Nissan Juke-R the heir of the GT-R

THE devil offspring of Godzilla the GT-R and the humble Nissan Juke is going to be something very, very special.

Originally conceived as a piece of racetrack silliness, the Juke-R is now approved for production and leaked sketches show the super crossover will be just as insane as hoped - or feared.

Everything from the track-focused Juke-R prototype built last year has been carried through for the road, right down to the wings and wild 20-inch wheels added to the compact when it was injected with the heart and soul of the GT-R.

Developed by Nissan but built by motorsports outfit RML in Britain (with input from Nissan's European Technology Centre), the Juke-R gets the GT-R's 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6, six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and a modified version of its 4WD system.

The cabin of the production car is likely to follow the concept, which means the Juke's motorcycle tank-inspired centre console sits among the arsenal of gauges, dials and 7-inch customisable LCD information display from the GT-R.

The bad news for Australia is that every Juke-R has been pre-sold to an owner order - despite a price tipping $580,000 - but the good news is that the go-faster project helped to reignite the chance of the trendy Juke coming to Australia.

It was a huge hit in Europe and this has convinced the management at Nissan Australia, under go-getter new boss Bill Peffer, to take another look at the Juke.

"We're having another look at Juke. But there is no point in bringing the Juke-R if it's not relevant to what we're doing,"Nissan Australia spokesman Jeff Fisher says.

"In any case, they are all being made to order. So unless you already have an order you won't be getting one. And we haven't had any orders here, that I'm aware of."

Fisher says the regular Juke box is back on the radar after an earlier rejection based on the cost of the program and an uncertain sales reception here.

"Rejected is not really the right word. It was considered to be outside our product line, but things have changed," he says.

"Now, as a niche car and brand leader, it now has its potential. One of the reasons is that it's been so successful everywhere it's sold."

Nissan believes the Micra-based Juke, which would sell against a wide basket of trendy rivals such as Kia Soul and Toyota Rukus, might be right as people look for something different in a baby car.

Source:  http://www.news.com.au