ShareThisTo all of the pheromones excreted to attract buyers to new cars, add whimsy.
The 2009 Nissan Cube fairly reeks of it, from its asymmetrical styling to the simulated wave pool in the headliner. At the same time, it's among the more practical cars, with a low price, good fuel economy and plenty of space for passengers and cargo.
The whimsy is intended to attract buyers less than 25 years old -- the peach-fuzz and nose-piercing kids who do all sorts of unmentionable things with cell phones.
But experience with these vehicle types suggests that the Cube likely will appeal to some customers of a more mature bent, even a few geezers.
Though new to the U.S., the Cube actually is in its third generation. Earlier versions have plied the streets and freeways of Japan for a decade.
The Cube is not the first of its ilk. Toyota, with its Scion brand, pioneered the current notion of offbeat, inexpensive and easily customizable cars aimed at young people. Leading the charge was the xB, a small, square wagon that was a rousing success.
But then Toyota, saying it was responding to customers' desires and criticisms, redesigned it for 2008 and essentially ruined it. Bigger and more powerful, it went from spunky lifestyle statement to pedestrian family wagon.
Somewhat filling the gap has been the Mini Cooper, especially the Clubman version, which also is eminently customizable and has perky charm. But it is marketed as a premium small car and therefore is comparatively expensive.
This year, there are two new boxes aimed at the text-messaging and Twittering generation -- the Kia Soul and the Nissan Cube. The Soul is bigger, more powerful and a bit more expensive. But the Cube has more built-in whimsy.
Start with the goofy asymmetrical styling. The rear window wraps around the right side of the car, while the left rear has a swooping, fat body-colored pillar.
The cool thing is that the Nissan designers took the trouble to redesign what originally was a right-hand-drive car in Japan for American left-side drive. The back door is hinged on the left, so loading of groceries and such is done from the curb side -- unlike cars like the first-generation Honda CR-V that opened the opposite way, putting loaders out in the street.
Because of its upright stance, the Cube has good visibility except for the rear quarters, which have the fat pillars, called C-pillars in the vehicle business.
The blockage is supposed to be mitigated by a small window in the right rear pillar. But it does no good because the driver's view through the inside mirror is at an angle that obscures the window, so you wonder why the designers bothered.
Bottom line: It's important to get those big outside mirrors adjusted properly to eliminate those rear-quarter blind spots. And despite what you learned in driver education, it can be done by adjusting the outside mirrors out almost as far as they will go.
Besides correctly hinging the rear door, the Cube's designers got other things right. The cloth-covered seats are uncommonly big and comfortable for this class of car and even the center-rear passenger sits in relative comfort.
There are four versions of the Cube, ranging from the base car at $14,770 to the high-zoot Krom (rhymes with chrome) version at $20,150. As with all of these "personal" cars, the options list runs out to the horizon, installed by the factory, at the port or by the dealers.
The base car has a fine list of standard equipment, including stability and traction control, antilock brakes, air conditioning, AM-FM-CD audio, remote locking and power windows. It can even be ordered without a back seat, armrests or cup holders so it can be used as a panel truck or cargo van.
A better choice is the S version, tested here, which adds upgraded cloth upholstery, cruise control, body-colored outside mirrors, four speakers for the audio system and vanity mirrors. It has a base price of $15,470. Both the base and S versions eschew alloy wheels for steel wheels with plastic wheel covers.
The manual transmission is a six-speed -- unusual in this class of car. It gets the most from the 122-horsepower four-cylinder engine, shifting smoothly and easily, abetted by a grab-free clutch.
For an additional $1,000, you can order a continuously-variable automatic transmission (CVT), which seamlessly changes gear ratios with little loss of fuel economy. Nissan does more CVTs than any manufacturer and has them nailed.
Inexplicably, however, the Cube has sun visors that do not slide on their support rods, which means they are useless for blocking sun from the side.
Overall, the Cube is an entertaining car to look at, sit in and drive. The driver sits up high, with a good view of the road, steering and handling are competent, and the ride is decent. At a zero to 60 acceleration time of about 12 seconds, you won't win many stoplight drag races. But in today's urban traffic you're not likely to get beat by many Porsches or Ferraris anyway.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service. For more columns, go to scrippsnews.com.)
DriveWays with NISSANCUBE-SPECS
