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. I just throw in a little opinion of mine because I can. This week:

• Subaru updates the BRZ for 2015, adds new special edition

• Volkswagen launches craziest GTI ever for Gran Turismo

• Volvo teases upcoming XC90 by showing us its innards

• And more!

2015 Subaru BRZ, Series.Blue

This really is the only shot we have of the front.

When the Toyota GT-86/Scion FR-S gets updates, the Subaru BRZ follows. That’s according to the news this week from Subaru who revealed that the 2015 Subaru BRZ will share just about all of the updates with its Toyota counterpart which I covered a few weeks ago. In addition to the familiar updates though, Subaru has prepared something for themselves that you won’t see on the Toyota or Scion – a super special edition model. All 2015 Subaru BRZs will ship with new updates made primarily to the chassis, exterior, and interior. Similar to the Toyota/Scion updates, the Subaru gets revised dampers for “smoother motion and absorption” to provide maximum contact with the road with less bumpiness. At the business end, Subaru has fitted new, fancier exhaust tips and a shark fin antennae. The interior receives a simulated (fake) carbon fiber dash panel. The 2015 Subaru BRZ’s starting price raises by only $100 compared to last year’s model for a total of $25,695. The most interesting part of this news release though is the new special edition that Subaru is keeping all to themselves and their 1,000 buyers. The Series.Blue BRZ is the limited-run edition in question and it adds a range of cosmetic touches to make it more, uhh… blue. Available only in WR Blue Pearl and Chrystal White Pearl, the exterior of the Series.Blue is treated with an exclusive black STI body kit featuring a branded front, side, and rear “under spoilers” (lips, diffusers, etc.). Other unseen underbody panels reduce the drag coefficient slightly. Black seventeen-inch STI wheels are included with red painted brake calipers behind them. The interior of the Series.Blue features its own range of exclusive touches, like blue seat stitching and inserts, blue-ish trim pieces, and really just more blue on every surface they could reach. The Series.Blue, which is only available with a six-speed manual transmission, starts at $29,490 and is limited to 1,000 units with 500 in each of the aforementioned colors. [Source: Subaru]

Volkswagen GTI Roadster Vision Gran Turismo

Less than a few weeks after BMW revealed their Vision Gran Turismo car, which is the result of a partnership between Gran Turismo 6 developers Polyphony Digital and over a dozen of the world’s leading automotive designers to bring custom concept cars to the digital world, it’s now that other German company’s turn. Volkswagen revealed their GTI Roadster Vision Gran Turismo, a radical yet spectacular concept which we hope inspires more than a few production cars of theirs in the coming years. The digital car is a two-seat roadster interpretation of the beloved Golf GTI with some serious power behind it. A 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 producing 503 horsepower and 413 lb.-ft. of torque is paired with a seven-speed DSG automatic and 4Motion all-wheel drive. Thanks to lightweight construction (chopping off the roof saves a decent bit of weight), the car weighs just 3,133 digital pounds which helps it accelerate from 0-60 mph in only 3.5 seconds. Race-inspired aerodynamics means it tops out at 192 mph, which isn’t too shabby for what’s basically heavily altered Golf. The design of it all is surely fit for the Vision Gran Turismo program as is the performance capabilities it can bring to the many tracks in Gran Turismo 6. This car will be available as free downloadable content for all GT6 players by the end of the month. [Source: Volkswagen]

Volvo XC90 teased

The all-new Volvo XC90 is incoming according to the lovable Swedish brand, but before they show us everything about it, they’re using the power of the internet to show off what is perhaps the best-looking interior on any of their production cars. These interior shots belong to a next-generation of the XC90 which we’re supposed to know more about in July and August when they reveal powertrain specs and then show the entire thing. From what I can see here, it looks like they’ve been hard at work making it everything anyone could want from a crossover SUV thing. Since the details about the seat stitching and carpets might not interest many readers here, I’ll just wait till August to cover this more. [Source: Volvo]

BLIPS

Hours after the last News went live (thanks guys), Mini revealed the greatest thing to come from that company since it was relaunched – the Mini Superleggera Vision. This attractive compact roadster has been brought to life thanks to Italian designers and coach builders Touring Superleggera and Mini designers who were told to be creative. It could mean Mini is seriously looking at bringing a compact roadster that isn’t the Cooper Roadster to the market, which I hope is true as long as it looks like this. Read more about it from our pals at Autoweek if you haven’t yet. [Source: Mini via Autoweek] The Ultimate Street Car Association (USCA) is about to launch a nationwide tour to bring driving enthusiasts to some of the best tracks in America and they want you to join in on the fun. Those that attend their three-day events will get the chance to learn more about the limits of their cars and themselves in a safe environment under direct supervision, all while on America’s legendary racetracks (think Sebring). Activities range from road rallies to autocross and road course time trials to vehicle judging. These events are designed to be thrilling and educational to everyone, whether you have a Ferrari or a Fiat. Multiple tracks are on their schedule, so to see if an event is coming near you or if you think you’d be interested, head on over to www.ultimatestreetcarassociation.com for all the details. [Source: USCA] This week Google revealed their very own, made from scratch self-driving car… thing. It requires no driver interaction whatsoever except for a street address, and even if the “driver” wanted to, they couldn’t take control of the thing because there is no steering wheel, no brake, and no throttle. At all. More room for cupholders I guess. If, uh, you want to read more on this I’ll just send you over to Jeff’s buddies at Autoblog to read up on it as much as you want. Also, it looks like something out of a cartoon show. Or a toaster. It’s a talking toaster from a cartoon show. I’ll forgive them for this when they finally bring Fiber to my area. [Source: Autoblog]