Squaring Up With The New Nissan Cube
Your Driving Life, Cubed.
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After being born more than a decade ago in Tokyo and having been showered with enough love to put all Japanese therapists out of a job, the third generation Nissan Cube hit the States hard on March 5th.
I know what you’re thinking: yeah Bradley, but the Japanese also love Buicks. Yes, there is some truth to that, but I’m choosing to believe those who love the Cube fall more into the category of Nissan Skyline fanatics than Park Avenue stalwarts. Read on…
First and foremost, the Cube’s style is polarizing. After all, it’s inspired by a “bulldog in sunglasses,” likely not the most common point of inspiration when it comes to vehicles. The Nissan Cube may appear to be small from the outside, but let me tell you, as a guy who stands 6′1″, the inside is vast. Not large… vast. Yes, the pickup (we’ll just leave 0-60 figures out of the equation here) is best describe as slowwwww, but once you’re moving the Cube is cake. It handles like a go-cart (a good thing) and it’s tuned with urban living in mind so the wheels are pushed out about as far as they can possibly go. You’ll have nothing but smiles when you try to parallel park or make a u-turn.
A brick on wheels will inevitably give you strange perspectives, and that applies here with the Nissan Cube. The sight lines are a bit strange and the perspective through the side mirrors is a bit obscured due to the outside bubbling on the door. Luckly, these are small quirks that you’ll become easily accustomed to after a few hours behind the wheel.
The keystone in the Nissan Cube’s design is its asymmetrical rear window. It visually sets the Cube apart from the Scion xB (obvious comparison) and others in the sub-compact SUV/crossover market. This design is both functional (smaller blind spot on the passenger side) and fashionable (looks like a single-shoulder cocktail party dress). Best of all, there’s no doubt why heads turned and people stopped to ask about the car as I cruised Miami. Yes, Miami.
The Cube comes in three basic trim lines familiar to those of you who know Nissans (S, SE, SEL). Your choice of an automatic or manual (my recommendation) transmission is paired to a 1.8L 122 hp engine producing 127 ft-lb torque.
The base model starts at one dollar under $14k. An outstanding price if want a vehicle that’s affordable, uniquely stylish, and offers utility in spades. Enough talking though, lets watch some video. I’ll leave you here in the capable hands of, um… myself in a short video featuring the Nissan Cube - thrown together just the Gear Patrol faithful.
Insider Note: In case you’re wondering, my fellow passenger is the editor of the University of Alabama newspaper who joined me on the Press Day ride.
recently one of your staffers mentioned his disdaim for uncrate.com due to the fact that they seem to steal a lot of their info. i started paying attention to this and you seem to be right. things i'm seeing on here and over at acquiremag.com seem to pop up on uncrate a day or two later. weird.
i saw this hideous, absolutely grotesque, train-wreck of a car posted over there today. seriously, one blog covering this thing is too much. is it possible to unpost it? lol. let uncrate keep it. you guys have much cooler stuff than this thing. i'm not sure which would be more embarrassing to own; the aztec, the mazda 5 (ultra minivan thing) or this contraption. gross.
Alan, to your first point the situation is ridiculous to the point of laughability. To the second, I would be remiss if I failed to stand up for my deep beliefs and convictions. Indeed, the Pontiac Aztec is one of the worst vehicles to ever roll off the assembly line. It is, without doubt, a travesty against the name of the Native American leader whose moniker it bears. It only got worse when endorsed by Rosie O'Donnell.
On the other hand, I must proudly say that I am a Mazda 5 driver. Though I can understand your suspicions of such a vehicle, I want to set the record straight and say that it's one of my favorite cars ever. I could go on and on about it, but it's quick, it handles well, holds all my stuff and my people. I would expound further, but it would just sound like fanboy gushing. Oh, and never call it a minivan. But we do call it a space van. Much cooler, you'll agree.
Alan, I'd agree with you that the style of this car is personally not my cup o tea. Lately this sub segment seems to be heating up in terms of competition though. Scion sort of kicked it off, and now Kia has a similar car they are promoting, and of course there's the cube mentioned above. I guess their appeal is as an alternative to a regular compact car, since they are a little more funkier or should I say "out of the box"?
Anyway as we start getting more articles written by the community, I think bigger debates will have to be waged about whether something is generally perceived as being GP worthy. So keep the opinions coming and we'll work on talking less about space vans.
hahaha!! i will preface by saying that i meant absolutely no offense by my remarks. hopefully i didn't come off that way.
to be honest, i hated the honda element as well (that boxy look kills me!). however, a friend of mine got one and i rode around in it for a while. it was really quite a cool car… box… thing… once you got used to it. fairly quick and nimble and that interior has options for days! you can take everything out with ease and he can get his 5 or so dogs in there with no problems.
that said, i may very well like the mazda 5 as well if i were in a position to see it utilized. as it stands, my only experience is a time when some colleagues came in from canada and had one as a rental car. i was immediately caught off guard by the sliding doors and tiny captains chairs. in addition, you must keep in mind that while i live in cincinnati.. i work across the river in KENTUCKY!! i don't know if you've ever been here but there's a certain image that must be followed and the mazda 5 doesn't fit it, lol. we took that little thing to lunch and you could feel all the 'necks in their big trucks and 'merican made whips just staring you down. it made me laugh, i must admit. as i tell everyone though, the only thing that matters is that you, the owner, like it.
and i will forever refer to the mazda 5 as a space van! that's outstanding!
Space Van for life! Alan, you are right about the 5 being great "if you are in a position to see it utilized." I should have put my love for it in a bit more context. I've got to kids in car seats, thus those middle row captains chairs are perfect. Usually, I have the back two seats folded flat for increased storage. However, I have put 6 adults in for short trips and no complaining has been heard. All that is to say, what I like is the versatility. With kids, I have no desire to try and get them in and out of a sedan, don't want a beast SUV, and the true minivan is to be avoided at all costs. Thus, the 5 is a great fit for us.
Also, I've lived in Europe so I perceive the style of the 5 to be pretty tame compared to a lot I've seen. Actually, I think that Mitsubishi markets something hideous that is actually called the Space Van there.
Oh and don't worry about offending us (not that you did). It can't be done. We crave opinions of all flavors and we're not scared to bite back.
horrible horrible car. Did I hear the presenter say that moving the wheel but getting no movement from the car was a good thing……..