20,000 miles in a Nissan Cube (Part II)

As of now, our list consists of new wheels and tires (twice)… The current wheels are 16″ GAB Sport two-piece wheels from Japan. They’re fairly rare, and I think they bring out the character of the car. We added an intake and exhaust from Stillen, dampers from Tokico, springs from Megan, an ATI grille, eyelids from ForjWorks, and rubber floor mats and bands from Midway Nissan.

Last, but not least, the graphics. To those of you who do not recognize the pattern, it’s inspired by Eddie Van Halen’s guitar. The black and red are just switched. The lines are vinyl, not paint. Greg and a friend did it all in one very, very, long day. The theory is that when we get tired of the design, we can just remove the vinyl and have a plain black car. I don’t ever see that happening, but I didn’t ever see myself sitting down to write a glowing article of this car either.

Mechanically speaking, the car is sound. The CVT gives the impression that it stifles the minimal power that the 1.8L 4 cyl is capable of producing; however, she is not meant to be a powerhouse. If we want to go fast, we have other cars for that. With that being said, she keeps up with traffic fine and is perfect for what I use her for. I drive her to school and small trips to the grocery store which is the greatest majority of my daily driving. Once you get used to driving a CVT, they’re tolerable. I personally believe that there is a break-in period for the transmission; however, I could just be getting acclimated to the car. The motor has no issues and this isn’t a surprise. Nissan has a habit of building good ones. I have the oil changed religiously every 3,000 miles. I don’t use anything special, just 5W-30. She won’t ever be pushed so there isn’t a need for something more.

There have been a couple of recalls that were taken care of and her battery had to be replaced recently. Not at all unusual for cars that sit outside in the Arizona heat. The HVAC system keeps up with the extreme temps here in the desert with ease. No problems whatsoever out of any of the radio, cruise control, lights, or other accessories. The only thing that really bothers me is the wind noise from the mirrors. You don’t get used to it. It permeates everything; the HVAC, the motor, and the radio. I would honestly rather fix that than eliminate the CVT. That’s how annoying it is. Maybe we’ll just remove them and install side-view cameras and a double-din display in the dash. Hmmmmmm…………

To see all the performance and appearance modifications that we have done to the Cube, here are the articles and write-ups, so far.

Meet the cubedriver.com Project Cube!

Nissan Cube Struts and Lowering Springs

Nissan Cube Intake and Exhaust

Nissan Cube Graphics

Nissan Cube – Lowered, on 17″ wheels

Wheels and Tires for the Nissan Cube

Becky (nissangirl74) is NICOclub’s Business Manager and a full-time Datsun enthusiast.