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:

• Lamborghini is making SUVs again as we move further from god

• Saleen is back in the business of making sports cars, maybe

• Porsche all but confirms hybrid 911

• Forza 7 Doritos car pack drops this week

• What’s your automotive news?

Lamborghini Urus

Lamborghini’s version of the Audi Q7 finally broke cover this week after years of speculating just how desperate the supercar manufacturer actually was. The fact is that SUVs sell and anyone wanting to stay afloat these days pretty much has to have one. If Lamborghini was ever going to reintroduce an SUV to their stable, now is the perfect time. Say hello to the Urus, the car we can all thank for the almost guaranteed existence of their next V12 supercar.
There isn’t that much underneath that actually belongs to Lamborghini and it’s got a name that sounds a little bit like part of the female reproductive system, but it’s fast, aggressive, and is the first vehicle in company history to have turbochargers. And you know they’re going to sell every one they build.

Said turbochargers feed an Audi-sourced 4.0-liter V8 to help it deliver an absurd amount of power for an SUV. 641 horsepower and 627 lb.-ft. of torque gets routed to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. It’ll clear the 0-60 mph sprint in only 3.6 seconds (only two-tenths off what a Murcielago LP640 or Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera could do). It can also reach 124 mph from a standstill in 12.8 seconds and eventually top out at 190 mph, making it the fastest SUV on the planet.
With AWD and adjustable air suspension, we can only assume it’ll handle at least somewhat like a sports car – certainly better than many older Lamborghinis. One thing it definitely has going for it is its sub-4,850-pound curb weight which puts it well below its also stupid fast sibling from Bentley. That same air suspension setup allows for a change in ride height with ground clearance ranging from 6.2 inches to 9.8 inches so it can maybe go off road a little. Not that anyone would.
Production starts next Spring with prices reportedly starting at $200,000.
[Source: Lamborghini via Autoweek]

Saleen 1

This car completely slipped under my radar. It’s a new sports car from Saleen and it was actually introduced at the LA Auto Show last week. I must have been preoccupied with all the cars that were guaranteed to get built instead.
We haven’t seen much of anything from Saleen lately and certainly not anything they’re building from the ground up themselves, but they surprised us with the introduction of the Saleen 1. It’s a mid-engine sports car that we now know will start at around $100,000 with production beginning “soon”.
Power comes from a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine allegedly of their own design. 450 horsepower and 350 lb.-ft. of torque is expected with all of that going to the rear wheels through a standard six-speed manual or some kind of automatic. It’ll allegedly put down respectable numbers at the drag strip (11.3 second 1/4 mile) and can scoot to 60 mph from a standstill in 3.5 seconds.

It’ll wear an all-carbon fiber body sourced from Saleen’s new business partners in China so maybe it’ll be pretty light too. The Saleen 1 will meet the road through 255 front and 335 rear mm-wide tires which could help it sustain 1.2g on the skid pad.
If Saleen has their way, up to 1,500 of these will be built during its first year between two factories in the US (servicing America and Europe) and one in China (servicing all of Asia). If you want to maybe sorta help built those factories, probably, you can place a $1,000 deposit for one. If you’re considering it but need some encouragement, these are the press photos they released.
[Source: Saleen via Autoweek]

Hybrid Porsche 911 All But Confirmed

Electrification is happening pretty much everywhere, especially at Porsche. As of now, their super exclusive 918 Spyder has been Porsche’s only sports car to dabble with the dark arts of battery power and electric motors. Speaking to Automotive News at the LA Auto Show last week, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume all but confirmed that one of their mainstream sports cars would be next.
A new 911 is due by 2019. When that new 911 gets its mid-cycle update (around 2023), that’s when Blume expects to have a plug-in hybrid solution for the 911 ready for general consumption. So far, the company has been down playing the idea of a plug-in hybrid 911 because the extra weight would compromise performance too much, but it’s clear they’re confident in the future of battery tech.
This is yet to be totally confirmed by Porsche of course, but the goal is to have 47-ampere-hour battery which would be capable of 43 miles of pure EV driving before the gas engine kicks back in. Remember when a water-cooled Porsche was considered sacrilege?
[Source: Automotive News]

Forza Motorsport 7 – Doritos Car Pack

Forza Motorsport 7 for the XBox One and PC got a new car pack this week which adds seven new cars of various disciplines. It’s an interesting bunch which pairs modern SUVs with old race cars and some other oddball stuff. It adds the 2018 Porsche Cayenne Turbo, 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, 1962 Porsche 804, 1939 BMW 328, 1955 Chevrolet 150 Utility Sedan, a 1985 Nissan Safari, and a 1926 Bugatti Type 35.
All this is brought to you by Doritos, the dusty chip company that’s become synonymous with gaming for some reason. Like, do they think we all sit on our couches stuffing our faces all day while we play? Have they ever held a Dorito? Do they not realize how these orange triangles contaminate everything they touch only to have greasy cheese dust stick to everything we touch afterwards? Go stick your hand in a bag of Doritos and then grab your Xbox controller and see how wonderful it feels. Nobody wants powdered cheese gunking up the thing they play games with. Like, I’ve got a keyboard and mouse pad with RGB lighting and I just got a Fanatec racing wheel. Let me eat the dirtiest snack food ever invented while I smear my greasy orange hands all over it. It doesn’t work that way. Nobody does this. Sure, maybe the same people that play lots of games also tend to buy a lot of Doritos, but every time a big new game comes out they throw loads of advertising dollars to try and convince us these things go together. But they just don’t. What do they want from us? Are we supposed to be like “holy shit a new Call of Duty game?!? Let me buy some Doritos and spread it all over my fucking Xbox for that sweet double XP”.
 The Doritos Car Pack for Forza Motorsport 7 is available now for season pass holders or $6.99 on its own.
[Source: Forza Motorsport]

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]