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

• Lexus debuts a meaner, faster RC F

• Scion releases special edition FR-S, tC with more luxury

• 2015 Subaru WRX STI images leaked

• Audi uses technical expertise to redefine the cockpit

• Ford uses technical expertise to order pizza

Lexus RC F

Just a few months ago, Lexus revealed a new luxury sports coupe that wasn’t a $375,000 LFA called the RC. Using earlier concepts as inspiration for its design, the RC is… shall we say, bold? That’s certainly what Lexus would like you to think, especially when it comes to the RC they just revealed this week. With “asphalt-grinding performance and a bold head-turning design”, the 2015 Lexus RC F just might be the best performance-minded Lexus we’ve seen since the LFA. The only bad part is that the stacked quad exhaust design is back.

Just like every Lexus conceived since the LFA supercar went on sale, this car’s design is influenced heavily by that as well as other concept cars that were inspired by it too. The Lexus family spindle grille dominates a front end that looks incredibly mean – meaner than some would expect from a Lexus. Ducts beneath the front bumper, fenders, and aerodynamic stabilizing fins serve the purpose of both improved performance and making the car look like it wants to eat you when it sits in your rear view mirror – but that’s assuming it stays behind you at all.

 The hood on the RC F is higher than that on the normal RC for the sole purpose of hiding the most powerful performance V8 ever developed by Lexus. We’re not totally sure what that exactly means yet, but it will surely be good.

When you’re looking at it from the back, you’ll notice its quad exhaust which still looks annoyingly crooked and an available speed-sensitive active rear spoiler. Whenever the car goes over 50 mph, the wing deploys to assist with traction and stability at higher speeds and then tucks away cleanly when the car goes back under 25 mph.

The interior is made special with F-exclusive digital gauges, sport bucket seats, F steering wheel, badges everywhere, and other small features that make the task of driving fast a bit easier on the driver.

January 14th is when the Lexus RC F is scheduled to make its official debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. By then we’ll have more details to share.

[Source: Lexus] 

Scion Monogram Series

Scion is launching a new line (there’s only two) of special editions that focus on bringing more premium and comfort features to their budget sports cars, the FR-S and the not-FR-S. Starting in February, the Monogram series will become available but orders are limited to just 2,000 and 2,500 for the FR-S and the not-FR-S (the tC) respectively.

This package when equipped to the FR-S consists of leather seating with Alcantara inserts, BeSpoke Premium Audio with navigation, push-button start, HID headlamps, dual-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats and side mirrors, frameless rear view mirror, rear seat center armrest, color-keyed spoiler, and a carpet cargo mat. All this will cost $1,900, which brings the entry fee for this edition to $27,400 with the standard transmission or $28,500 with the automatic.

This package adds mostly the same to the tC as it does for the FR-S with the exception of Alcantara inserts, HID headlamps, heated mirrors, and rear seat armrest. The tC also gets an updated center console with special stitching, upgraded door trim, and a rear window wiper. This package costs $1,500 on the tC, which brings pricing up to $21,400 – add another $1,000 for the automatic transmission.

[Source: Scion]

2015 Subaru WRX STI leaked

In case you haven’t already seen the internet in an uproar over how much the front end looks kinda like a Lancer Evolution, what you see here is a leaked photo of the 2015 Subaru WRX STI. The photos were somehow leaked by a Mexican site, Terra Autos, earlier in the week but it seems they haven’t gotten a hold of any actual information about the car. That will all come next week when the thing is debuted when it was supposed to. So until then… look, gold wheels!

[Source: Terra Autos via Autoblog]

Audi shows off virtual cockpit

Audi was at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week with the all new Audi TT… ‘s cockpit. But being one of the largest annual tech shows around, Audi had a good reason to be there. The centerpiece of the new TT’s cockpit and the reason why they revealed this at CES is the new fully digital instrument cluster which may redefine instrument panels as we know it.

With this setup, nearly every piece of information a driver could need can be displayed right in front of them on a 12.3″ TFT monitor with two built-in display modes that control what is displayed at any given moment. Speed, RPM, navigation, multimedia, and many other elements can be summoned here. This eliminates the need for a center Multimedia Interface (MMI) screen and allowed designers to slim down the instrument panel to provide for a much cleaner cabin. HVAC controls have been moved into the actual air vents themselves with a small screen showing each control’s setting. Beneath the air vents are traditional buttons for secondary controls and hazard lights, but nothing else.

For many drivers experiencing this for the first time, there might be a feeling of information overload. But there is one other piece in all this that can bring you back to the analog age –  a six-speed manual, as seen in the demo cockpit Audi brought to CES.

[Source: Audi] 

Order Domino’s Pizza with your Ford

Like Audi, Ford was also at CES this week to show off their commitment to bringing the latest and greatest technology directly to automotive consumers, like the ability to control home and business security systems from SYNC, pay for parking on the go, find parking spots, and mood-based internet radio with Ford SYNC Applink. But most importantly, pizza.

The way it works is using voice commands on your SYNC infotainment system, you can place an order with Domino’s for pickup or delivery as long as you are a registered user on Domino’s mobile app. Specify toppings, payment information, and special instructions for them to draw a dinosaur riding on a shark’s back wielding a machine gun on the box. Maybe.

Ford says that this ability will become available “soon”, so until then you’ll have to just order over the phone or online like some kind of barbarian.

[Source: Ford]