We just can’t get enough of the Nissan Juke-R project, and probably won’t until we get our grubby little hands behind its steering wheel. But until then, we’ll just have to continue living vicariously through those fortunate enough to experience the monster first hand.

While it was in Dubai to pace the 24 Hour race, Nissan took its Juke-R out to the Dubai International Marina where a makeshift course was created and the funky Japanese crossover was pitted against a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and a Ferrari 458 Italia. You know, just some of Germany and Italy’s finest supercars.

Now it goes without saying that we’d expect the Juke-R to look mighty impressive in the video against the exotics since it was probably staged by Nissan. But there’s no denying just how remarkable its performance looks and how undoubtedly fun it was for Lucas Ordonez, the first GT Academy winner, to pilot it. And obviously by watching the video, the drivers were putting on a show more than they were looking for a fast lap time.

We just hope a better resolution video surfaces soon.

Check out the video below.

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Over in the United Kingdom, Hertz has teamed up with Premiere Velocity in order to offer their customers the ability to rent some of the world’s finest exotic supercars. The list of exotics being offered is impressive including Lamborghini‘s LP560-4 Bicolore and Aventador, Porsche‘s Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Ferrari‘s 458 Italia, Range Rover‘s Evoque, Mercedes-Benz‘s Brabus S-Class and SLS AMG Roadster, Rolls-Royce’s Phantom and even McLaren’s MP4.

The full range of cars available is up on Hertz’s website and a 5-percent discount is offered when booking through http://www.hertzsupercars.com. Prices vary, but a C63 AMG for example is £201.25 a day ($314) while an Audi R8 is £362.25 ($565). Hertz wand Premiere will also offer customers with a bespoke meet, greet and delivery system at any agreed location whether it be their home, office, hotel or airport.

The requirements? Enough money, 25-years of age and no more than six points on their driver’s license.

Ferrari confirmed the debut of their 458 Grand Am would happen at this year’s Daytona 24 Hours, set to begin on January 26th at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway. Derived from the GT3 variant of the 458, the Grand Am race car was developed in collaboration with Michelotto and aimed at the American series.

For the Daytona 24 Hours race, Ferrari has their version of a dream team as a crew. Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip will be alongside Travis Pastrana, and endurance race veterans Rui Aguas and Robert Kauffman. Hopefully Ferrari will have better luck than all those other “dream sports teams” like the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Heat. They’re clearly itching for a victory.

GALLERY: Ferrari 458 Grand Am

There’s something for everyone at Disney World – even exotic car enthusiasts. While your kids are having a blast on Space Mountain, you can tear up the Walt Disney World Speedway in a luxury supercar.

Launching this January (just in time for your winter vacation), the all-new Exotics Course at Walt Disney World Speedway lets you take out your ultimate dream supercar for a spin. The track is a hybrid design that takes a one-mile tri-oval backstretch and turn two that features a series of fast right and left hand turns inside of street-course style barriers. Drivers can test their driving skills in cars such as a Ferrari 458 Italia, a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, a Porsche 911 and an Audi R8. An instructor also goes along for the ride with you.

Prices range from $99 to $389 for these six-lap Disney “Thrill Rides.” You can book your ride on the Exotics Course website. Would the Exotics Course at Disney World make you more likely to take the family there for a trip? Let us know in the comments section below.

Underground Racing’s Ferrari 458 Italia has been twin-turbocharged and packs 700-whp. Lamborghini‘s Aventador LP700-4 delivers 700-hp from the factory, so obviously it makes perfect sense to pit the two Italian exotics against one another in one awesome video.

Though the “racing” in the video isn’t exactly perfect in terms of judging which vehicle is truly better or faster, it’s worth watching to hear the sonorous note of two if Italy’s finest exotics.

The 458 features Underground Racing’s Stage 1 bolt-on turbo kit taking the factory 562-hp to a 700-whp on 93-octane pump gas. If you’re not aware of just how big a difference there is between 700-hp and 700 horsepower at the wheels, this video should clear things up pretty fast.

Underground Racing has promised a rematch of the two in the near future, just as soon as it preps a twin-turbo setup for the Aventador’s V12.

Check out the video after the jump:

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The Ferrari 458 Italia Spider will retail for a starting price of $257,000 when it goes on sale in January of 2012. The 458 Spider features a retractable aluminum hardtop rather than the soft top of previous Ferrari Spiders.

The new system weighs 55 lbs less than a soft top and takes only14 seconds to deploy. The Spider is expected to hit 60 mph in 3.4 seconds thanks to its 4.5L 570 horsepower V8 and 7-speed dual clutch gearbox. Like other Spiders, the 458 costs about 15 percent more than its hardtop counterpart, and Ferrari expects owners $60,000 in options alone.

[Source: Automotive News]

Ferrari recently held a private unveiling for the new 458 Spider in Maranello and Teamspeed member GrayTT was on hand to capture the action. And in true Ferrari form, the Italian automaker brought out three 458 Spiders, one in red, one in yellow and one in black. All three Spiders feature Ferrari’s fully retractable hard top which is a world’s first in a sports car with this type of layout.

The 458 Spider is powered by Ferrari’s 4.5L V8 power plant with 562-hp and its top will take only 14 seconds to open or close. One thing’s for sure, this is arguably Ferrari’s sleekest and sexiest convertible and we could easily see ourselves in one… or two, or all three.

Check out the video after the break and look for more photos from the official reveal with AutoGuide’s Frankfurt Auto Show coverage beginning September 13th.

GALLERY: Ferrari 458 Spider Unveiling

[Source: TeamSpeed]

Watch the video after the jump:

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Twin turbo experts in everything from Dodge Vipers to Lamborghini Gallardos, Heffner Performance has introduced a “bolt-on” twin-turbo system for the Ferrari 458, boasting that it’ll increase the factory horsepower rating by 257 ponies, bringing it up to an astonishing 820-hp. Perhaps more shocking is that Heffner claims the setup can do all this on just 5-psi of boost… and on pump gas.

Heffner describes the twin-turbocharged 458 Italia as taking the soul of the legendary F40 and combining it with the technology of a modern F-1 car. And true to all Heffner Performance products, the twin-turbo upgrade looks cleanly integrated in the factory engine bay, as if it belonged there when the car rolled off the lot. Don’t we wish.

GALLERY: Heffner Performance Twin Turbo Ferrari 458 Italia

[Source: Heffner Performance]

Based on the GT3 version of the V8-powered Ferrari, out-of-house tuner Michelotto has pulled the wraps off its Grand Am 458 as testing begins for the new race car at the Fiorano Circuit. The 458 Italia Grand Am will be the first factory-sanctioned Ferrari to compete in the GT Class of Grand-Am’s Rolex Sports Car Series.

The exotic race car will feature 500-hp with a redline of 8000 rpm and to help it conform to GT-class rules, Michelotto made the vehicle less aerodynamic and included a 48-mm restrictor compared to the GT3 version. ABS and traction control were removed from the race car while a full cage was built with NASCAR door bars. It will, of course, be racing on Continental tires, the Grand Am series tire sponsor.

GALLERY: Michelotto Ferrari 458 Italia Grand Am

Rule, Britannia, rule the waves! Britons never will be slaves! The boys of Top Gear recorded an impressive laptime around their famous test track with the McLaren MP4-12C, and if you haven’t seen the episode yet, you might want to skip ahead.

The homegrown MP4-12C beat out foreign contenders such as the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Bugatti Veyron, and the Gumpert Apollo, with a time of 1:16.2 around Dunsfold—the second fastest record on the power board.

Then again, the Top Gear folks have a thing for patriotic bias that makes Sean Hannity look like a Communist—even if Ferrari built a 10,000-horsepower Italia that shot cans of London Pride out the exhaust pipes, Jeremy And Company would still find a way to handicap it. Maybe if they stuffed the interior with gnocchetti filling, then dropped a piano on it.

If only the rest of the British car industry followed through on such spirit. We shall fight them on the beaches! We shall fight them on the test tracks!

Click the jump to see the full comparison.

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