At first glance, this match-up between the Nissan Juke-R and three legendary exotic cars – Lamborghini Gallardo, Mercedes SLS AMG, and Ferrari 458 Italia, seemed quite unfair. The result, however, couldn’t be more different. A testament to the age old saying of “don’t judge a book by its cover”, this demonstration was part of this month’s Dubai 24 Hour endurance race where the Juke-R was the official pace car. The race was set against the backdrop of Dubai International Marine Club, where an impromptu raceway was set up for the challenge. Though many were skeptical at first, the little Juke-R demonstrated a clear dominance right at the first corner, thanks to its smaller footprint, light weight, and a wildly powerful 485-horsepower engine taken from Nissan GT-R. All enable the Nissan Juke-R to achieve 0 to 62 mph in 3.7 seconds. Maybe now Nissan execs will give the green light to put the Juke-R into production.

We all have the best intentions when we first take our nice and shiny new iPhone out of the box and promise to ourselves to keep it that way. Unfortunately, life often gets in the way and the next thing you know there’s a scratch here, a ding there, and your prized possession begins its sad downward spiral. Fortunately, Japanese auto-maker Nissan is working on a way to protect our iPhones from their worst enemies – its owner – with the new Scratch Shield Self-Healing iPhone Case. Using technology first developed back in 2005 and used on a variety of Nissan and Infiniti models, the gel-like Scratch Shield can mend itself after being finely scratched, thanks to the flexible and elastic properties of Nissan’s polyrotaxane paint technology, whose chemical structure bounces back to its original shape to fill in any new gaps over the course of a few hours or even days. The case itself is constructed from ABS plastic, which is a rigid and strong material widely used in cars, shaped to create a tight-fitting shape around the phone featuring Nissan and Nissan Juke branding. Currently the Scratch Shield is being tested in Europe, but if the results go as planned, we can expect to see the case release world-wide within the year.

It turns out the classification bending Nissan Juke will get a make-over this week at Tokyo Motor Show 2011. Conceived by Nissan‘s performance parts division Nismo, the Nissan Juke Nismo Concept realized many design cues from one-of-one Juke-R test vehicle. Furnished with an entire aero kit front, back, and side, Nismo technicians lowered the suspension and added 19-inch alloy wheels to improve its aerodynamic. Spared no details, the car’s interior went through a complete Nismo reappointment to include special bucket seats, steering wheel, pedals, knobs, gauges, and more. Under the hood, a tweaked direct-injection 1.6-liter engine will generate enough ponies to match the new silhouette, though Nismo officials aren’t ready to say how much yet before the motor show. Look for the Nissan Juke Nismo Concept on the exhibition floor of Tokyo Motor Show 2011 this week. via: autoblog

When it became clear Nissan was moving forward of its Juke-R project, we did our best impression of Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream” in our office. Who in their right minds would drop a perfectly good 3.8-liter twin-turbo engine from Nissan GT-R into a car with close resemblance to a toad. But when officials at Nissan finally unveiled the finished product this week, we were stupefied. In a semi-matte black finish with 20-inch alloy wheels, performance suspension, and rear wings, the car looks amazing. And even with the addition of a roll cage, its interior is still spacious. With no plans for mass production, this one-off vehicle will be heading to the racetrack for some performance tests. Though we are hoping Nissan will change their minds in the near future and start bring this speed demon to the masses.

Despite the seemingly confusing moniker, North American 2013MY, this Nissan GT-R is the 2012 version that will be released in January next year. There will be a few versions on sale next year, including the N.A. GT-R, GT-R Black Edition and GT-R Premium models. However, unfortunately, there is no plan of the more race-tuned GT-R Track Edition hitting our shores. The V6 Twin Turbo 3.8 liter sports car is said to produce 545 horsepower and 463 lb-ft of torque. This is a marginal increase of around 15 horsepower and 15 lb-ft over the previous model. On top of that, according to the Nissan Chief Vehicle Engineer Kazutoshi Mizuno, this vehicle has the potential to lap the Nürburgring track in under 7 minutes and 20 seconds. via: Carscoop

The controversy of this concept finally subsided this morning when Nissan releases the first official photo of its Juke-R project. Though still a long way before completion, the performance “hybrid” of a Nissan Juke and GT-R is looking quite promising in its matte all-black configuration. The true testament of this project, however, will come once technicians of Europe’s Nissan Technology Center rev-up the 520 ponies from its twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6. Expect more to come soon, meanwhile see the built process in the series of videos after the jump.

For some, its nothing short of blasphemy, to think of adding the innards of legendary Nissan GT-R into the frogugly Nissan Juke. But as technicians at Europe’s Nissan Technology Center begin to put the 520-horsepower crossover together, the one-off concept vehicle looks a lot better than artist renderings. See the build process in a series of video installments as the twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 takes up residence at the most unusual built. So what do you think of this Nissan mutant?

How do you make an already perfect automobile even better? Just ask the engineers at automaker Nissan, who were able to improve the GT-R sports coupe for the 2010 model year. Through minor tweaks and additions, they squeezed out every last millimeters of performance. Through an improved front bumper, back end, and new Hyper Blue Black Chrome wheels quipped with Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT 600 DSST CTT, the 2012 GT-R now has a drag co-efficient of only 0.26, along with a 10% increase of downforce. Additional improvements were made on the powerplant as well. Now the Twin-Turbo V6 produce 530 PS (390 kW / 523 bhp) and 612 Nm (451 lb-ft), an increase of 38 PS and 23 Nm. Thus, fuel efficiency improves to 20 miles per gallon. A new four-wheel drive system permits deactivation if the car is traveling less than 6 mph and steering wheel is turned more than half way in one direction. New strut bar and suspension means a speedy ride with premium comfort.

The year 2012 is just around the corner,  and just as some would expect the world to end, others will keep going as if nothing is going to happen. Nissan GT-R aka Godzilla will be back for 2012 and the new vehicle has been finally revealed thanks to some spy photography. At this point details are not released yet and we have to go with what we can see in the photos. Cosmetic improvements are evident in the front grill, LED day lights and rear diffuser. There will also be two new colors coming out– the Aurora Flare Blue Pearl and Nebula Opal Black. Twin Turbo 3.8 liter V6 engine should pump out more than 485 horses at 434 lb-ft of torque. via: WCF

When Shell wanted to showcase the qualities of their Helix oil, the commissioned advertising agency JWT realized a commercial that has not been done before. With the help of Asylum Models and Effects, Nissan 370Z was turned into an invisible car modeled out of perspex. You would think CGI would do the job but as you see, the real thing is just that much better and convincing. They even made the engine out of perspex to show the close up working of the lubricant through the engine. What might be of interest also is the making of this commercial which explains the behind the screens of the whole project. via: autoblog

In a perfect world, we should all we be able to own a fast sports cars. Well unfortunately the world is not so perfect and sports cars are not as affordable, let alone super cars. To make it interesting Switzer have decided to take the latest Nissan GT-R and turn it into a real hardcore contender amongst some European rides.

The simplest way to make any object go fast is by performing two modifications, one to increase its power, and the other is to reduce its weight. So, these are what Switzer decided to do, and the result was quite stunning. The GT-R P800 is so named for its whooping 800 horse power, which also gives the GT-R P800 its impressive 700 pound feet of torque as well. New intercooler, air intakes, turbos and ceramic coated titanium exhaust system helps to improve its performance as well. Overall, the ride’s weight has been reduced by 200 pounds, as compared to the standard model GT-R. via: autoblog

The details of the 2011 Nissan GT-R US Spec has been released suggesting that this year there will only be one model offered which is GT-R Premium priced at $84,060, a little more expensive compared to the 2010 base model. Of course there will be some optional factory upgrades, some for free of charge while others incur some costs. Retuned suspension is equipped on this model with stronger rear bushes, dark wheel center caps and extra layer of clear coat on the front and rear to protect it from debris. Other handy features include auto headlights, speed sensitive windshield wipers, USB/iPod/Bluetooth connectivity and navigation system integrated with XM NavTraffic and NavWeather capabilities. Find the latest GT-R at a Nissan dealer near you. via: WCF