Autoblog

Every time we see a Flex on the road, it looks cartoonish to us – those two massive rectangles sitting on cute little wheels. We wouldn't be surprised if, a la CARS, a Flex started talking to us. The "ReFlex" above, designed by Sean Smith of SS Designs and being prepared by CGS Motorsports for this year's SEMA Show in Las Vegas, looks like it could have something interesting to say. Who knew that a minimal body kit, a drop, and a set of 22s could give the Flex that personality it's been missing. The custom DuPont-painted CUV is also getting a suede interior, a Kicker sound system, and even new door solenoids from SPAL. We'll take it, or at least a ride in it. Check out the full press release after the jump, and stay tuned for the full report from SEMA.

[Source: CGS]

Scion's been a perennial SEMA attendee for the last five years, with customization being a central tenet of the brand. This year, the cool-seeking Toyota nameplate is bringing a sextet of vehicles, three each of tCs and xBs, all customized. The xBs were sent out to customizers to get thematic treatments. The three art cars embody different ideas; one's a camper in the vein of Westfalia Volkswagens, another's been chopped and dropped to create a lakebed hot rod, while our favorite is an ersatz Roach Coach. Blaine Fontana was responsible for the camper conversion, while Jeff Soto whipped up the salt flats car, and Kenton Parker decided to celebrate the xB's non-curvy shape with the foodservice conversion.

Bonneville speed trial cars serve as inspiration for one of the customized tCs, as well. Scion distributed three tCs to customizers for the 2008 Scion Tuner Challenge, with the winner to be announced during SEMA. Eddie Hahm of "Fast Eddies Garage" fame took it retro and created an homage to a time when hot rodding meant more than mounting dubs and a bodykit. Fatlace founder Mark Arcenal dreamt up a DTM racer, while John Pangilinan made an even more butch looking tC with his widebody design. These six cars are sure to be just some of the Scions at SEMA. Indeed, there will be several other custom Scion models at the brand's booth, like an xD with its top chopped. We'd be down with some of these customs, even if underneath it all, they're still Scions.


[Source: helloscion]

There are six modded Genesis' planned for SEMA: three coupes, three sedans. The coupes have been worked over by Street Concepts, HKS, and Rhys Millen. A rendering of the first tricked-out Genesis sedan from RKSport has rumbled onto the page, and it looks less like competition for the 5 Series than it does a challenger to the Death Star. The Platinum Silver sedan will wear carbon fiber accessories and a couple of spoilers as it hunkers on its oversized TSW wheels.

RKSport's take on this car is to raise the performance stakes, and it's going to have Hyundai's help doing it. The whipped cream on the sunday will be a K&N air intake, Magnaflow exhaust, Eibach springs, Baer brakes, and a body kit. The sunday itself consists of performance upgrades that Hyundai is giving to the car's Tau V8 engine. The Korean automaker is hush-hush on those changes, but they're probably good for a bump in the numbers in all the right places. And since you can't drive the cars at SEMA, they'll probably look and sound pretty good, too.

[Source: Motor Trend]

Custom truck lovers, it doesn't matter that the whole world might seem to be against you, you will not be forgotten at this year's SEMA. Performance West will be bringing a hotted up F-150 and F-350, and now Street Scene Equipment rumbles onto the stage with it's own entrant, a juiced up 2009 F-150 Lariat.

The SSE job appears to be a little more subdued than the Performance West numbers, but that might just be down to the lack of racing stripes. The Lariat will of course be dropped, because you can't even call it a tuning job if the truck is more than an inch above the ground. After that, the exterior gets new front and rear bumpers and skirts, new mirrors, a bed cap, a tailgate wing, and some of DuPont 's Hot Hues to make it all shiny, among other things.

Inside will be the standard rolling theater treatment: headrest video monitors and a "high-end infotainment system" from Audio Innovations. In keeping with the restrained theme, engine mods looks to be limited to an Air Raid intake and a new exhaust. Subtle ain't such a bad thing, though -- we gotta admit we're digging that grille.

[Source: PickupTrucks.com]

Today on Cars We Can't Have, Oettinger turns its eye toward Volkswagen's C30 Scirocco. There's history between the tuning firm and VW's windy coupe, so this could be viewed as an addendum to past work. What does a tuner do, if not enhance performance? Indeed, Oettinger has fiddled about underhood to wring 240PS from the 2.0-liter engine, and the smaller 1.4-liter TSI mill is good for an even 200PS at the hands of the tuner. Anticipating that more is always better, the future holds a further enhanced 2.0 liter TSI engine frothing out 350PS.

It's not just engine tweaks. The hotted-up Scirocco is low enough to scrape roadkill from the tarmac, thanks to an adjustable suspension. Holding the increased go power from the engine room in check are larger brakes, and it wouldn't be a tuner car without a body kit. Oettinger's bodywork changes are more classy than garish, and overall the look is successful at ratcheting our desire for the Scirocco up another notch.


[Source: World Car Fans]

Toyo has tapped a handful of tuners to produce six SEMA creations to highlight its range of track-ready and dirt-friendly tires. Unfortunately, we've already seen the 800 hp, Bentley Continental-based Tetsu GTR, but joining that rolling abomination to tasteless consumption are a handful of rides that better represent what SEMA is all about.

To begin with, Bulletproof Automotive is trotting out a customer-owned Nissan GT-R, wearing limited edition (and GT-R specific) BBS LM-DBK-P wheels wrapped in Toyo's 20-inch Proxes R888 tires. An Amuse Super Tough Titanium exhaust, Endless monoblock six-piston front and rear brakes and a smattering of carbon fiber aerodynamic parts round out this track- and show-friendly package.

Vivid Racing will be joined by several other firms bringing tuned Mitsubishi Evolution Xs to the show, but Vivid should stand out with its Porsche GT3 RS paint job, 18x10-inch AME Tracer 02 wheels and 650 hp on tap. We'll be on hand in a few weeks to find out how Vivid went about freeing those extra 350 ponies.

Additionally, an unnamed sixth vehicle will be accompanied by a 2009 Toyota Tundra CrewMax SR5 built by Two Brothers Custom Trucks, along with Choppin' Block Custom Fab's four-door 1931 Studebaker Model 54, riding on a custom air suspension, Centerline Smoothie wheels and powered by a Chevy 350 fed by a trio of two-barrel carburetors.

Hit the jump for all the details and stay tuned for our SEMA coverage beginning the first week of November.

Our Parisian friends over at LeBlogAuto were on hand at the Motorsport Japan 2008 event in Tokyo this past weekend, where FHI unveiled an Impreza-based "concept" dubbed the Subaru WRX STI Takumi.

Featuring upgraded springs and shocks, revised suspension bits, lightweight 12-spoke wheels, undisclosed engine tweaks and a slightly reworked exterior, the Takumi foretells the future of the rumored Spec-C variant, due to hit the market sometime next year.

Subaru execs at the show remained mum on if when the Spec-C would debut, but the smart money is on the Tokyo Auto Salon this January.


[Source: LeBlogAuto - Translated]

Back in the first Ponycar era, a Ford Mustang packed with a Cobra Jet V8 was a mighty drag strip warrior. Better still was the Super Cobra Jet, augmenting the CJ's enhanced breathing with a stouter lower end. Either way, a 428-powered Mustang would tear off elapsed times in the high 13s - still fast today. Since the current Mustang is a headlong dive into nostalgia, it stands to reason that Ford's working up a new Cobra Jet and eyeing drag racing domination yet again. We have no details other than a video after the jump that shows an obviously tweaked Mustang making a quarter mile run at Milan Dragway in Michigan, but the actual car will be coming to SEMA very soon, so Ford Racing is likely making sure that nothing blows up once the package is offered for sale. We've sent in our resume for the job of drag-race test driver; shoot, you don't even have to steer!

[Source: YouTube]

Click above for high-res gallery of the IMSA Murcielago Spyder

Not many cars can compete with the Lamborghini Murcielago Spyder's ability to attract attention. With 640 horsepower on tap, not many cars can keep up with it either. Even German tuner IMSA questioned whether the car could be improved, but, of course, that didn't stop them from trying. They have developed an engine package that pumps the V12 up to 708 horsepower, knocking off a tenth in the sprint to 60 mph and raising top speed to 217 mph. IMSA adds its GTR widebody kit as well that includes a new front bumper, side skirts with widened intakes, a carbon fiber diffuser and rear spoiler. Inside, the carbon fiber and leather seats have been color-matched to the exterior. It's not necessarily everyone's taste, but it is wickedly fast and sure to attract attention. Full details are in the press release after the jump, and plenty of high resolution photos are in the gallery below.

[Source: IMSA via SeriousWheels.com]

Click above for a high resolution image

Steve Saleen's fledgling new company, SMS Supercars, is getting ready to officially debut its first production car and has released a few more photos and information regarding the 570 and 570X Challenger. According to the new press release, the two models are targeted to start at $60,000 and $70,000, respectively. Yes, that's quite a chunk of change, but SMS is making it worthwhile with an extensive list of upgrades. Starting with the powertrain, the SMS 296 supercharger pushes massive amounts of air to the 5.7L HEMI, and true enthusiasts will be glad to know that a proper 6-speed manual transmission will be doing the shifting. Both models also get a high performance suspension, exhaust, 20-inch wheels, and 14-inch front and 12-inch rear brakes. For the exterior, SMS replaces the front and rear bumpers, side skirts, and hood, and adds a rear spoiler. The 570X model also receives carbon fiber front and rear splitters, a carbon fiber diffuser, and a rear wing that replaces the spoiler. The interior receives upgrades as well, including two-tone leather sport seats, leather door inserts, a leather grip shifter, 200-mph gauge cluster, and auxiliary gauges for the supercharger. Each vehicle will also be personally signed by Steve Saleen. Follow the jump for the press release and check out the gallery below.

[Source: SMS Supercars]