Nissan has had a little cube car since 1998, but it didn't feel its angular tyke was lovable enough to leave its mother market. So it kept it at home in Japan, even after Asian competitors started bringing their boxy, teeny, tiny toddlers into the United States.
Finally, years after the arrival of Toyota's Scion xB and the Honda Element, Nissan came ashore with the 2009 Cube. With the arrival earlier this year of the 2010 Kia Soul, Nissan now finds itself in something of a puppy fight for a youthful market.
Whether you call them Gen Y, which sounds like a chromosomal disorder, or the millennials, which suggests the extraterrestrial immortals in a low-budget sci-fi movie, these late teens and early 20s are seen by automakers as the beginnings of a huge market. So, one must fashion a car that will get these first-time buyers into the habit of purchasing steeds from your corral.
So far, it is research-happy Toyota that has been most successful at giving these young buyers what they want, but that could change with the arrival of the Nissan and Kia cubes.
What many of them want, apparently, is a vehicle like the Nissan Cube, something that is cheap, versatile, readily customizable, and doesn't look like their grandfather's Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.
As usual, something different elicits different aesthetic responses. Many young people find the Cube cool. More geriatric sorts, like me, find it so ridiculously homely that it is cute. Others from my demographic are less kind. Says Steve Bayer, a Center City businessman of a certain age: "I don't have the self-confidence to drive it. Everyone would be pointing at me and laughing, I fear."
Whatever you think of the styling of Its Boxiness, it is hard to argue with the price. The Cube starts at $13,990, and even in base form includes that friend of all ice cubes, the air conditioner.
The grades above base include the S ($14,690), SL ($16,790), and the top-of-the-line Krom, which starts at $19,370. The base model is available only with the Cube's surprisingly slick six-speed manual gearbox. The S can be had with either the manual or a smooth continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). The nicely equipped SL model I tested is offered only with the CVT, as is the Krom.
Thanks partly to its height, interior space is much more than you would expect from a car less than 157 inches long. The considerable headroom, almost 43 inches, will accommodate two NBA skyscrapers in the front seat while the rear-seat legroom afforded by the seat's six-inch fore-to-aft adjustment will take care of two more.
Cargo space is another matter. It is a rather puny 11 cubic feet when the backseat is up, but better with the seat folded down. Its 58 cubic feet beats the Kia Soul's 53, but not the Scion xB's 70. The rear seatbacks fold down over the cushions but do not tumble forward to increase floor space.
The tester's interior, while nicely assembled from attractive materials, was quirky, to say the least. The storage provisions included rubber bands on the armrests, which looked like they were best suited to providing a Bowflex workout for the Geico gecko. There was also a circular piece of shag carpet on the top of the dash, on which I wasn't supposed to place objects. I don't even want to think about that.
In many ways, the Cube giveth and taketh away. Visibility through that picture window windshield is panoramic, although the wind bouncing off its flat face is quite audible at highway speeds. On the other hand, little noise emanates from the road or the Cube's body.
Like most small engines, the Cube's 1.8-liter four gets buzzy when you floor it. But it is well-behaved under normal driving conditions. And, like most low-powered cars, you can time the 122-horsepower Cube from zero to 60 with a calendar.
Mileage is decent enough. It has EPA estimates of 28 city and 30 highway. I got 28.6 in largely highway driving.
The Cube's electric steering makes easy work of Center City parking, but it doesn't afford much road feel. An ABS system contributes to the Cube's excellent braking, and the vehicle's considerable height and wheel travel give it a bit more body roll than usual in the corners.
2009 Nissan Cube SL.
Base price: $16,790.
As tested: $22,780 (inc. shipping).
Standard equipment: Includes 1.8-liter engine, antilock disc/drum brakes, air-conditioning, keyless entry.
Options: Virtually the whole Cube option repertoire, from push-button starting to special front end and interior dress-up.
Fuel economy: 28 m.p.g. city, 30 highway.
Engine performance: zzzzzz.
Handling: Acceptable.
Styling: An acquired taste.
The Ben Key: Four Bens, Excellent; Three Bens, Good; Two Bens, Fair; One Ben, Poor.
Contact Al Haas at Alhaasauto@aol.com.
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