Nissan Juke R revealed

GT-R-powered baby crossover finally revealed; and it’s even wilder than it looked in the renderings

After the extended drip-feed Nissan’s wild Juke R has finally broken cover at a media event in Spain.

As previously reported, the go-faster Juke’s offbeat bodyshell is stuffed full of the Nissan GT-R’s running gear, which has – at least on paper – yielded the fastest baby crossover (by a long shot) on the planet.

Extensive surgery was required to house the GT-R’s twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 and all-wheel-drive hardware within the stumpy snout and relatively short floorplan of the Juke, and the result appears well worth the effort.

Two versions – one right-hand-drive and one left-hooker – are being built in the UK by Nissan and motorsport specialists RML, and testing of the vehicle is set to commence next month.

Although billed as a “one-off concept to test the public’s reaction to a seriously sporty Juke”, a positive public response could conceivably result in a low-volume production run. [Ed: yes, and Angeln Saddlebacks may fly!]

In addition to its 353kW twin-turbo V6, the Juke R also scores the GT-R’s system and torque vectoring -- which apportions drive to each of the four wheels individually. Also featuring in the Juke R is the GT-R's touchscreen driver interface, which displays the g-meter and boost dials, along with the sat-nav and entertainment system.

The conversion required the entire floorpan of the Juke to be removed and rebuilt to pick up all of the GT-R’s mounting points.

We’re just hoping Nissan will make the eventual road-ready Juke R available to the motoring media for a test. We’re putting our collective hands up right now…