The quirkiness and sense of fun of the original Juke’s interior design has been toned down a little this time around and augmented by a pretty clear effort to add some richer material and technological allure. There’s still plenty of visual character and a little bit of fun factor in evidence, and both can be dialled up beyond the level of our test car if you opt for pricier Tekna+ trim.
But the design flair certainly hasn’t been allowed to take over, or to prevent the Juke from delivering passenger space or ambient perceived quality to make it competitive with its rivals.
The oversized, high-contrast centre console that dominated the last Juke’s cabin has been replaced by one of a more ordinary shape and modest volume. The new one is a more discreet design feature, leather-upholstered as it was in our Tekna-spec test car, integrating the car’s starter button and drive mode selector switch and presenting the gearlever within a ring of ambient lighting.
You sit medium high and slightly bent-legged at the controls and pretty typically in a crossover supermini, with easier access and better visibility of the world outside than you’d get in a traditional hatchback. The instruments are analogue dials, with a good-sized digital drive computer screen positioned between them that can display the usual choice of trip computer or in-car entertainment information. The ritziest small crossovers now offer fully digital clocks, of course – but the Juke’s instrument binnacle is far from antiquated and it’s clear, simple and easy to configure to your liking.
