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Nissan prices limited-edition 2014 GT-R Track Edition from $115,710*

Nissan has released its pricing for the model-year 2014 GT-R, including the new Track Edition of Godzilla. The 2014 Nissan GT-R Premium will now command an MSRP of $99,590, while the Black Edition will go for $109,300 and the new Track Edition will ask $115,710 (*not including a $1,000 destination and handling charge for all models).
Nissan calls the GT-R Track Edition its most exclusive model, which makes sense as it will be limited to just 150 examples for the US market. The competition-ready Track Edition gets Bilstein DampTronic shocks and revised spring rates; all chosen after more development work by Nissan engineers at the Nürburgring. (Good work, if you can get it.) A carbon fiber rear spoiler and six-spoke black wheels come with the package, as do blue-trimmed, high-grip front seats inside. To save weight, the car's rear seats have been deleted in this model.
Continue down below to read Nissan's press release, or have a gander at the (quite large) gallery of 2014 Nissan GT-R images.

Watch this 800-hp Nissan Juke-R savage the 'Ring

The concept of the 545-horsepower Nissan Juke-R that stuffs the drivetrain of a GT-R into a subcompact crossover is already insane, but Russian company Shpilli Villi Engineering has taken things even further with their own crazy riff on the idea. Its version tunes the engine up to a claimed 800 horsepower, plus a shot of nitrous for an extra 200 hp to put it (way) over the top. Naturally, a number of other upgrades have been exacted in an effort to try and keep the custom Juke's shiny side up and the driveline internals from spontaneously rearranging themselves. Those changes include a beefed-up switchable all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive layout and revised suspension.
Last year, you may recall that we saw an earlier version of Shpilli Villi Engineering's insanity testing with a mere 700 hp in a one-mile, standing drag race against a Bugatti Veyron. In that state of tune, the Juke-R lost, but by less than a hundredth of a second. Now, owner and racer Vladimir Ulanov has brought his madness to the Nürburgring Nordschleife to see how it does around a damp lap of the famous track.
It looks like 800 hp and a moist track might be almost too much for this Juke to handle, because Ulanov gets very loose at several points during the lap. Understandably, his passenger seems suitably impressed and possibly a little freaked out at the end. See what you think of this craziness by watching the video.

Nissan leaning on JATCO to remedy CVT problems

Nissan's decision to fit continuously variable transmissions across even more of its new models may be coming back to bite the Japanese automaker, as it's been hampered by customer satisfaction issues relating to its XTronic CVTs, which are provided by a supplier called JATCO.
From what we're understanding, the issue largely relates to customers' unfamiliarity with the non-traditional shift nature of a CVT. Dealers have reported complaints and service visits from owners over the belt-driven automatics (did these people not test drive the cars before they bought them and notice that they don't shift conventionally?).
The company, which Nissan owns 75 percent of, has come under fire from none other than Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who's spoken about JATCO and its troubles rather openly. "Every time you launch a new CVT you always have some risks," Ghosn said in an interview with Automotive News. "So we now have a process by which, before we launch any new CVT, [JATCO] come before the Nissan executive committee to explain all the measures they have taken to make sure there are no surprises."