SEMA 2007: Suzuki SX4 WRC

One of the more unexpected cars we saw at SEMA this year was the 2007 Suzuki SX4 WRC. Suzuki has been running a test season in their SX4 prototypes in the 2007 World Rally Championship, and they'll enter the full season next year to challenge the big boys.


We know the SX4 WRC has the potential to a contender. Suzuki's innocent looking SX4 really impressed us when we had one as a test vehicle a few months back - great chassis, exceptional manueverability, basically a great drive for not much money.


If Pikes Peak is any indication, look for big things coming from this little car in 2008.

Suzuki WRC Factory Website

More SEMA Hondas! S2000 Endurance Racer and 1 Lap Odyssey!

It's not very often these days that major manufacturers get behind grassroots club racing, and it's even less often that we see factory support at endurance road racing events, which are too few and far between in this country.

Honda is a company who "gets it", probably because there are actually a few real car guys hiding behind some of those imposing corporate suits.

Those real car guys, wherever they are, are the ones responsible for cars like the new 2008 Honda S2000 CR (we think it stands for "Club Racer"), which will make its racing debut next month in our neck of the woods at NASA's 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

This isn't the first time Honda has fielded cars at the 25 Hour: in 2005 they prepared two Civic Si's, finishing 1st and 2nd in class and a very respectable 4th and 6th overall!

We applaud Honda's effort to provide factory support to racers and track day enthusiasts: it shows their commitment to people like us, and that's what we like to see. Bravo Honda!



But it was also apparent that there are some twisted souls in the great unknown that is Honda's R&D laboratory. Apparently they live down in good ol' Alabama (10-4 Cletus!)...and after a long afternoon sniffing paint fumes, someone thought it would be a good idea to whip up this turbocharged, six-speed Odyssey race car...err...van. Well, more power to them, I say. This beast finished 33rd overall out of 88 entries in the '07 One Lap of America! Not bad at all.

More SEMA: Honda HF-S Concept

Honda always puts themselves out there for SEMA, and this year was no exception. Stealing the show in their booth this year was the new HF-S Concept, which basically looked like what a homologation special of an Accord would be should such a thing ever exist. It had some carbon fiber doodads on the bodywork, rear diffuser and all that jazz, to create "functional performance and driving experience enhancements", according to Honda's press release.



Some of the specifics were a bit vague. Take this sentence: "Key to the concept is the use of technology to electronically customize throttle response, suspension settings, steering boost, and and traction involvement to the driver's taste." What technology, you ask? We're not really sure; apparently they wanted to keep that part a secret. And traction involvement? No word on what that is, either.






However, we thought the car looked great, and it definitely gets the Motoring J Style nod of approval. Keep 'em coming, Honda!

Toyota Yaris Club Concept at SEMA! oh, and there was a new Corolla, too

Much hype was made over the unveiling of the '09 Corolla and the '09 Matrix at this year's SEMA Show, but those cars proved to be a yawn.

What was really cool, and received far less attention, was the Toyota Yaris "Club" Concept by FiveAxis. This car evoked club racers of the 50s and 60s, when you could go to the track in a street driven roadster and race wheel to wheel.



Oh yeah, here are the new Corolla and Matrix....the rally-inspired Matrix concept was cool and really looked great in its red metallic hue. It merited about a 45 second pause in the mayhem of SEMA...really, that's a compliment. The Corolla? This unobtrusive model continues to move upscale in its latest, bland-tastic iteration. But while the Corolla line may not be the most exciting ride out there, Toyota continues to sell hundreds of thousands of them each year in the U.S. Would I have noticed the '09 without all the press surrounding its release? Probably not.

Without further adieu, THE 2009 TOYOTA COROLLA:



Corolla interior:

2009 Matrix (not exactly the showroom stock model):


Matrix interior:

SEMA: Bigger is Better (Day 1)

When it comes to the American automotive ethos, it's pretty much like everything else out here in the Land of the Free: Bigger is Better!

Perhaps no other event exemplifies this mentality more than the annual SEMA orgy in Las Vegas....

From the bazooms on the models, to the dubs on the show cars, just about everything is large, chromed up, iced out, and in questionable taste.

The Halloween-themed WRX in the Subaru display was...ummm...whimsical:

But there are some diamonds in the rough. You just have to walk around all day to find them. This Lowrider-themed Camry, dubbed the "Camryder", was definitely one of the coolest concepts I saw yesterday...this thing was totally sweet. Check out the door detail!



And I even ran into X-Games superstar and Subaru factory rally driver Travis Pastrana, who was signing autographs alongside his brand new WRX rally car. Pity that I didn't have time to wait in line for the autographed poster! At least he was cool enough to pose for a photo.

And here's his new ride:


More to come...