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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.

GM recalls 3.6 million vehicles for airbag-software problems

The Basics: General Motors is recalling 3.64 million vehicles across its lineup for an airbag-related issue. The recall covers the 2014-2015 Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet SS, and Spark EV; 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Trax, Caprice PPV, Silverado 1500, Buick Encore, and GMC Sierra 1500; and 2015-2017 Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, Silverado HD, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, Sierra HD, Cadillac Escalade, and Escalade ESV. The Problem: Affected vehicles have a sensing and diagnostic module that controls the airbags and seat-belt pretensioners. The software it uses has a defect that can prompt the module to run a diagnostic test under specific driving conditions, which will also deactivate the front airbags and pretensioners. This means that it would be possible for those safety systems to not activate in a crash, potentially leading to injury or death. Injuries/Deaths: General Motors began an investigation that led to the recall after a 2014 Silverado was involved in a crash in which the airbags did not deploy. No information was given as to injuries or deaths. The Fix: Owners can bring their vehicles to a local General Motors dealer where a software update will be installed to fix the issue. The fix will be free of charge. If you own one: General Motors will contact owners of affected cars, and owners can check whether their vehicles are affected by visiting entering their vehicle identification numbers at either the GM Owner Center website or the NHTSA website. Owners can then schedule a time to have the update installed. Related Video:

No, Eminem is not giving away the Cadillac Ciel concept, Facebookers

Damn it, Facebook people, stop being so gullible. When you see something on social media that requires you to share or like a status or page in exchange for a chance at winning something, it's almost always a hoax. This goes for iPads, or Bill Gates giving away cash or, yes, an Eminem fan page giving away a Cadillac Ciel. Now, normally we'd simply ignore this utter hogwash, but it's getting some traction on Facebook and, annoyingly, is beginning to clog our newsfeed. Ignoring the fact that the Ciel is a pure concept car that likely can't even be registered for regular use, there are more than a few things that should give this nonsense away as a hoax. First, Eminem has only ever gotten in bed with one automaker – Chrysler. It seems unlikely that he'd defect simply to give away a car on Facebook. Secondly, the page that is putting on the giveaway isn't even a verified page – Eminem's real Facebook fan page has 97 million likes, this one has 622,000. Third, a quick look at the caption for the Ciel's photo, shown above, reveals the sort of grammatical mess that no serious contest would allow. Take a look (sic implied throughout): "Only 24 Days Until Christmas, Can you Imagine yourself driving this Car? I'm about to make that happen, Its Official, I Will be giving away this 2014 Cadillac Ciel to one random lucky fan, all you gotta do is follow these three easy steps, Step 1) Share this photo, Step 2) Like my page, Slim Shady Step 3) Like this photo, Winner Will be picked On December 5th 4 Days Away, Good luck to Everyone!!" We reached out to Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell just for fun. Apparently, this photo and schtick pops up every few months with virtually the same text, only to vanish at the end of the "giveaway." You're as shocked as we are, right? So, once again folks, just because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it's true. If your friends, family and acquaintances are blowing up your Facebook feed and social network channels with this nonsense, be sure to set 'em straight with a link to this story – we're sure the real Slim Shady will appreciate it.