What's not to like? Each year, we, the automotive press get to go to SEMA. Everyone's different though. Some kick, cry, and complain. Then, there are those who actually look forward to going. I kinda fit into this category. Maybe it's due in part to the fact that this simply is my second stint at SEMA. But with so many new things to see each year, I doubt it. If there's one show, scratch that, one event that you should go to each year, it's SEMA.
It's touted as being "bigger and better than ever" every year. And it's true. It seems that more and more companies are coming out with more innovative and higher-quality products. This is the main reason I enjoy walking the show. There's so much out there, it's hard to absorb. The companies are listening to the consumers and taking the appropriate action. And then there are the cars. Lots of `em. This year, we saw more and more race cars as opposed to show cars, which is a good thing.
The car I had to see first was the SUN Automobile Cyber EVO. We've heard bits and pieces on this car and how quick the car is. The car currently holds the Time Attack record in Japan for quickest lap at 55.801 seconds. The Cyber EVO is piloted by none other than Tarzan Yamada and will compete in the Yankee version of Japan's Time Attack, aptly dubbed the Super Street/eurotuner Time Attack. Sometime it's best to keep it simple. Keep an eye out for more info on this car in an upcoming issue of Super Street Magazine. The SUN Auto booth also had a PS2 console setup with a game that looked freakishly similar to Gran Turismo 4. The game will have all the known D1 cars featured.
Norris Prayoonto's R&D-built Insight is should run neck-and-neck with the Skunk2 RSX piloted by Dr. Charles (as of the last race in 2004) in `05. R&D Dyno has been on fire as of late. Recently, our sister publication Import Tuner held a B-Series shootout amongst the best Honda engine builders in the nation. After all the motors were dyno'd, R&D Dyno's came out on top with some 283 hp and 274 ft/lbs. Norris' Insight is powered by an even more powerful motor, a K20A utilizing TWM ITB's, Crower pro-billet 4340 rods, and CP pistons. The whole package is controlled by a Hondata K-Pro system tuned by Darren San Angelo himself. Best time so far is 9.979 @134.12 mph.
1:57:90. Don't try and figure out what this means in Leet. Just know that this is or was the time to beat for the 4WD Limited Class at the Super Street/eurotuner Time Attack (that just happened a few days ago). Sparco's EVO has gone through quite a few iterations within the past year. For SEMA, the car was dressed with Volk Racing LE28's (18x8.5) which caged Brembo 6-piston calipers and 2-piece slotted rotors. We're seeing fewer and fewer purpose-built racecars sporting drilled rotors.
A car that struck the notion of a true streetcar and not one of pure race or show was this pristine RHD (right-hand drive for those scoring at home) CRX in the Gear-Speed Hi-Performance booth. Honda tranny guru and Gear-Speed manager James Ornelas is the lucky owner of the `Rex. James remains tight-lipped of how he got the car onto U.S. soil but did say that the CRX is indeed a real RHD vehicle, not some hacked up conversion. In two short months, James had the car go from Okinawa-box-stock to this. R&D Dyno and Hook-Ups teamed to build and tune the B20/GSR that belts out a 4th gear chirping 224hp to the wheels--all orchestrated with a PR3 ECU. Bookmark SuperStreetOnline and stay tuned for a full feature story on this CRX later in the month.
Mackin indsutries booths at SEMA are always on my top ten list. They always have something fresh and clean sitting on the newest wheels from Rays. For a split second, I thought about selling both my Integras and jumping ship to build a Nissan instead. Then I thought about that house I've always wanted. But if I do ever come up on an extra $35K, I'd probably lean towards getting a 350. A black 350. With nineteen inch Volk Racing GT-V's sized 19x9.5. In the front. The rears are 19x10.5. Lucky RWD bastards. As if that wasn't enough to bruise my 17x7-inch ego, Project u calipers lurked behind the spokes. I had one too many Dr. Peppers or something, because the caliper's pistons started looking like fangs. Look for the GT-V wheel to be available in the first quarter of 2005. Parts on the car that are available now are the Espelir JGT 500 dual exhaust system, ARC radiator, ARC titanium strut bar, ARC oil pan, and the aforementioned Project u calipers.
With all the STis and EVOs anchoring booths, the only wide-bodied version we saw sat fiercely in the APR booth, dubbed the APR Performance Evil-R Machine. Take a close look at this EVO. The over fenders were carefully melded to the Mitsubishi sheetmetal. The kit looks almost of OE quality. Fat (no, not phat) two-piece forged Racing Hart CP-035R's wait anxiously to pound the pavement at any given moment. We're used to seeing 16 and 17-inch versions. These superfly featherweight babies are custom-spec'd to measure a staggering 18x10.5 inches and feature a black face as opposed to the traditional full-polish face. Each wheel weighs 15.2 lbs! At the time, the largest tire that Bridgestone had in it's sticky Pole Position S-03 lineup was 275/35/18, so that's what APR had mounted until a larger tire became available. I could go on and on about this car. Especially since out SuperStreetOnline readers voted on seeing more 400+ hp machines on the site...
In an effort to afford you a social life, the SEMA coverage will be broken down into more than two parts. It might be 3...or 4...or maybe even more. The next installment will feature the products of SEMA 2004. If there's something you'd really like to see online, email me at chimpy@superstreetonline.com and I'll get the info and pictures up fo you in one of the next installments.