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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.

2020 Cadillac CT5 in New York: 7 questions with the chief engineer

Cadillac revealed the 2020 CT5 at the New York Auto Show, and we decided to sit down and have a chat with chief engineer Mike Bride to learn more about the car. You can read our reveal post here to get the full download, and then read on below to learn a bit more. Cadillac is still rather coy about any performance model to spawn from the CT5, but things appear to be looking up after our conversation that you can read below. Q: What's the driving nature of this car? Should we expect something similar to the CTS and ATS? A: Yes, you can see it's built off the rear-wheel-drive architecture. Our goal was to retain all of that fun-to-drive nature. Direct steering feel, responsive handling. Going forward, we ask how we can continuously improve, and that was really about driving more sophistication in the ride, a much more mannered car that's better for impact harshness and rolling isolation, really provides comfort when you want comfort over tire strips and heaves in the road. Really getting that level of isolation, but not compromising that handling and direct steering feel of the Cadillac sedans we've grown accustomed to. Q: How is this car different from the CTS underneath, and other Alpha platform cars? A: I would say this is a major revision. A lot of new parts, a lot of new part numbers, a significant evolution. In the suspension space, the links are all new, and there's been a lot of work done in isolation, so the bushings and strut mounts are all new. We've evolved the Alpha platform to now get the ride control and road isolation, the comfort aspects of it all. There are a lot of structural improvements like a changed wheelbase, an evolution in rear foot-swing and foot space from the fuel tank area to get in and out of the car better. As we developed this structure, it was about overall structural body stiffness, and impedance at the chassis attachments to really get that level of isolation from road inputs. We try to have a calm floor, a steering wheel that doesn't vibrate, and quiet to the driver's ear. Those were the paths we went after to really drive the structure to the right stiffness requirements, structural integrity, a lot of development into suspension bushings, tuning elements, strut mounts. We have a new damper technology, a ZF damper. It has MVS damper technology. It's a multi-valve system that provides less harshness from an NVH standpoint and a great optimization balance of motion control with ride inputs.

President Trump might get to start his administration in a new Cadillac limo [UPDATE]

(UPDATE: Jalopnik is reporting an unidentified source claimed the new limo would not be featured in today's inauguration ceremony. The source did say however that the limo would join the presidential fleet later this year.) A rumor is going around that President-Elect Donald Trump will have a brand new set of wheels the day he takes office. The Cadillac Presidential Limousine, nicknamed "The Beast," was last refreshed in 2009 and led President Barack Obama's second inauguration-day parade. Cadillac could not confirm any timeline for the new presidential limo, nor could it confirm any specifics about the car nicknamed Beast 2.0. That's as expected, because details on the presidential limo are closely guarded and considered matters of national security. The outgoing original "Beast" limo marked a switch to a custom-built vehicle based on a General Motors truck frame. Previous limos were based on the actual cars they looked like. As we've seen in spy shots, The Beast 2.0 limo looks more like an Escalade SUV or CT6 sedan but is reported to be roughly the same size and shape as the old Beast, which is built on a Chevrolet Kodiak/GMC TopKick medium-duty truck chassis. AutoWeek is reporting that the new limo is set to debut for Trump's inauguration, however those reports could not be confirmed for the reasons mentioned above. The new Presidential car is expected to accommodate seven passengers in conference-style seating in the back like the current version. The Beast isn't meant for road trips, as it is mostly used to ferry the President to and from Air Force One when traveling, or on short trips around Washington D.C. That's good, considering the current limo only gets 3.7 miles per gallon. Along with multiple screens for video conferencing, The next Beast will also definitely include advanced armoring and weaponry. For security reasons, it's impossible to know the extent of those systems, but any vehicle transporting the most powerful man in the world around has to be tough. The entire process of designing and building the Presidential limo is top secret, as the Secret Service figures the less everyone knows about the Presidential Limo, the better. The new Beast, we can safely assume, is likely the safest vehicle in the world. The Secret Service began taking bids on building a replacement in 2014 because integrating all of the required armor is technically challenging.