The standard Nissan Qashqai is great for ferrying the kids around, but it’s hardly a car you would avoid challenging at the lights. Not all Qashqais are created equal, mind you, as the utterly mad R version will attest.
The highly modified Nissan Qashqai R was built by Severn Valley Motorsport, a company that specialises in tuning the R35 GT-R engine. A shopping list of modifications, including boring out the 3.8-litre V8 to 4.1 litres, use of bigger SVM turbos and improved cooling, create 1,100bhp of tarmac-melting power.
Acceleration is, as you would guess, laughably fast. 0 to 62mph takes 2.7 seconds. 0 to 124mph comes and goes in 7.5 seconds. The Qashqai will dispatch a quarter mile in 9.9 seconds. A McLaren P1 supercar takes 2.8 seconds from standing to 62mph. Fast is, therefore, an understatement.
Severn Valley Motorsport stuck the shell of a Qashqai on top of a GT-R that had been cut apart to leave only the floorpan. Turns out, both cars are roughly the same length so the job was feasible.
You would assume the Qashqai R is now a husk of its former self in practicality terms, but you could still take the family shopping. Only a bit of interior room and one seat are lost in the process of turning boring into insanity.
Apparently the Qashqai is more than happy pootling around town. “As docile as a sedated tiger,” Top Gear said. Even the ride quality is bearable. So what is it like to drive, you ask? “Scary. No, scratch that, terrifying.” That sounds about right.
Nissan did a similar thing with the Juke. It stuck a Nissan GT-R engine in a Nissan Juke, creating the Juke R. The result was a crossover capable of 0 to 62mph in 3.4 seconds. Yours for £500,000, folks.
Give Severn Valley Motorsport a buzz if you are finding your Qashqai a bit mundane. A price will be given on application.
Leave a Reply