The article was originally produced on April 12, 2013, some facts and prices may have changed since then.

Nissan Juke Nismo

As with the question of the bumblebee's ability to fly, the driving pleasure of a Nissan Juke can be questioned. Is it really possible to have so much fun that the corners of your mouth point straight up in this little car with its strange shapes?

Now the time has come for Nissan to introduce its classic Nismo brand to Europe. Nismo stands for Nissan Motorsport and can be compared to AMG or M at Mercedes and BMW respectively. In Japan, Nismo has always been big, but hardly seen here. The first car on the European market will be the Juke. A small compact SUV with bold and slightly strange shapes. When Nismo puts its teeth into a car, it brings better performance, handling and a lot of cosmetic details both inside and out. 

On the fantastic roads around the mountain Montserrat near Barcelona, Nissan had placed the test drive of the Juke Nismo. The roads around this seemingly quite special mountain are absolutely incomparable, among Europe's best without a doubt. Winding with perfect asphalt and good visibility make them a natural roller coaster. The first thought of driving these roads in a Nissan Juke doesn't make the heart skip a beat. But oh how wrong you can be. 

Nissan Juke Nismo has received a light engine tuning, the power is now 200 horses from 190 in the standard version. The torque has also been increased and is 250 Nm. The car can be had with either an automatic transmission or a traditional manual. For these roads, there is no doubt that the manual is preferable. The gear lever sits at the perfect distance from the alcantara-covered steering wheel, which gives a tight, rally feeling with every shift. Since the car is relatively small and the chassis has been stiffened up a bit, road holding is incredibly good. You can get the Juke Nismo both with four-wheel drive or, as it is Computer Sweden tested, with front wheel drive. If you choose the four-wheel drive version, it can only be had with an automatic transmission. In the front wheel drive one could have wished for a diff brake as it would have given even better road holding, now the inner wheel slips a bit in the curves.

From the outside, it is easy to distinguish a Juke Nismo from the standard version. A number of spoilers and aerodynamic skirts are fitted. A cheeky decal trim also adorns the hood and roof. Contact with the ground is via a pair of stylish black-painted 18-inch rims. Inside, as already mentioned, we find an alcantara-covered steering wheel with red markings in the middle, just like on real racing cars. In order for you to sit properly, Nissan has been kind enough to dress the seats in alcantara as well. This means that you sit really well without slipping around when you start going fast in the curves. As there were pre-production cars for testing, an iPad had been installed in the cars. On this, all parameters of the car's performance could be followed, the same video game-like system is in Nissan's worst model GT-R. In the production car, this information will be available on the built-in screen.

In standard trim, a Nissan Juke hadn't felt like an option that could elicit a big smile. But with the addition of the name Nismo, this opinion changes completely, the Nissan Juke Nismo works perfectly for really hard and mischievous driving!