Nismo, the tuning arm of Nissan responsible for the insane 600hp GT-R sitting on the Japanese firm's Geneva stand, has also uprated the existing Juke Nismo to create the even-wilder RS version.
Exterior
Love it or loathe it, the Juke Nismo RS is certainly eye-catching. Before we get onto what makes it different from any other Juke, it's worth pointing out that some of the revisions to the Nissan's shape are being carried out across the range.
Hence the new upper headlights, the boomerang tail-light clusters and door mirrors with LED indicators incorporated are not just for the RS, but for all 2014 Jukes. So, what has Nismo done to make its RS model stand out from the crowd? Well, there are chunkier, lower front and rear bumpers, there's a dark chrome 'V-motion' grille in the nose, the wings of the little crossover have been pumped up, side skirts are in place, 18-inch rims reside in the wheelarches and there's a tailgate spoiler to better control airflow; lift front and rear is said to be reduced by all the aero updates, without increasing drag.
You might struggle to spot one if you're familiar with the existing, non-RS Juke Nismo, but if you require extra assistance, the hottest Juke has discreet 'RS' badges front and rear, while the brake callipers are red. Although the non-RS shares this feature, those aforementioned, revised door mirrors are also red - guaranteed to stand out, as you can only have the RS in White Pearl, Black Metallic or Silver Grey - while a red pinstripe runs all the way around the bottom of the car; you'll have noticed something similar on its mental sibling, the GT-R Nismo.
What you can't see is that Nismo has increased the torsional rigidity of the Juke RS with strategic body strengthening, meaning it better handles the increase in power.
Interior
Black, black, black - you'd better like it dark inside, because there's no alternative. However, it's a great cabin, with the RS featuring some upgrades that come as standard to mark it out, like a suede-covered instrument binnacle, an RS logo in the rev counter and an unusual waterprint finish across the gearlever, paddle-shifters (if specified) and the central cluster.
There are the usual sport-oriented additions of the Nismo too, like the tasty steering wheel, pedals, gauges and door trims. However, you want to be dipping into the options list for the superb Recaro bucket seats you can see in these pics. They look stunning and elevate the RS above its 200hp Nismo brethren. Further options include some safety tech and Xenon headlamps, but they're nothing like as appealing as those front chairs so we won't waste your time with them.
Mechanicals
All Nismo RS versions of the Juke use the same 1.6-litre DIG-T engine as the non-RS, but the unit receives an 18hp hike in peak power to 218hp. The deviation in the RS line occurs depending on how many wheels you want driven and if you fancy shifting gears yourself. We reckon you should go for the manual, front-wheel drive only RS. It gets 280Nm and a lovely, mechanical limited slip differential (LSD) to control all its grunt. You can opt for the Xtronic 'eight-speed' transmission with paddleshift manual mode (hint: it's still a bloody CVT), but torque stays at the 250Nm mark of the non-RS Nismo.
All four-wheel drive models come only with the Xtronic, no LSD and just torque vectoring to shuffle drive around; hence why we think you should pick the lighter, cheaper and more torquey front-driver. Any Juke Nismo RS features a retuned exhaust system with a large diameter tailpipe protruding from the back box. Brakes are also boosted, from 296- to 320mm discs at the front, while the rear discs have become ventilated.
Finally, the RS gets its own spring and damper rates to give it the edge on the 'normal' Nismo. No word on performance figures yet for the Nismo RS, but expect the front-wheel drive manual RS to record modest gains on the straight-line figures of the 200hp car, which covers 0-100km/h in 7.8 seconds and goes on to a top speed of 216km/h.
Anything else?
As you quite clearly purchase a mental-looking crossover fettled by the renowned performance skunk works of Nissan to carry clobber around, you might (or might not) be interested to know the FWD Nismo RS models benefit from a 40 per cent increase in carrying capacity, thanks to a reshaping of the boot loading area, while there's a two-stage floor and fold-flat rear seats too. How very practical.
Further details of the new Juke Nismo RS will be revealed later in the year, but as the 200hp version costs about €29,000, you can expect the RS to be a few grand more when the list price goes public.