Can Nissan's Juke play tough on the streets?

You either love it or hate it, but you’d be hard pressed to argue that Nissan’s niche soft-roader had much in the way of road presence. From its startled-looking front lights to its clipped rear-end, Juke is one of the least likely villains on our roads.

But Nissan have decided to change all that, bringing out the Dark Side of the Juke in a limited edition ‘Kuro’ variant. Kuro means black in Japanese, and Nissan are offering the Juke Kuro in a choice of two metallic paint finishes: Pearl Black or Force Red – with appropriately darkened wheels.

Based on the top-of-the-range Tekna grade, the Kuro features new ten spoke, 17-inch alloy wheels finished in gloss black along with black door mirrors and handles.

Only 700 examples of Kuro will be produced for the UK, starting with a 1.6-litre petrol engined version priced at £17,395 right up to the flagship 187 bhp turbocharged DIG-T version at £18,995.

Each car will be fitted with a special numbered plaque fitted to the centre console and is available to order now, with deliveries expected from 1st October 2011.

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