Meet the Nissan Qashqai that’ll outrun a McLaren

By Miles Downard *

SVM QashqaiIf I were to tell you that your average family SUV could be made to go faster than a McLaren P1, I’m sure you’d think I’d lost my marbles and should be shipped off to Tara Hospital for immediate psychiatric attention.

Well, I hope you’re sitting down, because a company called Severnvalley Motorsport (SVM for short) recently showcased its Nissan Qashqai-R SVM Project. And it’s the love child of your average family SUV and an R35 Nissan GT-R. And this love child goes like the bloody wind.

The inspiration came from the Juke-R, but as you will see SVM have taken it to another level. So they took a Qashqai+2 and a GT-R, stripped the Qashqai to its bare shell and lowered that onto the GT-R’s floorplan. Of course this means all the suspension bits – and running gear – are from one of the fastest, most technologically advanced supercars the world has ever seen.

The engine has been through one of SVM’s higher power conversions resulting in an absolutely absurd 750kW. But SVM’s argument is that if you’re going to label a car a Sports Utility Vehicle you have to have at least some sports car power.

SVM QashqaiThe stats are mind-boggling to say the least. 0-100km/h: 2.3sec. 0-160km/h: 5.6sec. And the quarter mile is despatched in under 10 seconds. (the Bugatti Veyron only manages 10.3). Top speed? Somewhere north of 320km/h.

SVM founder and boss, Kevan Kemp, said: “Nissan built a special Juke and it was getting a lot of attention so we thought we’d do something similar with the next model up.

“We wanted to build a Qashqai supercar and we have,” he added. “It can be driven to the shops or it can be driven on a dragstrip against the world’s most exotic vehicles. It looks like a standard Qashqai but goes like a supercar. We’re really happy with the result.”

We at BizNews think you lot at SVM are certifiably mad. Insane. Crazy. Completely mental. But that doesn’t mean we don’t love the fact that things like the SVM Qashqai R exist; and the blokes like you who make such things.

* Miles Downard is the editor of BizNews Motoring

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