2009 Nissan Cube: It has the look of a winner

JIL MCINTOSH FOR THE TORONTO STAR

You’ll either love or hate the Nissan Cube’s exterior, but inside the car offers comfortable seats and roominess.

Jil McIntosh

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

"It's good not everybody likes the same thing," the old woman said to her granddaughter. "Otherwise, every woman in the world would be after your grandpa."

And that probably explains why, when I brought home the Nissan Cube, one friend said he'd consider buying one, while my neighbour used a word in front of "ugly" that a family newspaper can't print.

To call the Cube's appearance polarizing is an understatement, and it will be the deciding factor long before anyone gets near the wheel for a test-drive. If the Cube's too weird for words, go no further. Otherwise, it's a funky, practical hauler that does a competent job on the road.

It's based on the Nissan Versa, sharing its platform and 1.8 L four-cylinder engine. Trim lines are my base S tester at $16,998, and upper-level SL at $20,698. Like Versa, the Cube S uses a six-speed manual transmission, rare in a segment more likely to offer just five speeds. An automatic unit, optional on the S and the only choice on the SL, is a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which uses pulleys instead of gears to provide exactly the right ratio for the engine speed.

I haven't tried it in the Cube, but I wasn't keen on it in the Versa: while Nissan's CVTs work exceptionally well in its larger vehicles, I found it sluggish when mated to Versa's smaller engine. The trade-off is fuel economy: in city driving, the manual is rated at 8.3 L/100 km (34 m.p.g.), while the CVT gets 7.3 (39 m.p.g.).

The little engine is buzzy and not too powerful, and if you're willing to sacrifice the fuel economy, the stick shift lets you make the most of it. It's also very smooth and nice to use, and if you're comfortable with a manual, it's a sweet little unit. Cube is ideally suited to be a city car, where practicality takes precedence over power.

Even though it's shorter than Versa, its slab-sided styling maximizes its compact footprint. When Nissan debuted it at the Toronto auto show, the car came out stuffed with five Argonauts football players.

As with Versa, the seats are generously stuffed with foam and are extremely comfortable. The rear seat slides ahead and back, so the cargo compartment can be extended from a length of 57 to 72 cm. The rear seatback also folds, but the cushion remains in place, so while space increases to 135 cm, the cargo floor isn't flat (but you can buy an accessory cargo organizer that does form a flat floor, and contains bins for smaller items).

There's a high lift-over when putting in your groceries as well, and the combination cargo cover/net is an odd cloth affair that mostly just gets in the way.

Cube's ride is surprisingly supple, instead of econo-box feel-every-bump. The steering is light, and it turns on a dime – although, naturally, its shape and relatively light weight means having to hold it steady on windy highways. Visibility in this terrarium is as good as you'd expect.

Unfortunately, since the window surrounds are rounded on the outside but square on the inside, the view from the seats includes the corners of sheet metal and glass seals, which looks unfinished.

The most notable styling cue is the asymmetrical rear window. It seems like you'd be able to see all the way around the wrapped glass; in reality, there's a support post inside, so the view is the same from both inside corners. The rear is a swing-out door, hinged on the left for curbside loading, although anyone parking tightly in behind will cause some access issues.

Inside, it's all proudly plastic, which somehow looks appropriate. A circular ripple motif appears in the speakers, cupholders, on one side window panel, and most notably in the molded headliner: you can indeed put a round hole in a square peg.

Like Versa, Cube also contains six airbags, but unlike its hatchback sibling, anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control are standard on both Cube trim lines, as are air conditioning, power locks and windows, cruise control, and CD stereo with iPod jack. Versa's $13,998 starting price undercuts Cube by $3,000, and is still $900 less when you add optional a/c, ABS, and power locks and windows, but you can't add stability control at all.

Segment-wise, Cube faces the usual lineup of subcompacts such as Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and Chevrolet Aveo, but let's be honest: if you like Cube's looks, it's strictly going to be box vs. box, and that means its only real competitor is Kia Soul. Scion xB, another slab-sided vehicle that American fans have dubbed Toaster, will also run against it, but Toyota isn't bringing this entry-level brand to Canada until 2010.

Kia squares off with some heavy artillery. Its base 1.6 L Soul has the same horsepower as Cube, and at $15,495 it's cheaper, but it lacks ABS and stability control, and a/c is another $1,000. At the next trim line up, Soul adds a 142-horsepower 2.0 L engine, a/c and all the safety features. It gets better city-rated fuel economy, and costs $17,995 – $997 more than a base Cube. While Nissan's warranty covers everything for three years or 60,000 km, and the powertrain for five years or 100,000 km, Kia is 5/100 across the board.

It's going to be interesting to see where Cube – and Soul, for that matter – end up. Nissan's aiming at younger drivers, but as fellow Wheels contributor Brian Early says, cars marketed to a target audience always fail to gain it (and an early report from J.D. Power shows that the typical Canadian buyer is 45 years old and most likely to be female).

Honda Element and Pontiac Aztek were aimed at the surfboard/snowboard 20-something crowd, and mostly ended up with 50-plus drivers who ignored the looks and went for the versatility. Cube's about as useful as any car can be. It'll now depend on how you feel about the face.

Freelance automotive writer Jil McIntosh can be reached at jil@ca.inter.net

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