Paul- The motor is a 1.8t. The car started out identical to the one you posted in the first post. They too thought the front nose was not too cool. They did this custom mesh/grill thing. I didn't think it was so hot, but it was better than stock. They also added a body kit and did some kind of headlight mod on the last show. They haven't really dove into the motor/performance side of things just yet.
The show is a competition between three different teams from across the country. It kinda highlights how each team super mods each car with the idea that when all are done they will put them up against each other head-to-head. They are supposed to compete in raw HP numbers, interior, and exterior. The freaking Cobalt has a cage and is being painted from the frame up. Chevy supplied them with a raw shell (totally unpainted) to start with. XS Engineering is doing the Skyline (which is TT BTW

) and Team Chevy is doing the Cobalt of course, but I forget what the name of the guys doing the VW.