12 of the Best from SEMA 2011

Posted by GreaseGirl on Nov 22, 2011 in Featured, Shows & Events | 1 comment

Best of the Best at SEMA 2011

Each year, SEMA brings 1000s to Las Vegas for the most complete aftermarket automotive show on earth. I can give you the numbers, but it’s still hard to describe how huge SEMA is. Start by imagining that it fills up all of the 3.2 million square feet of the Las Vegas Convention Center. SEMA 2012 had over 100,000 attendees and 2,000 exhibitors. With this much going on, SEMA is the place to find the newest cool products and cutting edge cars! Since this event isn’t open to public – MyRideisMe was there to get the inside scoop for you!

Best New Products

With the abundance of companies exhibiting, you can find about anything you’re looking for at SEMA. Since I’m still a novice mechanic – my “best of” reflects things I would be excited to add to my own car.

Edelbrock E-Street Fuel Injection System

I know EFI systems have been around for awhile to convert your carbureted engine to fuel injection – but not until I saw the newest offering from Edelbrock had I ever considered one for my own car. This E-Street Fuel Injection is a complete kit that comes with a bolt-on throttle body and a full wiring harness to make fuel injection easy to install. Also included, is easy to use software and a computer tablet with wireless connectivity to make adjusting and fine-tuning the system easy. Whether a beginner like me or an experienced tuner, this system enables you to stay in charge.

Lifetime Oil Filter

I was interested enough in these shiny little capsules to stick around and hear how this could work as a Lifetime Oil Filter – and that is exactly how they guarantee it. Engineered to clean your oil better and with a warranty that lasts your entire life – these filters are simply cleaned out with soap whenever you change your oil.

With cover’s made out of an aluminum-carbon material, they’re supposed to pull heat out of your oil as well. And with some different colors to choose from – they’re a pretty nifty, made in USA product!

Auto Meter Custom Shop Gauges

Auto Meter has always been a well known name when it comes to gauges – they make both vintage inspired and modern performance products. At SEMA this year they rolled out their entirely new line of products called the gauge Custom Shop. Going to their online site, you can customize a gauge set from color, back lighting, bezel type, glass curve, fonts, and pointer! Auto Meter just made it very easy to get your gauges as customized as the rest of your car!

Optima Battery Charger

I’ve always gotta stop by the Optima booth and see what my friends there are up to. Not only did they have an amazing hot rod in their booth and an invitation for me to the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, but they also had this neat new battery charger. Since the old school battery chargers don’t work conventionally with Optima batteries, it only makes sense that they’d come out with this product. Lucky for us it includes all the neat engineering I’ve come to expect from Optima – heck, there’s even a USB port on the side in case you need to charge your iPod too! Need help picking your next Optima battery? Check out this story: Optima -Red top or Yellow top?

Best Activity

Ford Drifting

Who doesn’t love drifting? It’s exciting to watch, but even more exciting to ride! For the entire week of SEMA, Mustangs were spinning around passengers in the front parking lot like a tilt-o-whirl carnival ride. I was tempted to wait in line myself… but I’m not really the passenger sort of gal – I decided to hold off for the day when I get my own personal drifting lesson.

Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Building Competition

Another thing I never tire watching is these kids with Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Assembly Contest. Teams of high schoolers from across the country compete to see who can disassemble and reassemble an engine the quickest.  And since I’m getting ready to do my first engine rebuild on a 1960 Falcon – I can only hope that some of these kid’s speed rubs off on me!

Best Paint

1952 Chevy “Derelict”

Call me sentimental, but my personal favorite arrived with no paint job at all. This 1952 Chevy Deluxe started as a barn find from Texas. At first glance it still looks like a beater – but upon closer inspection is anything but.

Built by Jonathan Ward and the folks at Icon 4×4, this car has all the history of a ’52 Chevy but every modern amenity.

I liked this car so much, I had to go find out more – I followed it all the way to Los Angeles! While visiting their shop, I found out more, took a ride in the ’52, and was inspired by their building mentality. Be on the lookout for a story from that visit coming soon.

A New Take on Suede & Shiny

Since the Chevy isn’t exactly painted, I also thought I’d add this sedan from the DuPont booth. I’m not in love with the entire paint scheme, but the suede-looking metal components are both original and good lookin’.

It does make the car look a little cartoon-y, but there’s something about it I really like. I’d love to see a similar treatment of chrome components out on the street.

And Now for All the Best Cars…

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