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NEWS
SEMA: Boom time in Vegas
Annual aftermarket show is what happens when Disneyland meets DetroitSEMA has left the building – after four days of intensity, caffeine and extreme displays of automotive creativity and diversity. And before the exhaust fumes clear the carpark and life resumes at 55mph, we take a moment to actually realise what just happened.
The trends were obvious: chrome has been replaced by carbon-fibre; Mustang is middle aged and about to begin a midlife revival; hot rods are still cool and about to merge high-tech with heritage; the Chinese are coming and the Japanese are here to stay.
Congratulations to Ford for showing that the new Mustang is again a true muscle car, and the 2.3-litre turbocharged engine may be the big surprise. The V8 goes old school but the real IQ-carrying tuners are theorising that the four cylinder engine with tweaks will easily make 300+kW. And, it won't be nose heavy. Wack on a big set of brakes and they're talking 'the perfect storm'.
Chevrolet and its aluminium LS series V8 is the undeniable engine of choice. It was wedged between the fenders of mod-resto Fords, great old Chevy pickups, a few 200SXs and every generation Camaro since 1967. Those who see performance differently were driving Chryslers.
The number of well-built, high-tech hot rods is countable on both hands, but they now seem to be the next trend. Confirmation came when a young guy showed up with a Toyota turbocharged 3.0-litre straight six dropped into a '32 Ford steel-body roadster and the old grey brigade didn't burn it or him. Merging old school with high-tech materials and younger thinking may bring new life to rodding. It needs it, and it looks to be coming quickly. Don't be surprised if next year begins a new era in rodding.
Americans obviously still love their 60s muscle cars. First generation Camaro with a late-model LS V8 is the most common combination. To see how it is done have a look at Mark Stielow's '69 Camaro 'Hellfire' wrapped around a 427 cube supercharged LS. He's not the average muscle car tuner; Stielow is a GM chassis engineer and clocks in each working day at GM Milford Proving Grounds. This one is the fourth or fifth he's built and each gets better. Like girlfriends, really.
The yang to Stielow's Camaro has gotta be Ken Block's '66 Mustang carrying a Roush Yates 410 cube Ford V8 for entertainment. Love the fact that it puts the power to mother earth with all-wheel drive because power is a terrible thing to waste. With only 630kW Block can't afford to be light on the right pedal.
Don't rest too easy tonight, because if you think Block is off his block, be assured that insanity still lives in the heads and garages of many Americans. For example, there's the guy who dropped a 12.4-litre seven-cylinder radial engine into a Chevrolet C10 pick-up, and thinks it's a great idea. It fits under the bonnet. Don't ask – just accept it.
There is so much to see and ponder at SEMA. A few personal favourites come to mind such as the Roush-tuned 2015 Mustang Trak Pak. The supercharged 5.0-litre V8 is believed to deliver north of 450kW yet it looks so subtle in contrast to the King Cobra on the Ford stand.
A few years ago, following the world economic crisis, SEMA attendance was down. If SEMA is an indicator of the economic recovery in the US, then this year's SEMA attendance figures should give a lot of people confidence. The show was bigger, better and far more interesting this year. You had to hustle to see everything in four days.
The appearance of Chinese component manufacturers is interesting in a cultural classing way. The little Chinese trying to understand the big Yanks and their oversized F-series trucks. A few years from now we may see the Chinese as influential as the Japanese are.
SEMA now ends on Friday evening with the cruise lead by the field of cars selected to compete in the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. The event favours no one other than those cars that balance driving dynamics, high engine performance and sheering stopping power. These are, in fact, the defining qualities of the modern muscle car. Porsches, Evos, GTRs, AMG Mercs, Gen I and Gen VI Camaros, Corvettes, Mustangs, pickups, and wagons go head-to-head against the clock.
Performance is the underlying common ground for everyone at SEMA, and this year performance and forced induction formed a distinct symbiosis. There's obviously ongoing argument about what sheet metal should surround whatever makes all those kilowatts, but most of the engines were either turbocharged or supercharged regardless of the number of pistons.
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Written byTodd Hallenbeck
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