The IDx Lives!

The recently introduced at the Tokyo Auto Show Nissan IDx Freeflow and NISMO were evidently not just pretty shells.  After being brought over to the Detroit Auto Show they are now on a tour of Southern California.  This whole process is far beyond what you see with normal concept cars and Nissan has then taken things even further...

They delivered the concept cars to the Motor Trend folks and allowed them to be driven...OK, so it was only around a parking lot but still...This is something you never see with concept vehicles.  Nissan is bringing the cars around to a number of locations and events in the area continuing to gauge public interest.  It appears more and more likely that these are going the Juke route and will be put into production in the near future.

Motor Trend drives the IDx...

Final Group of Nissans at SEMA 2013

Well, this is it...

A fairly weak showing for Nissans and Datsuns at SEMA 2013.  While Nissan has introduced a number of new models in the last 24 months none of them have really captured the interest of the aftermarket.  The Altima, Sentra, Rogue, Versa, etc. aren't exactly high on the enthusiasts wish lists.

Hopefully that will change in the next 12 months or so with a new Titan, a next generation 200SX model, a hybrid GT-R, a new Z and others.  Though I am surprised there weren't some modified Nissan Juke's there as its small displacement turbo and radical styling seem targeted at the culture SEMA represents.  At least there was one Titan and a short course Nissan present.  We'll take what we can get.

Have Your Own Juke-R Built

Of course you have to get the vehicle from St. Petersburg...but it evidently is cheaper than buying it directly from Nissan at $600,000.  The company that builds the vehicle smartly bought the Juke-R website and has been marketing it across the globe.

This weekend in fact one of their first vehicles will be competing against Mr. Ken Block at the Gymkhana GRiD event in Madrid this weekend.  The Russian, custom built Juke-R contains the same drivetrain as the factory Juke-R and also comes with a roll cage and other upgrades.  What the Russian company offers that the factory version does not--upgraded engine tuning options.  At a mere 700 HP the Juke-R nicely outruns a Bugatti Veyron but versions up to over 1000 HP are available.

Explore buying your own Juke-R here:  http://www.juke-r.com/

More on the impetus and Russian company behind the the non-factory Juke-R:  http://jalopnik.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-russian-juke-r-gy-1456883008?utm_campaign=socialflow_jalopnik_facebook&utm_source=jalopnik_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Juke-R Crash on Video...

Well, this sure sucks...though more for whoever is going to be taking a hit to their pocketbook to repair this vehicle.  With a Juke body laid over a GT-R driveline this vehicle is in excess of $500,000, exceedingly rare and it appears to have been quickly driven by its customer directly into a cement wall.  Reportedly the driver walked away but the passenger is in the hospital and the car (which is almost entirely custom from top to bottom) is a disaster...

Nissan Juke: Star Wars Edition??

For some reason the Nissan Juke seems to attract Star Wars fans/comparisons.  There have already been a number of Star Wars themed You Tube videos with Stormtroopers in them over the past couple years and it appears as if Nissan corporate has gotten on the bandwagon.

Teasing some sort of Nissan Juke Star Wars linkup, Nissan has just released a number of screenshots with a red and white Stormtrooper hyping the "Nissan Juke: The New Story" as well as the video you see below.  Some of the language, including that of the original poster of the video, is in Japanese so is this a Japan only announcement?  Have Disney (now owners of Star Wars/Lucas Arts) made some sort of marketing arrangement?  I honestly don't know but it appears as if 8/26/13 is the date we will find out.

Nissan Pulsar SSS Specs and Release...

As we have previously predicted here, the Nissan Pulsar (Versa Note here in the US) in Australia is the first to receive confirmation of the hopped up version of the hot hatch.

The Pulsar will receive the "SSS" badging and is lauded by the initial article as being a decent competitor for the VW Golf GTI Polo (not the same as the US Golf).  While carrying a tad more HP than the Polo at 188 it does sport slightly less torque at 177 ft. lb.  Under the hood of this Nissan with be a turbo 1.6L vs. the NA 1.8L in the regular version of the Pulsar/Versa.  This engine matches EXACTLY the specs on the 1.6L turbo seen in the Juke and it is a safe bet that the SSS will be housing the same MR16DDT mill.  Knowing that the Juke engine has seen its HP pushed to 197 in the NISMO version of that CUV means that there is even more performance to be had out of this SSS particularly given the Pulsar will be about 600 pounds less than the Juke. The SSS will come standard...with a standard.  If you're a moron you can pay an additional $2500 or so for the privilege of having a computer do the shifting with an available CVT. 

These measurements should translate well to the US--if it comes here--which I can't forsee it not.  Likley dubbed the Versa Note NISMO I'm guessing, this will represent Nissan's entry into the performance end of the B-segment along with the Ford Fiesta.  I would anticipate Nissan USA announcing its arrival here in Q3 of this year and at dealerships by the end of '13 to Q1 of '14.

Oh, and the photo above is NOT of the SSS which I'm sure will come with more body cladding and such that always seems to come along with "performance" models...

Nissan Pulsar SSS announced...

Nissan Juke NISMO RC

While over here in the US Nissan has introduced the Juke NISMO at the Chicago Auto Show, offering a 9 HP and 7 ft. lb. of torque performance increase over the standard version Nissan has revealed an even higher performance Juke overseas.

The Nissan Juke NISMO RC will be a 2014 model and retains the standard 1.6L turbocharged 4cyl engine.  Here, however, its output has been boosted to some 221 HP.  Few other details have been released and it appears that it will be available in Europe, where the Juke is produced and is immensely popular, first.  As with the standard NISMO version, the RC will likely arrive here in the states shortly thereafter.

A few pre-production models have already been tested out as seen in the short video below.
Nissan Juke NISMO RC...