Nissan thinks the GT-R is too serious and so plonked a GT-R engine in a Juke to give us the Juke-R!

The Juke-R will be developed for Nissan by RML with input from Nissan Technical Centre for Europe (NTC-E). The car is currently in development and expected to complete first tests in November. Nissan says the Juke-R is meant to underline the compact crossover’s fun factor. Nissan’s Facebook page for the Juke-R has already crossed 20,000 fans and the number seems to be growing. We guess there is something enticing about doing irrational and just-for-fun kind of engineering feats like this!

Nissan Juke-R Design Changes

Design changes include flared wheel arches, revised front and rear bumpers plus a unique split rear wing. The Juke-R 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 drive line and prop shaft, while chunky 20-inch RAYS forged alloy rims fill each wheel arch.

Nissan Juke-R Front 3/4Nissan Juke-R Rear 3/4

The dashboard had to be redesigned 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.

Building the Nissan Juke-R at RMLBuilding the Nissan Juke-R at RML

Ray Mallock Limited (RML) was founded by race driver and motorsport engineer Ray Mallock. The company started by building and running sports prototypes in the World Sportscar Championship.