Vehicle Review: The Willfully Quirky 2010 Nissan Cube

If you decided that you were going to design and build a new car, where would you get your inspiration from? Most people would probably turn to other earlier automobiles for their stylistic inspiration. Or possibly they'd find it in art or nature.

Well, if you work at Nissan and you were designing the exterior of the car that became the 2010 Nissan Cube, you took your inspiration from a bulldog wearing sunglasses. Oddly enough, once you know that you can never look at the Cube's exterior design the same way again.

For the interior, other design inspirations popped up for the guys at Nissan. The speedometer/tachometer dials are apparently representations of the Earth and Moon thanks to the way they illuminate at night. The headliner has ripples weaving across it like you would see after throwing a pebble into a still pond.

The most amazing thing about the 2010 Cube, however, is the fact that you can buy this willfully quirky car for as little as $13,990. That may be the price for the base model but it still comes with air conditioning, power windows, power door locks, 6-airbags, AM/FM/CD 4-speaker audio system with an auxiliary input jack, traction control and stability control. That covers the essentials.

The best value is definitely the S model which at $15,350 also gives you cruise control, leather wrapped steering wheel, iPod integration, Bluetooth, body color side mirrors and an audio upgrade to 6-speakers with two tweeters. But if hipster cool is what you are after, then you need to buy the SL or the Krom Edition.

The SL model comes with a standard CVT automatic (6-speed manual transmission is standard on lesser models), 16-inch alloy wheels, automatic temperature control and auto-off headlamps all for $17,450. You can then further upgrade your 2010 Cube SL with the Preferred Package ($1,600) which gives you fog lights, a premium Rockford Fosgate audio system, USB port, rear view monitor, XM and push button starting.

Beyond even this lies the Krom edition which adds a whole lot of spurious and unnecessary chrome trim to the exterior. You also get blindingly chromed out wheels, aluminum kick plates, bigger tires, "titanium" interior trim and ambient lighting that all somehow manages to kick the price above $20,000. My advice is stick with the SL. The 2010 Cube doesn't need any further help standing out.

The 2010 Cube comes with a fuel efficient (27 city/31 highway) 1.8 liter 122 horsepower/128 lb. feet of torque 4-cylinder engine. It copes with moving the Cube around town admirably, although a Scion xB is much faster. Crosswinds on the freeway can also upset the Cube thanks to its bluff-sided nature.

With the rear seats in place there may only be 11.4 cubic feet of cargo room but this translates into an incredibly roomy cabin for five passengers. Once you ditch whoever is in the back seat, however, you can fold the second row to uncover 58.1 cubic feet of open space. Don't let your friends know or they will all be asking you to help them move.

So if you are looking to make a daring personal statement but life requires you drive a very utilitarian vehicle with great fuel efficiency, then the 2010 Nissan Cube might be just the new car you have been waiting for. Either that or maybe you should go out and adopt a bulldog.

Source: Nissanusa.com