Sector: B-Crossover Price (November 2013): £20,395 Fuel: 40.9mpg CO2: 159g/km

Crossovers, it seems, are Nissan's forte. The Qashqai has, from a standing start, set standards for the C-segment crossover, while the Juke has laid out a formula which almost every manufacturer is now out to follow. So while a cross-breed between a small hot hatch and a small crossover is a little leftfield, for Nissan it's kind of a logical step.

Nismo, short for Nissan Motorsport, is nothing new. It’s the in-house tuning arm responsible for Nissan’s racing efforts and a series of highly priced, ultra-high performance versions its road-going sports cars, such as the GT-R and its Skyline predecessors. Think of it as Nissan’s equivalent to BMW’s M Division and you’re somewhere close.

Just as BMW, and others, have capitalised on their performance sub-brand, so Nissan is starting to realise the potential of Nismo in the UK. The ever-popular Juke gained a Nismo version at the start of this year, followed by the 370Z, and with the UK’s appetite for sports styling the former has enjoyed unexpectedly high demand since. Other models are likely to follow suit in the near future.

Somehow, Nissan has found a way to make the already aggressive-looking Juke seem even angrier in Nismo form. Compact and muscular, it sits on large two-tone alloy wheels and features a red-accented bodykit, while the interior has been upgraded with Nismo-branded sports seats and a red-stitched wheel, both finished in suede. 

This is not to be confused with the Juke R, which shares its drivetrain with the GT-R, but it's also not just a cosmetic makeover. The Juke Nismo uses a 200bhp 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine similar to the one used in the latest RenaultSport Clio, with a six-speed gearbox. The standard car’s three driving modes are carried forward and, in Sport, throttle responses are razor-sharp, offering bursts of acceleration ideal for overtaking while a small screen in the centre of the dashboard shows how much turbo boost the engine is using.

The driving experience doesn’t suffer much due to the raised ride height. It rides even firmer than the already solidly riding diesel Jukes, but once you get used to the higher driving position it doesn’t seem to roll about as heavily as a car this tall might. The lack of four-wheel drive, without shifting to the unusual CVT gearbox, can give the traction control a hard time in the wet though.

If there’s any criticism to be levelled at Nissan’s first hot crossover, it’s that it’s not quite hard edged enough. In-gear acceleration is brisk, but it’s a little behind the latest models in outright performance and arguably not as vocal as it should be. Heavy loads result in plentiful turbo whine, but backed by slightly tinny engine note which doesn’t quite live up to the styling.

That said, it’s still huge fun and, like the Juke, surprisingly practical too. But while retail buyers will enjoy the tiny price difference between this and the core n-tec models, CO2 emissions of 169g/km won't make the Nismo badge a common sight in the company car park. At least not until Nissan decides to drip-feed Nismo styling into diesel versions. There'd be plenty of demand waiting if it did.

Verdict:

While the Juke would benefit from a few extra horsepower and a drop in CO2, this is a lot of fun in a very usable package. Retail buyers will find this is a reasonably cheap upgrade over the more common models, but for user-choosers it’s an option only for the most devoted Juke fans.