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Sneaked from its covers this week in Europe and destined for its official launch at next month's Geneva motor show, the son-of-Dualis is claimed to be part SUV, part sports car. It is capable, says an optimistic Nissan, of breathing "new life into the traditionally conservative" small car segment and is able to give buyers "a funky alternative to the conventional urban hatchback". Which is exactly what the slow-selling Dualis was charged with.
Developed from the Qazana concept car, of course, the UK-made Juke is the first Nissan to get a new turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine driving all wheels. Though designed for Europe, Nissan Australia spokesman Jeff Fisher hasn't quite poured cold water on its appearance here, saying that though there are no immediate plans, "we're keeping watch".
Nissan has mixed up the styling, creating an SUV look on the outside and a sports-car theme from the driver's seat and a family-centric versatile cabin and boot area. Based on the Renault Nissan Alliance B platform, Juke has a 2530mm wheelbase. On front-wheel drive versions, suspension is by MacPherson struts at the front with a torsion beam at the rear while AWD models have a multi-link rear suspension shared with the Dualis.
Nissan's All-Mode 4x4-i is a new development of the Dualis' electronic AWD system and now features torque vectoring technology to enhance agility and reduce understeer when cornering. In Europe, three different engines will be available when sales start later this year.
The sole diesel is an 81kW/240Nm 1.5-litre dCi common-rail turbo-diesel with two 1.6-litre petrols - a turbocharged, direct injection version with 140kW/240Nm that Nissan says has the same performance as its 2.5-litre engine and a naturally-aspirated 86kW version.
The 2WD model turbo petrol as a six-speed manual transmission while a CVT transmission with a six-speed manual mode will be available on the engine's AWD model. The unboosted 1.6-litre petrol is available either with a five-speed manual or the CVT and the diesel gets only a six-speed manual.
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