FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY - NISSAN LAUNCHES LIMITED RUN OF EXCITING JUKE-R AS IT STARS IN OWN MOVIE
Nissan to build limited run of genre-busting 545bhp, 160mph car
Performance of unique supercar crossover in Dubai filming sparks demand for thrilling concept to be made available to select customers
New Juke-Rs will be even more powerful than original concept car
Cinematic online movie starring Juke-R launched to coincide with announcement
LONDON, United Kingdom (Thursday, 3 May, 2012) - Nissan has announced that its innovative Juke-R crossover will be made available to buy in a very limited run on build-to-order basis.
The 3.8-litre, 160mph Juke-R made its global debut in Dubai in January this year, attracting enormous attention and, as a result, Nissan has now received firm orders for three cars to be built. Two have come from a high-profile and well-respected member of Dubai society.
Nissan will build more Juke-Rs upon request and will be taking orders in the coming four
weeks, before production starts in earnest.
While the original Juke-R was based on the MY10 GT-R running gear, the run of new cars will benefit from featuring the drivetrain and chassis of the MY12 GT-R and, with the build of the first cars underway, the first three cars will be delivered to their new owners in late summer.
Gareth Dunsmore, Marketing Product Manager for the Juke, said: "The Juke-R was originally intended as a one-off concept to marry two of Nissan's most innovative models. But the reaction we had to the car in Dubai was amazing - people were making offers for the original on the street!
"With such a strong reaction, and with three genuine offers on the table, we decided we had to make the car a reality. We can't let down enthusiasts who are this keen to add to their collection of cars. The Juke-R has become something of a phenomenon and I'm enormously proud of the impact it has had. There will be more news to come on Juke later in the year."
Anyone wishing to register an interest in purchasing Nissan's most innovative Crossover yet should contact Juke-R@Nissan.co.uk.
To coincide with the announcement, Nissan is also launching a cinematic online movie today at http://www.facebook.com/NissanJukeOfficial, in which the Juke-R stars.
Desert Nemesis follows Nissan's inaugural GT Academy winner, Lucas Ordonez, as he takes on the world's best supercars in a thrilling street race, reminiscent of the 'Need for Speed' movies.
In Desert Nemesis, award-winning film director, Rob Kaplan, captured the noise and excitement generated by the muscular Juke-R and a street race against its loudest, most acclaimed adversaries.
Weaving together the cinematic scenes of a high-production movie and raw footage of the gamer-turned-professional racer taking on the world's most exciting, road-legal cars through the roads of Dubai's exclusive International Marina Club, Kaplan gives us the opportunity to see the Juke-R find its place among the world's elite.
Spaniard, Ordonez, became a professional racing driver thanks to Nissan's hugely-innovative GT Academy partnership with Sony in 2008. He made his debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours with Nissan in 2011 and will return to La Sarthe on June 16/17 with class-winning Nissan-powered team, Greaves Motorsport.
In the run-up to the film launch on May 3, several teaser trailers have been released through Nissan's Facebook and YouTube channels, offering the audience 'behind-the-scenes' footage of one of the automotive industry's bravest, boldest productions.
2013 Nissan Altima - Manufacturing - B-Roll
After taking on supercars and the streets of Dubai in Desert Nemesis, Lucas Ordonez is back in Europe -- but this isn't the Spanish sunshine he's used to. Revved up and ready to go, Lucas and the Nissan Juke-R have to get a grip on the Losna Isbane Ice Track.
Juke-R to inject new excitement into the crossover market
•Juke and GT-R brought together to create the ultimate compact crossover
•One-off concept to test the public's reaction to a seriously sporty Juke
•Underlines the compact crossover's fun factor
•Fully road legal with GT-R drive train
•Developed for Nissan by RML with input from Nissan Technical Centre for Europe (NTC-E)
•Car currently in development; expected to complete first tests in November
Question: What do you get when you cross a Nissan Juke with a Nissan GT-R?
Answer: The fastest, most exciting and daring compact crossover in the world.
Not content with re-shaping the new car market by pioneering the crossover -- a success reflected in the soaring sales of its Qashqai and Juke models -- Nissan is now creating the Juke-R, the first ever super crossover.
Currently under development, the bold design of the Juke is clear to see. However, with the addition of flared wheel arches, revised front and rear bumpers plus a unique split rear wing, this is no standard crossover. It's a Juke that thinks it's a GT-R, and with good reason.
However, the car is not for production. It is a one-off, road legal concept car developed by Nissan and built by leading motorsports outfit RML with input from Nissan Technology Centre for Europe (NTC-E).
Under the hood is a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 engine adopted directly from Nissan's flagship supercar. Under the floor hides the GT-R's six-speed transaxle, with the front and rear ends joined by a modified GT-R 4WD driveline and prop shaft, while chunky 20-inch RAYS forged alloy rims fill each wheel arch.
The interior merges crossover and supercar with finesse, as the Juke's dashboard has been transformed to accommodate the gauges, dials and 7-inch customisable LCD display from the GT-R. The Juke's iconic center console, inspired by the fuel tank of a motorcycle, remains while the rest of the interior has the look of a machine bred for the track. Twin race-seats with five-point harnesses sit inside a visible roll cage that gives FIA safety standards as well as enhanced rigidity to provide the ultimate performance.
"Nissan Juke is one of the most exciting cars on the market today. Its bold crossover design has captured the imagination of car buyers all over Europe; after just a year on sale we are celebrating sales of more than 100,000 units," said Paul Willcox, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Nissan in Europe.
"Juke lends itself perfectly to a sports derivative and Juke-R explores that territory. Equally at home on road and track, Juke-R showcases two of the most exciting cars in our range and highlights the technical innovation that drives Nissan. This car will more than live up to the dynamic driving experience we engineer into all our cars."
2012 Nissan DeltaWing - The Tyres
NISSAN'S GT ACADEMY HERO, LUCAS ORDONEZ, JOINS DELTAWING TEST TEAM
ORIGINAL GAMER-TURNED LE MANS RACER CONTINUES WORK ON GROUND-BREAKING PROTOTYPE
Inaugural GT Academy winner jumps from one game-changing Nissan motorsport innovation to another
Experimental Le Mans 24 Hours car continues steep development curve on the road to La Sarthe
Third in 'behind the scenes' series of films shows development of unique Michelin tyres
Available to view at http://www.facebook.com/NissanSportsCars
ROLLE, Switzerland, Friday, 4 May, 2012: Nissan's inaugural GT Academy winner, Lucas Ordonez, received his best ever birthday present this week when he was selected to join the test team for the Company's revolutionary motorsport experiment, the Nissan DeltaWing.
As the fourth season of the life-changing GT Academy competition began this week, the very first 'virtual-to-reality' racer received confirmation that he would play a key role in the challenging development of the prototype car.
The Nissan DeltaWing project aims to change the face of motorsport by completing the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours on June 16/17, using half the fuel and half the tyres of its contemporaries and hinting at a more efficient future for endurance racing.
Ordonez, who turned 27 on Tuesday this week, will join Nissan DeltaWing race driver Marino Franchitti at Magny-Cours in France and Motorland Aragon in Spain as the team behind the prototype continues its huge challenge to prepare the radical racer for its race debut.
The challenging development process of the Nissan DeltaWing - which will take to the grid on motorsport's biggest stage just 101 days after first hitting the track - is being charted by a series of 'behind-the-scenes' online films, hosted at http://www.facebook.com/NissanSportsCars.
The latest in the series, showing how French tyre manufacturer, Michelin, created bespoke tyres almost as radical as the Nissan DeltaWing itself for the innovative project. The front tyres on the Nissan DeltaWing are only four inches wide.
The Michelin episode launched at the website today, to coincide with the latest European test of the car at Magny-Cours, close to Michelin's global HQ, where Ordonez will complete his first laps at the wheel.
Spaniard Ordonez won GT Academy, an innovative competition created by Nissan and Sony that seeks to discover raw driving talent via the Playstation gaming platform. Lucas was the first winner of GT Academy in 2008 and the first student of Nissan's driver development programme, which saw him progress through the sportscar ranks and, in just three years, go from virtual racing to reality, lining up for his first Le Mans 24 Hours last summer.
Having taken a podium finish last year, Ordonez will race at La Sarthe again this summer, with the class-winning LMP2 prototype squad, Greaves Motorsport, alongside ex-F1 driver and Sky F1 commentator, Martin Brundle and his son, Alex.
But he said he was honoured to be playing an important part in Nissan's pioneering Le Mans experiment and said he will particularly look forward to making his debut behind the wheel for Nissan in his home country: "I have always wanted to test or race for Nissan in Spain but, so far, I have not had the opportunity so that will be exciting for me, personally.
"It was very emotional to be asked by Nissan Europe to test such an important project. I am delighted that they believe in me to help with the work on this prototype car. I can't wait to get in the car, focus and give the best feedback I can to help the development of the project. To be involved in the development of an innovative car like this is another big step in the career of a racing driver."
Darren Cox, General Manager, Nissan in Europe, said: "The GT Academy is a major innovation in motorsport, designed to make the elitist sport of motor racing genuinely accessible to ordinary people, who don't have access to huge budgets. Lucas was our first champion and is living proof that Nissan's different and entirely original way of looking at things can work.
"Lucas has proven himself in every category of motorsport we've put him in and I'm delighted that we have the opportunity to marry Nissan's home-grown talent with its next game-changing initiative.
"Four years ago, Lucas was a student playing computer games and now he is helping to develop the most important motorsport innovation of its generation. We have a colossal journey ahead of us to make the Nissan DeltaWing project come to fruition and I'm proud to say that we couldn't have a better ally than Lucas."
The Nissan DeltaWing team comprises a group of key partners, comprising designer Ben Bowlby, American motorsport entrepreneur Don Panoz, Dan Gurney's All-American Racers organisation and Duncan Dayton's Highcroft Racing team.
Juke-R at 2012 Nissan GT Academy Dubai - Pre Race
GT ACADEMY HITS THE TARGET IN DUBAI
■All-Gamer entry takes podium finish in Dubai in Nissan 370Z
■2011 British winner, Jann Mardenborough takes chequered flag in third place
The All-Gamer Nissan 370Z took a podium finish at the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai this afternoon, marking the end of the 'Road to Dubai' for the two 2011 winners, Jann Mardenborough and Bryan Heitkotter. They couldn't have had more appropriate team-mates as they were joined by the 2008 and 2010 GT Academy winners, Lucas Ordonez and Jordan Tresson.
It was Jann Mardenborough who took the chequered flag after 24 hours of competitive racing where all four gamers showed their skills behind the wheel and brought home a race car without a trace of damage; an amazing feat after an endurance race.
"That was without doubt the weekend of my life," said Mardenborough. "The only thing that compares to it is winning GT Academy last June. It feels like pure joy. This is just the first step for me and now I hope that my performance in Dubai can take me further."
"I'm so pleased that we got a good result in our first international 24 hour race," added Bryan Heitkotter. "We've worked hard during the last six months to get to this point and I would say to anyone who wants this as much as I did that you can reach your goals if you focus on them and work hard."
The first winner of GT Academy, Lucas Ordonez, started his international racing career in Dubai three years ago and so far his journey has taken him all the way to a class podium in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
"This is a great moment," said Ordonez. "We have really proved that GT Academy works as to get four gamers to a podium finish at this race is amazing. I am very impressed with my new team mates who have only been racing for six months. They came here and were fast, consistent and didn't make any mistakes."
"It was pretty tough in the car and 24 hours is a long time to have to hold it all together," said second GT Academy winner, Jordan Tresson. "If any of us had made just one slip at any point during the race it could have been game over for us. I want to say well done to Jann and Bryan who were still bedroom gamers just one year ago."
The boss of the RJN GT Academy team, Bob Neville, was delighted to see the graduates that he has trained achieving an incredible result today.
"This is the first time that all four of my graduates have raced together so it is a special moment for me," he said. " I couldn't have asked for two better guys when Jann and Bryan won the European and USA competitions last summer. Like Lucas and Jordan before them they came into this with their eyes and ears open and absorbed everything we taught them. It's particularly nice that we should do this in Dubai as it was here three years ago that an idea formed by Darren Cox of Nissan and Mark Bowles of Sony really came to life. This race was the toughest test and they all passed with flying colours. I'm proud of them all and proud to be part of GT Academy."
"All of the focus leading up to and during this event has been on the drivers," said Darren Cox, Chief Marketing Manager, Crossover and Sports Cars for Nissan Europe. "They have done a perfect job but I want to focus on the team behind GT Academy. They are all here this weekend and they should all get a lot of credit for this. This is a result for the whole GT Academy family."
Nissan Juke R with 800HP GTR Engine: Accelerations, onboard, Epic Sound
Tomedelic1 records this awesome Nissan Juke R with a tuned 800hp GTR engine. This is a russian build Juke R which will run on 109 Octane and attented the Gran Turismo Evo event. You will see some great onboard footage, acceleration and flyby's on the Nordschleife.
Check out www.trackandtuner.com for more info.
Nissan Juke-R vs GT-R track test - Auto Express
We pit the new Nissan Juke-R against the GT-R
Subscribe to our YouTube channel http://bit.ly/11Ad1j1
Subscribe to the mag http://subscribe.autoexpress.co.uk/yt
Nissan Juke-R hooning
Some limited mentalness in the Nissan Juke-R at Nissan Sunderland's private track and inner handling circuit. Currently this is one of only two such models in the world.
Nissan Juke-R: From concept to reality...to virtual reality
The first production Juke-R is ready for delivery to its lucky owner - and Nissan's wildest crossover is also making its debut in the virtual world.
Following phenomenal interest, the Juke-R has made the leap from one-off concept to road car. And it has also been digitally recreated and made accessible to millions as it is set to star alongside the Juke NISMO in the new Gameloft Asphalt 7: Heat mobile racing game.
Gameloft, a leading global publisher of digital and social games, has partnered with Nissan to give fans the chance to drive the hottest members of the Juke family on iOS and Android, smartphones and tablets.
For more information, visit www.easier.com
Nissan Juke-R - Launch Control and Race Accelerations
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/shmee Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/shmee150
Car Blog: http://www.shmee150.co.uk My Vlogs: http://bit.ly/MrShmee150
------------------------------------------ INFO BELOW! ------------------------------------------
Camera: Sony CX700 http://amzn.to/rrsVwn
Location: Goodwood Hillclimb, UK
The Nissan Juke-R is an amazing idea for a car, conceived as a publicity stunt, Nissan have taken a Juke and fed it the engine and spec of the GT-R, creating an absolutely monstrous machine!
I noted the 100 metre sprint times of 3 cars, the Lamborghini Aventador clocked 5.78, the Nissan GT-R managed a tiny 5.38 and the Juke-R came in just a touch behind the Aventador at 5.88; remember this is a Nissan Juke we're talking about here (or 'Joke' if you prefer...)
Here you can see the car showing off a few launch control starts and huge accelerations from the line and up the track at Goodwood.
Thanks for watching, Tim
Nissan GT-R launch control
We drive the Nissan GT-R at Nissan's private track near its Sunderland plant. Launch control 60mph time of 3.2 seconds...
