juke

Some compact cars offer Eco buttons and fewer have Sport modes. The Juke not only has both, but makes these settings more comprehensive than any other car in its class.

The car's D-Mode (which does a very techie-cool swap with the climate controls) includes a color display that shows the different features for each setting. For example, Eco mode not only detunes the throttle, but runs the air conditioning on lower power. Sport mode affects not only the engine and transmission, but also the power steering.

These D-Mode settings are made possible in part by the Juke's advanced … Read more

Last year a Nissan department based in Europe came up with the strange idea of putting the GT-R's engine in the new Juke small SUV. The car was introduced as a concept, and Nissan probably thought that was the end of the matter. Like most concept cars, the Juke-R would be consigned to a lonely corner of a garage, and eventually disassembled.

A strong positive reaction from the car-loving public, which must have taken Nissan by surprise, dictated a different fate for the car. After the Juke-R's first public appearance, in Dubai of all places, Nissan capitalized on its popularity by releasing videos of it racing a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, and a GT-R.

All along, Nissan insisted the oddball Juke-R was nothing more than a concept.… Read more

The Nissan GT-R embarrasses other high-performance cars with its performance. The Nissan Juke simply embarrasses its own driver with its looks. So cramming the GT-R's internals and chassis under the Juke's body to create the Juke-R seems like the perfect storm of embarrassment for all.

But it's not. The Juke-R is actually pretty awesome. We've already seen the world's highest-riding supercar hand a trio of exotics their own overpriced hats in a (rather stacked) race in Dubai, so we know it's pretty fast. But how does this Frankensteined GT-R stack up against Godzilla himself, … Read more

When Nissan showed us renderings of a GT-R powered Nissan Juke-R, we said, "Gee, that's neat." When it started building the darn thing, our interest was piqued.

Today, we have a video of this oddest of skunkworks supercars at a street race exhibition event in Dubai going wheel-to-wheel with the likes of a Lamborghini Gallardo, a Ferrari 458 Italia, and a Mercedes-Benz SLS. Check it out below.

OK, so "wheel-to-wheel" was a bit of an overstatement as the Juke hands the trio of proper supercars their hats around an improvised short course. How did that … Read more

Lacking the power of the Juke-R, but the Juke Nismo might see production.

Nissan plans to expand its high performance line of vehicles, and it's targeting the crossover market to do it. The auto manufacturer unveiled the Juke Nismo Concept at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, announcing that the crossover could get the green light if it proves popular.

The Nissan Juke Nismo concept is a toned-down version of the Juke-R exercise the manufacturer has been promoting through a series of online videos. While the Juke-R borrows the heart and soul of the GT-R to become a compact SUV … Read more

When we last spoke of the Nissan Juke-R concept, I'd mentioned that Nissan was planning wholesale importing of the Nissan GT-R's power train into the smaller, lighter Juke chassis. However, Nissan wants you to know that this is no simple shadetree engine swap that you can pull off in your garage, so the company's produced a YouTube video series detailing the process.

It all starts with a Nissan Juke that gets its entire floorpan cut out and rebuilt to accommodate the more complex ATTESA E-PRO drivetrain and its dashboard restructured to make room for the GT-R's … Read more

Wayne gets a ride in Tesla's newest electric car, BMW comes up with a new hybrid, Antuan races in Forza Motorsport 4, and Hyundai preps a mad Veloster for SEMA.

• Tesla Model S Beta 1: A glimpse of the future from the passenger seat

• Kia plans to introduce small EV by year end

• BMW unveils the 5-series hybrid

• Forza Motorsport 4 is a digital playground for car lovers (hands-on)

• Nissan building Juke-R super crossover*

Last week, we reported that Nissan was rumored to be building a "Super Juke" variant of its already oddball Juke small crossover. Today, we have confirmation from Nissan that it is building the Juke-R, as the vehicle has come to be known, creating the first-ever super crossover. This is the same automaker that built a convertible crossover; why are we still surprised?… Read more

On paper, the Nissan GT-R and the Nissan Juke have quite a bit in common. Both cars feature all-wheel-drive systems, both are powered by turbocharged engines, and both have been "blessed" with looks that even a mother would be strained to love. Look past the broad strokes, however, and we shouldn't have to say that these are two very different cars. In fact, stating that the Juke's 1.6-liter turbo, CVT, and Xtronic AWD system pales in comparison to the GT-R's 3.8-liter twin turbo V-6, dual-clutch six-speed gearbox, and ATTESA E-TS dual driveshaft AWD … Read more