Not content with re-shaping the new car market by pioneering the crossover – a success reflected in the soaring sales of its Qashqai and Juke models in the UK – Nissan is now creating the Juke-R, the first ever super crossover.
Currently under development the bold design of the Juke is clear to see. However, with the addition of flared wheel arches, revised front and rear bumpers plus a unique split rear wing, this is no standard crossover – it’s a Juke that thinks it’s a GT-R. And with good reason.
However, the car is not for production and is a one-off, road legal concept car, developed by Nissan and built by leading motorsports outfit RML with input from Nissan Technology Centre for Europe (NTC-E).
Under the bonnet is a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 engine adopted directly from Nissan’s flagship supercar. Under the boot floor hides the GT-R’s six-speed transaxle, with the front and rear ends joined by a modified GT-R 4WD driveline and prop shaft. Chunky 20-inch RAYS forged alloy rims fill each wheel arch.
“The Nissan Juke is one of the most exciting cars on the market today. Its bold crossover design has captured the imagination of car buyers all over Europe; after just a year on sale we are celebrating sales of more than 100,000 units,” said Paul Willcox, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Nissan in Europe.
The interior merges crossover and supercar with finesse, as the Juke’s dashboard has been transformed to accommodate the gauges, dials and 7-inch customisable LCD display from the GT-R. The Juke’s iconic centre console, inspired by the fuel tank of a motorcycle, remains while the rest of the interior has the look of a machine bred for the track. Twin race-seats with five-point harnesses sit inside a visible roll cage that gives FIA safety standards as well as enhanced rigidity to provide the ultimate performance.
“The Juke lends itself perfectly to a sports derivative and Juke-R explores that territory. Equally at home on road and track, Juke-R showcases two of the most exciting cars in our range and highlights the technical innovation that drives Nissan. This car will more than live up to the dynamic driving experience we engineer into all our cars,” adds Wilcox.
The first test of this Juke-R concept is expected to complete in November.
Update: Nissan has unveiled the completed Juke-R at a Nissan Crossover media launch in Malaga, Spain. We’ve updated the first image with the completed project!
