The Nissan Juke-R Concept Turns a Glorious Idea into an Abomination

The Nissan GT-R is an absolute giant killer. For about $90,000 in the US or €90,000 in Europe, buyers get a car that compares favorable to a Porsche 911 Turbo for 60% of the money. Nissan has shown good faith to its buyers by constantly improving the GT-R with more power and beefier transmissions since the car's introduction. 

In comparison, the Nissan Juke is a relatively bad idea. It is a compact SUV with a 188hp from a turbocharged, 1.6 liter four-cylinder. It is not a bad car per se. It just is very unattractive aesthetically. The headlights are midway up the front end, and the C-pillar curves into the rear door in a really awkward way. 

Nissan has created a one-off concept called the Juke-R. It takes the twin-turbo, 3.8l V6, six-speed transmission and all-wheel drive system from the GT-R and crams it all into a Juke chassis. 

Nissan says that the Juke-R is a one-off, road legal concept that is meant to test the water of a future sportier version of the Juke. 

The exterior is where the insane idea of making a Juke into a GT-R goes totally mental. Think about every aerodynamic improvement you have ever seen on an automobile and imagine them all simultaneously on one car. NACA ducts? Its got two of them. Carbon fiber? How plebeian, of course there is carbon fiber. Rear spoilers? The Juke R has two of them made with carbon fiber on either side of the rear hatch. The rear exhausts exit through a carbon fiber rear diffuser. 

This is the car that 12-year-old boys draw in their notebooks during boring school lectures. All it is missing is machine guns and a rocket booster. 

For such a wild car, the interior is pretty sedate. There is a 7in LED display from the GT-R and a roll cage.

Nissan is making one left-hand drive and one right-hand drive Juke-R that it will be showing off at car shows and events throughout the rest of the year.