The “viral” video that shows the Nissan Juke-R in action is finally out. Seen here “street-racing” with a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and a Mercedes-Benz, the filming took place at the Dubai International Marine Club, around a closed course. It is easy to guess which car “won” the “race” and why we are using a lot of “quotation marks” in this piece.
When we first read about the Nissan Juke-R, we dismissed it as a publicity stunt. Built by race engineering shop RML in the United Kingdom with the blessing of Nissan Europe as a one-off project, we figured they’d never put to use the two cars they built. But then we hear they did some track-testing in Europe. And then we hear that they were bringing the cars to Dubai to use as a pace car for the Dunlop 24-hour race in Dubai. And then we hear they’re filming a viral video as well as flying in international journalists to drive it here.
The 2012 Nissan GT-R is easily the most significant premium sports car to come out this year. The ironic part is it isn’t even completely new, and yet, we were completely blown away by this latest version.
The Nissan Juke has always received attention with mixed emotions, due to its ambiguous styling. And even before the public has learned to cope with the new styling cues, Nismo, Nissan’s tuning division, went ahead and created the Nissan Juke Nismo Concept, which will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show.
The Nissan GT-R is one sports car that never ceases to evolve. As much as it is loved by the masses, Nissan ensures that the GT-R is constantly being fine-tuned to constantly keep up with the constantly-changing supercar competition, thereby preserving the rich racing heritage created by its legendary predecessors. For 2012, the all-new GT-R resembles its first iteration only in the looks department. Under the shell however, things have changed.
The Nissan Juke is the answer to a question nobody asked. Part-hatchback, part-crossover and all-controversial, Nissan has gone ahead and asked itself another question: “What do you get when you cross a Nissan Juke with a Nissan GT-R?”
It was a busy week in the UAE automotive sector, with the launch of a new Peugeot showroom in Abu Dhabi, a Juke Missions campaign by Nissan, the announcement of fake parts raid by Toyota, the start of a new Maserati one-make race season, and a booster-seat giveaway by BMW.
It is rather odd that we’re having to depend on our readers for important car launches when it is us who should be hearing from carmakers. Nissan has already plopped the manual-gearbox version of the 2012 Nissan Patrol in some showrooms around the UAE, and these are the first photos.
One of the most technologically-advanced legendary sports cars ever, the Nissan GT-R, has been further treated by Nissan’s racing arm NISMO to create an even more powerful monster -– all hail the Nissan NISMO GT-R GT3.
We’d already heard about it from our sources at the Nissan dealership, so this is just a confirmation. The older-generation Nissan Patrol, currently still available in 5-door form alongside the new Patrol, will also be offered in the 3-door short-wheelbase body style for 2012 in the UAE.