Ok. I've owned two Honda fits for my past DD needs. The fit is fantastic. Like a Swiss Army knife. The thing is, it has horrid snow and ice driving when it gets beyond 12". I am in the boonies and there are more gravel "rally-esce" roads here than paved. Like mentioned, we get snow too. Sometimes a lot of it.
The juke has awd. Yes, I know it is split FWD. yes, it's only
Cvt. Does that matter much? Is the cvt THAT bad? I really need two things: higher ride height, and awd. I'm not looking to spend more than 23k. And I don't want a slouch like the fit is. 188hp should be fine. Also, do these jukes have any known issues? Is there performance parts? It's a turbo engine, so I imagine 200hp isn't far away.
So, gentlemen, learn me. 
It's not an SUV...
I too think it looks interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/5khA4vBnhdE?start=89
That video is ridiculous. I would never attempt that in that car. I actually don't want an suv. I really want an AWD hatchback, with Japanese blood and some ground clearance. And under 25k.
You don't want a CVT.....unless you are buying a golf cart or poverty scooter.
I get my stick shifting jollies from my Celica.
Why not a base Subaru Crosstrek? Under $23k and manual trans.
They are older and used but I didn't mind driving my mom's suzuki sx4, my dad and I looked at a juke to replace it but couldn't get over how tiny it was inside. They ended up getting a kizashi.
If its like the Murano, IIRC AWD only works under like 7mph or something silly. Or cuts to 30% rear wheel power above that. I had a customer complain of it once and had to find the technical description of the AWD unit to show him its normal to spin the front tires at higher low traction speeds.
It does work fine for normal road snow and stuff so don't get me wrong. But look at the size of the rear diff. Really.
Edit: get snow tires. Big difference. Better than AWD with all seasons.
You asked about performance parts. There is a NISMO and NISMO RS version. In either case, the CVT version has less power and torque than the stick. It seems the CVT might not be ready for much more power.
I'd check out the Crosstrek as well, because that sounds more like what you want. However, both have a CVT and Nissan has a better unit, but the Subaru has a 5-speed manual if that's something you're interested in.
EvanB wrote:
Why not a base Subaru Crosstrek? Under $23k and manual trans.
A coworker just bought a CPO '13 Crosstrek with ~30K miles on it for ~$18K, allegedly has 100K power train warranty, starting from the purchase mileage. He bought the CVT much to my chagrin, I tried to talk him out of it and failed. He's not much of a car guy though, and bought it for basically the same reason as the OP. He's a fastidious researcher, looked at everything on the market, test drove a lot of cars, and decided he was either getting a preowned Crostrek or Outback.
I guess the Subaru crossgender isn't bad. It's just that I don't want to replace the fit with a vehicle of equal ride height. And I don't want some boorish turd. The crv, and Subaru anything are soooooo boring. If I want to drive a librarians car I'll stick with the fit. The WRX won't work for me either, since it would be blasphemy to get that in autotragic, and SWMBO "must have the automatics".
Mpg aren't much of a concern as long as it's above 25mpg.
So, awd, Japanese, good ground clearance, under 25k, and not "boring". Either in looks or performance. Does it exist in this country?
The Chevy Traxs and the Buick Encore share platform with the Chevy Sonic.
Is the Sonic on great winter tires high enough?
Turbo 1.4L
What about the not so Mini, Mini Cooper offerings.
What about the new Honda HRV?
Ok, I haven't seen where you said new, and we tend to like unicorns.
Acura ZDX is available in your price range. It's a slightly more car-like Japanese X6. Not Accord Crosstour based. MDX based. AWD (Super Handling AWD, no less!) 300hp, and available adjustable magnetorheological shocks.
In reply to flatlander937:
He said he doesn't want an SUV
Trackmouse wrote:
That video is ridiculous. I would never attempt that in that car. I actually don't want an suv. I really want an AWD hatchback, with Japanese blood and some ground clearance. And under 25k.
Nothing some Ground Hawg tires wouldn't cure.
you know, i actually considered the cx-3, showed it to the wife. i got shot down like a teen boy the week before prom... i like it. my only concern is these crappy awd systems that disengage above a certain MPH... whats with that? you mean i carry all that extra weight and cant use it when i want? like, at say, a 90 degree tail out slide with full opposite lock at 50mph on the snow? what gives....
Mike wrote:
Ok, I haven't seen where you said new, and we tend to like unicorns.
Acura ZDX is available in your price range. It's a slightly more car-like Japanese X6. Not Accord Crosstour based. MDX based. AWD (Super Handling AWD, no less!) 300hp, and available adjustable magnetorheological shocks.
unicorns.... that model got discontinued because honda is a bunch of idiots.
I think a Juke will be fine. Although, I'm not quite sure how the nice, normal looking CX3 got shot down but a hideous Juke is ok, but that's a different story...
The Juke is decently quick, and a lot of their AWD system is based precisely on the GTR AWD system. Torque Vectoring is the name Nissan uses, and for your uses it will be just fine. Here's a good little comparison video for you that might seal the deal.
Juke vs. 510
NGTD
UltraDork
11/7/15 6:55 a.m.
WRX Wagon with an automatic. Yeah it's what you want.
NickD
Reader
11/7/15 7:10 a.m.
I've driven the Juke and they are surprisingly fun and the interiors are pretty cool. Only warning is that they are ludicrously tiny on the inside, or at least I thought so.
The Crosstreks seem pretty cool, just wish that Subaru had named it the Loyale as a throwback. AVO does make a turbo kit for them
that pushes them to around 200hp at the wheels, which would be pretty fun.
