Sauber Motorsports F1 has launched the most radical of this season's Formula One cars to date, its C32 getting a partially stepped nose, exceptionally narrow sidepods and a wasp-waisted rear end. Lotus F1's technical director said he expected other teams to stick with the stepped nose, but everyone else so far has opted for a vanity panel; only Sauber has even come close to keeping the step, with the step being visible from the front but the profile view being a smooth line to the cockpit.

The sidepods and pull-rod rear suspension are completely new, Sauber's chief designer focused on getting the slimmest and most aerodynamic rear end possible. The radiator placement is brand new, and the Coanda exhaust design and placement of the exhaust outlets are different compared to the C31.

The team scored fifth in last year's championship but team principal Monisha Kaltenborn isn't making any predictions for this year's performance. Understandable since this is her first full year at the helm, and with two new drivers, one of them a rookie. But the C32 is derived from the C31, which was believed to have great balance, treated its tires well, delivered four podiums and got the team to within 16 points of the much better funded Mercedes F1 team. If their innovations work, it could be another good season for the Swiss team. You can watch the car revealed at its Hinwil headquarters in the video below.

General Motors announced that it will be expanding its Global Powertrain Engineering Headquarters in Pontiac, MI at a cost of US$200 million in order to consolidate operations and streamline the development of next-generation powertrains for electric, fuel cell and hybrid vehicles. At 450,000 square feet, this facility is already one of the biggest of its kind in the world, and GM is adding an extra 138,000 sq-ft to combine the resources at four engineering and R&D facilities currently spread out across the country into the single location.

The work is expected to be completed during the second half of next year, and it should help GM reduce its development time for future powertrains. Currently, powertrain engineers are spread out from New York to California, but this will put them all under the same roof – so to speak. Global Powertrain Engineering Headquarters is also responsible for development of the heavy-duty transmission used in GM's fullsize pickups. This is all part of GM's plan to invest more than US$1.5 billion in its North American facilities this year, and it will help create 400 new jobs in Pontiac (likely just transfers from the other cities) and cut three leased facilities.

Another aspect of this powertrain consolidation is that the Performance Build Center, which allows Chevrolet Corvette buyers to assemble their own engines, will be moving from Wixom, MI to the Bowling Green Assembly Plant where the 'Vette is produced.

GM's press release is posted after the jump.

Pat Cyr's 2013 Scion FR-S has been making waves across the vast oceans of the interwebs since it was announced that Cyrious Garageworks would be replacing the powerplant in his new race car. Cyr's roots run deep with the Toyota RWD platform and true to those roots, rumour had it that the new (but old) motor powering his Scion Canada/Cyrious Garageworks FR-S in this year's DMCC is none other than the 4A-GE. Turns out, this was an amazing Intertroll, they will actually be campaigning the original 4U-GSE boxer in turbo-charged form.

It was announced mid-season last year that Cyr would be given a stock FR-S to compete with in the 2013 DMCC (amongst other events in the US) series and we're excited to see what this aggressive and extremely talented driver will do with the modern day AE86 successor. Pat has long-since been the underdog of any series that he competes in and has often come out on top, piloting his 27 year old AE86 to a second place finish last year.

Pat's new FR-S should be instantly recognized as Cyr's drift machine by the sinister matte green paint - much like his previous car. Similar to the old car, it rocks a front lip, an intercooler up front, and a Cyrious built rollcage. Cyr's FR-S will also sport a brand new wide body kit produced by ML24 by Matthew Law. The kit consists of four wide-body arches. All four fenders are handmade with fibreglass. While we don't have the motor specs yet, expect it to be a high-revving, fire-breathing turbo-charged competitor to the big V8's that are growing ever more popular around the drift circuit.

Watch the short video of Cyr lapping his new car in stock form at Shannonville Motorsports Park last year.

Jets have always held a fascination for gear heads around the world. There's just something so sexy about them and the possibilites of speed that they hold. Flashbacks to Top Gun and Tom Cruise with his babe on the back of his GPZ750 Kawasaki racing alongside an F-14.

The Ford Shelby GT500 is also legendary in name and in deed. Throughout the years, the sound of that name alone gets most enthusiasts excited. This example of a GT500 with a giant blower and port work done, takes on the stuff of legends and challenges a private jet-plane to a duel. (the whine of that blower is worth the watch alone.)

Cue airstrip, video camera, applicable witnesses and let her rip. Watch this short vid to witness this matchup yourself. (Slightly NSFW due to a little foul language, post-race.)

Food delivery is big business in any city and our streets are often abuzz with delivery vehicles hurrying to and fro. Chinese food is always a popular choice and the drivers are often so busy that they park their vehicles in any spot they find, legal or not. Often with the engine running so they can make a quick drop off and exit.

Meanwhile, in West Hartford, Connecticut, police received a call from a Chinese food delivery driver reporting that his car had just been stolen at a Middle School after he had parked it with the motor running while on delivery. The driver also called his boss to inform him that the remaining deliveries would not be made. To his dismay, he learned that a delivery had already been made by the thief. What?

Not taking a rocket scientist to figure out how to find the thief, local police quickly followed their noses and caught up to the Chinese food bandit en route to the next scheduled delivery. This genius had the great idea to cash in and finish off the rest of the deliveries. Brilliant.

Keith Hinds was arrested and promptly charged with third-degree larceny, possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia (crack pipe) and failure to keep drugs in the original container.

Let this deep-fried caper serve as a reminder to never "just stick it out front and leave her running." Or, let this be a lesson to just don't smoke crack.

Photo Credit: AOL Library

The sound of an old muscle car tends to grab the attention of most of us, often leading to an instant pause in any conversation. This often tends to leave people wondering why you've stopped talking or listening and why your head is swiveling on it's axis trying to pinpoint the source. Once the offending but oh so glorious sound is located, you stop and stare at the sheer presence of the beast. Whether it's sitting there idling and dumping raw fuel out of it's oversized tail pipes or rumbling past you, tripping seismometers everywhere, it's a beautiful sight.

Alas, it's 2012 and the majority of us have grown accustomed to the comforts that modern engineering have brought to our world. The technology we have now is light years away from what was available in the years gone by. Suspension, chassis, interiors, motors and basically everything you can improve on has been done and redone ten-fold.

So what do you do when you miss the classic styling and presence but are accustomed to modern tech? Dave Salvaggio of Salvaggio Automotive Design in Milwaukee, WI, has an answer. He's taken a customer's 1970 Dodge Charger and rebuilt it from the ground up. Retro-fitted with the latest suspension and drive train technology while retaining the style and feel of the classic car.

"Up front is a custom, double-wishbone front suspension rolling on 18″ wheels with rack and pinion steering. Power will come from a modern 6.1L modified HEMI that will deliver an estimated 620 horsepower through a manual transmission to a custom four-link rear suspension. The extra wide rear tires will be wrapped around 19″ wheels nestled inside tubbed wheel housings, and go-to-whoa power will come from 4-piston Wilwood Disc Brakes. "Punishment" is a better description for what it will be like to not drive this car."

The build has been documented on the DodgeCharger.com forum and we bring you photos from it's debut at the SEMA, 2012 show.

News Source: Street Legal TV

Image Credit: Dave Pankew/AOL

The Mazda Miata has been a popular platform for male nurses and bored housewives since 1990. It's generally not a car that most of us have on the top of our list when we think of our next new toy car. When roadster comes to mind, we tend to picture things like, AC Cobra Honda S2000, BMW Z4 or if you're going to get un-technical, Lotus, anything.

In stock form, the Miata does not tend to bring out the healthy doses of manly/she-manly giggles that should be the requirement when choosing a roadster. Since the mid 90's, companies such as Monster Miata have cropped up to do their best change our mind. So, what does Catfiish have to say about it? Read on and find out.

They set out to transform a run of the mill roadster (albeit the worlds best selling one) that does what it was designed to very well into a Speedster. The Catfish may be based on an MX-5 Miata but the finished product does not resemble one at all. Much of the Miata's parts have been replaced by Catfish, including a new hood, trunk, doors, bumpers, and a top and convertible frame. The Catfish Speedster will be offered with a standard 1.6 litre engine or a 1.8 litre NB Rotrex with over 260hp, but for customers who want a little more push, Bauer will also be offering an LS2 V8 engine. Peep these specs and check out our gallery from it's unveiling at SEMA, 2012.

CTS-V's are already a force to be reckoned with. What happens when Hennessey gets their magical make-go-really-fast hands on it? This happens. There's not much out there that can make a CTS-V seem slow. The VR1200 makes most cars out the road seem slow. With a top speed of 389 km/h (242 mph) and the potential hit 320 km/h (200 mph) in the standing mile, this car is no joke.

At SEMA, 2012, we delightfully spotted this beast just basking in the sun like it was no big deal. We disagree, this car is kind of a big deal. This is the same car that did 355 km/h on a Texan highway.

Just to reiterate on how amazing this car is, here's the specs, again. The 2013 VR1200 Twin Turbo Coupe ditches the stock block and blower for a 7.0-litre lump and a pair of turbos. With innards like forged pistons, connecting rods and a forged crankshaft, the engine is good for 1,226 horsepower and 1,109 pound-feet of torque at the flywheel. The company says the finished product is basically a de-tuned version of the same beating heart that powers the Venom GT Hennessey also swapped the stock brakes for 15.1-inch carbon ceramic rotors front and rear pressed by eight-piston clamps at the bow and six-piston calipers on the stern. A slew of carbon fibre widebody pieces outside and a magnetic ride suspension tuned by none other than John Heinricy himself are just a few of the other upgrades. With a top speed of 389 km/h (242 mph), the two-door easily eclipses the stock CTS-V's 289 km/h (180 mph) v-max.

Big deal for real. Enjoy the photos.

At SEMA we sometimes get to see things that we can only dream about. We also see cars that we wish we would have never seen. But here at Autoblog Canada, we care about the cars that are worth caring about. A custom Prius is not something we want to look at when go to the world's largest aftermarket car show. We want to share the face-melting radness that's on display and here's a prime example.

Aerosmith. Steven Tyler. Hennessey Venom GT. 1,244 horses (minus the carriage). Do we have your attention? Good.

Earlier this year, this mega Rockstar picked up his big bad snake from Hennessey Performance in Texas and we had the privilege of spreading that news to the world. At SEMA this year, we see Steven is "still in the saddle" and that snake is definitely rattling. Thank you for putting this beast on display at Meguiar's booth, even though it was supposed to be a secret... don't worry we won't tell.

Here's what you really want to hear about. The 1,244 HP Venom GT borrows some parts from the Lotus Exige including roof, doors, windows, windshield, dash, interior and a few mechanical goodies from inside. But from the doors back it is all Hennessey insanity including a built 6.2L (376 ci) with twin Garrett turbos pushing quadruple digits through a Ricardo 6-speed transaxle. 1,155 ft lbs of torque and 0-60 mph (96 km/h) rips of 2.5-seconds or an outrageous run to 200 mph (320 km/h) of only 15.3-seconds. This car is faster than a Bugatti Veyron and a tad more wild.

For now, we'll 'dream on' and 'walk this way' with all these 'sweet emotions' that this car brings out in any red-blooded human being.

Image Credit: Copyright 2012 Dave Pankew / AOL

Ken Block. If you have any interest in things with 4 wheels and an internal combustion motor, it's not possible to have never heard of this hoonigan If you're reading this, chances are that you have seen his Gymkhana videos. If you haven't yet seen any of his antics, watch this and this before you carry on reading.

Ken Block currently competes in the World Rally-X Championships in his Monster Energy Ford Fiesta aka, the Hybrid Function Hoon Vehicle. This transforming magical machine has the capability to be configured for various applications. All applications involve some form of tire murder in either Stage rallies, Rally-X or Gymkhana.

For this SEMA round of Rally-X, Ken qualifies first and wins each one of his heats. The action takes place in the final race of the round.

In this hot video, (pun intended) we watch as Ken's car glitches out mid race (a race that he is leading 5 laps in), causing a small fire that eventually grows into something too hot for even him to handle. So as not to spoil the video, we won't reveal too much and we'll just say that he just scored 1000 bonus power up points in this writer's opinion. This dude truly 'AIN'T CARE' and is an inspiration to racers and fans alike. Enjoy the movie, kids. (and grown-ups too, if you like)

Catch more on this round and results here.

Bucky Lasek has been a household name in the skateboarding world since the late 1980's. With no less than 12 X-Game Vert Medals to his name, he is a force to be reckoned with. His commitment and dedication to action sports and competition led him to the motorsports world.

In 2009, Bucky's debut to the racing world, led him to a stellar performance in the MMRP Mustang Challenge Series where he consistently placed in the top two positions. Not a bad start. In 2011, he took first place at the Toyota Grand Prix Long Beach Celebrity Pro race. This led to him being awarded a ride in the Scion race program. 2012, sees Bucky racing in a handful of Porsche Cup races. He also begins an intensive rally training program where he is given a ride in a Subaru prepped and sponsored WRX STi rally car.

Subaru Puma awards Bucky a ride in the RallyCross Team to further develop his skills and to gain experience. The fact that Bucky has a had a late start to professional racing is no hindrance to him. His results prove that he has the drive and the skill set to complete with his more experienced teammates.

Watch on as GoPro shares this video of just another day in the life of Bucky, doing what he does best. Wake up in California, play in your backyard skate park. Get in your STi. Get on a jetplane, baby. Go to Las Vegas for Round 5 of the Global RallyCross. Go racing.

Tires. Every car on this planet uses them. (For now, until we get these.) According to this recent article, tires are not our friends. Not to us or the environment.

"Beyond the actual ingredients in tires, environmentalists have also been critical of the tire industry for producing tires that stick to the road so well that they cause engines to burn extra fuel to overcome the added friction, which leads in turn to more greenhouse gas emissions out of our tailpipes." - Stop developing tires that grip so well! That would be counter productive to our safety. (tongue is firmly lodged in this writer's cheek.)

In the spirit of today's topic, drift drivers Vaughn Gittin Jr., Chris Forsberg and Ryan Tuerck decided to defend the honour of the environment and slay some of those nasty, grippy tires alongside some of the boys from Formula D and Kibbetech.

And so, out come the racecars and even a stock Ford Mustang V6 to put on what we'd call a very memorable smoke show. Cue, upper level SEMA party that was literally on fire and smoking. We'd like to apologize in advance for the video quality, as this cameraman was clearly filming with a 1 megapixel potato.

Click here and watch on, as some of the top drifters in Formula D close out their SEMA experience with an entertaining display of outright hooniganism. (Note: NSFH - not safe for hippies.) Also, NSFW, due to a little foul language.

Halloween is upon us and it always seems to bring the wacky side of people out from the woodworks. Often, people pull pranks in honour of the occasion and it's always a delight to watch the creatively cruel ideas come to life.

With drivers spending so much time commuting or traveling these days, Drive-Thrus have quickly become a large part of suburban society and were designed to offer a number of fast food options on the go.

Drive-Thrus are also commonly, a victim or punchline of many pranks, Halloween or not. They seem to serve well in that role as the sometimes, hapless, employees never know who is going to roll-thru their window next.

This prankster dresses up in the ever popular zombie costume and thus, ensues some pretty hilarious antics. Reactions range from shocking surprise and outright fear, to high-fives and laughter.

Click here to watch the video and catch this zombie-prankster in action.

For more hilarious pranks, check out this Lego prank, the woman being pranked by Toyota, or this prank that got two police officers fired. This one takes the cake though.

Hurricane Sandy is one of the biggest storms ever to hit North America. It touched down in New Jersey on Monday and is currently causing all sorts of havoc. It's effects will be felt across a 1,600 kilometre radius. Due to the high winds and heavy flooding, roads and transportation services have been shut down in several major cities.

Millions of people across North America are without power. Several deaths and numerous injuries have already been reported. Even the U.S. stock markets are closed for business and will remain so throughout Tuesday. As of time of this writing, in Toronto, we've had 26,000 homes across city without power, one death and a large Roots store is on fire on Queen St West.

With all that being said, we now present to you, this hilarious clip of a hoonigan and his buddy. During a live news report on Hurricane Sandy, as we see a black Lexus IS300 drifting through an intersection in Columbus, Pennsylvania with not a care in the world. Although we've seen similar antics before, in this news clip we see the passenger actually wave (or make a rude gesture) at the camera as they slide by. Classic.

Well at least these guys and their drift-happy Lexus IS300 are making the most of the wet weather.

Click here to watch the short clip and stay safe out there.