Nissan Juke-R First Drive

It's been just a few months since I was watching the vital organs of a Nissan GT-R being offered up to the engorged and extensively refabricated shell of a Nissan Juke, yet today I'm at Silverstone for an initial shakedown drive in the outrageous Juke-R.

It's hard to believe such a huge amount of work has been completed in such a short space of time, but here, larger than life and burbling menacingly through a pair of fat exhaust pipes, is Nissan's four-wheeled Frankenstein's monster. Short of coming home to find your wife has undergone gender reassignment and is calling herself Bernard, I can't think of many more startling transformations.

After the teasers, renderings, online videos and static images, I'd wondered if the impact of seeing the Nissan Juke-R in the metal would be lessened, but I'm pleased to say that, if anything, the reality of actually standing next to it exceeds all expectations. Whatever you think of the blatant attention-seeking nature of the project, or indeed the crossover niche Nissan has created with the standard Juke, I'd have to question your car-nut credentials if you failed to feel a surge of childish joy at the sight of this near-500-horsepower caricature.

Purpose
The plan for the afternoon is pretty simple: Have a poke around the car, have a chat with Michael Mallock (the man in charge of realizing Nissan Europe's gloriously twisted vision), then grab a helmet and sit alongside Mallock for a few laps before swapping seats and trying the Juke-R for myself.

Knowing the brief given by Nissan Europe to race-development outfit Ray Mallock Limited (RML), I was already expecting a fully formed, neatly finished and civilized machine, but the level of fit and finish, the stance and the packaging are all amazing for what is effectively a completely hand-built prototype. A few of the panel gaps aren't quite as tight and even as a series-production Juke's, but these will be finessed. If you didn't know this car's back story you wouldn't guess it was essentially the world's most ambitious Sawzall Special.

Mind-altering speed isn't the Juke-R's only trick.

Open the door and look inside and what you see continues to mess with your mind. Not only is the interior fully trimmed, it also features a seamless fusion of Juke and GT-R dash and instrumentation. That means you get the chunky dials and funky touchscreen display from the latter and the signature center stack and transmission tunnel of the former. A pair of race seats, the absence of rear seats and the crisscross tubing of a race-spec roll cage are not-so-subtle clues that this is no ordinary Juke. Impressively, you don't need to fold yourself in two to get into the seat, nor duck to see beneath an intrusive header-rail crossbar.

It's like this because the creative sorts at Nissan Europe wanted the Juke-R to be a monster that would deliver crazed performance, but they also wanted a car, and I quote, "that your granny could drive to the shops." Knowing it would spend a certain amount of time doing promotional work on racetracks meant it needed to offer the utmost protection should a journalist's ambition exceed their talent. But the cage, seats and harnesses shouldn't compromise practicality or detract from the close-to-standard look of the interior architecture. That the Juke-R looks and feels like a showroom road car with a roll cage (and air-conditioning) and not a racing car with number plates is testament to RML's tenacity and attention to detail.

Proving It
Mallock has conducted a number of setup tests at the MIRA proving ground, each time driving the Nissan Juke-R from RML's Northamptonshire base to the Leicestershire test track. From the smile on his face, those hundreds of road miles must have been as much fun as honing the dynamics on track. It certainly drew some stares from other road users.

Although all the main components — engine, transmission, brakes, etc. — are stock GT-R, the springs and dampers have been tuned to suit the Juke-R's short wheelbase and higher center of gravity. Getting that right, and checking that all the GT-R's sophisticated stability and transmission modes remained uncorrupted by the truncated drivetrain, is what the MIRA sessions were for.

Sensing my feet are beginning to itch, Mallock suggests we head out onto the Stowe Circuit. Located within the Silverstone GP circuit's infield, this short, tricky circuit is, by Mallock's own admission, not the ideal place to truly stretch the Juke-R's legs. To make matters worse, the belated British winter has finally arrived and a squally weather front is sweeping across the former airfield's exposed terrain as we head away from the pits.

Still, I know from experience that Mallock never uses part throttle when full throttle will do, and sure enough, after a slow sighting lap that establishes the track surface is about as grippy as a diesel-splashed roundabout, he gives the Juke-R some stick for a few fast and full-on laps, then drives back into the pit lane so we can swap seats.

Wary of the slick surface, not to mention the career-ending potential of any off-track misadventure, I take the first few laps gingerly. If this was some half-baked track special it wouldn't take kindly to such dithering but, true to Nissan Europe's demanding brief, the Juke-R has GT-R in its soul. With the stability system in its intermediate "R" setting (just as Mallock had used) and with a growing sense of confidence, I trust in the technology and floor the throttle.

Hauls the Mail
My God! The Nissan Juke-R monsters the short pit straight. Its weighty steering and the instant shifts of the double-clutch transmission give you all the assurance and connection of Nissan's legendary flagship as the 3.8-liter, 480-hp V6 lunges through 3rd and 4th gears before the tight, 90-degree left looms into view. This is every bit as quick as a GT-R, with all the twin-turbo fire and brimstone you can handle. Godzuki to Mizuno-san's Godzilla? You bet your life.

Mind-altering speed isn't the Juke-R's only trick. Indeed it's only when you turn into a corner that it plays its trump card. The shortened wheelbase and wide track could have caused all sorts of nasty handling traits, but instead they bring a kind of hyper-agility, the nose staying nailed to the road while the rear wheels pivot around it like a supersize Renaultsport Clio Cup. As you feed the power in from apex to exit you feel the four-wheel drive begin to neutralize the Juke-R's balance, then as the boost builds it settles back into a sweet tail-led stance.

With more confidence on the way in and a concerted effort to straighten the steering and get back on the power quickly on the way out, you can feel the turn-in and power oversteer phases begin to overlap. According to Mallock, if you can summon the spuds to work the tires hard enough it will do the same in the dry.

That, my friends, is quite a thought to conjure between now and a no-holds-barred drive later in the year. It can't come soon enough.

Portions of this content have appeared in foreign print media and are reproduced with permission.