Nissan‘s Juke-R might just be one of the greatest project cars in all of automotive history, and the monster has finally hit the track at Silverstone with a video to prove it. The GTR-powered crossover did some laps out in England for journalists and it proves that the Juke-R is a formidable piece of machinery.

Despite the rain in the footage, it’s perfectly clear that the Juke-R can hold its own and the project can be deemed as successful. The crossover’s completely capable of accelerating, braking, turning and performing the duties of any track car with ease. And while most people are still anti-Juke based on its styling, there’s no denying you wouldn’t think twice about owning this Juke-R.

Check out the video below:

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High End Performance is known around the nation for building some of the world’s top show cars while running a shop that supplies some of the rarest and highest quality parts around. But what sets them apart from the crowd is their custom, hand-crafted wide body kits that can see on many of their show cars. This matte orange Nissan GTR was spotted in the Eneos booth, and is arguably the best creation to come out of High End to date.

High End owner Ben Abutin is known for meticulously hand-crafting custom widebody kits for his customers. And we’re digging everything about this GT-R from bumper to bumper. The front bumper does a fantastic job in flowing with the GTR’s headlights, while the widebody almost looks factory. The car then headed over to DTM Autobody to gets it body sprayed a nice, bright matte orange that fits in perfectly with Eneos.

Based on the logos on the car, it looks like this GTR sports suspension from Cusco, carbon fiber accents from Seibon while the HRE Wheels are wrapped with Falken Tire rubber. We’re sure we’ll be seeing more of this GTR now that it’s made its official debut at SEMA 2011.

GALLERY: Eneos / High End Performance Nissan GTR

The folks over at PistonHeads.com headed to Silverstone to catch up with Kazutoshi Mizuno, otherwise known as the father of the GT-R. Mizuno spent some time detailing the improvements the 2012 Nissan GT-R (2013 U.S.-spec model) sports, and how he anticipates it to be a very noticeable difference to the car’s performance.

For 2012, the GT-R will receive a nice increase in power, though no figure has been set in stone. The estimates are to be around 550-hp while the right-hand-drive markets will receive an asymmetric suspension setup. The suspension is designed to counterbalance the extra 110-lbs of the steering assemblies. Minor revisions were also made to the front end, slightly improving steering.

And while all these changes are probably very minor and unnoticeable to the everyday person, Nissan claims that the 2012 car was faster throughout the track at Silverstone and because of that data, Mizuno believes that the 2012 GT-R could be 7-8 seconds faster than the 2011 lap time of 7 minutes and 24 seconds.

To put this into perspective, the current production car Nurburgring record holder is the Viper ACR with a 7:12 time.

There will also be an announcement of a Track Pack for the 2012 GT-R which will include Spec-V style interior, racing seats with high friction fabric, upgraded brakes and a sport exhaust. Mizuno also teased about the possibility of expanding the GT-R model line.

GALLERY: 2012 Nissan GT-R

[Source: PistonHeads]

Outlandish engine swaps are usually a fool’s errand that cost far more time and money than most people ever expect. Of course, if you’re a major automaker with endless financial and mechanical resources behind you, you can do whatever you want.

When Nissan set out to create the Juke-R, considerations like “budget”, “space” and “access to materials” didn’t matter. Since they had a Juke, a spare Nissan GT-R and a full workship at their disposal, they were able to go buck wild. Fitting the GT-R drivetrain into the Juke required serious work far beyond the pale of even an experienced hobby mechanic, but we’ll let the video explain how it all went down.

Hit the jump to see the official video

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Over at kickstarter.com, ideas are brewing, looking for your hard-earned dollars to make dreams a reality. BlueDrone has come up with a concept to allow remote controlled cars to be, well, remotely controlled through Bluetooth technology. Stephen Mark is the founder of the concept, and hopes to produce many 1:20-scale Nissan GT-R Bluetooth-controlled (BC?) cars.

The idea of it is simple, allowing the owner to control their RC car through the use of an Android phone or tablet. Through the smartphone’s touchscreen or accelerometer, the owner will be able to zip and zoom through any parking lot of course with just their phone. The RC car requires 3 AA batteries to operate, and battery life can log three hours.

The cost to make this product a mass-produced reality? Mark’s looking for $200,000 in pledges – a lofty goal, for sure. But for $59, it’ll lock you a spot in line for the GT-R and the app once the project is complete, if he gets there.

Check out a promo video of the RC car after the break.

[Source: CNet]

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If you’re like us, you cringe at the idea of handing your keys over to a valet. It doesn’t matter if you’re driving a Toyota Prius or a Lamborghini Gallardo, the thought of some random person driving your car is a scary one.

Unfortunately the owner of this Nissan GT-R from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia most certainly wishes he (or she) hadn’t. As is obvious from the photos, this GT-R was flipped on top of another car thanks to the handiwork of said valet driver.

It’s actually a little perplexing looking at the photos to try to figure out what caused the accident other than an overzealous driver getting behind the wheel of serious horsepower. Once they were able to get their car back on its four wheels, the devastation is a little heartbreaking and hopefully the driver was OK and learned a lesson. We’re certain the GT-R owner learned a good lesson too.

GALLERY: Valet Crashes Nissan GT-R

[Source: Zero to Hundred]

It’s hard to believe that the Nissan GT-R is nearing the end of its life cycle, but its introduction in 2007 means that the car will be in production for nearly 6 years, and it will be time for an updated model.

Before the next GT-R debuts, the current R35 model will go out with a bang, as Nissan is reportedly planning a power bump to 560 horsepower, a 30 horsepower increase over the current Japanese-market Spec V model. Also planned is a Spec R model, with a weight savings of as much as 88 pounds, but development of this car was reportedly disrupted by Japan’s natural disasters in March.

Engineers were said to be preparing prototypes for shipment to the Nurburgring race track in Germany, but the earthquake and tsunami forced them to push back plans for a May test date. Rumors state that testing should resume sometime around September, but we won’t hold our breath.

[Source: 7Tune]

Despite being an ultra-niche vehicle, interest in the Nissan GT-R always remains strong, and car enthusiasts have been fretting about whether Japan’s natural disasters have impacted production of the revised GT-R.

According to an interview with David Reuter, Nissan Americas vice president of communications, supplies of the GT-R are safe, with roughly 70 percent of North America’s allocation on the ground already. “There are no shortages of anything specific at this point,” he told Inside Line. “As we work through the final assessments, we’ll have a better idea if we have any dips to smooth over with individual vehicle lines.”

Reuter also confirmed that the Nissan LEAF is safe, with 1,500 cars either in transit or at the port. Infiniti vehicles, which are all built in Japan, are considered most at risk for production disruption, but Reuter said that a 50-day supply of vehicles exists.

While companies like Nissan have emerged unscathed, General Motors announced major cutbacks at plants in Spain and Germany due to a shortage of Japanese made parts. While Japan’s automakers may be sending a positive message for now, the long-term situation could potentially get much worse due to factors beyond the control of the auto industry.

[Source: Inside Line]

Given the recent events in Japan, it may not be entirely surprising that there are greater priorities than building fast supercars. As such, shipments of the 2012 Nissan GT-R to America have been delayed as the country struggles to rebuild after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Nissan North America reports that there is a “sufficient supply” of 2012 GT-Rs that have already been shipped to the US, but would not reveal precisely how many. The 2012 GT-R officially went on sale a few weeks ago.  The Tochigi Plant, where the GT-R is built, has reported some damage to the building and equipment, and has suspended operations until Friday.

Nissan issued a statement on Monday declaring that “some Infiniti models and Nissan GT-R and 370Z may experience delays in shipment to the U.S. and Canada, with full impact still being assessed,” but their plans for the New York Auto Show are still on schedule.

A shipment of 600 Nissan Leafs left Japan just before the earthquake, and are on their way to the US safely, just in time to help fulfill its massive demand.

[Source: Inside Line]

The 2012 Nissan GTR is getting more than just cosmetic changes. According to the NAGTROC, the 2012 variant of Godzilla will get a revised chassis and suspension along with a “RWD mode”.

The front strut towers have been stiffened, for a more rigid chassis, while the brake rotors are 10mm larger up front. New spring rates, dampers and caster settings will help the handling, along with lighter, forged Rays Engineering wheels. A new tire package from Dunlop will help transfer all that power and grip to the pavement, while an option for Recaro seats (from the Spec-V model) will help keep you in place.

The most interesting option is the 2WD mode, which can turn the car into a rear-drive only machine. The 2wd mode can be activated by pressing the “fuel save” switch for more than 4 seconds, but somehow, we have a feeling that economy will not be the main objective of this kind of driving.

[Source: NAGTROC]