Mini Cooper vs Nissan Juke

What's the difference?

Can it be possible that, between 1959 and 2023, there have only been four distinct generations of Mini? 

Besides the 1959 British Motor Corporation (BMC) original, it’s just been a trio of hatchback versions under BMW stewardship – the R50 of 2001, 2006’s R56 and the 2014 F56.

Now, in 2024, that number has suddenly jumped to six. 

The F56 has morphed into the lightly restyled and solely petrol-powered F66 Cooper range in F66 three-door (3DR) and coming F65 five-door (5DR) hatchback guises like before.

Meanwhile, the completely new and electric-only J01 Cooper 3DR joins the fold, along with its J05 Aceman 5DR crossover spin-off.

Despite their shared name and similar styling inside and out, the British-built Cooper and electric Cooper from China are two different cars. You can read all about the latter in another review, as this is about the petrol-powered Cooper range.

More of a thorough makeover and less of a total redesign, has it changed enough? Let’s find out. 

The Nissan Juke was meant to herald a new era for Nissan in Australia.

It was the first in a slew of new-generation SUVs and has now been joined by the Qashqai, X-Trail, and Pathfinder as part of a new-look Nissan.

Unlike those others, though, the Juke hasn’t quite resonated with buyers. Since arriving to what Nissan probably expected to be fanfare back in 2020, the new Juke has since sunk to the bottom of its compact SUV segment, outselling only a handful of other models.

So, what went wrong? Is the quirky styling of the Juke too much? Are there too many appealing choices in the compact SUV space? Alternatively, could the Juke be an underrated gem worth checking out?

I find myself in an upper mid-spec ST-L to find out.