG-T engine in both cases, but the manual version has 218 PS to rely on. The torque was also taken up to 280 Nm (206 lb-ft) of torque. You also get a mechanical limited-slip differential in this case.

We were unfortunately offered the automatic version, and we weren’t all that excited about it either. In this guise, the all-wheel-drive Nissan has 214 PS at its disposal as well as 250 Nm (184 lb-ft) of torque. Yes, the figures are lower but there’s more: contrary to what you'd expect, the FWD Juke is also faster by a full second (7 versus 8 seconds) to 100 km/h (62 mph).

As we said, you lack the LSD, and there’s no real benefit in performance attributed to the all-wheel-drive system. But wait, maybe the handling is better in this version!

You’d be dead wrong to assume that. The Nissan Juke Nismo RS with the CVT automatic transmission and the all-wheel-drive system does not respond well to your inputs. The heavily turbocharged engine has plenty of turbo lag and if you’re to couple that with the wrong gearbox, you’re off to a dreadful experience behind the wheel.

The car doesn’t feel comfortable under 2,500 RPM or quick by any means. Get it above that threshold and you start picking up speed in a pretty quick fashion. That only lasts up to around 5,000 RPM, though, and after that, reaching the 6,500 RPM redline feels like torture for both the engine and the driver.

Chip in the transmission whine and all you get to hear is something that sounds like a 1.5-ton vacuum cleaner.

So it’s not terribly fast in a straight line. Is it any better in the corners? In short: no. The stability control can’t be turned off completely and that means that whenever you want to at least try and get the rear end drifting, you can’t.

You wouldn't call this an all-wheel-drive car just by the feeling it offers you, mostly because of the understeer, which is rather pronounced. Furthermore, with the traction control on or off, we couldn’t get the rear end to slide, except when using trail braking and even then it was for extremely short periods of time. You need to be familiar with the Scandinavian flick to do so.

If you’re thinking that the FWD manual version will be better, you’d be wrong. Yes, it is a bit faster but on the downside you’ll probably be struggling for grip all the time. The laggy character of the engine coupled with the two-wheel-drive setup and the narrow tires make for a not so fun combination.

Probably the only forté of the car in the performance department was the way it stopped. The brakes do a good job and they seemed to keep fade in check for decent amounts of time. Other than that, there’s little to impress even the average driver here.

Driving around town is pretty easy because the driving position is high and, thanks to the wide windscreen, it allows you to get a good grasp of the road ahead. Parking is a different story as rear visibility is limited, but the rear-view camera should come in handy here as well as the parking sensors. Fuel consumption, on the other hand, is rather high for a 1.6-liter 4-banger, sitting at 12 l/100 km (19.6 mpg) even though we tried to be as gentle with the throttle as possible.

On the highway, the results are considerably different, with the onboard instruments showing us figures as low as 6.8 l/100 km (34.5 mpg). However, we should note that this result was achieved driving more slowly, at under 70 mph. Real-life results should show around 8 l/100 km (29 mpg).

Speaking of highways, the car does accelerate in an acceptable fashion up to 100 mph (160 km/h) and then it starts to slow its pace. Overtaking is a different business, the CVT gearbox and the laggy engine making sure you get a good dose of adrenaline every time you try your luck.

In such situations, it’s good to know that the car you’re driving is safe. The EuroNCAP governing body found it more than acceptable, giving it a five-star rating, with scores of 78 percent for adult occupant protection, 81 percent for child occupant protection, 41 percent for pedestrian protection, as well as 71 percent for safety assist.

On the other side of the fence, though, the IIHS gave it good ratings for moderate overlap front and side crash protection as well as when it comes to roof strength and head restraints. Unfortunately, in the tragic case that a small overlap front crash was to take place, you’d be better off praying, since it has a ‘Poor’ rating.
The Nissan Juke is already a controversial car. To understand it and its meaning in life, you need to be able to read between the lines and see the substance behind the packaging. Not a lot of people can do that.

So what happens when you take something that is already controversial and stack some more unusual features on top of it? Does this push into new realms guarantee success? Not likely.

The Nismo RS version of the car is on a different level compared to the standard Juke. It is faster, more focused and a lot more intriguing, but compared to other offerings on the market, it starts to fade. And then we arrive at the technical bits, the ones that should’ve been the main attraction point for this car.

The automatic, all-wheel-drive version doesn’t even deserve your attention. The heavily turbocharged 1.6-liter engine is a lot more capable when joined in operation by a proper manual 6-speed gearbox instead of the CVT choice that ruins the entire experience.

And then we arrive at the pricing, the one decisive element in most people’s buying decision. In Europe, the starting price for the manual is €28,390 while on American soil you’ll have to pay $28,020 for it, without the $825 destination and handling tax. If you want the less-desirable automatic version, you’ll have to pay €31,190 at the very least. The one advantage this car has though is that it is unique in its segment.

Don’t get us wrong, there are plenty of competitors out there for the Juke but none of them have high-performance alternatives as well and that might just as well be the one thing that makes the Nismo RS version desirable. In case you don’t necessarily want the higher driving position, though, you’re better off with a Ford Fiesta ST or maybe even a Volkswagen Golf GTI.