Well it’s finally over. The 2011 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational and SEMA have now been put to rest and to be honest, I’m dead tired. As you know we ran our 1969 Dodge Daytona tribute in the competition and while a bit outgunned, we still managed to do pretty damn good. We had a few issues like a broken shifter bolt and a thrown belt, but for the most part, we came through unscathed. Unfortunately though there was still the 600 + mile drive home yesterday that I had to endure and to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it. Running with a group of cars is one thing as you have some kind of back-up, but taking a 42 year Dodge Daytona through Death Valley on your own… well that’s another story entirely.

Now don’t get me wrong, I trust my cars as they were built right and run strong, but when you’re rolling through the desert and you don’t see another car for 45 minutes thoughts of cannibals and movies like “The Hills Have Eyes” tend to creep into your brain.

The other issue is that you simply don’t realize how good new cars are until you pilot an old one for a 1,000 miles at a clip. While the old school is and always will be cool, it doesn’t change the fact that they’re loud, only get about 10 mpg, and at days end leave you flat-out fatigued. So why then? Why the hell do we still put ourselves through this torture? I laid in bed last night at 7:15 pm (not a misprint) pondering this and the only thing I can think of is that it’s simply who we are. Yes new cars are great and yes they’re reliable, but in the end they have no character, charisma or personality.

Before I fell asleep I debated whether or not I’d actually run another pro-touring event as it always taxes me both financially and physically. The more I thought though, the more I realized that not only would I keep running them, but that I’d keep updating, racing and pushing these old sleds to the limit because lets face it… life is simply too short to drive shitty cars.

It isn’t likely that Hyundai will drop its new Tau V8 into the Genesis Coupe, since (in its eyes at least) it would make the Genesis Coupe too expensive and could potentially pirate sales of the Genesis R-Spec sedan. Lucky for us that Rhys Millen Racing doesn’t worry about details like this, since they’ve created a 5.0-liter V-8 powered Hyundai Genesis Coupe for SEMA 2011.

The RM500 Genesis Coupe puts out 450 horsepower and looks downright menacing in murdered-out black on black. RMRs development work on the car will lead to a line of carbon fiber pieces for Genesis Coupe owners, including a front lip, spoiler, rear diffuser, side skirts and grille. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like there are plans to offer a Tau V-8 conversion kit, but I’m betting that RMR would sell enough to make it worth the development costs.

Some of the bits used on the RM500 are a bit over-the-top, like the carbon-ceramic brakes and the forged HRE wheels. Still, you have to admire RMR’s “go big or go home” attitude, and we sincerely hope that Hyundai America Motors is paying attention to customer feedback. If enough people give a 5.0-liter Genesis Coupe the thumbs up, maybe it isn’t out of the question after all.

First Vehicle Finalists Revealed

Upcoming Invitational offers action-packed race entertainment with some of the highest performing and most diverse vehicles in the performance automotive aftermarket industry.

September 16, 2011 (MILWAUKEE) – OPTIMA® Batteries, the global leader in high-performance automotive and marine batteries, gears up for the fourth annual OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational, presented by K&N Filters and Wilwood Disc Brakes, by revealing the current list of drivers and vehicles that have qualified for and have been selected to compete in the event.

The current qualifying drivers range from newcomer enthusiasts to seasoned industry veterans, all of which will not disappoint spectators and fans that gather for the highly-anticipated competition. The vehicle selections represent a variety of industry-leading muscle cars, pro-touring cars, hot rods and street trucks, from both import and domestic manufacturers. Initial qualifiers were recruited through a series of events of similar format that tested drivers’ skills and vehicle performance power.

*Video from the 2010 event…

The following participants have earned a spot to compete in this year’s OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational:

• Vinnie Allegretta, ‘69 Chevy Camaro
• Erik Cederberg, ‘10 Chevy Camaro
• Carmine Dell Aquila,’10 Nissan GTR
• Hartmut Feyhl, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Widebody
• Brian Finch, ‘72 Chevy Camaro
• Phil Gerber, ‘66 Chevy II
• Wanda Goldberg, ‘70 Pontiac Trans Am
• Matt Harber, Cadillac CTS-V
• JF Launier, ‘57 Chevy
• Dan Livezey, ‘69 Chevy Corvette
• Mike Musto, ‘69 Dodge Daytona

• Brian Moat, ‘70 Pontiac Firebird
• Dan Oliver, ‘10 Ford Mustang
• Zeke Peterson, Volkswagen Bug
• Danny Popp, ’06 Chevy Corvette
• Mary Pozzi, ‘72 Chevy Camaro
• Mark Stielow, ‘69 Chevy Camaro
• Brad Twiss, Toyota Supra 600HP
• Kyle Tucker, ‘70 Chevy Camaro
• Stacy Tucker, ’69 Chevy Camaro
• Bret Voelkel, ‘67 Chevy Camaro

World-Class Talent

“We couldn’t ask for a more exciting initial list of vehicles for the 2011 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational. The qualifying events brought in an unprecedented turnout and resulted in a wide range of vehicles that represent all segments of the performance automotive aftermarket industry,” says Cam Douglass, director of product development and marketing for OPTIMA Batteries. “The event has grown incredibly since its inception a few years ago and we are fortunate to have such amazing support from sponsors, fans, media partners and participants.”

Besides racing in the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational, participants also get an automatic invitation to feature their car at the 2011 SEMA Show, compete in the event, gain awareness through hundreds of print and online articles, and will be featured in the broadcast special filmed around the event.

Full List of Finalists

The final, pre-SEMA round of finalists will be announced during the first week of October. After that point, there will still be one additional opportunity to qualify for the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational. At SEMA, a committee made up of OPTIMA and industry representatives will walk the show floor in Las Vegas, looking for the best of the best across all vehicle segments. This final search will be promoted during the show and the final vehicle invitations will be awarded during SEMA.

Sponsors of the 2011 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational include the presenting sponsors, K&N Filters and Wilwood Disc Brakes, and the race event sponsors, including BFGoodrich, Ridetech, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Raybestos and Detroit Speed and Engineering. Additionally, The Roadster Shop is an associate sponsor for the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational.

New in 2011

This year, fans will be able to view the action from the front row for the first time ever. A limited number of spectator tickets will be available for purchase. Spectators and fans can purchase tickets by visiting OptimaInvitational.com through November 4, 2011, or until sold out.

Also new this year is the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational T-shirt Design Contest. The contest, which started on September 7, 2011, will last two weeks, running through September 21, 2011. The designer of the winning T-shirt concept, which will be determined by the OPTIMA Facebook community, will have the opportunity to win a trip to the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational. The winner’s design will also be considered for use as this year’s official T-shirt. Participants must be 21 years of age or older to enter. Contest rules and information on how to submit T-shirt designs and how to vote for favorites can be found at http://www.facebook.com/optimabatteries. Fans are encouraged to begin work on their designs now, as the first five entries will receive a free OPTIMA-branded hat.

2011 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational Details

The Invitational will take place at Spring Mountain Motor Ranch, a state-of-the-art racing facility in Pahrump, Nev. during the first week of November. The Invitational brings in some of the top automotive talent, highly modified vehicles, credible racing veterans and fresh talent with undiscovered street machines.

The main race activity of the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational takes place on Saturday, November 5 and will offer something for every race fan with the BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge, Ridetech Autocross Challenge, Wilwood Disc Brakes Speed Stop Challenge, and the Raybestos Performance and Design Challenge. The Detroit Speed and Engineering Road Rally will occur the day before, following the close of the SEMA Show.

For the current list of the OPTIMA Batteries Ultimate Street Car Invitational participants, the official rules, and more information on the event, visit http://www.optimainvitational.com/.

About OPTIMA® Batteries

OPTIMA YellowTop®, RedTop® and BlueTop® batteries are available through leading battery distributors throughout the globe. Consumers should look for the unique colored top and six-pack design for which OPTIMA is known throughout the world. For the nearest retailer, consumers can also call 1-888-8OPTIMA (1-888-867-8462) or visit www.optimabatteries.com.

OPTIMA batteries are manufactured by Johnson Controls, Inc. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI – News) is the global leader that brings ingenuity to the places where people live, work and travel. By integrating technologies, products and services, we create smart environments that redefine the relationships between people and their surroundings. Our team of 140,000 employees creates a more comfortable, safe and sustainable world through our products and services for more than 200 million vehicles, 12 million homes and one million commercial buildings. Our commitment to sustainability drives our environmental stewardship, good corporate citizenship in our workplaces and communities, and the products and services we provide to customers. For additional information, please visit http://www.johnsoncontrols.com.

The Mercedes 190SL is a classic, one of the prettiest cars to come out of Stuttgart. But with just 100-odd horsepower and drum brakes all around, it’s not exactly a high-performance machine. That’s why the mad builders at Hod Rods & Custom Stuff in L.A. decided to drop a 1961 190SL body onto a 2004 v12 SL600 with RENNtech mods. The result is a 190SL with more than 650 horsepower and 750 foot-pounds of torque at the rear wheels. To make it happen, they had to lengthen the 190′s body by eight inches and widen it by six. A completely custom interior was crafted, along with an aluminum grille and wheels. More than 4,000 hours went into the build and the result is simply stunning. The Mercedes Bent was displayed at SEMA this year. More pics after the jump.

Source: Mercedes Bent

Do you own an 800 horsepower Shelby GT500 Super Snake? Are you tired of seeing taillights from Bugatti Veyrons and McLaren F1s? Do you have a donor GT500 Mustang and about $100,000 to spend? If so, I may have good news for you if you’ve got the garage space and a little bit of patience.

In conjunction with Nelson Racing Engines, Shelby American displayed a concept car at SEMA dubbed “Code Red”. The car uses the GT500s 5.4 liter V8, force-fed through twin 61mm Turbonetics turbochargers tied to an electronic boost controller (that can be dialed in for each gear). The power gets to the ground through a nine inch Currie rear end, and the braking duties will be handled by a Baer system with 14” rotors. A cool touch is the use of a dual fuel cell system: for every day driving (at less than maximum boost), you can use the fuel cell filled with pump gas. For those times when you need maximum thrust, just switch over to the fuel cell filled with high octane race gas. I wouldn’t try this at a traffic light, since I’d want to be absolutely sure the engine was running on race gas before I dialed up the boost.

There’s no word on whether or not the Code Red will actually see production, but if it does it won’t come cheap. Shelby American estimates a starting price of around $100,000, plus your existing GT500 Mustang, before you start checking option boxes. At more than double the build cost of an 800 horsepower Super Snake, I’m not seeing the economics of those last 200 ponies. I’m sure plenty of enthusiasts will, so I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see the Code Red hit Shelby’s catalog in the near future.

Source: Autoblog, Nelson Racing Engines

The Z-Spec Cruze, Volt and Spark. Photo: © GM Corp.

General Motors’ High Performance Vehicle Operations division was responsible for the development of some great automobiles, including the current Camaro SS, the Cadillac CTS-V series and the ill-fated Saturn Redline and Pontiac GXP models. The division was disbanded in February of 2009, a victim of GM’s bankruptcy. Their engineers were scattered to the four corners of the GM globe, but let’s face facts: almost every automotive engineer is a car guy at heart, and car guys want to build faster, better handling cars. Two months ago, GM announced that a Performance Vehicles and Motorsports Division was forming, and SEMA was the first opportunity for the fledgling division to show their wares.

Eight weeks isn’t a lot of time to develop performance and handling enhancements for current vehicles, so most of the cars on display at SEMA (a pair of Camaro SS’ and Z-Spec versions of the Chevy Cruze, Volt and Spark) had body kits and other minor tweaks, but no serious horsepower or handling upgrades. That’s not to say that the new division is content to sell splitters and spoilers; GM knows that U.S. customers want performance vehicles, so I’m relatively confident the new Performance Vehicles Division will deliver what customers want.

What will the future look like for high performance cars from GM? It’s hard to say, but GM engineers are well aware of the looming CAFE standards, and you won’t get to a fleet-wide average of 39 MPG for cars if you focus only on building big V8s. If I were a betting man, I’d expect to see smaller displacement, turbocharged motors and perhaps even some performance oriented hybrids. Chevy’s got a lot of development capital tied up in the Volt, so even a high performance extended range electric vehicle isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

One thing is perfectly clear: the GM of old is dead, and I say long live the new GM. They’re building some great cars and trucks, and they’re listening to what American buyers want. This may be the pinnacle of muscle car and V8 sports car evolution, but I’m fairly confident that high performance cars are a long way from getting last rites.

Mazda brought a pair of sweet little Mazda2′s to SEMA this year. The duo, the Mazda2 Street, and its evil twin the Mazda2 Track, have been lowered over skateboard sized wheels and tires and given classy race-inspired livery. The Mazda2 Track is fitted with a full roll cage, and has had its guts ripped out in preparation for heavy duty track usage. The Mazda2 Street retains its refined interior, but hides it behind some seriously dark tinted windows. The two cars might just be the best-looking Mazda’s currently made, even if they are the size and shape of a big roller-skate.

The Mazda2 rocks a frugal, yet peppy 100-horse 1.5-liter four cylinder and tips the scales at a featherweight 2,300 pounds. This means that when set-up properly with some sticky rubber and a stiff suspension this little bugger should be an absolutely riot to drive fast.

Jesse Rooke built this wild three-wheeler for injured veterans who may not be able to ride sport bikes. It is, essentially, a 200-horsepower liter bike race engine dragging a few bits of steel and aluminum behind it. The crazy creation, called Scarlett, appeared at SEMA this year. I can only imagine what it must be like to sit at eye level with that intake, engine at full scream, exhaust pipe belching hell and fury at your elbow. Scarlett was built in conjunction with Michael Jordan Motorsports/National Guard Superbike racing team.

Source: Jesse Rooke Customs

How’s this for irony: during the SEMA Show, Ken Block and Vaughn Gitten Jr. were paid, probably large sums of money, to put on a drifting exhibition in the parking lot of the Las Vegas Convention Center. A week earlier or a week later, and both of these guys would have been slapped with a book full of tickets, including reckless driving and exhibition of speed. Whether it’s drifting or pro rally or gymkhana, you really need to have an exquisite sense of timing.

Ken Block may have been faster in his rally-prepped Fiesta, but Vaughn Gitten Jr. definitely looked like he was having more fun. I only wish the video were a bit longer, since I could watch these guys go at it until their tires exploded. There was probably enough tire smoke generated during the filming of this video to raise the temperature of the planet another degree or so. I sure hope these guys have enough carbon credits to offset that.

When the Mazda Miata turned 10, Mazda gave fans and buyers a special edition of the car, called the 10th Anniversary Edition or 10AE for short. Now that the iconic roadster has turned 20, surely Mazda has something special planned, right?

Sadly, that’s not the case. Instead, SEMA attendees get to see the MX-5 Super20 concept, not slated for production. I guess you could buy all the components and bolt one together in your garage, but that hardly honors 20 years of teaching people how much fun open top motoring is, or how well small, light (and underpowered) cars can handle.

Aside from the Storm Gray paint and subdued trim (I’m loving the black wheels), the Super20 gets a Cosworth blower, a DPTune reflashed ECU, a custom built header and exhaust, Mazdaspeed coilovers, Racing Beat hollow sway bars, slotted rotors, stainless lines, high friction brake pads and SpeedSource front brake ducts. The driving lights are repositioned, which reduces the “stoned guppy” look of the front end but reduces airflow needed for cooling. Inside, the seats get what looks to be Alcantara inserts, and there’s a custom roll bar that I’d love to track down as an aftermarket item.

Source: Autoevolution