SEMA isn’t what you think it is!
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Term
SEMA
SEMA is a big car show where companies show off new parts and accessories for cars. It's important for people in the car industry to see what's new and exciting.
Term
street proven
Street proven means a car has been tested on regular roads to show it works well for everyday driving. It's important for proving that the car is safe and reliable for daily use.
Term
track proven
Track proven means a car has been tested on a racetrack to show it can perform well. It's a way to prove that the car is fast and reliable when pushed to its limits.
Term
fuel rail
The fuel rail is a part of the engine that carries fuel to where it's needed for burning. It helps make sure the engine gets the right amount of fuel to run well.
Company
GearWrench
GearWrench is a brand that makes tools like wrenches and sockets. They are known for being strong and reliable, making them popular among people who work on cars and other projects.
Company
Harbor Freight
Harbor Freight is a store that sells tools and equipment at lower prices. Many people go there to find affordable tools for their projects.
Term
b-series Honda
The b-series Honda engines are a type of engine made by Honda that are popular for tuning and modifying cars. They are often found in models like the Honda Civic and Integra.
Part
coilover
Coilovers are a special kind of car suspension that helps improve how the car handles and can be adjusted to change the car's height.
Company
K-Tune
K-Tune makes parts that help improve the performance of Honda cars, especially in racing or high-performance situations.
Part
cams
Cams are parts in an engine that help control how air and fuel enter and exit, which can make the engine run better or faster.
Company
Holly
Holly makes parts that help cars run better, especially for racing or performance driving, like fuel systems and carburetors.
Company
Edelbrock
Edelbrock makes parts that improve how engines work, like parts that help get more air and fuel into the engine for better performance.
Term
K20C1
The K20C1 is a powerful engine made by Honda, often found in sporty cars like the Civic Type R. It's known for being fast and can be modified to make even more power.
Company
Hondada
Hondada is a company that makes parts and upgrades for Honda cars to make them faster and better. They help Honda owners improve their vehicles' performance.
Term
L15
The L15 is another type of engine made by Honda, which is smaller and designed to save fuel while still providing decent performance. It's commonly found in Honda's smaller cars.
Car
Toyota Supras
The Toyota Supra is a popular sports car that people love for its speed and style. It's often modified to make it even faster and more exciting to drive.
Car
Nissan Skyline
The Nissan Skyline is a well-known car, especially among racing fans. It's famous for being fast and powerful, with some versions being used in racing competitions.
Concept
K-swap
A K-swap is when you take out the old engine of a car and put in a new, more powerful Honda engine. It's a popular way to make cars faster and more fun to drive.
Car
Honda Odyssey
The Honda Odyssey Type R is a modified version of the regular Honda Odyssey, designed to be faster and more exciting to drive, similar to how sports cars are made.
Term
engine swap
An engine swap is when you take out the engine from a car and put in a different one. People do this to make their cars faster or to fix problems.
Car
Honda Civic Type R
The Honda Civic Type R is a sportier version of the regular Honda Civic. It has a more powerful engine and is designed for better performance and handling.
Term
minivan
A minivan is a large car designed to carry many passengers, usually with a lot of space inside and sliding doors to make getting in and out easier. They're great for families.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a famous car that many people love because it's fast and looks cool. It has been around for a long time, and people often talk about changing its engine to make it even better. It's a car that stands out and is fun to drive.
Term
B58
The B58 is a powerful engine made by BMW that helps their cars perform well. It's known for being smooth and efficient, making it a popular choice in many BMW models.
Car
Nissan 240Z
The Nissan 240Z is a sports car from the 1970s that many people love to modify and restore. It's known for being light and fun to drive.
Car
Datsun 240Z
The Datsun 240Z is a classic sports car from the 1970s that many people admire for its style and speed. It's known for being fun to drive and is often modified by car lovers to make it even faster. Some people even change its engine to give it more power.
Car
Dodge Viper
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a popular sports car made by Chevrolet. It's known for being fast and stylish, and many people love it for its performance.
LIVE
So Scott what's going on it looks we're a little a little ways away from
Steema now how was the show? That's pretty funny yeah yeah I think for
everybody that doesn't get the inside joke we we didn't go this year so I
also didn't make it I know I know it's like the first time in like 40
something years that we didn't didn't physically attend except I mean except
for the year where like everybody got that bubonic plague I don't know if
you've heard of it yeah that little thing where everybody had to wear masks
for a while exactly so that whole thing there they did it they dropped that
year and they actually did an online version virtual I remember it was
terrible it was awful but but with that said I think that's the only time I
don't think we've ever exhibited or missed exhibiting at the show so it was
definitely awkward this year that's for sure I was I felt I had a I had a a
little bit of foam like a little bit and and you know I think that's you know I
tried to I tried to get with people that I knew that went to the show and kind of
really stand top of social just because I wanted to see what was going on there
so you know interesting yeah I did some deep dives into multiple
deals just that I was curious about and you know some of the drama and stuff like
that but I mean while we're on the subject why why I was not there yeah
yeah so I think it's an interesting thing so the first thing is that I think a
lot of people and when I say a lot of people I'm not talking about people that
were attending the show just to look around and talking about exhibitors
other companies for I has to be 10 or 15 years many of the more established
companies have been saying how this has been a tough show to really get an ROI
on and and look and so I want people to understand what this means I'm not
knocking SEMA or the SEMA show in any way I think that when you look at a show
that's this massive and you have to understand that these companies when you
have a you know even let's say a you know a 30 by 50 by the time you get all
said and done you may have spent 125 thousand dollars to have you know you
know 1500 square feet everything you bring in is subject to drainage charges
there's a lot of different rules because you're joking with Union I mean if you
want to plug an extension cord in you got to have an electrician now when I
say electrician you're thinking of the guy that comes he's got his pliers and
like really has a know-how and he's going to run lines and conduit and stuff
like that these electricians are people that don't always have any knowledge at
all armed with a thing of duct tape and they're going to duct tape and
electrical extension cord down on the ground so I guess what I'm trying to
say is like there's a large expense that comes with these shows and at the end
of the day I think if you're an established brand that has a dealer
network that you can't really you're not going to open up every Tom, Dick and
Harry that kind of shows up to your booth if you're not going to be the person
that is looking for a very specific type of client like there's some people that
come to the show strictly to work with international dealers from a specific
you know nation or whatever and it allows especially on the on the apex side as
well especially right yeah yeah yeah for sure so so you know that this is a
powerhouse and you and you can do great things with meetings and there's a
city synergistic thing that happens when you're at these shows that can be
magnetic you may get some deals and some things that happen at the bar because
you're surrounded by automotive people as we take over the city kind of thing
but with that said you know you have to look at years for what they are and this
is been a year you know with all these tariffs and different things that things
have been down now I want to tell you while I just got done saying about the
ROI for each one of these companies and how it's been going down I want to tell
you what the thing is that actually pushed me over the edge to take this
year off this year particularly was was just a softer year when we started
looking at a lot of people's consumer spending and I don't believe there's
really any company that is established that will tell you otherwise I mean it's
just true like you know you you look at 7-elevens and they're off right people
are not spending money right now and you can make an argument that wheels are not
exactly a necessity there they're a luxury at some point sure you know with
that said we're pretty pretty you know thankful and grateful to be in a good
position like we have been we have a lot of loyal supporters and good
retailers and so everything is fine for us but you know you have to you have to
make sure that you're making the right financial decisions all the time so
there's there's that that element the next element has been something that's
been really hard to kind of explain you know the South Hall and you know this
you've been you've been at the show for for decades right like I mean this is so
the South Hall used to be the party hall it used to be the hall you walk through
all the models were there the best cars were there like all the cool things that
happened happened in South Hall it's all the personalities and celebrities and
big meets were South Hall was the place to be now as these established
manufacturers have continued to withdraw from the show and take it off their
agenda to necessarily be at the show all the big tire companies all the you know
pretty much most wheel brands at this point there's there's very few established
wheel brands that are actually displaying at the show anymore and then when you
start to look at just some of you know these other companies they used to spend
a fair amount of money to display as they exited the show we were left with
what used to be what we called downstairs so if you're there you've
in the South Hall there's the whole upper part by the by basically closer to
the front entrance and then halfway through the hall it drops down there's a
staircase you go down you know five or six steps and you're into the back of
the hall now that back of the hall was notorious for you know a lot of the you
know Asian importers and different things like that wheel companies were back
there factories were back there but usually ones that didn't have seniority
so you always you know you knew what it was like upstairs and we have a lot of
seniority so we were always near the front and then you had these companies
that were always in the back now what happened was a SEMA redrew the floor plan
there they had more and more big companies that pulled out and they had and they
had large space mopar all these different things you know they would occupy that
space as some of these companies pull out now all of a sudden you don't have
those big booth space you're not using the same type of square footage and now all
those little booths have to go somewhere so they come up this way and as you're
putting them in what ends up happening is now a guy like like or a company like us
we have you know let's say 42 years seniority or whatever it's gonna be now
of a sudden directly across from you is a 10 by 10 because because that's where
they you know they have the space for it and the guy's been been there for four years
right and it's not always the way it works I gave you an extreme example but but but
that's been happening more and more and last year was the first year where I actually was like
I don't even know any companies that are really in here except for a few
so we had petitioned the idea of can we make a move over to central hall
now central hall is known as the the hall the racing hall and central hall is a great hall
and and and it it does it still has that magnetic draw it's the original hall of the Las Vegas
convention center that and I think north hall I think we're pretty much the the first types of
things but that's where all the hard parts and all the cool stuff happens there's a couple
companies that happen to have wheels that are also over there so I'm not setting a precedent
that hasn't been established at any point by moving over there and we do a large amount of
stuff in motorsport so I didn't think it was an unreasonable ask but we for years we've been kind
of denied that movement as it would set a precedent for other wheel companies and they didn't want
to do that which I can respect and understand but knowing what it looked like last year and
knowing that things were going to be down and other companies were going to be down and different
things like that knowing that other companies may not go this year I just I just didn't think it was
a responsible thing to do with with the budget that we have to spend that kind of money and know
that we're not really you know the ROI was was tough but now it's going to be a little more
off for our display so that's why we were not at SEMA this year no other reason
okay with that said last year before I was with this group you you'd released some some new wheels
at the time yeah it was a pretty big deal right so what happens this year in in kind of a response
to that yeah so so I think it's a good good point like so last year like you know that's where we
that's usually where we release our new wheel designs at the very minimum
that's where we release them and you know they may not be in stock until March or April
that's usually when we start to get things actually in a place where we're selling them
but that's where we show you know the first stuff off while we get ready for production
so wheel designs are still in motion and they're still probably going to be out hopefully in that
March April hopefully not longer than that although we saw some delays this year which
that's why it kind of keeps me a little hesitant but we have those new designs they're in play
they're they're kind of getting to the point where you know they're doing testing their menu
we're gonna go before we go to production and we decided that we will show you those things but
we're gonna do it closer to the date that you're gonna actually buy them just because we didn't
want to end up into that thing where if there's any delays we're kind of teasing people because
that was yeah that was tough this year I gotta be honest you from from my perspective the toughest
thing was there were just so many factors that changed and there was a lot of things that you
know we kept kept kept going through and I just I don't want to be that person that says like hey
they're coming when oh they're coming oh when they're coming like so we have all that stuff it's
gonna happen like don't worry all those things whether it be the off-road designs or you know
you know or forged designs but I will tell you something that I think you know we've been
talking about this I think we're going to start not waiting for SEMA to put new wheels out anymore
yeah I think I think we're gonna get to a point where well I think we're here
we're just like if we have a wheel that's done and it happens to be mid mid-year
we're gonna release it and I don't think we're gonna hold those things and I think every company
in the world especially wheel manufacturing tries to do the same thing where they wait until like
and then you get all these delays and backup because everybody's trying to manufacture all the
stuff that they're trying to launch at the same time and it just gets messy so so I think from
now on we're just gonna if we come up with a design that happens to be mid-year we're just
gonna bring it in and say hey we got a new design so I think people understand like in terms of
big picture getting the word out getting imagery out getting the message out via social media now
is larger than you know than a than this massive trade show it's it's you know maybe tenfold right
so yeah I think that the understanding is there I think the sooner the better you know what's
interesting instead of waiting you know what's interesting for me I don't know how you feel
about this but I think the word trade show really leave people's right right right right
because I I swear to you I no matter how many times I believe it's a trade show or no matter how
many times I I think that maybe people are missing the boat on this maybe even people internally to
to SEMA sometimes um this is a trade show you see any that that miss uh like just miss the
sailboat type of thing with some of these people yeah yeah you know if you look at the comments on
the commentary on social media yeah you see you know the majority of people I think the the the
feel is like if if a vehicle comes out of SEMA if it shows up at SEMA it's not a hundred percent
finished it's a rush job it's never gonna run I think now like right now people are seeing like
90 percent of the cars in SEMA don't run which is not accurate but I understand what they're
where they're coming from I get where they're coming from there there's a lot of a lot of
noisemakers a lot of vehicles that get a lot of attention every year and a large chunk of those
aren't done they're not they're not finished right they're rush jobs that maybe like worked on them
two or three months um got them there you know roll them in and they roll them out you know the
whole thing I think there's just a misconception that uh number one this is a car show which is not
no uh it's a trade show big difference yep and number two that every car there has to be a hundred
percent functional and and has to be you know track proven or street proven um or shouldn't be there
right that doesn't make any sense and I think I see a lot of people now saying you know SEMA
needs to do something about this they need to not allow people in the into the show unless they can
drive in unless it's got dino sheets and stuff like that but that makes no sense it kind of defeats
the purpose of what this event is about you know what I mean yeah I do so I think there's two pieces
to that right because like as you're speaking the first thing I think of is is we all understand
you know and I this is the first year I haven't been in the show in you know whatever but I you
know I had I had been at the show 20 consecutive years prior to this year so um there is something
that has that is called SEMA quality right like when we were set out to find a vehicle
you know when when I was in marketing for this company only it was always you had to find a SEMA
quality vehicle we all understand that SEMA quality vehicle means it's a pristine as you
possibly could get it I and I and I understand that portion because I've been forced for years to
find those cars and sometimes you hit and sometimes you miss and and the problem with the miss is that
you usually don't know it until you're staring it at in the face like you're promised by you
know by these builders that they're going to bring you the best of the best and then of whatever you
wanted and it just doesn't get there and and the pictures and all this stuff and and you know I've
been at SEMA sleeping on the floor on Monday you know the show starts at Tuesday I've been on the floor
you know technically on Tuesday morning at two o'clock in the morning sleeping in our booth
floor waiting for a car to show up and then trying to figure out well how am I going to get this car
in like yeah the you know carpets are down things you know and you have to move people's booths and
put things back and bribe union members that are trying to get the car allegedly right allegedly
but you know the thing is this is a trade show so the utmost importance for people that are going
to use a display vehicle an exhibitor using a display vehicle is that their products are on the car
properly represented so that they can show off the products that they make the products that they
want you to know where they go I think as the show has become I don't want to say this the right way
I want to say more empty but that's not what I mean because as the show has had more open square
footage appearance wise I'll say that I'll explain that in a second too and they've used feature
vehicles or other builds to fill up the halls to make it feel like there's substance there I think
a lot of these vehicles are coming in that shouldn't be there now years ago even if it was a feature
vehicle which used to be outside used to only be the ones that were around the halls in prominent
places could be out in the front but it wasn't like in parking lots yeah that became to me
a bit of a money grab like right we can get you to SEMA you just have to pay us this much money
and you could have your car but the truth about a feature vehicle and what diluted most of the
feature vehicles was that they were in parking lots where you couldn't see any of the products and
they were so far away that you know you had a hope that maybe the general public would walk over
there just because they can get into those lots and they could just see quote-unquote this car show
that was over there and now the feature vehicles that are worth anything they call them v spots
and you pay really decent money for those v spots couple of grand a spot and you select those spots
so those are not the same same feature vehicles but um you know the thing that people don't realize
is that you know SEMA picked up I think like 1.3 million square feet a few years ago when they
built that new west hall yep so a lot of people that were in the regular halls they had a date you
know if they moved those places over there naturally without the show getting any smaller
they they now have more open space right it's like it's like building another floor in your
house you know what I mean if you move all your furniture into different spots up there your
house gonna look a little more empty on the on the lower two floors right um but you didn't
but you have the same amount of furniture um so it's kind of like that but I think a lot of
those feature vehicles you know they're just kind of letting any of those feature vehicles in
and that's their prerogative to do but I think what ends up happening is that by product of that
is you see a lot of vehicles that are just there and those people didn't get their cars finished
or they wrapped I've seen some wrapped vehicles some photos that are just hot mess hot mess you
don't you mean right right so there's that stuff right yeah and I think that the the scale too like
the comparison you have to kind of look at is like there's some we talk a lot about important you
know in Japanese vehicles but some of the domestic vehicles are on such a high level yeah that the
expectation is like I mean you see some of them you see them that have been completely from the
ground up but they didn't start three months ago right they started three years three years ago
and these are vehicles that have you know over a hundred thousand dollars um you know just probably
in the labor portion of it so um that level is completely different but I think that like with
in terms of of our world like I said a lot of people are misconstruing like what is this actually for
the idea is if you have a wild build whether it's running or not finished or not you put
it in a booth and it draws eyes and it gets conversation and get social media attention
or at the show it gets people to come to your booth and go and what is this all about
and then the person starts explaining yeah it has this this and this also our radiator is in there
right it's a perfect fit it's it has you know all these different qualities let's talk business
that that's what it's for that's what the divin is for so whether whether the the wrap fit right or
you know looks right or um it's got bumper gaps or you know whatever it might be the idea is a little
bit of shock factor bring people to your booth that's the whole idea just like when the models
were more a big thing you know and the model and the models were a big thing when I get models you
know yeah I mean but they it was they was that was like a thing man we had when I tell you that
there was probably just as much stress on finding your booth models as there was finding the vehicle
oh yeah 100% right so I listen I think there's that I think you know I've seen yeah I saw some
some comments on some of the some of these people um talking about man that car overheated I heard
that car overheated on the way out of the hall like you should be ashamed of yourself bringing
that car to see man I'm like the car looked good I don't know what we're talking about like it did
his job too it brought people to the booth yeah they got people on social media talking whatever
company brought it in got a bunch of in terms of of ROI that's it that's what you want you want
so it worked did his job whether or not it you know it's the fuel rail's not hooked up or right
you know whatever whatever it might be um sure it might be a little bit embarrassing to the builder
but at the same time you know they did they were supposed to do yeah the car did what it was supposed
to do and let's not pretend let's not pretend that this is something I mean let's not say that this
is something that's new like bluetooth bluetooth drive shafts have been a thing for you know 15
years I mean if you guys walk out I mean those trucks out front like half the time like they
didn't run you just pushed them in and like they did not have drive shafts no drive shafts like
there's no way it could ever hold in on its own power so um you know I don't think that's new and
I think that you know look do I do I wish that CMO was the upper echelon for all cars that showed up
absolutely right and I think that there's a lot of pride when you can bring a build there
that's like that but you know what you said before about when you're looking for a booth vehicle
and the draw has superseded now the vehicle right so so if you get somebody and we've we've
done it plenty of years now you know where we'll pick a booth that's from one of our you know we'll
pick a car that's for one from one of our influencers that we know is going to do a signing or the
car's cool but you know whatever it is and the truth of the matter is you know we've also gotten to
a point where you know when you walk around CMO if you've never been there there you know you'll
walk past the you know a million and a half dollar car and you will just miss it you'll just walk
right by it like it happens because there's so much sensorly sensory overload when you're walking
these halls that it ends up being one of those things that you can miss something that otherwise
on the street or out in the public or in the open you would just stop and spend you know 20 minutes
looking at it yeah yeah yeah you can definitely have like that loss and translation type thing
I will say there was there was a company that I worked for through a media agency
and for CMO we were you know we were kind of tasked with covering the happenings on their booth
and they had a number of very high profile art people like like very very high profile yeah
and they would come in they did the signings the whole thing but you know as I'm there you know
they do the autograph thing they get their free stuff yeah and I just don't know like I think for
that company it was more about brand identity being related to those to those people they sponsor I
mean they had like MMA fighters they had you know all this all this stuff going on yeah but they
weren't in my opinion they weren't selling it what it is they produce you know what I mean right but
in terms of of having a presence I mean it was a huge booth they had lines you know wrapped
around all day long throughout the entire week so it was a different a different vision and I think
it it definitely helped a brand identity yeah but completely different from like the small small
group over here that might be doing suspension they've got like an influencer vehicle in their booth
and their whole idea is like we're trying to show you that this product works on a vehicle that's
been proven to work yeah it's just a different a different look right like one has multi-million
dollar budget the other one doesn't yeah but their focus is get that product out there let people
know that it actually works right whereas this one is just brand identity so there is that too you
know those those two different lanes yeah you know I think well and it all translates to the same thing
it's eyeballs right like yeah like you know for us if let's say we bring an influencer in it's not
just the eyeballs that we get from all the people coming for signings or coming into the booth they'll
get the car that they've seen on youtube for you know three months or whatever it is during the
build process it's also about the fact that those info that influencer is going to make content in
your booth or about going to SEMA or doing different things additionally to that you're going to have
the people like influencers have friends that are influencers and they're going to drop by the booth
and next thing you know you so you have this drawing I think I think it's cool but if you'll
look at the progression of kind of how we had cars in our booth for years we now tend to choose
really nice
well-built I want to maybe they're brand new builds but they're kind of street cars not you know or
race car or real race cars that we sponsor might be one of our fd drivers or different things like
that yeah but the idea we've we've spent more and more time just on doing real built cars
because I think that that's the company we are that what that's that's the relatable portion
so I think for us to you know bring in you know something absolutely like bonkers
that we know people are going to look at and they're going to look at the car and then they're
going to leave like you said I think maybe that's a little bit less us really you know what I mean
right yeah yeah yeah you know when I was on the media side of things and I was always there covering
the events it's interesting how now the shift has been you know to social media obviously but
back then it was trying to get a magazine to your booth to take photos of your product right
the show and your your layout you know when the take you know two months later or whatever it was
but now it's it's about that immediate like right away you know get me on instagram you know show
the product yeah it works very very well I've noticed for the tool industry portion of steamer
oh yeah guys they're showing off tools and toolboxes I love that stuff so I watch that stuff
and it's it's all the time tell me what you got and the guy will just kind of run through it and
give you a little demo of the little demonstration show you exactly how it works you know you know
where can we buy it how much is it yeah it's so immediate and on the spot and people are like
watching it and they're going okay go to the website right now I'll buy it right now I need that
right what is that 150 bucks I'll buy it so in that aspect for that that industry it's great well
honestly like the same I don't know if you're doing the same tools but the thing is that I like
listen some of these tools have been around before but then like you see they pop up and like out of
nowhere I get this thing of like no no I need those now like so like also tools has and I'm not
clearly not sponsored by anybody uh but also tools has those stubby sockets that go into
like a regular ratcheting wrench yeah you push the the piece yeah yeah and you can push the the
lock in the back so it doesn't come off and I'm like I need those anytime I go to get them
because I'm looking for obviously one of the metrics that would are they're always sold out
and then they come into they come in and I'm like all right great and I want to get the other pieces
and they're not there so um yeah I think that's exactly what it is it's about creating that hype
you know yeah for whatever reason the the tool industry like they've capitalized on it and they
do it so well uh so much better I think than the performance side yeah and I don't know what that
is but for whatever reason maybe it's the the characters that are going to those booths that
are so good at showing you the product but it's just simple it's like one-on-one the demonstration
goes down you're like damn I want that I need that or where can I find more information about that
and they tell you everything's right there you know but do you think it has to do with cost
like do you think it's at like well with a tool it's it first off it's it's globally accepted
right like it doesn't matter what you work on if most of those tools can be used and then the other
thing is it's like man I need to like that that only costs 50 bucks that only costs 100 bucks
that only has 150 bucks now I know people say I know some right I know listen I've done the same
thing with welders right you see a new welder or something else new tech come out or something
that adds on you're like I gotta have that right but I would argue that the purchase isn't necessarily
as quick yeah yeah true do I mean there are some some big ticket items I I did catch a video of
it was like royalty something royalty repair something like that and this guy and his dad
they're going to oh yeah the royalty auto guy I know what you're talking about yeah yeah yeah
they're like hey dad hey dad what's this and it was like I think it was a harbor freight
their new toolbox a massive one and it's like I don't know like 4500 bucks or something which
is crazy cheap compared to like snap on snap on it's like 18 grand or something right so
the guy was saying on the video he's like look all the space and kind of going through the drawers
and all that he's like we already give guys that have worked with us technicians after two years
he gave them life a bunch of tools maybe after five years you get him one of these so I think from
in my opinion that's like the best sort of advertising for harbor freight in this instance
because it's like this guy's gonna probably buy multiple boxes and kind of reward his employees
with it it's just a great way to like show in person like how good the product is right because
if the guy comes over he's not sponsored by them and he goes through it because everything here's
so good I'm gonna buy you know multiple boxes for employees and you know when they hit that mark
so it's just a great way to advertise you know it's interesting with the harbor freight stuff
though I mean it's because you know I think you can compare it a lot to wheel companies in a way
but like when you look at when you look at harbor freight stuff clearly you know you're
gonna get it's funny you like I have a whole bunch of people in my in my feed especially
they're really like I have a lot of fabricators and in addition to fabricators and tuners but I
also have like again a lot of people that would be interested in tools so there was a lot of
stuff in my feed at SEMA about tools harbor freight you know the snap on different things like that
so you had half the people that were going into into the harbor freight booth basically saying like
this is a direct rip off a snap on you know they're they're they're crucifying them for that
and then you had the other half going this is amazing this is just like snap on but but but I
guess what I'm well where my point is is that like you know people get really I think the people
that spent all the money to get the snap on stuff or they they have a long lasting legacy and brand
thing with with snap on and look I believe this you know what what made snap on amazing and people
can argue and say no it's their quality but I think what made snap on amazing had everything
to do with their warranty when you were a tool truck person when you're when you're you know
a dealer mechanic yeah the tools might be great but you're going to break them right they're
they're not magical tools like when you you're going to break them and when you do that day the
next day a week from now the snap on trucks could come around see if you want to buy anything so you
can pay them you know $20 a week for the rest of your life the rest of your life yeah and and when
they do you know it doesn't matter what it is if it's a hand tool you're going to hand it to them
and they're either going to fix it right there on the spot or they're going to swap it out with you
right and I think when you're a working professional that is monumental you need your tools to make
your money right that's a hundred percent what it is now for the for the even for the prosumer
that's kind of where I put myself prosumer right like I have a lot of skill have a lot of tools
not going to say I have a lot of snap on stuff it's just really expensive sure I also don't put
nine tools through nearly the same type of rigor that a guy that's you know a dealership mechanic
is going to do right like it's just not going to happen so so for me let's say I get something from
Harbor Freight now they have a warranty you know a lot of their stuff if you get the decent stuff
like you know you can take it back now how many times you have to take it back that's something
you're going to have to play with right some of their stuff is better than other it's just the way
it is um but it's interesting to see you know if you're not the guy who needs it like there's a
lot of people that love love Harbor Freight and and you know and I have a couple of those um
which we'll call it the toolboxes uh now I'm forgetting the their what they call icon one
no I don't have the icon one I actually have the um uh now I'm drawing a blank which the the the
other boxes that they have that are pretty popular but they're pretty general yeah general yep the
us general right um I have a couple of those boxes and and I've had them for probably five or six years
and they're really very good I I mean you know I think that like my friend has snap-on boxes I think
to his older snap-on box you know maybe it's real the ball bearing stuff is just as good the detents
are pretty good sure I think to his newer he's got a really big newer snap-on box and that has the
soft closed draws and all the good stuff and like and I will say that that box is not even close
like that the quality so far above the us general I have but now I think these new boxes like you're
talking about that they just came out with they built in all that crap and now they're they're
right back in that same zone again it's just really interesting because at what point
is it not about copying but about working in features that exist right right yeah it's funny too
like I got some slack when you know I'd done a couple of technical stories for super street yep
that some of them weren't print and then some that went online and I didn't even think about it but I
was using just normal ratcheting wrenches from from Harbor Freight in a couple of the photos you
know and I got some slack for it like man you really you really cheaped out of the tools and I
was like I don't really know what to tell you like I bought these tools like I don't know 11 years ago
I built four cars of them they're still holding up but they break or replace them but right I still
have in my garage it's been 15 years like I don't I don't really know what to tell you well I get
where you're coming from but you know they've worked so I don't you know right they did the job
and I think that the part that gets me off of just kind of staying on the ratchet wrench thing it's
so I have a lot of the gear wrench stuff you know a couple of the things have you know I stripped
out some of the teeth and stuff like that maybe I bought a replacement or whatever it is but for
the most part for my use they've they've been fine and they've held up and I think gear wrenches
continue to get a better brand name within within the industry as it goes up but like at the end
of the day I just don't I you know I don't think that they're amazing tools and I also think that
there's probably better ones out there but then you know some of these ratchets I don't know if
anybody has ever broken a ratchet but for the most part many times more than once right depending
on where you break them I mean I've gotten pretty good half of the time I rebuild my own you know
you take out the C clips and stuff like that and a lot of times you can get in there and kind of
figure out what's going on and kind of get everything back in line re-grease it put it back
together not exactly a complicated process and so you know sometimes I just think people have to
understand that everything's got its limits right like you know it's metal like there's things that
happen in there um I don't know I mean like you know when we look at a harbor freight thing versus
a gear a gear wrench like are we what are we we're just talking about brand names right like they
have the same type of design and quality maybe what that said too is there is there a problem with
having more than one option because it goes the same with car parts right like there's going to be
more than just one one one header for for a b-series Honda right there's going to be more than one
exhaust if there was just one of everything kind of kind of boring right I saw something similar
with with Honda who had a lot of motion at at Seaman this year they had a pool a cool booth car
they had some new products coming out yeah they have this this new b-pro system which is basically
allows you to it comes with a trigger wheel and it comes with a setup to run you know coil over
coil over plug and then also have a k-pro on a v-series which you couldn't do before unless you
were you know you're pretty pretty thankful so they have this whole system that came out and I was
just shocked at how much black they got for it because people jumped in right away and say oh you're
though this is their own setup this is their own trigger there are other coil coil over plug
systems or coil on plug however you want to want to call it there's a bunch there's there's probably
a dozen out there so I didn't really see where people are coming from and I think a lot of them
were missing the point that this whole thing was so that you could run k-pro with a b-series
which some people want to do other people will say it's too expensive I'd rather just
do a standalone perfectly fine but in this instance it's for something very very specific
and I think every post they put up I follow them so every post they put up there was a bunch of
people jumping in saying oh you're ripping off this brand they kept tagging the brand I was like
man it's very good advertising for that brand but it just seems pointless to me there can be more
than one out there yeah I think it's interesting it's like I saw that k-tune I mean that k-tune
um that Hyundai also had had some new cams out right so it's like all right so you put out some
new cams so it's like oh you've been copying you know Holly because they put out or Edelbrock or
you know like I mean like a comp cams like you I don't I don't remember a time that ever had
especially in the Honda world we're like in the early days where people were were doing that like
when another cam manufacturer came in and offered something like it was it was a good thing it was
like something positive maybe it's better than what was already available right if there's more
power to be had you know yeah I don't know I just don't see the downside I think the I think the
problem is everybody's gotten so worked up about reps and and the the trade war that had kind of
existed with this whole tariff thing I think really all that stuff just really heightens everything
because we're blaming countries and things and we're equating everything we get to which country
it came from and you know I even think about it on the wheel side you know Roy Bling uh my boy Roy
Bling out there um you know kind of trying to kind of bridge the gap between uh you know some of
these Chinese um uh you know forged manufacturers and and the general public you know and that's a
whole other subject that you know maybe one day we can get into I should bring them on sometime
have you know I was thinking about that but here's the problem the problem is that I'm worried that
that would go the wrong way right like I well what I mean is like I think like you know how we do
this podcast now you're in on it like we really just like to have good conversations and and I
always treat the podcast as almost a come almost a completely separate I mean obviously maybe 10%
is has to do with us and talk about wheels and like we did in the beginning yeah but um
but like I like these conversations whether it be the busher racing like we didn't gain anything
at a busher racing podcast you know with with David right it was a good conversation I thought um
so I would like to have him on just for the sake of being able to have a friendly debate and talk
about different things I think he might take it as we were trying to kind of use him for publicity
oh that's what you mean you know what I mean and that's not really what I would like to do but I
have you know and here's the thing I you know you've heard me say you know we've talked internally
about maybe some of his opinions and views and I think you know some are spot on and I think other
ones are a little further away from that spot um but I'd love to be able to have that conversation
with him just on a friendly basis not on an attacking basis or anything I think you know he's
there's a lot of interesting things he's bringing to the car community and then I think there's some
other things and I think he's also very smart and what I mean by smart is he knows exactly how to
push the right buttons between a lot of different people and I don't think he's even quiet about
this I think he really he's been very vocal about this he said like you know I've seen him put posts
up he's like this is what rage bait does look at the views like he knows what he's doing he's not
he's not stupid by any uh you know sense of the imagination but I think it's important to be able
to have those good conversations but I love to have him on I mean yeah I don't think he's watching
our podcast but if he's on if he is and he wants to come on uh I'd be more than happy to have those
conversations I think it's uh it's an interesting thing yeah for sure yeah for sure I think um
you know every year at steam there's always like the year of right the year of right for a while
was a rock and bunny kids and then it was you know ls slops and all this stuff for um for what I've
been seeing everyone's talking about the k20c one slops and it's been pretty pretty prominent
there's only there's only a couple of cars I had them but they got a lot of attention yeah one of
them being in the hondada booth that was honda pro jason's car was it I don't know the silver one
silver one I thought that was his car or maybe he was just covering it I'm not sure I don't follow
him but um I know the um the the car the k20c one um you know that slop has already been done before
in um even that chassis previously but with the hondada version it's they want to have everything
working right so they're going to do it's got power steering now it's going to have ac the hood
closes it's the whole package right and then um so it's it's a pretty big deal um and you know
it got a lot of attention for sure yeah um I don't know if that's the future swap like I'm sure a lot
of people want that swap it's not the most affordable thing yet but um it could be um but again a lot
of flak they cut a lot of uh a lot of backlash because people are like why would you why would you
do that swap and you can just do an older case swap and turbo and be faster but I think people
are not looking at the big picture this is uh not only for their brand to expand and to grow but
eventually those motors are going to be hard to get to side b series right so it's going to be at a
point where everything has to shift over and that's where like the l15s come in and the k20c one
because they're going to be you know more readily available well don't get people started about the
l15 I made it one time and uh and it wasn't good I heard it was with Doug so it wasn't even like
you know it was with Hyundai but but anyhow so so real I want to I want to say all right I'm going
to tell you the general feedback I have you know between knowing people that were at the show
knowing other exhibitors between uh you know knowing influencers that built cars for the show
between uh you know the the aftermarket automotive for uh uh you know Facebook groups that we talk
a lot of the industry people talk about in um I heard a lot of different things about the show
in addition to what I saw on social media so I want to give you some of the general synopsis
that I acquired from all of that stuff and then I want you to tell me what kind of opinion so I
don't want you to base your opinion on my opinion I want you to then tell me what you think you've
gathered from what you saw okay so what I saw was the majority of people established exhibitors
and um people that have been going to the show for a long time kind of say the show was off
right I've seen them say a lot of halls didn't have the the quantity of exhibitor there that they
were used to that a lot of people kind of you know backed off I heard that there was a lot of
really good domestic builds and all a lot of the sport compact builds or a lot of the more
tuner oriented builds that were there while the best ones were really nice there was a
lot of rinse and repeat as in same type of builds that we've done every single year just
different cars um I you know I've heard people say that you know I don't know the show just
felt off to me now there's a flip side to this I've seen and I and I believe this to be the truth
here's where I believe that SEMA shines if you're a if you're a smaller company if you're a company
that even has good size maybe is kind of on the outer edge of the circle of automotive but you
kind of have some play that kind of borders into automotive if you are a company that is looking
for more of an established base if you're looking for a company that's looking to get really in on
the small shops and you have some good products to offer I think SEMA is an amazing show for you
I really do um when you start crossing into having larger booths you have an established
customer base you are there not looking for dealers but you're trying to continue brand
awareness I think it gets extremely difficult to quantify the ROI that comes from that show
yeah right the the other thing I think that SEMA does extremely well is it does become a meeting
place for all these people to gather and some amazing things come from the networking and
the ability to make meetings happen so easily at the show sure however the problem that I see
existing for some of those situations is that less and less buyers are going into the show
and when they are going to the show the duration that they're staying at the show is so short
they're going in and they're going out and what ends up happening is a lot of times they're trying
to do their whole day or if they're going in for a day or two they're not really doing a lot of
formal meetings or their meetings are you know really just the the top edge of their customer base
and then they're gonna they're gonna hit and run on everybody else to to say hello
and then you're going to end up as a dealer or I mean as a whatever going to these places
after the show or before the show whatever it may be and that waters down the importance of that
show so I think you know look I think the world is changing around the SEMA show not SEMA the
organization I think the world is changing around the SEMA show and SEMA and SEMA as a show is doing
their best to try to keep up and adopt and that's why you see in the SEMA Fest and the parades and
the different things I think they're trying and you know hopefully that that continues to go I just
I really also hope that the SEMA is able to continue to prioritize the fact that they are the
representation for our industry and not just the show right and I know that that's yeah that's
that's a hard clarity I know there's a big burden because a lot of the income that SEMA makes for
the year comes from the show and I think that that's people have to also understand that supporting
the show also allows that income to be there so they can do other things for you like they do so
well like lobbying for other you know laws and different things that have to do with enthusiasts
and and other manufacturing companies but you know look these are things that I'm not I'm not
throwing shade at any person or any group but I am you know kind of bringing that subject up that
you know I want I hope that they continue to to rise and shine and and do great things because
they are the industry you know representation you know for our whole our whole segment you know I mean
for everything yeah I mean I did I did get kind of that same sentiment that it seemed like things
are spread out a little bit more and there was a little bit less than what they would usually
see I didn't get the same information in terms of there being more domestic builds I think there's
always a majority of those there but I think a lot of times people are so focused on trying to find
the vehicles they're familiar with if it's you know Supras or you know Skyland or whatever
they sort of miss a lot of the domestic stuff that's out there for me personally you know
I like what I like but I would spend a lot of time going over some of those domestic build
I stole a lot of ideas for my own build because some of the stuff they were doing I thought was so
cool so kind of an edge you know I don't know I think that people sort of miss a lot of those
vehicles because they're so focused on this crazy thwap over here that they keep caring about or
this or that what that said though I I do question in terms of the SEMA organization is there enough
young blood there to sort of attract this younger audience because obviously it's YouTube
social media influencer heavy for everything that we deal with now is there a group at SEMA
and I don't know everyone there right I have a few friends that work there but you know they're
like my age I'm just wondering if there's a younger demo there that can help sort of facilitate
what's going to be happening in the future to make sure that it stays sort of true to what
it's been but also open to the younger demographic yeah I mean I listen I I don't know I can't tell
you the age you know demographic of the organization itself but you know I will say that I think that
there's a lot of things that they do very well um you know central hall from what I heard from
everybody else central hall was banging and it usually always is you know that's the bulk of
the stuff that's exciting I think what we have to do for a second it when we and I'm just talking
about the show I'm not talking about other things I don't want to get too cloudy but I think what you
know what has to be done for a second is really look at the segment of people that are going to
the show and where what are they looking to see because it's not as simple as just saying we are
the meeting place for the industry I get it they are right now the problem is like you said social
media and all these different things is going to change things and and and will you adopt fast
enough and will the money be cost prohibit or the cost of attending there and exhibiting will that be
cost prohibitive to to making any money or the connections or deals you'll put together yeah I
think that you know there's a lot of things they do very well I do think that they've done a good
job about keeping influencers you know involved in in the show and I think that you do get a lot
of hype from those influencers so I think that's yeah I think that's one thing they do very very
well I think the hard part is you'll find the older group of exhibitors they don't want any
retail element at their show they say this is this is a trade show and we have this once a year
and our mentality and our alignment is to have a trade show we do not want people that are not
inside the trade show here this week now I can understand the point of view but I don't share it
my thing about creating the SEMA Fest which I believe is what SEMA is trying to do about
putting it on the weekend but it's after the show I don't know I don't know that I love that because
I feel like as a manufacturer you know we spend all this money to come to the show and then the
idea of having to spend more money to then break everything down on that thing as grueling as that
week is and then go set up somewhere else to be able to display at another event that's also SEMA
but just for the retail end that's a little tough the idea that they let people in on a Friday and
in different things and maybe you know do I think that SEMA potentially you know should
be one of those things where you know Tuesday Wednesday is industry only Thursday Friday allows
it to change to a consumer base I personally feel that way as much as I think I would be exhausted
and and it would be a very difficult thing to do I think by me being able to say I know Tuesday
and Wednesday is going to be one atmosphere and then Thursday Friday is going to be completely
other atmosphere and also feeling like I'm getting all the foot traffic that I want from spending
that kind of money I do think that might help to revitalize the actual show but you've got to be
super super limited and and and and hardcore about making sure that Tuesday and Wednesday
do not have any element of people in that show on those days that are not absolute
buyers or people looking to do some stuff I really do think it needs to be the industry industry
industry yeah lockout and that's my own opinion I mean what the hell do I know
well I mean you know they've got a whole team over there I'm sure they have
talked about this a million times yeah yeah yeah they have these projections and they have
you know reports and things that they they can kind of figure out what works best
I guess my question is or or my concern is what happens moving forward is there enough
momentum for the younger audience to keep people interested the the brand's always going to be
interested because this is where business is done but if you look at the commentary like I said on
social I know people went back to this but it is like most things overwhelmingly negative
because you know those vehicles they don't run and this has been done before and they're copying
that but I don't know I kind of look at the brighter side there's some really really cool
stuff to see there you know the the car and the Honda out of booth with the case swap
it has been done before but not to this level and that's exciting because this is like a whole
another level of of builds that are going to be happening in the future it's going to be based on
this swap so it's very important that this goes through there's another one too that I'm sure
you saw or heard about the Odyssey type R yeah of course that JDI and did I think with with some
with some help from BC yeah it's cool you know it's people I think right away jumped on it and
we're saying Honda has to build this they build this they'll sell a million million of them
they won't that's that's completely false but it was more of an exercise in it was more of an
exercise and showing what JDI is capable of doing they use OEM spec connectors and wiring
and things like that they're they make a harness now that they can put that that engine in just
about anything and with that one in particular everything on the Odyssey and chassis side is
still Odyssey it still all works everything on the K20C one side that works as well and they merge
them right so you still have all all the basic functions of an Odyssey yeah but with that engine
so do I think it's the coolest swap ever not really it's kind of silly but I like the fact that
they're in order to show that their product will work with anything and that's like the last thing
you would think of right a type R swapped Odyssey so it's called that way you know uses a an EP3
shifter what they use because it's up there on the dash and then like I said everything seems to
work I know they drove it to to a meet in SoCal over the weekend as well so it did show up there
that's kind of cool I don't know I thought it was a cool it was a cool thing to do I don't know
how that transmission holds up to pull around us 4,500 pound minivan I think there's gonna be a
problem with that especially if they're they're planning to do a bigger turbo kims more power yeah
but just the idea of it I think is very very cool yeah I mean listen I saw it was well it was well
done I thought it was well done yeah yeah it was super clean yeah it was super clean I saw a lot
of cars that I thought were really good and look here's the deal if for those that haven't been to
see man are writing some of these things I think you should understand that when you go walk the
show and you see some of these things in person you won't feel nearly as much hate as you feel
when you're on those keyboards because there is a level of kind of accepting what somebody has to
go through to get their car there and then on top of it what kind of time crunches a lot of these
builds come in everybody talks about like oh yeah these cars a lot of times are are are really only
commissioned or come to fruition where you have a booth space within three months of the show like
that's the part I think people miss out on many builders there are a group of builders that will
build for SEMA and then they try to find their car out to any company that they want but a lot of
times the the builds that are the stuff that you're talking about they come from a meeting or an
opportunity that arises once people are starting to look for booth cars and sometimes that's not
till May you know of you know of that year then they lock in around June right so now you're
talking about gotta go find a car whatever it is June July August September October you know
four or five months so I think that that's difficult but but you know I mean look there's
some things there that you're like how could they bring this to the show that will always be there
right sure um but then there's some other cars and there's there then there's cars that you see
in person and they they hit you way different um one of the cars I think I love the most even though
I haven't seen it in person but I I can just it was really well like um you know the guy from the
A90 Supra and I think he caught it he caught some hate too I think he was the one that overheated
on the way out of the show or something right but so I think what happened was uh for what I
understand is the car overheated prior to the show right I don't know if it was on the way there
but prior to this the show happening he had some overheating issues so he didn't mention he's got
the pops of head off um when he gets it back but um what what did you think about that the idea of
RB RB 30 block 26 heads in that in that chassis well so let me let me let me say this first the
first thing is for all these people they're going to say about the super on thing it should be 2j the
whole thing like listen I get it I'm not I'm not saying that but like forget about that for a second
like let's push that aside for a second and just look at the the build for the build I thought the
build was awesome like I really liked it I I thought the amount of you know stuff and and has
anybody put an RB into that car absolutely very much so that's been done before that's not the
first one but but here's the thing the car was super clean he set out to make a thousand horsepower
damn near made it he had more room in the car I I do believe it's possible that you know when you
build that I mean he he stayed up all night long building those cars for for for days um I think
he he's a real guy he's not rich he's not like you know he he called his buddy like it's it's a
relatable build in the sense that like a real person put it together with real help from friends
that also are shops and different things like that and he has just enough sponsor help that I think
it probably made the thing work the cars clean it reasonably drove under its own power it was
well thought out I mean there was some custom things that had to get done in that car things
like the steering rack that you had to figure out and a lot of accessibility to be able to make
you know components and modules with with that came with the a90 continue to make everything
work in the can bus system and all that stuff so this wasn't like you know you just you know you
got a you know an old Mustang and you just yank the motor out and you had to connect four wires
you know what I mean I like to build now did you not like to build and I just no no and I'm not
I'm not hating people think I don't I don't care but I think it just made me question like why
why why do the swap like the car looked really really clean I thought the swap was very very
well done it was super tidy but I just don't understand like the point of it like if you
if you want to build a fast car with an rb 3026 why not put it into a letter chassis for example
like what what made and I don't follow the channel so I don't know like you know I don't
really either I mean I I just I don't yeah I'm not sure what with the whole idea maybe he blew
the stock motor and he had that sitting around I don't know what the I just don't see the point of
it where you could probably say the same thing about the Odyssey I just mentioned but there was
a point to that it was showing that this product it makes it possible to put this engine in any
Honda right yeah so that I see a point I just didn't see a point to it but I thought it was well
done in terms of the swap and I know that there has been videos because the the windshield wipers
were backward and the seatbelt harnesses were expired there's all these little things and you
know I get it that kind of comes with the territory but like you said the guy was like plus and get
it done so props to him for getting it done and getting it there yeah I just for me personally I
don't see I don't see the draw I think the factory engine in that car is fully capable
and I just didn't see it you know what I mean but here's but so so here's my take on it on that
whole piece I I don't know that there was a point I think we're at a stage now where and
there's just some cars that we build because there's something about them right like and
and and look I mean I think we look at like and I understand the b58 is a is a really good engine
we've started to see that more and more and more so it's extremely capable right in the out of the
box but what what's really exciting if he brought that to the show would you have been really excited
about that car maybe I mean yeah you know it does the rb become a talking point sure the fact that
the art it's it did his job for sure you're you're making like you're also making a car that I mean
just to be clear some of these engines and and drivetrains have become just as collectible and
as you know whatever as the cars themselves right so like you know I like the idea of the old gen
versus the new gen I used to be very very opposed to cross cross pollinating yeah I just didn't like
it I you know I would always say well but it's a Toyota but now you know you already had the the
thing that came with the Toyota BMW thing right from the factory so I felt like well we're already
past that let's you know like I mean look if the if the guy likes the rb platform he's got his hands
on an rb-26 if you feel that you know and I know that there's things about that right but like I thought
the car was clean I like the black with the red contrast he had a lot of good very you know very
clean fabricated parts in there everything was shortened throughout it was you know the fittings
were done well like I just I guess what I'm saying is that the parts that I like about building a car
he checked off most of those things for me so I look at the build and be like
it's cool yeah right no it was very well done for sure I just again for my internal car building
nerd is like but why though like there's there's so many there's so many other other options but
like you said sometimes you build stuff to build it yeah there's another one do you know that Brad
builds that guy have you heard of Brad builds I don't know I don't I maybe so one of the cars he
had there was a 240z and he did a viper swap into it and you think like you know I know viper swap like
this huge motor in this this old lightweight car but then just the fact that he put so much
working to the fabrication portion of it and I think the vehicle had rust or some some issues
with the front end so he he did like a you know a tubular setup and so I mean it fits for the most
part it's in there I don't think you can put a hood on there but the amount of fabrication that went
into it and just like the wow factor that was really really cool it was outside I'm not sure who
it was there for excuse me but it was it was on display and he started it up and he was revving
it and stuff and people were you know kind of crowded around to check it out he had like these
3d printed headlight replacements so there was a there was a light in there but it had fence going
through to the brakes and stuff and then he had like a lot of like really really cool stuff I
thought and I thought it was very very well done but in kind of like classic seamless spirit you
know on the interior it had seats it had a roll bar the back end was finished but the dash it was
like just a skeleton and there was wires everywhere and then you go to the very back and then the
bumper was cut out but there's nothing underneath and so he still needed to do like the diffuser
and stuff so the car wasn't 100% complete but it was very very closed right I thought it was really
really well done how he did it on paper though I mean it didn't sound like anything I would
want to see but when I saw a couple of different videos showing the close up stuff all the details
like man he really he really did a lot of work on this thing it was really really cool to see
yeah it's hard it's super tough I you know one of my favorite builders that
is you know that guy I hope I make sure I get his last name right but that Kyle Cunhausen
um oh yeah yeah he built that he's on a different level his his fabrication is like that's my favorite
park completely different low it's so high I literally I literally watch anything he does
and I get done and I'm I'm gonna give my tools away this is ridiculous he's just so creative like
yeah it doesn't even make sense the stuff he does it's so creative he does is like wild right
and and and the and the precision that it's done on is on another level and the fact that he does it
out of this two car two and a half car garage you're like this is nuts he he he won I think
he won best car at SEMA this year with that vet that he's been you know toying around with for a
few years yeah right but remember for for people that don't know he was also the one that did that
basically all uh you know I guess all steel all aluminum whatever it was all metal um 240z
for you know like that had that had everybody it was in the top builder challenge
that was those years ago yeah I did a um I did a story on him at SEMA actually I interviewed him
and I was like man I don't just all the details it was just so much it was like maybe too much
yeah but he wanted to show off what he could do and I was like man this guy it's like
another level it's a different level it doesn't even make sense it's so good no it's so precise
and and and with all that stuff even the stuff that's over the top is functional and that's the
crazy like right if you look at the oil catch that the oil he has he did a dry sump on the vet
the the oil just just the oil tank you know the the reservoir for the dry sump that he did
and how he integrated it into the car it's it blow your mind and that's one piece you know yeah
I mean everything's so well thought out oh the roll bars and and and and the sway bars and the
subframes and everything's got the you know the dimple holes in it but it's got you know the
custom pass-through thing so it's just a strong it's just the whole thing is just unbelievable
yeah that's the stuff that you want to see in SEMA right he's like uh he's like almost like a
young chip boost where he's just so creative and the stuff he's doing people are not even
realizing what it what it is until they see it you know I know um yeah everything he touches
then it's so good it's awesome it just you know those builds take years not not days not weeks
not months you know yeah I don't know well so anyhow so that was SEMA do we have anything else
so we wanted to touch on them SEMA I don't know no no I think I think really just why we weren't
there you know why we didn't make it out this year it wasn't uh it wasn't a mistake it was it was
planned and uh and just kind of want to make my point that like it's not a car show I know it
seems that way because that's what you see in social media and everybody wants to see what new
cars are out yeah but it's not a car show so um the people they're kind of going crazy like you
know and none of the cars they're run a lot of them run probably the majority yeah um you know a
lot of them get finished right after the show and then some of them get sold off some of them get
parted out and sold off yeah just like a car show right it's the same thing but this is a trade show
there's a big difference listen and for and for and to your point for for years there have been cars
that like back in the day used to be I remember I used to walk around knocking on builds that I
thought eh knocking on the roll cages because a lot of them used to use exhaust tubing you know
what I mean like and you know and and and that was all because it was just a look thing and they
can cut it out later like it was barely in the car so um look you know there's always been those
types of cars but you're right the majority of the cars they are absolutely run and there are
some cars that you would just not be able to wrap your head around unfortunately the internet decides
good bad or indifferent which cars are going to be the thing that get talked about sometimes good
sometimes bad right um I think SEMA has a really good place in this automotive world and I really
hope that things maybe continue to go in a good positive direction I think it's good for our
industry and I think um you know that's what I hope and and do I think that we'll be back at SEMA
next year I do you know what I mean absolutely do I think that we've never had a year that we've
taken off I think this year just felt like that I think last year burnt me out a little bit just
kind of having to be in an area where I felt so like I literally felt that was like I was in a
foreign country last year and I'm not just talking about the people that were displaying there I'm
just I just it didn't feel anything like the SEMA I had that I've known that I you know didn't
resemble SEMA for me yeah um and then afterward you know or before we were flying around going
all these people that weren't going to go to the show and I was like well what are we doing here
you know like what are we what are we spending money for just to say we're here like and that's
and that's something that that kind of stays with me and I hope that that that feeling goes away
and it could just be you know my age and me being a little bigger bitter right you know who knows
but anyhow I think SEMA is a is a rock and show for a lot of great people and a lot of great
companies and you know I hope that the the youth like you said they keep getting involved in cars
and this keeps going do you think that fortunately the more that we get into the tech driven worlds
we're losing car people by droves unfortunately yeah yeah we gotta stop that we gotta get out there
Matt we gotta show them the way I know I know you're right this is a wrench you know what I mean
we gotta show them right so right even if it's a harbor freight wrench it could be a harbor freight
wrench but you gotta use it just use the wrench yeah it still works yeah all right uh well listen
let us know what you think about SEMA down below I know that there was a lot of talk here and you
know you're getting it from two guys that didn't even go to the show this year but I promise you
I was at those shows those other 20 years and uh and what I said many times yeah what what we said
was probably fairly on par but let us know what you know did you see any builds what your favorite
builds do you like the idea of there being a you know kind of a day or day or two where the public
is allowed to go for tickets and go through all these booths do you think that it should remain
just a trade show like you know do you think that um you know the show itself is is less relevant
or is it more relevant do you think that there should be what kind of changes do you think should
be at this show that maybe would be for the better um throw your opinions down below very
interested to hear so that's it everybody take care we'll catch you next week peace out yep
good next fall sleep
About this episode
Scott and his co-host discuss their absence from SEMA this year, reflecting on the show's evolution and the challenges faced by exhibitors. They delve into the high costs of participation, the changing demographics of attendees, and the perception of SEMA as a trade show versus a car show. The conversation highlights notable builds, the importance of networking, and the need for the show to adapt to attract younger audiences. They also touch on the quality of builds, the influence of social media, and the future of automotive events.
Original notes
SEMA 2025 did not disappoint — and we’re breaking it all down. In this episode, we dive into the most insane builds, standout booths, and the surprising shift in how manufacturers are showing up (or not showing up) at the show. From engine swaps and cutting-edge tech to the grassroots creativity keeping car culture alive, we unpack how the automotive world is evolving faster than ever.
Whether you’re deep in the car scene or just love seeing where the industry is headed, this episode’s got you covered.
In this episode:
00:02:00 – SEMA 2025, what to expect
00:06:00 – South Hall isn’t what it used to be
00:10:00 – What about NEW WHEELS?
00:14:00 – “SEMA quality” booth cars
00:23:00 – BIG Booths at SEMA
00:27:00 – Social Media now… Magazines then.
00:30:00 – Tools at SEMA
00:40:00 – Unveiling the TRUTH behind Wheels
00:43:00 – K20C1 swaps, the L15 Engine, Other Swaps
00:53:00 – the COST of going to SEMA ($100K +)
00:56:00 – Honda Odyssey Type R (K20C1)
01:00:00 – @StreetAlphaPodcast A90 Supra Project was FIRE
01:07:00 – Kyle Kuhnhausen “Battle of the Builders” is so skilled
01:09:00 – SEMA is NOT a “car show”
Tune in, drop a comment, and let us know your favorite build or moment from SEMA 2025!
2025 Behind the Wheel Podcast | All Rights Reserved
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The post SEMA isn’t what you think it is! appeared first on Konig Wheels Behind The Wheel Podcast.
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