New Nissan Cube Car - DOHC 1.8L Engine

Staff Thoughts Starting at $14k, I don't think you can find a car in the same price range that's more hip. I was actually very shocked to see the Cube here in the States being that this is the third generation. Years ago, I heard rumors that the second gen one was suppose to be sold stateside, but that never happened. So this time around, I didn't think they would bring this one over either. Nissan, Toyota and Honda all have tons of super cool small cars that don't ever see roads outside of Japan. I'm glad it didn't become one of those.

After talking to the executives at Nissan, they said the first two never came over because they were never intended to be made in left-hand-drive format. And because of that, they couldn't re-engineer it with the steering column and rack-and-pinion on the left. This time around the third gen Cube was designed so engineers could reconstruct the car to be a LHD. Nissan didn't just stop at the steering wheel; the entire rear end was converted to the opposite side. The rear door was changed over so it would open towards the curb, when parallel parked. That avant-garde rear bending rear window was also inverted to the right side.

If you have to buy a new car, and your price bracket is in the mid teens, I'd suggest the Cube. The Beetle and Mini just don't look cool anymore these days. And the Prius is just in a completely different price bracket. There aren't a lot of cars that look cool and at the same time are functional. As small as it looks from the outside, the inside of the car has tons of head- and rear-seat room. My favorite feature is that the rear seats not only recline, but slide back and forth on sliders. Now you might think that the car looks similar to a Scion xB, but the Cube actually came out long before the bB did in Japan.

Adding to the utility of the car, I love that fact that the manual version has a six-speed transmission. With the DOHC 1.8L engine this thing has some balls for a small car. 11-inch front rotors are also enticing for tuners like myself. Look hip, get some use out of it, and the manual has more pep than most other small, inexpensive cars. It's hard to compare this car to anything else new in the same price range. - Charles Trieu

Faster facts
2010 nissan cube

The sticker starting at $13,990

Under the hood Mr18de dohc 4-cylinder engine

The power 122 hp @ 5,200rpm; 127 lb-ft @ 4,800rpm

Scale tipping 1,687lbs Layout front-engine, front-wheel-drive

Gearbox xtronic cvt (continuously variable transmission)

Stiff stuff independent strut with coil springs (front)/torsion beam rear axle with integrated 24.6mm stabilizer bar (rear); 20mm front stabilizer bar

Rollers 16x6 aluminum alloys; 195/55r16 v-rated, all-season tires

Stoppers 11-inch front vented disc rotors and 11.7-inch rear drum brakes With abs

At the pump 28mpg city/30mpg highway

The pack scion xd, honda fit, kia soul

Deep thoughts nissan finally enters the b-spec class with fun and innovative style, even if it's not the fastest piece of equipment out there. But then again, you're saving serious coin and nobody said getting the cube to perform was out of the realm of possibility.