By: Gene Tjin, Warren Shim-Quee and Fausto Merida
11/4/2005
PLEASE READ OUR DISCLAIMER
It’s day three and blood shot eyes tell the whole story. We are finally starting to realize why they gave Las Vegas the nickname of “Sin City.” As we rolled into day three we were already in the groove of things and we just stuck to the scheduled game plan. But as usual we ran into some unexpected surprises along the way, check out what was hot on our third installment from “Sin City.”
Tearing it up on the drag strip as well as in the Audiobahn booth this week was Ed Bergenholtz’s own Mazda Speed 6. The Audiobahn sponsored Mazda displayed its full race interior that incorporated a Motec engine management system and a full custom fabricated roll cage. Painted across the body of this race machine is a flowing Chameleon paint scheme that was totally eye catching. Audiobahn has made a name for them in the industry for manufacturing some heavy duty high end audio equipment. Bergenholtz’s Mazda 6 was the perfect addition to their booth.
Making its way across the country was Scott Schenfield’s Elite Motorsports tuned Dodge Viper. Schenfield’s Viper was spread out showing off its crazy carbon interior with various racing accessories. Under the hood the all ten cylinders were well represented by full polished valve covers and an array of stainless lines. In the trunk area Schenfield hired the services of Audiobahn to get the tunes cranking when he is cruising around. It’s nice to see this Hot Import Nights best of show winning Dodge Viper making a West coast appearance; we look forward to seeing this Viper at HIN next month.
Bazooka Audio tuned Toyota’s largest production truck, the four door Tundra. Under the hood the iForce V8 engine was being powered by a custom supercharger setup with polished blower piping. At the rear of the Tundra, Bazooka outfitted the Tundra with some heavy machinery in the form of subwoofers, amplifiers, and a Trex nitrous system. Bazooka’s long history of exceptional audio equipment has definitely continued on with their current line up of audio gear.
Sony Xplod went to the Nissan camp in the form of this Nissan 350Z. In the trunk area the Z sported a custom audio set up that included Sony Xplod audio gear, NX nitrous bottles, and a custom fabricated roll cage. Making sure that all areas of this 350Z were covered, the VQ35 engine was beefed up with a Vortech supercharger that helps to make some extra horses when it’s incorporated with the front mount intercooler that is complete with an NX Ntercooler kit. The exterior of the 350Z was outfitted with Sony Xplod graphics and various aero gear.
Pyle audio worked in collaboration with Emilio Perez of E Audio in Miami, FL to put together this Pyle Audio box truck. At the rear of the truck a fully functional DJ table was set up sending the tunes through various Pyle audio gear. The inner walls and front seats were wrapped in black and red suede while the outer walls of the truck are decorated with 8 Pyle monitors that were surrounded by vinyl graphics. This box truck is the perfect example of stepping out of the ordinary and testing out new waters in the scene, props to Pyle and E Audio on this, a job well done.
In the spirit of Las Vegas, we caught Elvis as he was leaving the building, literally. This was our first encounter with the king himself on our Sema adventure and he was anxious to pose for some pics while he curled his lip and gave us his best Elvis stance. We love the king and it definitely puts us in the spirit on our short visit here to Las Vegas.
Ryan Shutt was able to get his hands on Honda’s new hot cake, the 2006 Civic Si. Ryan Shutt made a name for himself when he put together his show winning Polk Momo civic coupe. Since then he has worked closely again with Polk Momo and put together this 06 Si. Shutt’s Si featured a turbocharged K series engine, color matched interior accents, and a Polk audio set up in the trunk.
Mazdaspeed came out showing off their entire line of performance products, ranging from performance intakes to full coilover suspension, wheels and even clutches. What’s so different about these products than any others in the market you ask? Well, these products will not conflict with your factory warranty since they are made by Mazda. In addition to showing their merchandise Mazdaspeed offered a lap around Laguna Seca with their driving simulator. (A good excuse to put the camera down, sit down, and go for a ride! – OVB)
As we wondered around the show we could not go pass the Vertical Doors, Inc. booth without saying “hi” to Miss Jeri Lee. In addition to having Jeri Lee bless them with her presence, they also had a Candy Orange 2006 Eclipse with Racing Hart wheels and a Hemi powered 300c filled with Strut accessories, Asanti wheels and of course a set of Vertical Doors.
Sporting a new Sky Blue paint job courtesy of BASF and D Lights Customs was Neil Tjin’s TRD supercharged Scion TC. We don’t know about you guys but we are getting sick of Tjin putting together these sick custom cars, we are totally jealous. Tjin debuted the TC with its new paint scheme that goes well with the full Bride interior that is accented by a Pyle head unit and Crossfire subwoofers. Tjin also kept with his standard theme and added a set of HRE wheels wrapped in Falken rubber to the mix. Tjin always has some tricks up his sleeve, and we always wait in anticipation to see what his sick mind will come up with next.
When we were walking the outer halls of the convention center, we heard the walls shaking while Falken Tires sponsored Infinity G35 coupe rolled in. The first thing you will notice about this car is the Falken Tires paint scheme that has become the standard theme for all of Falken’s drift cars. This G35’s engine received the turbo treatment and Sparco racing bucket seats. This G35 is race prepped for drift action and Falken tires isn’t afraid to put it to the test.