2014 Nissan Cube: The Box Is Back

No doubt to the surprise of many, the 2014 Nissan Cube is on sale now with an MSRP that starts at $16,760. That’s the same entry point as for the 2013 model, but there is one minor change for the new selling season: Nissan has swapped in a new exterior color, “Caspian Sea,” for last year’s “Bitter Chocolate.”

Now, while it’s unlikely that that adjustment will do much for sales, the benefit for Cube customers is a car that’s rarer than a Jaguar F-Type or Porsche Cayman—both of which topped the Nissan’s sales total of 297 units in October. The 2014 Nissan Cube also continues to showcase a truly unique appearance, thanks to an asymmetric, wraparound rear window and a dash of old-school JDM style, and it can be further fitted with features like:

• Navigation with a 5-inch touchscreen
• A rearview camera monitor
• Bluetooth hands-free calling technology
• Nissan’s Intelligent Key with Push Button Ignition
• Rear-seat heat ducts
• Upgraded audio, with a Rockford Fosgate subwoofer and amp, plus six premium speakers and USB port

The 2014 Nissan Cube offers a high level of versatility, too. The vehicle itself is a tidy 156.7 inches in length, so it’s about 5 inches shorter than a Honda Fit, but it also manages to provide up to 58.1 cubic feet of cargo space, almost a cubic foot more than the notoriously capacious Honda. (As some further context, a small crossover like the Ford Escape serves up 67.8 cubic feet of room for gear.)

Looking at cubic inches beneath the hood, the 2014 Nissan Cube has about 109, with its 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine making 122 hp and 127 lb.-ft. of torque, and available mated to either a six-speed manual or continuously variable transmission. The former setup is good for EPA ratings of 25 mpg city/30 mpg highway/27 mpg combined, and the 2014 Nissan Cube with the CVT can post an EPA line of 27/31/28. Frankly, those numbers aren't that high when you consider that the midsize 2014 Nissan Altima goes 27/38/31, but they do compare favorably with those of the 2014 Kia Soul, which tops out at 24/31/27.

Starting prices for the rest of the 2014 Nissan Cube lineup include $17,760 for the starter model with a CVT and $18,860 for the range-topping SV version, again with a CVT.