Wow.
It has been a heck of a past couple of weeks here at Tunersdepot.com. Having finally settled into our new home in sunny Fullerton, CA, we had to pack up and leave for the week long SEMA show in Vegas just as we were starting to break in our new chairs.
After a week long sojourn of talking to vendors, picture taking, and walking in the most Camaro-ish SEMA to date we are finally back home and ready to blog about our little sojourn in the desert.
View outside the main hall with drifting and off-roading demonstrations
This year was actually pretty crowded. For the first time in YEARS, the parking lot was actually filled up to the point where we couldn’t even go to the show one day until after 2ish. The halls were decently packed and there was a good amount of foot traffic in all 3 of the main halls.
Despite this though, there was definitely a decent amount of glitz and glamour missing from previous shows. What with the economy and all, it’s no surprise that the vendors are toning things down a bit. Also, there were some big names missing from the show, especially in the sport compact department, with HKS, Greddy, Apex’i being notably absent. I guess the days of the EG Civic and Integra are long gone.
A different kind of "sport compact"... maybe it's a "recreational" vehicle instead?
The last bastions of the sport compact tuner were represented in the far end by NRG, who was displaying lug nuts, steering wheels, and some pretty interesting looking tow hooks which they said they have always been making (for other companies) but are now releasing under the NRG brand. Also , the new NRG Steering Wheel quick releases were pretty interesting looking, though they are a bit batmobile-ish for my personal tastes.
NRG Innovations , the last stronghold of the sport compact tuner in the far corner of the central hall
NRG Deep Dish Steering Wheel...we hope to be carrying these soon
NRG Tow Hooks... they look a lot better than my crappy camera makes them out to be
NRG Lug Nuts in WAAAAY more colors than Skunk2 Lug Nuts are offered
Some of our other familiar vendors were also present at the show, though they didn’t have the normal sort of booth we were used to seeing. Energy Suspension’s booth was as sparse as their inventory, but at least customers can take comfort in knowing that almost every Energy Suspension Hyper Flex kit is custom made just for you when you order it.
Energy Suspension... not a lot to see but a world of difference in your car
Also present were our favorite suspension companies strutting (no pun intended) their shocks and other suspension goodies. We missed KYB, but Koni and Tokico were representing well.
Koni Shocks...with a little reminder of their racing experience and history.
Tokico Shocks... though they got bought out by Hitachi a few years back, they are still producing their Illumina and Blue non adjustable shocks
Mini Tokico Shock Flash Drive... Coolest e-catalog idea EVER
Tokico Shocks Mustang... not bad, not bad at all
The major spring companies showed up as well, though their offerings were decidedly smaller than previous years. Eibach has cut back their product line a bit, but they assured me that any applications previously offered could be reproduced if we get a group buy going for at least 30 sets. H&R was also representing strong.
Eibach Springs with another pretty nice Ford Mustang...what's with suspension companies and 'stangs?
H&R booth...looking nice as always with their springs, spacers, and super nice show cars
Of course, in the intake category, AEM was still representing strongly. K&N , their new owners, as well as Fujita were also at the show though I didn’t manage to snap any good shots of them.
AEM Cold Air Intake Booth with their rockstar Scion Tc
Also, I was a bit surprised to see only one or two Scions in any of the major vendors booths.
Razo Shift Knob (and pedals) booth with a fairly tame Scion Xb
Whereas the last few years have been dominated by Mustangs and Scions (particularly TC’s), this year the trend was definitely towards something else…though I’ll get more to that in my next post.
Camaro madness...more next time
