Juke-R: Nissan's urban rebel crossover comes to life (w/VIDEO)

It feels so wrong… and yet you know you want to try it. Just once. While nobody is looking. The Juke-R is one of those cars that no enthusiast can deny wanting to drive, to sample the absurdity of its near-500 bhp powerplant shoe-horned into a conventional(ish) family crossover.

And yet like most temptations, I suspect that ‘once’ would never be enough, in fact strap me into this beast and you’d have a hard time prising me out again – however I’m really not a fan of its looks, hence the reason I’d feel obliged to stay inside..

These are the first videos which capture the sound of the Juke-R’s 480 bhp 3.8-litre engine as the beast springs to life. Dubbed the world’s fastest crossover, Juke-R is a one-off concept car that combines the power, speed and handling of Nissan’s flagship GT-R sports car with the odd design of the Juke crossover model.

As you can see from the images, Nissan see the Juke-R as ‘a bit of an animal’, rebellious, tempestuous even, but also a whole heap of fun. And then some.

From its matt black finish to its extended wheel arches and 20″ RAYS forged alloy wheels, there can be little doubt this is a car to provoke supercars and serve up a healthy dose of embarrassment at the track.

Large, provocative vents in the front bumper provide cooling for the Juke-R’s twin turbo V6 engine, while subtle submerged ducts in the bonnet help draw air through the engine bay.

 

At the rear of the car a dynamic split wing provides this super-crossover with downforce, while twin pentagonal exhausts emit an amplified version of the GT-R’s evocative engine note.

Inside, the Juke’s motorcycle-inspired console is at the centre of a modified interior cabin fitted out to go racing complete with twin race seats, full race harness and a race-spec roll cage. GT-R steering wheel, pedals, dials and 7-inch touch-screen display are built into a modified version of Juke’s dashboard.

As you will already be aware, the Juke-R is unfortunately not a production car but instead a special, road legal concept car. Two versions of the Juke-R are being created – one in left-hand-drive and one in right-hand-drive and Nissan will be testing customer response to ‘some’ of the concept car’s features for use in a future sports version of the Juke road car.

Alas, no matter how loudly we shout, the engine is unlikely ever to reach the options list of a production car – but then I’m sure some enterprising folk will study the 5 preceding build-story videos and come up with something similar.

The Juke-R will go into testing in late November before it’s unleashed to appear at PR events and speed festivals across Europe in 2012.

 

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