Tan Chong opens the order books for the new Nissan compact crossover – Nissan JUKE. Customers who book the JUKE now will be entitled to a $3,000 special pre-launch discount.

JUKE – a part SUV, part sports coupe, crossover - is expected to arrive in November/December 2010. But the public will be able to preview JUKE at the Nissan Ubi Showroom from the 30th of September.

Model Variants: JUKE 1.6L Special Pre-launch Price with COE: from $96,800 JUKE 1.6L DIG-T Special Pre-launch Price with COE: from $116,800

Shunning the conventional design in favour of a more creative styling, the ground-breaking compact is a distinctive combination of SUV toughness and sports coupe agility, conceived to inject some masculinity and dynamism into the compact car market.

One of the most distinctive features of the JUKE exterior is the unique headlight treatment, which utilizes large, rounded headlights mounted low in the nose and thin, high-mounted “slash” auxiliary lights mounted higher on the hood edge to create a radical, rally car-inspired appearance. The rear combination lights also project JUKE’s sporty intentions, mimicking the sleek boomerang-like form found on the iconic Z sports car. Embedded rear door handles, “hidden” in the rear pillars emulate the design of a 2-door sports coupe.

The new I-CON, a versatile multi-function information system, is making its debut on JUKE (for 1.6L DIG-T variant only). This newly developed intelligent control display features a versatile, multi-coloured information system that provides real time driving information and a host of other options, which allow the driver to alter both dynamic drive mode settings and climate control. In Drive mode, both engine and CVT transmission performance can be adjusted to fit any driving of three modes – Normal mode, Sports mode and Eco mode.

There are 2 engine choices for the JUKE. At the top is a newly developed 1.6-litre Direct Injection Gasoline turbocharged (DIG-T) engine which generates 190PS and 240Nm.

A low and lightweight design, the 16 valve engine uses direct injection to improve combustion to optimise power and torque, economy and emissions. Low friction techniques include the adoption of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating for the valve lifters and mirror finish camshafts. The result is an engine delivering the performance levels of a 2.5-litre engine (0-100 km/h in just 7.8s and top speed of 200km/h) but with the fuel economy of a smaller engine (7.7L/100km).

The other engine choice is a naturally aspirated 1.6-litre all aluminium HR16DE engine that generates 116PS and 158Nm, and even better fuel economy of 7L/100km. The JUKE also features a new Xtronic CVT design leading to better acceleration, good response and quieter operation at high speeds. It will come with a 6-speed manual mode selection on the 1.6L DIG-T variant.