Mario James, Sunday Gleaner Writer

The 2005 Nissan Cube. Available at Auto Impressions for $950,000. - Photo by Mario James

Ok. Let's get the obvious out of the way. It is a box. Actually, it is two boxes. One box houses the engine, the other houses the occupants. This is the underlying design principle here. It doesn't get much more minimalist than this. Fittingly, it is called the Cube, and from first impressions, it looks like a five-year-old's first attempts at car design. So it is easy to dismiss, if you are into love at first sight. It has the proverbial 'face that only a mother would love'.

This is Nissan's answer to the all-conquering Honda Fit. The Fit has taken the market, and upset the status quo. What is small on the outside is big on the inside. Fit's sharp, angular face and hunkered-down stature endeared it to the heart of many. It has good performance, exceptional interior room, and great value.

But the ugly duckling blows it away. First off, the Cube is at least four inches higher than the Fit, and two inches wider. The doors open at least 20 degrees more. Cube swallows a 300-pound man as Jonah's whale would. It has bench seats in the front, which means this thing can theoretically hold six people and their shoulders don't touch. The shifter's on the column, so there will be no indecent moments with the middle passenger, and the seats are comfy (even though they are a bit slippery in high 'g' situations). This tester is nearly six-feet, and he could easily pass a six-inch ruler between his head and the roof when seated. Eight strong pillars surround Cube's passengers; it is like sitting in a car with a roll cage. That wrap-around rear window really isn't one. But it looks real cool, and gives the design some class that it wouldn't have without it.

Power everywhere

But wait, there's more: Cube comes with real fingertip transmission control! Two plastic buttons (one for each hand) adorn the steering wheel. They control the car's five-gear CVT box! So you too can romp through the box like Raikkonnen! And the engine- the 1386cc CR14(DE) lump, puts out 85 horse and 88 lb ft of turn. But in a car with with a really well-programmed CVT tranny, with an all up weight of 2100 lb, first gear wide open throttle application will roast the front tyres on less than patrician surfaces. Just sink the gas and there's power everywhere, no hesitation, just a really nice surge all the way to the 6200-rpm redline. With an aftermarket airbox/filter set up and the right pipes, this thing should sound like a Type R on steroids!

In traffic, Cube is a pleasure to drive. Our particular example was outfitted with DVD and surround sound (the sound system was a stock feature, the DVD wasn't). The steering was beautifully weighted, and with a wheel at practically every corner, parking was a breeze. And this is the only car this tester has tested at any price that will pull a U-turn on Hagley Park road, curb to curb. Not a two- or three-point turn; at one go. It is that manoeuvrable. And with all that height, one would think that it is top heavy and would roll in the corners. Not so - with its 13-inch wheels and its engine mounted low in the belly of the beast, the Nissan March suspension was tuned by the designers to damp out any undue oscillations that the roof would present, and the car turns in well. It ain't no race car, though; more tweaks would be necessary for this chassis to live at race speeds, but for the street and its intended purpose, Nissan has done one hell of a job.

All this for $950,000? It undersells the Fit? Incredible. Unbelievable!

They say that to get ahead in this world, one has to think outside a box. How truly apt it is that Nissan thought of a box while doing that!