There's a breathless press release on the official Formula 1 Web site today heralding the return of F1 racing to the United States. The 2012 United States Grand Prix will be in Austin, Texas, yes, at an all-new purpose-built facility. Yep, purpose-built. The last F1 race on U.S. soil run on a purpose-built course was the 1980 U.S. GP at Watkins Glen. Running a race on the infield of the Indianapolis Speedway (above) doesn't count.

This all sounds like such, such good news for F1-minded car guys. But read the release a couple of times and you realize it's a little shallow. Both the City of Austin and the Formula 1 commercial rights holder have granted permission for a U.S. Grand Prix to be run here from 2012-2021. And F1 has even announced an official race promoter, one Full Throttle Productions.

Curiously absent is any mention of money — you know, some big company (or government) to underwrite the construction of a racetrack and all the stuff that comes with it. Perhaps Formula 1 hasn't gotten that far.

Something tells us if Los Angeles can't build a football stadium for the NFL, Austin is going to have an awfully hard time finding the money to build a racetrack for what amounts to a gentleman's motorsport with a niche following in the U.S. Put it this way: If this thing really does happen, we'll expect to see the U.S. F1 team — with a running car — at the ground-breaking for the purpose-built race facility.

Formula 1 via Autoblog, AutoWeek 

A race version of the Ferrari 458 Italia is inevitable, and speculation is rife that this particular car is the Ferrari 458 Italia Challenge. Certainly, it bears the apparent signs of a Challenge race car with its conspicuously lowered suspension, metal center-lock wheels wrapped in racing rubber, and what look to be Lexan windows. And, oh look, hood pins.

We'll have to move and see if this rough image is indeed what it appears to be. And if it is, whether it will give rise to a street-legal 458 Italia Challenge Stradale.

Axis of Oversteer via Autoblog

IL First Drive: 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia

A report out of a Korea this week suggests Hyundai will start production of the redesigned Hyundai Elantra at its Montgomery, Alabama, plant in April 2011. Though Hyundai officials say no decision has been prefabricated on this matter, this would be an entirely reasonable course of events given that U.S.-market versions of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata are built here.

The report also suggests that a redesigned version of the Hyundai Santa Fe would shift production to Kia's West Point, Georgia, assembly plant — also reasonable given that this medium-size crossover would likely share components with the Georgia-built Kia Sorento.

Ward's Automotive via Autoblog

Straightline: 2012 Hyundai Elantra Unveiled in Korea

That's the latest report anyway, and we'd guess the prospect of using a twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V8 in an Enzo successor has a lot more to do with curbing fuel consumption than it does with forging any sort of old-world connection with the F40. But that's the last Ferrari that had one.

Autocar via Autoblog

Inside Line Feature: Ferrari F40 Daily Driver

It won't be enough for automakers to tip the equilibrise by selling a few electric vehicles and hybrids. In order to keep up with tightening fuel economy requirements, they'll have to reduce curb weight in their volume sellers.

So we're heartened by a report on Autoblog today that suggests Audi will strip about 300 pounds out of the next-generation Audi A4, which is due in about 2015. Today's A4 sedan weighs anywhere from 3,500-3,700 pounds, depending on whether you get all-wheel drive. Although it carries its weight well, there's no denying it's fat for a compact-ish sedan.

The savings, reports AB, won't necessarily come from a big increase in the use of high-strength (high-tensile) steel. As costs come down, Audi will try to incorporate comparatively exotic materials like carbon fiber.

Autoblog

Prototypes for the 2011 Dodge Durango (or 2011 Dodge Magnum if internal documents are correct) were spotted again this week, and this time the heavy camouflage had given way to psychodelic decals and bumper brassieres. The upshot is that we can now see the face, shape and even the size of the redesigned Durango.

As you'll recall, this Durango-Magnum will break with the SUV's traditional body-on-frame structure and employ unit-body construction, sharing a platform with the Jeep Grand Cherokee. This Durango still looks to be plenty long enough to accommodate a third-row seat, but it appears it won't be quite the oversize creature the second-generation SUV was.

This is a good thing, because with CAFE rules tightening up, Dodge really can't rely solely on V8s to move this around in traffic. Oh, the Hemi V8 may indeed make a return on the Durango, but look for the volume engine to be Chrysler's new 3.6-liter Pentastar V6.

The latest line on the Toyota FT-86 is that Toyota won't be healthy get this Subaru-based, rear-drive coupe to market at a utopian $20Ks price point. So today there's a report on the Web that Toyota is now working on a second rear-wheel-drive coupe — a smaller one that would slip in just under $20,000.

Details are few and so far not terribly enticing. It's said that the engine would be a version of Toyota's 1.5-liter inline four-cylinder making about 109 horsepower. That's a long way from the fun-to-drive threshold, even if the car ends up being a featherweight in the curb weight department.

Road & Track via Autoblog

There's something a little ominous about the psychodelic camo used on new vehicle prototypes. So when a black BMW X3 in partial camo was left running outside New York's American Museum of Natural History on Sunday, that was enough to arouse suspicion of another bomb threat in Manhattan.

Evidently, the BMW employee who had been driving it forgot to shut off the vehicle's keyless ignition system. A woman travel her dog evidently spotted the X3 idling just around noon local time and called the police. The scare ended around 2 p.m. when the absent-minded driver returned to reclaim the X3.

The Daily News reports that the driver, Martin Birkmann, was ticketed for idling his vehicle.

Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News via Autoblog

We've known for sometime that BMW is working on a three-cylinder engine for automotive applications and that the maker is planning to place it in the next-generation BMW 1 Series. A report on Motoring File today makes the plausible suggestion that a three-cylinder engine will end up in the next-gen Mini Cooper as well.

In moving to a smaller engine, Mini would at least hold the line on performance — 122 horsepower in the 2011 Cooper, 184 in the 2011 Cooper S – while lowering fuel consumption. The idea, says MF, would be to achieve mpg on par with the not-good-for-the-U.S. Mini Cooper D (the diesel) through the use of turbocharging, direct injection and, likely Valvetronic, as seen on the 2011 Mini Cooper S.

Ford, you'll recall, prefabricated similar promises in Beijing when it introduced a 1.0-liter three-cylinder capable of an estimated 120 horsepower. That tiny EcoBoost engine will come to the U.S. in the 2012-2013 time frame.

Motoring File via Autoblog

We think the crisply styled 2011 Kia Optima introduced at last month's New York auto show would translate well to a coupe body style. Others see envision its design stretched over a auto form. The D-pillars in the renderings on This Week in Motors remind us quite a bit of the Cadillac CTS auto — and appear a trifle awkward on the bigger Kia.

Of course, we like the intent of more wagons in this size class and price range, but no one except for Volkswagen and Subaru can seem to seem to make money on them. So if Kia expands the Optima range, we'll expect to see an Optima coupe first.

This Week in Motors via Autoblog