IT'S a Marmite car in every way but for the past nine years the Juke has been a soaraway success for Nissan.

More than one million have been built at the Japanese car maker's UK factory in Sunderland and of those more than a quarter have been sold in Britain.

Now there's a new Juke on the way and come November the second generation of the pioneer of the compact crossover craze hits the streets.

It's still radically styled - no-one ca miss a Juke on the road - bigger than before and priced from £17,395 it is slightly more expensive.

Only one engine is available in the new model and that is a three cylinder 1.0-litre turbo petrol developing 117ps. There is no diesel nor four-wheel-drive option.

What is new is a seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission available on all but that basic model and priced from £20,395.

The range tops out at £25,395 for a Premiere Edition model, complete with the DCT transmission.

The whole of the line up comes with a six-speed manual box and fuel economy is rated at 47.9mpg at best for that version and 46.3 for the DCT.

Emissions are 112 and 110g/km respectively giving the manual Juke a benefit in kind tax rating of 26 per cent for business users and an annual road tax bill of £150.

The new Juke has retained its distinctive looks - love them or loathe them - but now comes with LED headlights, a fresh treatment for the grille and a chiselled front air dam.

The wheelbase is more than four inches longer than before and the car has grown some three inches in length creating extra room inside and a bigger boot.

Rear legroom is up by more than two inches and luggage capacity has grown by 20 per cent to 422 litres with a movable boot floor for added flexibility.

Inside, the Juke has kept its funky feel and on the top-grade model it is possible to specify two-tone trim finishes including a bright orange treatment.

The transmission tunnel is still a major feature at the front of the cabin but instead of taking on the look of a motorcycle fuel tank as before, the design is a little more conservative with soft-touch finishes.

The central display touchscreen is larger at eight inches while the instrument panel has also been restyled and incorporates an information screen between the dials.

On the road, the Juke has lost some of its dynamism but is still good to drive and can manage 0 to 60 in 10.4 seconds with a top speed of 112mph.

The manual was the pick of the two powertrains returning a splendid average of 54 to the gallon on our run compared to the 35mpg for the DCT version which seemed to be a little reluctant at low revs unless the paddle shifters were brought into play to extend lower gear time.

A three way drive mode selector was fitted to both transmission and in sport setting the Juke has more throttle and steering response.

Overall it makes a fist of the job but at motorway speeds there is noticeable wind noise from around the door mirrors which are positioned in such a way to cause a slight blind spot for shorter drivers.

On the technology front Nissan has used plenty of kit to make the Juke the most connected car it has created so far and the new model is fully smartphone compatible, will have full Internet connectivity and on higher grade models there is a Bose sound system with eight speakers for a full surround-sound experience.

On the safety front the Juke comes with automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning as standard while the likes of blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alerts and traffic sign recognition were fitted to the cars we tried.

There is also a 360-degree camera set up to help manoeuvring and Nissan's semi-autonomous ProPilot drive system is available on automatic versions - a handy feature either in traffic or when cruising.

For Nissan the Juke has always been about trend in motion and its customer base is relatively young.

The new model is still British to the core - its designed in London and engineered in Bedfordshire as well as being built in the North East - and looks set to continue the success for Nissan on the crossover scene.