Highlights of SEMA 2018 for Students in Automotive Training
The SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show is the world’s biggest automotive speciality products trade event. Every year, manufacturers, automakers, and retailers converge in Las Vegas, Nevada, to showcase the hottest new car parts and display the year’s most cutting-edge concept and custom vehicles.
Students in automotive training looking for inspiration on their own custom builds, or just hoping to stay up-to-date on the industry’s newest developments, can pay close attention to this yearly event. Here are some of the highlights from SEMA 2018.
The Mopar Hellephant Brings New Power to the Hellcrate
One big reveal at this year’s SEMA was from Mopar, Fiat Chrysler’s aftermarket and performance parts arm, which showed off its new crate engine the Hellephant.
The Hellephant is a larger upgrade to last year’s Hellcrate, the crate engine release of their classic Hellcat V8 engine. A massive 1000 horsepower Hemi V8, the Hellephant produces 745kW of power and 950 lb-ft of torque, and can be dropped into any pre-1976 car. It’s also lighter than its predecessor, as it replaces the Hellcat’s iron block with aluminum. The Hellephant is a great option for project cars, coming in an easy turn-key package.
Mopar chose a classic 1968 Dodge Charger to showcase the engine, customized with a new six-speed manual transmission, six-piston Brempo brakes, Hellcat wheels, and an updated interior.
Check out the Hellephant in this short clip:
The VelociRaptor 6×6 Is the Perfect Six-Wheeled Off-Roading Vehicle
The Hennessey Velociraptor 6×6 from Hennessey Performance Engineering was also premiered to great interest at the 2018 SEMA Show. Based on a Ford Raptor, this ultimate off-roading vehicle replaces the standard 450 horsepower twin turbo V6 EcoBoost engine with a specially built 600 horsepower Ford 5.0L V8 running through a ten-speed transmission. It also features new suspension, a roll bar, new front and rear bumpers, LED lights, and most surprisingly, six wheels with off-road Toyo tires. The VelociRaptor is a custom build that should be of great interest to any students in automotive school.
Speedkore’s Custom Dodge Challenger Demon Was a Highlight for Many
Speedkore Performance’s custom Dodge Challenger Demon was a highlight for many at the 2018 SEMA Show, displaying the company’s tried and true formula of reducing weight and increasing power for seriously impressive custom builds.
The car’s bodywork was replaced entirely with lightweight carbon fibre in a beautiful matte finish. The supercharger was replaced with two 6875 Precision Billet ball-bearing T4 turbochargers. The new setup gives the car 1203 horsepower at the rear wheels, a big improvement over the already-powerful stock Demon. Thanks to the upgrades, this car can do a quarter-mile in 8.77 seconds at 260 kph, almost a second faster than the stock model’s 9.65 second quarter-mile.
Take a look at Speedkore’s custom Demon here in this short clip:
Toyota Had Some Surprises in Store for SEMA 2018
Of course, there’s more to SEMA than custom builds. One of the popular attractions at this year’s event was Toyota’s lineup of every generation of its Supra sports car from 1979 to now, including two racing versions of its upcoming fifth-generation 2020 Supra, each one in perfect and unmodified condition, finished in white. Students in auto training school could learn a lot from the decades-long development of this classic design.
Toyota also surprised visitors with its one-of-a-kind, zero-emission Tundra PIE Pro. Created in cooperation with Pizza Hut and with engineering from Nachi Robotic Systems, this rebuilt Tundra SR5 is powered by a hydrogen fuel-cell electric power unit adapted from a Toyota Mirai and features a functioning pizza cooker installed in the truck bed.
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