Nissan Cube 1.6 Kaizen (2010) CAR review

It’s taken three generations, but Nissan’s funky Cube has finally made it Europe through official channels. But is it a case of style over substance?

Hmm, this latest Nissan Cube looks slightly less, well, square.

Yes, some of the earlier car’s styling edge has gone, in both senses, but it’s still a striking looking car and stands out a mile in a car park full of boring old Polos. Let’s be clear though, while it looks radical, there’s nothing spectacular about its engineering and there's just a torsion beam under the boot floor.

In fact, beneath the squareness lies the same platform used for the Micra, Note mini MPV and Renualt Clio. Last time round there was also a seven-seat Cubic version, but there are no plans to make a long wheelbase Cube this time, and not just because Nissan Parallelapiped doesn’t sound quite so cool. The Cube is actually fractionally smaller than the Note, giving away 120mm in length and 70mm in wheelbase, but standing 120mm taller.

It’s a small urban Japanese car so presumably there’s a 49cc turbocharged engine under the bonnet and a CVT box that whines like a speared whale.

The engine is actually a sensible 1.6 four-pot that puts out 108bhp and 113lb ft of torque. Not startling, but enough to move the 1265kg Cube around town at a reasonable pace: 0-62mph takes 11.3sec.

But you’re right, there’s a CVT available (a £1200 option) for the full Japanese experience and that’s the tranny we’d go for. Base cars though, get a five-speed manual gearbox. And from summer 2010 things will get even less Japanese when the Qashqai’s 1.5 dCi arrives, but available only with a six-speed manual ’box. It’ll be punchy and parsimonious, but the CVT petrol does 40mpg and suits the Cube’s character.

So you’re saying this is a car to cruise not to cane?

Right. The Cube is fun to drive but all of that enjoyment is derived from its styling, inside and out. The steering is more communicative than before, the brakes (now discs at both ends) more powerful and it handles competently. But the engine feels stretched taken out of its urban comfort zone and the high sides result in plenty of body roll. Not fun in a hot hatch, or even Mini, sense. So ratchet down the pace and soak up the stares of passers-by and marvel at the cool interior details instead. Stuck in city traffic, often stationary and always driven within its limits, the Cube is much more fun than most small cars.

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