2010 Nissan cube Krom: Cute Turns Krom

I, like so many others, have always been told not to judge a book by its cover. But when it comes to Nissan’s cube, it’s hard not to. I mean, let’s be honest... this thing is downright weird. It’s skinny, upright, and endowed with windows brought to you by Jelly Belly. Hell, the thing isn’t even symmetrical for crying out loud.

But the cube Krom takes it to another level. As the top of the cube range (ironic, given a cube has no top, by definition), the Krom brings an air of youthful aggression to the cube’s cutesy face, trading the anime-esque front fascia for a three bar design that, if I’m honest, looks like it was installed by an HVAC specialist more than a designer. Below, the lower air dam juts out where the standard cube front end starts to roll under, and is filled with yet more chrome bars... classy, horizontal, prison-style bars. Of course, being coated in a metallic blue-black hue didn’t help my tester’s chances, as it makes the front end just too overwhelming.

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Thankfully, out back, Nissan’s Speciality Vehicles Group has taken a slightly less garish brush to the cube’s simple silhouette. While the lopsided rear door and window system is still there to announce the cube’s odd departure, a new lower rear valance lessens the chances of the rear bumper being confused for an alien proboscis. The small faux vents flanking the licence plate may be childish, but at least they don’t look like E.T. puckering up. Interestingly, the roof-mounted wing, a device typically subjected to incredibly high air pressures in order to increase downforce at high speed, is accompanied by a warning sticker that advises the owner to avoid automatic and high pressure car washes lest the wing get blown off.

Step inside, and the cube Kr?m’s gaudy baubles are blessedly forgotten. Having tested a base level cube last year, I was impressed by the level of refinement and technological wizardry found inside the Kr?m. First off, there’s keyless entry; a feature normally reserved for far more expensive automobiles than this. Once seated in the comfy, upright captain’s chairs the Kr?m surprises with downright massive amounts of room in absolutely every dimension. Although standing just over 5’ tall (true to its name, it is just over 5’ wide as well), a car-like driving position ensures mountains of headroom, while relatively thin doors and a narrow floor-mounted center console allow generous amounts of elbow room. By pushing the floor, ceiling, and interior door panels out as far as possible, Nissan engineers have managed to create an interior cabin that is, to be honest, downright astonishing.

And the amount of space isn’t the only trick up the cube’s sleeve. Although such features as “shag carpeting” and countless cupholders may be quickly cast aside by motoring purists, the fact remains: it’s these little touches that add to the cube’s comfort level and utility. With summer fast approaching here on the west coast, the cube’s long, plush carpeting invited bare-foot driving (it’s safer than sandals!) while the slick iPod integration system kept Don Henley, Corb Lund, and Journey on repeat for as long as my passengers could stand. With a large LCD screen that’s 100% glare-proof and a simple control interface, it makes navigating even the largest of iPods quite easy, although I found the rotary control knob (used for scrolling through playlists, artists and songs) to be too close to the inset corner of the dashboard, preventing me from grasping the knob properly. Likewise, and as with many other cars, I’d like to see the USB plug moved into a slightly more surreptitious location that keeps iPods and other MP3 players away from prying eyes. Just one of the many standard features of the cube, the iPod integration is joined by automatic climate control that, using a large, circular array of buttons, is easy to work with, but somewhat disconcerting in its operation. Although the automatic climate control system allows temperature control in 1-degree gradations, it would appear that everything between 24 degrees and 28 degrees is superfluous, as the system’s propensity for blowing hot or cold is as predictable as a menopausal wolverine. However, after setting the temperature to either end of that scale, and I was rewarded with consistently cold, or warm, air. Finally, the large swing-away rear door and deeply welled cargo area made quick work of stowing away the various toys, shopping bags, and picnic baskets that accompany late spring, while a wide array of storage bins and cupholders up front kept everything quite well organized. Should more room be required, the rear seats (themselves quite spacious) fold forward, swelling the cargo capacity to nearly that found in full-size crossovers or minivans.

If I’m totally honest, I’ve never met a vehicle quite like the cube. While I struggled with the more basic cube I tested a while ago, the Krom is even more of an anachronism: yet more of the stellar interior design and amazing spaciousness supplemented by an even larger helping of bizarre styling. At the outset of my week’s test, I was convinced the cube Krom was the single ugliest thing on four wheels. While that opinion hasn’t completely reversed itself, it is however, 100% subjunctive. Its logic, on the other hand, is irrefutable. With a base price of just over $23,000 bucks, it offers buyers an unmatched level of practicality and comfort. Having used it to do everything from ferrying rifles and shotguns to the local impromptu gun range (more than a few kilometres up a forestry road) to taking my girlfriend for a nice dinner in Whistler, it does nearly every single chore you could possibly ask of it. Furthermore, although its exterior treatments may leave something to be desired, the Kr?m’s level of technological advancement is excellent. In fact, the Krom has impressed me so much that, as I sit here writing this on the evening of my last day with the gawky top-trim cube, I can’t help but feel more than a twinge sadness at the prospect of giving it up. Combining capability, practicality, and unique styling like no other car on the market today, it possesses that which so many other cars lack: character. So there it is. Yet further proof that you should not, under any circumstances, judge a book by its awkward, asymmetrical cover. Even if it does advertise shag carpeting within.