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Autoweek divulges details on Presidential limo

Ever since the latest presidential limousine, also known as The Beast, debuted in 2009, we've wondered what's underneath that black Cadillac body. We already know a few details, like the fact it isn't a Cadillac at all, but a very heavy duty truck chassis from General Motors with a body that resembles a super-sized Caddy. Autoweek, however, has managed to extract new details from veteran Secret Service agents about the closely guarded presidential limo. Their methods, of course, are classified.
Designed to be a rolling office, bunker and escape pod all in one, the current presidential limo is far different from previous presidential state cars, which were heavily modified production vehicles. As we would expect, The Beast uses thick, military-grade body armor (eight inches on the doors), an armored fuel tank, special run-flat tires with Kevlar lining, an encrypted satellite phone, a fully sealed cabin with its own oxygen supply and a trunk full of weapons and medical equipment that includes a supply of the President's blood type (in case the car gets cut off from the ambulance that's always present in the President's motorcade).
The Beast also comes with a Halon fire-suppression system, night vision and is powered by a V8 engine, which we already knew runs on gas and not diesel, that returns an EPA-unfriendly estimated 3.7 miles per gallon. The Secret Service operates a fleet of 12 limos and each Beast costs $1.5 million. Lastly, AW estimates that the 18-foot-long state car weighs 15,000 pounds, and each Secret Service agent that drives the car must be specially trained to maneuver such a massive vehicle.

Cadillac CTS-V spotted with big exhaust, new grille?

If you thought Cadillac was content to leave its twin-turbocharged Vsport as the range-topping CTS, think again. Behold, our first good glimpse at the next-generation Cadillac CTS-V sedan, sporting more aggressive styling (somewhere under there), meaty quad-exhaust pipes, and what very well could be a new face for the V-badged Caddies.
Creating an all-new grille design seems like an awful lot of work just for a prototype, so it's very possible that the vertical-bar treatment you see here could make its way into production. Our spy photographers have pointed out that they've seen this same sort of grille treatment on prototypes for the smaller ATS-V sedan, and we've heard V-series models may soon have greater differentiation from the standard vehicles that sired them - that seems especially necessary if Cadillac insists on expanding this whole Vsport range.
Regardless of how its front end looks, the CTS-V ought to be a real monster. Industry sources say we can expect to see a supercharged version of General Motors' 6.2-liter V8 under the Caddy's hood, and considering the current car already makes 556 horsepower and 551 pound-feet of torque, we wouldn't be surprised to see a decent increase in both of those numbers. After all, one of the CTS-V's main competitors, the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, is currently putting out 550 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. Could this mean a 600-hp Cadillac is on the horizon?

2015 Cadillac ATS-V gunning for the BMW M3

Spy photographers have spotted something interesting. Cadillac engineers have taken to public streets with the upcoming ATS-V and a playmate: the current BMW M3 Sedan. The prototype seen here wears a more aggressive front fascia, flared fenders and beefy brakes. Quad exhaust tips and what looks to be a small lip spoiler on the trunk deck sum up the most obvious visual changes over the standard ATS outside. Word has it the ATS-V will bow with the same twin-turbo 3.6-liter V6 available in the nose of the XTS. In that application, the engine is good for a stout 410 horsepower, which should be more than enough to hustle the sedan around a track.
Other details are still murky, however. First and foremost: will GM offer the ATS-V with an honest manual transmission, like it does with its big brother, the CTS-V? Something tells us we won't have long to wait to find out - the machine will likely bow next year as a 2015 model. Until then, dig in on our newest bevy of spy photos.