It's sad that you can't see a lot of the parts that go into building a badass project car. Headwork, [forged] hand-finished pistons, beefy- billet connecting rods, large-fillet heat-treated micro-polished crankshafts, and indestructible ductile iron sleeves are all hidden deep between the strut towers of the cars at SEMA 2004. Some companies do actually spread their product lines out on tables so consumers can check `em out, but not all. One such product was the E3 spark plug. I know what you're thinking--another plug that promises to do it all. After speaking to the engineer behind the design, Norman Garrett, we were curious to see how these plugs performed. Look for a review on December 18th.
With containers of Mitsubishi Evo VIII's rolling off docks at a brisk pace, the 4G63 market has ignited once again as evidenced by all the new engine parts to hit shelves. Crane Cams has introduced 3 new cam profiles for the 4G63 that are formed from brand-new 8620 steel billet cores (not reground factory camshafts). The three different "levels" that are offered are Nitrous, Racing, and Street Performance. Visit Crane's new website for cam specs: www.cranecams.comAnother new and notable product we saw at Crane's booth was a set of 25-ohm (per foot) ignition wires. We've heard of and seen a few 40-ohm wires, but no 25-ohm wires. An ohm is a measure of resistance. The lower the resistance, the more energy the wire can transmit from the distributor to the spark plug.
Speaking of spark, AEM issued a few with their new universal EMS. We had to fight our way into the crowded AEM booth just go snap the pic. The new universal unit was designed and built to quench the thirst of all the have-nots whom initially didn't have cars supported by the popular unit. The AEM universal EMS also went on to win the PRIMEDIA Technology Award for most technologically advanced product at SEMA 2004 (Compact Performance Award). The universal EMS will be available towards the end of January 2005. AEM also debuted a new Peak & Hold Injector Box. The majority of the big injectors out on the market operate at only 2 ohms of resistance (Peak and Hold). Factory injectors operate at around 10 ohms of resistance (saturated), which poses a problem for all the people that would like to boost output via forced induction. The AEM Peak & Hold box allows users of low-impedance injectors to use Peak & Hold injectors easily without any hacking, cutting, or splicing which also aids in making a clean-looking engine bay. No word on a release date, so your best bet is to keep bugging Greg "Naga...naga...not-gonna-work-here-anymore" Nakano at AEM.
As each year passes, many companies come out with products that are shinier and blingier than the year before. This holds remarkably true with coilover suspension systems. Hues of Purple, Magenta, Chrome, and Gold are emblazoned onto the surfaces in an attempt to tractor beam peoples' eyeballs to their respective booths. Some of these setups actually do work, while some just don't. For the setups that do work, we doubt the users really use them to their potential. Holland-based KONI realized this and in addition to manufacturing full race-bred coilover systems, have developed bolt-on-and-go suspensions that deliver real-world handling right out of the box, with no need to corner-weight. The new KONI Sport Kits utilize some of the best dampers in the world, KONI Sport Shocks, aka KONI Yellows. KONI's own springs are precisely matched to the dampers, giving you a tuned setup the first time out. After speaking with KONI's tech team, we have decided to use their KONI yellows on our 1993 Integra Project. Look for a review on SuperStreetOnline on December 14th.
Crower does rhyme with power, and for good reason--their parts work. New and notable for SEMA 2004 were a battalion of K-Series parts for the new benchmark in 4-cylinder performance. Now available for the K20A are Crower's (remember, rhymes with power) cams, dual valve springs, titanium retainers, stainless valves, and billet keepers. Honda cranks are bulletproof up to 700 or so horsepower, but just in case you do win the lottery, they also offer custom cranks.
We take a cross country trip from the letter C all the way to the other side of the alphabet, V, as in Volk Racing. If having oceanfront property isn't enough motivation to make money, then maybe a set of these Volk wheels can encourage you. We don't know how long they can keep it up. It seems that each year, they have a different, dope-looking wheel than the last. Our favorite wheel in the booth Volk GT-V with the gunmetal face and diamond-cut lip. Now that we know which wheels we want, we have to find a RWD car that can take advantage of the size offered: 19-inch.
HKS came to the desert to play, and brought all the cool toys. On the left we have the new HKS Rotrex Supercharger kit for the Nissan 350Z. Besides being compact, the cool part with the Rotrex unit is that the compressor side of the supercharger uses turbocharger components, as in the compressor wheels and housings, allowing HKS to take full advantage of their turbocharger database that probably exceeds a terabyte or two. The end result is a supercharger that can be tuned to the engine and application for the perfect match. In the VQ35DE's case, the setup is good for 88 horsepower and 63 lb/ft of torque at the wheels, according to our sister publication, Turbo & High Tech Performance. Pretty amazing when you consider that the kit is pending CARB approval for all 50 states. The fully-built SR20 on the right is basically the HKS catalog in 3D form. That out of control manifold is an HKS product. With our meager earnings, we could probably only scrounge enough for the magenta oil cap. Even though the cap is for Nissans and we drive Hondas. Whatever.
Eibach springs have found their way onto a few of our projects, but those were purely for suspension tuning. Eibach also manufactures their own valve springs, aptly dubbed EVS (Eibach Valve Springs). The units are manufactured in Germany to Eibach's strict standards. Current applications for the Honda B18C, B16A, C30 (NSX), H22, and the newer K20. Applications are also available for Mazda and Toyota engines.
Moroso brought all the serious hardware for SEMA 2004. They always do. This year, they had a pretty cool setup that showed all the components for their Honda Dry Sump oiling system. Dry Sump systems are needed for engines that produce ridiculous amounts of power and are usually intended for track use only. Some high-end OEM vehicles do however come with dry sump systems due to their high power output. The current BMW M5 features a semi-dry sump oiling system. So if you're B18C is pegging the dyno at 600 hp, it might be time for an upgrade, and Moroso has the perfect solution for you in one complete package, from the pump to the pan.
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 more products from 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.