Nissan is building two Juke-R concept cars. The tiny rocketships will be comprised of the all-wheel-drive drive-train and 480 bhp 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 engine from the Nissan GT-R supercar wedged into Nissan's diminutive crossover city car. The cars are being built by RML for Nissan Technical Centre for Europe (NTC-E) with a view to testing the "public's reaction to a seriously sporty Juke."
The performance of the tiny super-city car is not yet known, but given the horsepower and dimensions of the vehicle, it will no doubt be one of the fastest accelerating roadcars in existence. There's also just a hint that should reaction be positive, it just might eventuate as a production model.
If produced, and that's a big "if", the Juke-R could be a pointer to supercars of the future which are designed to offer remarkable acceleration and swift city transport - this indeed may be the first of a new genre of car - the "super city car."
We just love thinking outside the square, and the Juke-R involves thinking outside the square in a well established marketplace, yet on a corporate level. No commitments have been made to produce the vehicles, though it is producing two such vehicles, one each in right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive which will be used to evaluate public opinion. The cars are being produced for Nissan by RML and will be fully road legal.
The highly modified Juke will include the GT-R's six-speed transaxle, with the front and rear ends joined by a modified GT-R 4WD driveline and prop shaft.
The compact Juke crossover has been a sales success in Europe where more than 100,000 units have been sold in the first twelve months. Nissan's growing marketing flare is growing even more daring with the construction of the model, which is expected to be seen at the Tokyo Motor Show in December.
Should the Juke-R ever see the lights of a showroom, it will be an interesting new take on luxury motoring for the future, where roads will be far more congested than we ever imagined they could be. Aparrently, the Juke's commuter dashboard is to be reworked to supercar status with all the gauges, dials and 7-inch customisable LCD display of the GT-R.
The Juke's "motorcycle tank" center console has been retained and used as a centrepeice of a race style interior with two race-seats, each with five-point safety harnesses and a visible roll cage that is used partly to comply with FIA safety standards and partly for the additional rigidity required to keep the jet-powered projectile pointed roughly in the right direction.
You can follow the development of the Juke-R on Nissan's Juke facebook page.