The Juke R was a wild pipe dream that somehow managed to turn itself into a reality. The Juke Nismo, on the other hand, was always much more of a realistic, grounded vehicle headed toward production. Nissan introduced the production version of the tuned Juke at the weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans event.

Nissan originally showed the concept version of the Juke Nismo at last year's Tokyo Motor Show. Nismo will enjoy an expanded role at Nissan, and the performance Juke is the first example of that role.

While the Juke-R gets a huge GT-R power boost, the Juke Nismo keeps its 1.6-liter turbo engine. Nissan mentions the engine has been tuned but still doesn't offer anything in the way of specs. The focus is more on the body aspect of the tune, which includes an aerodynamics kit with lowered bumpers, modified grille and tailgate spoiler, and wider wings. That kit is propped up by 18-inch wheels with wider tires. Mechanical enhancements include sportier steering, stiffened suspension and available torque vectoring for increased traction and handling.

The Juke Nismo's interior is matched to its sportier intentions. That fact is highlighted by suede-trimmed sports seats with red stitching, along with sportier steering wheel, pedals, gauges, gear knob and door trims.

The Juke Nismo will be built in Sunderland, U.K. and will go on sale in Europe next year. Nissan says that it will announce US and Japan launch information (and specifications) at a later date. Nissan will also announce pricing closer to launch, so for now we'll have to be content with less than $590,000.

The Juke Nismo appeared at Le Mans next to the Juke R and the DeltaWing Le Mans race car.