Nissan Juke-R 2.0 Battles Real GT-R Nismo in Close 1,200 HP Race

The Juke-R 2.0 was unveiled this year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Essentially, this is a GT-R powertrain that's been stuffed into the body of a little Juke crossover. There were many engineering hurdles to overcome, the major one being that the Juke is much shorter.

But, the Juke-R 2.0 has been built, at considerable cost we might add. So what happens to it now? Well, it becomes an invaluable engineering tool for the Japanese automaker.

By popular demand, we have a drag race between the super-crossover and the machine that donated the powertrain, a 600 PS GT-R Nismo. Autocar arranged a drag race between the two on a straight section of a track. They used a rolling start because company officials were afraid the drivetrain might be destroyed in a launch.

As far as we know the drive shaft that connects the gearbox at the back to the front axle has had to be cut by about a foot and welded back together. Considering the torque delivered by the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 engine, their concern is understandable.

We expected the Juke-R 2.0 to be a show car, incapable of competing with its organ donor. You'll probably be surprised as well to see that the GT-R Nismo loses one of the three races. The other two were pretty close as well, due to the excellent traction the Juke has off the line.

This is the stuff legends are made of – taking the engine from a bigger car and putting it into a smaller one. From the days of the Mercedes 300E 6.0 AMG "Hammer" humiliating Porsches and Ferraris, it's what makes the auto industry so great. We say to you Nissan: get rid of the Leaf and put the GT-R engine in everything!