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Watch a Nissan Juke-R spank a trio of supercars in Dubai

Nissan's GT-R powered Nissan Juke-R goes toe-to-toe with a Lamborghini, a Ferrari, and a Mercedes-Benz an a street race exhibition event in Dubai.

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Antuan Goodwin Reviews Editor / Cars
Antuan Goodwin gained his automotive knowledge the old fashioned way, by turning wrenches in a driveway and picking up speeding tickets. From drivetrain tech and electrification to car audio installs and cabin tech, if it's on wheels, Antuan is knowledgeable.
Expertise Reviewing cars and car technology since 2008 focusing on electrification, driver assistance and infotainment Credentials
  • North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year (NACTOY) Awards Juror
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Antuan Goodwin
Nissan Juke-R
Nissan

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 happen?

Now, before you call shenanigans at this Nissan-sponsored event (even I questioned whether that Ferrari driver was giving it the full beans), remember that the the Juke-R is powered by a 480-horsepower version of the Nissan GT-R's 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 and its complex ATTESA E-PRO all-wheel-drive system. Would you be so shocked to learn that the GT-R is faster 'round a track than any of these cars? Probably not. Additionally, the Juke-R's shorter wheelbase likely gave it a cornering advantage around the relatively short track composed almost completely of 90-degree turns. Given a longer straight or more sweeping bends, this would have been a very different race.

Whatever the case, the Juke-R is real and it's really fast. As a two-off example of what engineers can do with a bit of imagination and a lot of freedom, that's good enough for me.