Autocar UK – 21 August 2019

NEWS

2 1 AUGUST 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 9

ROLLS UNVEILS GHOST ZENITH SPECIAL

Rolls-Royce is celebrating 10 years of the current

Ghost with a new Zenith Collector’s Edition,

offering the highest level of bespoke features on

the car to date. It gets design details inspired by

the 2009 200EX concept and only 50 will be made.

ASTON MARTIN TO DESIGN GARAGES

Aston’s bespoke division, Q by Aston Martin, has

moved into designing luxury garages and retreats

to surround car collections. The Automotive

Galleries and Lairs service, revealed at Pebble

Beach, will work with renowned architects.

WHAT’S THE NEW JUKE LIKE TO DRIVE?

If you were an avid Autocar

reader back in the day,

you’ll be acutely aware

that the original Juke had

dynamic vices to go with its

questionable looks. Indeed,

during an early test, Matt

Prior had to pull over to check

the tyres weren’t “massively

overinflated”. They turned

out to be just fine. It simply

rode like an unsaddled mule.

Is the new car any better?

It’s tricky to tell after our brief

encounter of a prototype,

which involved following a

Nissan official around a

loop of Millbrook test

circuit’s hill route.

There are still nagging

doubts. The secondary ride

is less jittery over smaller

imperfections, but the

primary one still feels a bit

abrasive over sharper ridges.

That said, our car was on

19in wheels, and apparently

on 17in rims, with bigger

sidewalls and redefined

spring and damper settings,

it’s much smoother. The

suspension has been signed

off, though, so fingers crossed.

The steering is much more

fluent now. It’s light but

weights progressively and,

paired with tight body control,

that should bode well for

relatively dexterous handling.

As for performance, the

1.0-litre three-pot feels perky

enough to match the unit of

identical output in the VW

T-Cross. Bearing in mind

there’s still a bit of tuning left

to do to the throttle response,

it accelerates in a linear

fashion. The fundamental

difference between this

installation and the Micra’s

is the availability of 15lb ft

of torque overboost in all six

gears. The Micra has it in the

first five ratios only.

The engine is a tad grumbly

at idle and the seven-speed

dual-clutch auto (yes, the

old CVT has been ditched)

introduces more resonance

on the move than the six-

speed manual gearbox. Both

issues have been flagged up

with the development team.

On the topic of gearboxes,

Nissan’s engineers want

to improve the feel of the

manual’s gait, but it’s already

better than a Qashqai’s. The

brakes need tweaking, though.

They’re strong enough when

you reach the meat of the

pedal, but the engineers are

looking to improve the initial

response. So far, then, it’s a

cautious thumbs-up.

Sh a p e of l i g hts a n d b o d y wo r k sh o u l d cr e ate a l ess p o l a r i s i n g l o o k

Wheelbase is longer

to the benefit of

cabin and boot space

It s i ts o n th e s a m e

platform as the

Renault Captur

Question marks

remain over the

quality of its ride

homologated, sitting at

113-118g/km with a manual

gearbox and 111-116g/km for the

auto version (NEDC derived).

Nissan wouldn’t confirm

that a plug-in hybrid is on the

cards. But a Captur PHEV

has already been announced,

so it’s a strong likelihood.

A fully electric version is

less of a given.

So what about those love-it-

or-hate-it looks? Nissan design

director Matt Weaver talks

lucidly about how the original’s

features have been interwoven

with elements of the GT-R

2020 Vision Gran Turismo and

Gripz SUV concepts, but it’s

still recognisably a Juke.

The defined hips, a tapering

roofline and concealed rear

door handles are retained, but

there are hints of Volvo XC40 in

its scalloped, clamshell bonnet

and Toyota C-HR where the

rear wing meets the roof. The

reimagined LED headlights

aim to create a more cohesive

look than the controversial

outgoing model’s.

The same goes for the inside.

The uplift in quality is palpable.

Even the entry-level Visia trim

(as before, mid-spec Acenta

and N-Connecta versions

will account for the bulk

of sales) comes with a soft-

touch dashboard. It’s broken

up with a strip of squishy,

cross-hatched material

running the width of the dash,

which is mirrored in the door

cards. The centre console,

window switches and central

air vent surrounds come in an

agreeable, lacquered, metallic-

grey gloss.

The top spec will be Tekna

Plus, which we saw fitted

with the optional Midnight

styling pack. One of three

personalisation packs

available, it incorporates

contrasting stitching, swathes

of Alcantara and gloss black

trim. The upshot is a car that

feels considerably more

premium than before.

Infotainment has also taken

a step forward. The 8.0in

touchscreen is glass-fronted

and clear. It comes with Apple

CarPlay and Android Auto, wi-fi

for up to eight devices and an

embedded 4G sim – to facilitate

map updates, Google Street

View and live traffic.

There’s a Nissan Connected

Services app, which allows

you to check on your Juke’s

location and speed remotely –

handy for parents lending their

car to their kids.

The app also allows you to

lock and unlock the car’s doors

remotely. You can even hook

it up to your Google Home

assistant and ask it up to 20

commands (these will grow to

3 5) , su c h a s : “G o o g l e , d o th e

tyres need inflating?”

The Juke also gets height

and reach adjustment for the

steering wheel for the first

time. Space-wise, there’s now

room for four six-foot adults,

thanks to vastly improved rear

knee room and decent head

room. The boot has swelled

to 422 litres from 354 litres.

With a new height-adjustable

floor plus – if you don’t add a

spare wheel – some under-floor

storage, the boot is flexible, too.

The new Juke will go on sale

at the end of November. Expect

price rises of between 5% and

10% over the current model.

JOHN HOWELL