Skip to main content

Show winter who’s boss with this Nissan Juke that rolls along on tank-like tracks

Nissan Juke Personalization
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan has unveiled the Juke Personalization Adventure concept ahead of its public debut at the 2019 Tokyo Auto Salon, and it is a sight to behold for snow lovers. It rides on four tank-like tracks that let anyone lucky enough to slip behind the wheel forget every lesson they ever learned about driving on snow and ice.

The Juke Personalization Adventure concept started life as a regular-production Juke — a model no longer sold in the United States but still available in other global markets. Nissan made it much wider by tacking plastic flares onto the wheel arches, which keep the tracks safely tucked under the body. Though technical specifications remain under wraps, we know the Juke Personalization Adventure concept comes with all-wheel drive and torque vectoring. It looks capable of taming anything Mother Nature can throw at it, including snowbanks and foot-deep mud.

You’ll never lose the Juke Personalization Adventure out in the wilderness. It’s decked out with a two-tone white-and-black paint job, along with green accents on the bumpers, the tracks, the mirrors, and the tow hooks. Metal covers protect the headlights from impacts, while a roof rack gives adventurers additional space to carry anything they might need for a trip off the grid.

Nissan hasn’t shown us photos of the interior yet. We’re betting it’s as epic as the rest of the concept, and we hope it’s fitted with a reliable GPS system. An inclinometer would be fun, too.

Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time Nissan has installed snow tracks on a regular-production car. In early 2018, it put tracks on a 370Z to create the completely mad 370Zki (pronounced 370-ski). In 2017, it brought us the tank-like Rogue Trail Warrior. Both concept cars were built solely to turn heads on the auto show circuit, and neither have joined the Nissan catalog as regular-production model. We have no reason to believe a different fate awaits the Juke-based concept. We don’t expect it will ever see the inside of a showroom.

Tracks are readily available from a variety of aftermarket vendors, however, and there is no shortage of late-model Nissan Jukes sitting on used car lots across the nation. If you’re feeling brave and a little bit bored this winter, you know where to draw inspiration from.

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
The Kia EV3 could be the cheap electric SUV we’ve been waiting for
White Kia EV3

The Kia EV9 was already one of the cheapest ways to get an electric SUV, but now the company is taking things to the next level. After teasing the Kia EV3 last year, the car is now official.

The EV3 is built to be a slightly smaller, cheaper version of the EV9 -- following the path of the Rivian R2, which arrived after the Rivian R1S. It's certainly not as technologically advanced as the EV9, but it still looks unmistakably like a modern Kia, and is clearly a sibling of the larger SUV. On the outside, the vehicle has the same split taillights and very similar Tiger Face front. But it is quite a bit smaller. The vehicle will be available in nine finishes -- however only "Aventurine Green" and "Terracotta" are being announced right now.

Read more
Kia EV3: release date, performance, range, and more
White Kia EV3

Kia is on a roll. Hot on the heels of the success of the Kia EV6 and EV9, the company is already announcing what could be its cheapest electric vehicle yet -- the Kia EV3.

The Kia EV line seems to follow the rule of lower numbers indicating a lower price — and if so, the EV3 will end up being the cheapest electric car Kia has released to date. That, however, thankfully doesn’t mean that the EV3 will be a low-end car — it just means that Kia may be pushing the boundaries on electric car pricing.

Read more
Kia EV3 vs Tesla Model Y: Can Kia’s new entry-level car take on Tesla?
White Kia EV3

The Kia EV3 is finally coming, and it could well end up being the best small-size electric SUV to buy when it finally rolls out. It's smaller than the Kia EV9, but it offers many of the same design elements and features. But there's another small-size electric car that's currently one of the most popular vehicles out there -- the Tesla Model Y.

How does the Kia EV3 compare with the Tesla Model Y? And is one vehicle actually better than the other? We put the Kia EV3 and the Tesla Model Y head-to-head to find out.
Design
The design of the Kia EV3 is very different than that of the Model Y, though they're both reasonably good-looking vehicles.

Read more