The Nissan Juke-R contains the Nissan GT-R 485 HP engine.
Let me start by saying in no way am I putting the Nissan Juke-R up against the legendary Shelby Cobra. What I am saying is that Nissan is living vicariously through the same spirit of Carrol Shelby.
Roughly 50 years ago Shelby decided to put an American muscle V-8 engine into a British Auto Carrier; the result was a tiny yet powerful sports car that would go on to out perform many of the super cars of the day. Nissan is following the same formula by putting a 485 horse power, twin-turbocharged, 3.8-liter, V-6 engine from the Nissan’s flagship GT-R into it’s compact Juke.
Stuffing the Godzilla sized engine into a compact was no easy task though. Nissan hired UK motorsports specialist, RML, to build the Juke around the GT-R engine. The result, Nissan gets the “world’s fastest crossover” that will go from 0 – 60 in 3.6 seconds, a top speed of 160 MPH, and with a short wheel base that makes hard angle turns seem second nature.
To show how the Nissan Juke-R would perform, Nissan put Juke-R up against an all-star cast of super cars: a Mercedes-Benz SLS, Ferrari 458 Italia and a Lamborghini Gallardo. A street race was set up in Dubai on a custom built circuit at the International Marine Club. The course, with almost 90 degree turns, looks more fitting for a go-cart race then an actual car race. Given that the super cars were not able to unleash their powerful potential, the Nissan Juke-R was easily able to turn and slide into a victory.
Nissan Juke-R vs. Super Cars
Seeing the Nissan Juke-R beat the super cars wasn’t surprising, especially since Nissan put together the event; but it was still impressive to see how the little wonder with ATTESA E-PRO all-wheel-drive system performed. If this race had contained more straight aways, and curved turns, the race would have been very different.
Will the Nissan Juke-R become as legendary as a Shelby Cobra, most likely not; but it still looks like a fun car to drive, that will definitely reach a targeted crowd.
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What has this world come to? Now I have to be worried about getting smoked by a twin turbo toaster oven.