For those who are unaware or unfamiliar, Nismo is Nissan’s in-house tuning and performance division. The Nismo badge has typically been reserved for Nissan’s Z car and the GT-R, but in a strange turn of events they decided to give the Nismo treatment to the Juke. Everyone gets the Nismo treatment.

It’s Not For Everyone

Let’s be honest, the Juke is certainly not one of the prettiest cars out there. Since the Juke’s introduction the public has been divided on it’s looks. Nissan designed a vehicle that looks like no other on the road and in doing so, created one of the most polarizing cars in existence. With the Juke you either love the way it looks or think it is one of the most hideous things to grace our road ways.

Even Nissan isn’t quite sure what they created with the Juke, calling it a “subcompact crossover SUV”. Not quite a hatchback, not quite an SUV, not quite a crossover. See a comparison of the FWD vs AWD Juke here.

The Starting Point

The Juke is shares a platform with many other vehicles in Nissan’s line-up, most notably the Note, Micra, and Cube. None of those cars seem like likely candidates for a Nismo edition either. The standard Juke is offered as either a front-wheel drive or as an AWD. If you want a 6 speed manual you will have to get it as a front-wheel drive since the AWD is only offered as an automatic with Nissan’s CVT. It has a 1.6 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engine with direct gas injection.

The Nismo Treatment

Even with so many things stacked against it, Nissan decided that this quirky little car deserved a Nismo edition. So what did the engineers do to the Juke for it’s Nismo transformation? They started out by giving it a more aggressive body kit all around, they tightened up the steering, gave it better brakes and suspension, 18 inch wheels, some mechanical tuning increasing the power output from 188hp to a whopping 197hp, as well as some changes in the interior.

An Interesting Concoction

The end result of these Nismo modifications and tweaks is a huge improvement over the standard Juke. With the Nismo Juke it’s strengths don’t lay with it’s power, but rather with how it handles that power. It really lives up to it’s name by being nimble and peppy. The Juke is an odd one, but definitely worth a look if you want a Nismo that you can have fun with and won’t break the bank.

How do you feel about the Juke? Share your thoughts and opinions below.