Nissan Juke Nismo (2012) first official pictures

It's not quite a Juke-R, but it's still a faster Juke - Nissan has greenlighted the Juke Nismo concept for production.

Chief among the Nismo alterations are light tuning for the engine, an aggressive body kit, and sporty tweaks inside the Juke's cabin.

On the outside, your eyes are assaulted by a bodykit comprising a deeper front air dam with integrated LED running rights, wheelarch extensions and side skirts, larger rear spoiler, and a quasi-diffuser rear bumper housing a swollen exhaust picked out in red.

In fact, there's a good deal of red detailing on the Juke Nismo - on the mirrors, a pinstripe along the lower flanks, and of course those shoulder-line stripes. As if the Juke didn't make enough of an impact already...

Eighteen-inch wheels wearing wider tyres sit under the Juke Nismo's bulging body. Nissan claims that the upgrades aren't just cosmetic: grip levels have increased thanks to the extra rubber, and the front air dam and rear wing combo work together to reduce high speed lift.

It's not likely to be anywhere near as ballistic as the 478bhp Juke-R concepts (never mind the 545bhp production versions), but Nissan has breathed on the turbocharged 1.6-litre direct-injection petrol engine. There's no official word yet on just how much extra power is liberated above the standard car's 115bhp, but Nissan has seen fit to recalibrate the traction control and stiffen the suspension on the Nismo Juke.

There's also torque vectoring to transfer power away from slipping wheels, and steering system changes to complete the dynamic overhaul.

Again, red is the colour of choice to emphasise the more sporting character of the Nismo over lesser Jukes. There are highlights on the major controls, and in the suede-upholstered Nismo sports seats. In fact, the steering wheel, pedals, gauges, gearknob and door trims have, puportedly, been 'redesigned to boost the sporty feeling when driving'.

The Juke Nismo will be built alongside regular Jukes at Nissan's plant in Sunderland, UK, and deliveries of this latest fettled variant will begin in January 2013. Prices and full performance specification will be confirmed in the coming months before order books open.

If you can't wait that long, Nissan will be displaying the Nismo Juke at Le Mans from 13-17 June 2012, alongside the Nissan-sponsored DeltaWing racing car, and high-performance Juke-R concept, now assured a limited (and very expensive) production run.

By Ollie Kew