2010 Nissan Cube Review and Prices

By Chuck Giametta

2010 NISSAN CUBE BUYING ADVICE

• The 2010 Nissan Cube is the best car for you if you enjoy the company of tall friends and have a nose for four-wheel urban fashion.

• Nissan calls ‘em like it sees ‘em, naming this tiny box of a car for what it is. Taller than it is wide, with slab sides and a pug snout, the 2010 Cube fits a new age of rational motoring and pinched budgets. It’s just an inch longer than a standard Mini Cooper (great for street parking), but a full nine inches taller than the Mini (grand for head room). It holds four adults comfortably, five in a pinch. Swing open the side-hinged tailgate, fold the rear seat, and you can load 70 cubic feet of whatever.

• Should you buy a 2010 Nissan Cube or wait for the 2011 Nissan Cube? Buy a 2010 Cube. The 2011 Cube won’t be significantly changed, and a combination buyer’s market and slower-than-expected Cube sales should sweeten deals on 2010 Cubes.  

2010 NISSAN CUBE CHANGES

• Styling: The 2010 Nissan Cube looks like the 2009 Nissan Cube – for better or worse. Depending on your eye, it’s either a carton on wheels or a cartoon on wheels. Nissan introduced this little five-seat wagon for model-year 2009. It’s part of a vanguard of motorized blocks that also includes the 2010 Kia Soul. There’s only so much you can do with a cube, but Nissan’s take has a twisted sense of style. By comparison, the 2010 Honda Fit is an arrowhead, the Scion xB dour and beetle-browed. Cube is all vertical and glassy. It has button-cute proportions, a jowly face, “rounded-rectangle” windows, and a signature asymmetrical tailgate. That last cue makes it look as if there’s no right-rear roof pillar, but of course, there is. It’s hidden behind darkened glass. The cargo door swings open to the left above a pouting, full-width lower fascia that houses the taillamps. Imagination reigns inside, too, in what Nissan calls a “casual lounge” interior. Molded into various panels and controls are a series of “water drop” expanding concentric circles. The dashboard is tidy and functional, but its subtle wavy shaping, white-and-blue lighting, and rounded-rectangle vents complement exterior themes. The Nissan Cube comes in four models: the 1 .8, 1.8 S, 1.8 SL, and the 1.8 S Kr?m. This last, pronounced “chrome,” has a slightly different nose and tail styling and some exclusive interior trim. You sit upright in the Cube, on chair-like seats. Even 6-footers get plenty of head room and, because their knees are bent at a natural angle, surprisingly generous rear-leg space. The glassy greenhouse is great for visibility, but the tiny sunvisors protect just a fraction of the interior from the ‘Ol Sol’s slanting rays. Cube’s cargo possibilities are seriously thwarted by rear seats that don’t fold away completely. Only the seatbacks flip forward and they rest atop the lower cushions, which remain anchored to the floor. The result is a barrier reef of seat where, in a vehicle like this, you’d expect there to be a flat load surface. A new exterior color – Sapphire Black – is the only 2010 Cube appearance change.      

• Mechanical: Under the skin, Cube is mostly conformist, even old fashioned, with its front-wheel-drive layout, beam rear axle, and rear drum brakes. Nothing left to chance in its use of a four-cylinder engine, either. This one’s a 1.8-liter borrowed from Nissan’s Versa subcompact car. It has a more-than-adequate 122 horsepower. The Cube 1.8 is available only with a six-speed manual transmission. The 1.8 S offers the manual or a continuously variable automatic (CVT). The Cube 1.8 SL and 1.8 S Kr?m come only with the CVT. A CVT performs the duties of an automatic transmission, but via a rheostat-like delivery of power rather than with a set series of gear ratios. Nissan equips the Cube with a nice selection of standard safety items, including antilock brakes with brake assist and traction-control and antiskid systems. In addition to the engine, Cube borrows its basic chassis structure from the Versa. That’s great news for Cube owners, who benefit from a European-tuned suspension developed for the Versa by Nissan’s parent company, Renault. Ride is supple and controlled, handling fairly spry, especially at sane speeds. Truly rapid cornering results in tire-squealing noseplow and comical body-lean angles. Acceleration for everyday duty is lively enough. But load it to the gills with people or stuff, and Cube will struggle to merge with fast-moving freeway traffic and breathes hard climbing a long grade. Cube’s main dynamic drawback, though, is poor noise suppression. Road rumble permeates the cabin on coarse surfaces. In anything more than part-throttle acceleration there seems to be little insulation against engine and exhaust drone. Worse is wind roar at highway speeds, and not just from the blunt noise and upright windshield, but though side glass and door seals.       

• Features: Standard seat mounted front side airbags and full-length head-protecting curtain side airbags contribute to passive safety. Every Cube comes with air conditioning, power windows and locks, remote keyless entry, and intermittent rear wiper. The rear bench seat is elevated slightly to provide a theater-seating effect in relation to the front seats. It splits 60/40 and slides fore/aft to prioritize cargo or people space. The rear seatback both reclines and folds forward, though, as mentioned above, the lower portion doesn’t flop forward. There are six cupholders in this five-passenger car. Clever touches include detachable hooks for bags and the like; they can be moved around, from the dashboard to the passenger doors, for example. Brightly colored elastic straps on the door armrests secure items such as maps or cellphones; Nissan calls them “magic rubber bands.” Depending on model, available features include pushbutton ignition, a Rockford Fosgate subwoofer with six speakers, XM satellite radio, and rear parking assist. Accessories include “shag” carpeting for some interior shelf surfaces, alloy wheels, aero body panels, and a 20-color interior accent-lighting kit. In changes for 2010, all Cubes except the base 1.8 model now come standard with Bluetooth phone connection, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and steering-wheel audio controls. Additionally, 2010 Cube 1.8 S models catch up to 1.8 SL and 1.8 S Kr?m editions with a standard USB iPod interface, speed-sensitive volume control, and two additional speakers, for a total of six. The 2010 Cube 1.8 S Kr?m edition adds a 4.3-inch color audio display to its dashboard and gets pushbutton ignition and rearview monitor as standard. Finally, the 4.3-inch display and review monitor are added to the optional SL Preferred Package. The Cube 1.8 and 1.8 S models have 15-inch tires with wheel covers; 1.8 SL and 1.8 S Kr?m versions come with 16-inch alloys.

2010 NISSAN CUBE PRICES

• Base prices for the 2010 Nissan Cube span $14,710-$20,850, not including options. Prices in this review include the manufacturer’s mandatory destination fee; Nissan’s fee for the 2010 Cube is $720.

• The 2010 Nissan Cube 1.8 is priced at $14,710. Options for this entry-level Cube are limited to mud guards and the Interior Designer Package, which includes the shag dash topper and front-door bungees.

• The 2010 Nissan Cube 1.8 S is priced at $15,750 with manual transmission, $16,750 with the CVT. It adds such standard features as body-color outside mirrors and cruise control.

• The 2010 Cube 1.8 SL is priced at $17,850. In addition to features standard on the 1.8 S model the 1.8 SL adds 16-inch alloy wheels and an automatic climate control system with outside temperature display.

• The 2010 Nissan Cube 1.8 S Kr?m starts at $20,850. Standard equipment exclusive to the Kr?m includes special 16-inch alloys; modified grille and front fascia, body side sills, and rear spoiler; special black-and-gray seat cloth and titanium-tone cabin accents; and aluminum-trimmed gas and brake pedals.   

• Headlining the list of 2010 Nissan Cube options is the $2,550 Ginormous Package. It’s exclusive to Cube 1.8 S and SL models and bundles several options otherwise available as separate options, including the aero body kit ($1,180) and the interior accent lighting ($290). All models are available with upgraded cabin trim via the Interior Designer Package ($230). A rear cargo organizer is a $180 option available on all but the base 1.8 Cube. And for $790, the 1.8 SL model can be fitted with a choice of two alternate 16-inch alloy wheel designs.   

2010 NISSAN CUBE FUEL ECONOMY

• The Nissan Cube isn’t very aerodynamic and its various models weigh between 2,768 and 2,904 pounds. That’s slightly heavier than the larger-sized Nissan Versa four-door hatchback, which shares Cube’s basic chassis and employs the same 1.8-liter engine and transmissions.

• Weight and a wind-snagging shape are clues to Nissan Cube’s unexceptional fuel economy for such a small car.

• EPA ratings are 25/30 mpg (city/highway) for the Cube 1.8 and 1.8 S with manual transmission and 27/31 for Cubes with the CVT. By comparison, a 1.8-liter Versa hatchback with the same powertrains is rated at 26/31 and 28/34.  

2010 NISSAN CUBE RELEASE DATE

• The 2010 Nissan Cube went on sale in November 2009.  

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE NISSAN CUBE

• With today’s Cube linked to the Versa platform, Nissan will have to decide what to do with its square-pants hatch when the host vehicle transitions to a new design, which could come as early as model-year 2012. Redesigning Cube at the same time would mean shelving a car that’s been on sale just three model years in the U.S.

• Such a short shelf live might prove fortuitous, given Cube’s cyber-age target audience, groomed as it is on rapid product turn-over. Indeed, some 2010 Nissan promotional materials began referring to the car as the cube – lower-case “c” – after just one year as the upper-case Cube.

• When it comes to the vehicle itself, how far outside the box will Nissan’s thinking go? If it sticks with the name, for example, does a next-generation Cube have to be … a cube? Much will depend on how long-lived this fad in fashion-statement subcompacts proves to be. Nissan would seem to be absorbed in far less frivolous matters, such as perfecting and launching the 2011 Leaf, a pure-electric car. But if an economic case can be made for merely slapping a quirky body on an existing chassis, Nissan’s cubist movement may have legs.   

2010 NISSAN CUBE COMPETITION

• 2010 Honda Fit: Redesigned for 2009, Fit takes the sporty route into the entry-level field. Honda blends sharp steering and lively handling into its mix of high-mileage efficiency, delicate design details, and buzz-worthy features like an available voice-activated navigation. Fit matches Cube for passenger space, but trounces it for cargo versatility. Fit’s base price range is roughly $15,700-$20,000. It has a 117-horsepower four-cylinder engine and rates 27/33 with manual transmission, 28/35 with a five-speed automatic. Honda plans a hybrid version of the Fit but hasn’t discussed the timing of its introduction. Fit is due a facelift for model-year 2012 and a full redesign for 2014.

• 2010 Scion xB: A bigger, badder box than the cutesy Cube, this five-seat wagon from Toyota’s youth-oriented division is mechanically refined, has capable road manners, and feels more substantial than its $16,500 starting price suggests. Roomy and comfortable, basically, it’s the best of this breed. I has the most power, too, with a 158-horsepower four. That costs it some at the pump, with ratings of 22/28 mpg with either the five-speed manual transmission or four-speed automatic. No changes are planned before model-year 2013 or so.
  

• 2010 Kia Soul: This South Korean automaker, a branch of Hyundai, climbs into the square circle with a box of its own. The funky four-door hatchback Soul is a bit larger than the Cube, but targets the same audience. It offers engines of 122 and 140 horsepower and a sporty model with a taut suspension and 18-inch wheels. Soul is probably the least weird-looking of this group, and it isn’t exciting to drive. But that middle ground has it outselling the Cube and the xB. Base price range is roughly $14,000-$18,000. EPA ratings are 26/31 with the 122-horsepower engine and 24/30 with the 144-horse four.