Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of some of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. There’s also just a little opinion of mine because I can. This week:

• BMW doubles down on high-performance diesels with new M550d

• Nismo launches part reproduction program for R32 Skylines, eventually others

• Honda recaptures FWD Nürburgring record with new Type-R

• Jaguar teaser proves existence of new XF Sportbrake (wagon)

• What’s your automotive news?

BMW M550d xDrive

In the last generation (F10) 5 Series, BMW told their M engineers to go play with a diesel engine and see how nutty they could make it. The result was the M550d, a surprisingly quick and powerful sedan and wagon powered by a diesel straight six with three turbochargers. It was all well and good in the high performance diesel world until that other German brand made a mess of everything.
As others backed away from expanding their diesel offerings, BMW kept at it and have done something awesome for once. Not only did they bring the M550d into the new G30 generation, they made it even crazier.

The G30 M550d xDrive was unveiled in all its diesel-burning glory with the most powerful six-cylinder diesel engine of its kind. Its 3.0-liter straight-six engine is complemented by four turbochargers to produce 400 horsepower and 561 lb.-ft. of torque (available from 2,000 RPM). That’s an improvement of about 20 horsepower and 15 lb.-ft. of torque over the previous car. Power goes to an eight-speed Steptronic automatic and BMW xDrive sends it to all four wheels. With that much torque on tap, AWD is probably not a bad idea.
0-62 mph takes just 4.4 seconds or 4.6 seconds if you [correctly] opt for the Touring model. Top speed is limited to 155 mph. Of course, the beautiful thing about diesel is that it can provide all of this while still getting exceptional fuel mileage. On the European test cycles, the M550d sedan delivers the equivalent of 40 mpg and the touring is slightly thirstier at 38 mpg combined.

And because it’s sort of an M car, it comes with all the usual handling upgrades such as M sports suspension, Integral Active Steering, and beefier M brakes. Making it look the part is a standard M aerodynamics package, exhaust system with dark chrome tips, and nineteen-inch light alloy wheels.
No word on pricing info yet, but I can pretty much guarantee this isn’t coming to America. The last one didn’t either.
[Source BMW]

NISMO R32 continuation parts

Nissan is known for continuously producing cars that are long in the tooth, but they’re about to do a huge favor to owners of old Nissans we actually like. It’s being reported that Nismo is gearing up to produce factory-quality replacement parts for R32 Skylines, namely the GT-R.
Their “Heritage Parts Program” was announced as part of Nismo’s push for a bigger global presence through the form of more special models and higher sales. They’ll certainly have a bigger presence in the hearts of R32 Skyline owners who have to deal with a shortage of some vital parts that can’t always be obtained from the aftermarket.
It’s not currently known what exact parts they’ll be producing again, but most Skyline owners are probably hoping for things like weather stripping, interior pieces, and some maintenance items that are notoriously hard to obtain. Maybe we’ll even get period-correct Nismo performance upgrades as well. I’m sure we’ll see a full catalog of available parts soon enough, but that just isn’t available now.
During their press conference where they touched up on this, they also mentioned that the R32 GT-R is only the start. They plan on expanding their offerings, presumably to R33 and R34 Skylines and beyond.
Even if this program doesn’t cover everything and it’s all rather expensive, we still have to give props to Nissan for supporting the enthusiasts who still love their old cars, and no I’m not talking about the 370Z. That probably still has another 8 year left in it at Nissan’s pace.
[Source: Nissan, SOCOM via r/cars | Image © 2017 Hooniverse/Bryce Womeldurf]

Honda Civic Type-R record

In news that should surprise no one, the new Civic Type-R is fast enough to reclaim the Nürburgring lap record for front-wheel-drive cars. With a lap time of 7 minutes 43.8 seconds it bests the previous Type-R by nearly 7 seconds and is crucially 3 seconds faster than the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S that previously held the title.
Fortunately, there’s video evidence (which you can watch here) and some details as to how the car was prepared. It’s a pre-production car that they say accurately represents the production car’s capabilities. It was only modified with a floating roll cage for safety reasons and that doesn’t add any extra rigidity to the car. To compensate for the added weight of that cage, the rear seats and radio were removed. The car was using street legal yet track-focused tires that are likely optional equipment on the car you can buy, or are easy to obtain at the very least.
Not only is this a win for red “R” enthusiasts, it’s a thing for workers at Honda’s Anna, Ohio engine plant to be proud of. The 2.0-liter turbocharged VTEC turbo four-cylinder engine is built there and powered this Type R to a record that will probably stand for at least another eight or nine months.
[Source: Honda]

Jaguar XF Sportbrake teaser

There’s a new Jaguar XF Sportbrake (wagon) coming this summer and this is what its roof likes like. Yep.
[Source: Jaguar]

What’s your automotive news?

That’s all I’ve got for you this week, so now it’s your turn. If you saw anything, fixed something, broke everything, or otherwise did anything even remotely car related that you want to share with your fellow hoon, sound off in the comments.
Have a good weekend.
[Image © 2017 Hooniverse/Greg Kachadurian]