SEMA Show: Day 1 highlights

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Modified Luxury & Exotics\

SEMA SHOW DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS:
Bulletproof Automotive GT-R, IMSA Gallardo, AC Schnitzer X6, GT-Street RS, Lexus IS-F tuner cars; Plus, Advan and Continental launch new performance tires

November 4, 2008

Story & Photos Colum Wood


With the recent downturn in the economy, the 2008 SEMA Show is not, at first glance, as grand an event as it has been in past years. And yet when it comes to the luxury tuners, each and every brand you read about in Modified Luxury & Exotics was in attendance and in full force. From AC Schnitzer to Techart, the German aftermarket companies had exciting new models on display, while the inclusion of Mercedes-Benz and the second showing of tuner cars by Lexus made for a day full of more news than we can report.


AC Schnitzer Falcon

In stunning black and gold AC Schnitzer made a bold move by bringing this car to the SEMA Show. No, not because of the color scheme, but because of the engine. AC Schnitzer knows BMW’s plans to bring diesel engines to the US and so they decided to show their X6 based Falcon, a 3.5-liter turbo-diesel engine. With the AC Schnitzer ECU modifications and exhaust system the car now makes 310 hp (up from 286) and 501 ft-lbs of torque (up from 428).

AC Schnitzer CEO Rainer Vogel told MLE that the company also has plans to produce engine tuning package for the already impressive gasoline engines.

TechArt GT Street R

Sitting next to the Falcon was TechArt’s GT Street R, a Porsche 997 Turbo with a Stage 3 performance upgrade that gives it 660 hp. We recently reported on this car, so for more information see our story here:
Modified Luxury & Exotics

ZR Auto Gallardo

We hate to blow our own horn but it was hard not to notice the ZR Auto/IMSA/Heffner’s widebody and twin-turbo Gallardo at the Source Interlink booth. Those who look carefully might also see the busted front grille, which occurred while owner Zahir Rana drove the car from Palm Springs and made it to Vegas seconds before the booth load-in ended last night. We didn’t ask how fast he was going.
For more on this car see here:
Modified Luxury & Exotics

Lexus IS-F tuner cars

The Lexus cars were certainly stunning with plenty of carbon fiber and forced induction. One of the most subtle was actually the pristine white IS-F from MotorworldHype.com – which was made with design help from RJ deVera. Yes… we were also shocked to learn that RJ made a subtle car. MLE gained access to this car before the SEMA show and we’ll have plenty on it in an upcoming issue.
For more on the Lexus vehicles see here:
Modified Luxury & Exotics

Bulletproof Automotive GT-R

Another absolutely stunning vehicle is the Bulletproof Automotive GT-R. It was all decaled-up for the show, but if you can see past all that this is easily one of the best looking GT-Rs we have ever seen. It’s also the most powerful. Not only does it have an Amuse bodykit but it also has a full Amuse engine package and boasts 610hp! Located at the Mobil 1 booth, the Bulletproof Automotive GT-R sat next to a brilliant green TechArt modified Porsche 996. It may look like a 997 but this is a 996 with a front-end conversion, a full TechArt aero kit and horsepower in the 700 range. Undoubtedly there will be more on one of these cars in MLE in the future.

Advan & Continental

There were also two big tire announcements at SEMA today. Advan announced the release of the Neova AD08, essentially a street legal race tire, which, compared to the company’s brilliant Neova AD07, will produce lap times that are a half-second quicker. Contiental also announced an entire new line of tires, called Extreme. Of the most interest to MLE readers is the ExtremeContact DW, which replaces the ContiSport Contact 3 as the flgaship tire of the renowned German brand. Along with a lot of technological advances, which we will get into in more detail at a later day, the tire features the letters D and W on the actual tread. When the W is worn off the tire is no longer recommended for wet weather and once the D wears off, then it’s time for a new set of ExtremeContact DWs.

Massive Gallery of SEMA cars

[JoycelynRansom]

that's good, and thank you for sharing highlights.