The automotive spectacular known as SEMA arrived en force at Las Vegas once more for 2022, after skipping a year in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then putting on a lightly attended show in 2021. Last year, I covered every single day at SEMA, starting right from the opening ceremony on Monday. It was almost too much, especially since I had never been to SEMA before and therefore arrived without knowing what to expect.
This year, I heard in advance that Ford, Chevy, and Honda all dropped out of planned exhibitions, a surprise given Ford's full-fledged Bronco off-roading and Mustang drifting activations last year—especially for Ford, with the highly anticipated Bronco Raptor now on the way. This year, my schedule only allowed me to make a late arrival at SEMA for Thursday and Friday but to my surprise, the show ended up even bigger, with more cars on display, more booths packing the Las Vegas Convention Center's halls, and more people on hand to celebrate the expanding aftermarket automotive industry.
Back To Good Old SEMA
Of course, the crazy builds lined up outside signaled that SEMA might be back in top form. And few epitomize the full SEMA package like this restomodded Plymouth Superbird on display at the HPTuners booth. Built by the same crew that cranked out Kevin Hart's car on display nearby, this Superbird packs a modern drivetrain composed of a custom-built Hellcat Hemi from Gearhead Fabrications that employs a Demon supercharger and cam, plus upgraded pistons and fuel injectors. A nine-speed automatic transmission routes power to the rear end, where that iconic wing will undoubtedly prove all the more necessary.
But as with many builds at SEMA, this one left me wondering whether a fully customized, no-expense-spared Superbird adds or subtracts value from a pristine original.
Parts Galore And Cars To Match
The whole point of all the work that goes into SEMA's most outrageous builds involves bringing attention to aftermarket companies whose parts and support make such insanity possible. A Superbird with a Hellcat will undoubtedly draw in more potential customers curious to learn about HPTuner software—or, for example, how Powermaster alternators can support modern electronics in a classic package.
More Drifting Demonstrations
Meanwhile, outside the show, regular drifting displays cranked the volume and smoky smells right up to 11 throughout the day. Though not quite as hardcore as last year's Hoonigan burnyard and Ford's dedicated Mustang sections, at least this year featured a jump for Ultra4 trucks to play with as pro drifters shredded tires beneath.
Electrification Takes Center Stage
As much as SEMA felt like a return to normalcy, however, new themes definitely emerged immediately. The first, which everybody I spoke with couldn't help but bring up, was the prevalence of electric vehicles. SEMA nudged this trend along with a dedicated section in the North Hall but just about everywhere, EV-swapped classics, electrical components, and full-on concept cars from OEMs dotted the show. Along with a previously unveiled Dodge Charger Daytona SRT e-muscle car and a cute beachy Nissan Ariya Surfwagon concept, Lexus showed off a concept called simply "Electrified Sport" that promises a 0-60 time in the low twos and a claimed range of up to 430 miles with potentially solid-state batteries serving as the platform. But all the tech in the world distracted nobody from the strikingly Supra-styled lines.
Aftermarket Companies Going Electric, Too
Not only OEMs went electric; the huge influx of EVs also came courtesy of aftermarket builders. Hypercraft showed off this military project that combines a diesel engine and battery power to allow for a silent stealth mode for up to five miles of driving in risky situations, all packed into a compact package that can easily fit into and drop out of airplanes.
Unique Challenges For Aftermarket Equipment Manufacturers
But the electric future, no matter which way the industry turns, will present challenges for the more traditional automotive aftermarket. Cooper Tire took such concerns into consideration and showed up to SEMA with an off-roady Rivian R1T pickup truck. The four-motor Rivian can put down up to 835 horsepower and 908 lb-ft of torque, in a vehicle that weighs over 7,000 pounds—which sounds likely to put a ton of strain on tires.
And yet, Cooper believes the company's existing lineup can cater to Rivian buyers looking for a more off-road-ready tire than the city-dweller Pirelli Scorpions that Rivian ships on the R1T. But Cooper also revealed plans to significantly expand the sizes and load ranges of the Discoverer Rugged Trek and STT Pro lines, hoping to cater to the exploding off-road and overlanding community as the craze continues to heat up.
Still Burning Plenty Of Gasoline
As much as electrics and electrification in general turned heads, good-old-fashioned internal combustion still made up the majority at SEMA, so sparkling carburetors, valve covers, and engine blocks still dotted the show left and right. From backyard builders who hand-polished their velocity stacks to aftermarket suppliers hoping to find the perfect buyers for the latest, newest, most improved products, SEMA 2022 certainly never left the petrolheads behind.
Some Stone-Cold Show-Stoppers
At Toyo Treadpass, two of the wildest internal-combustion builds sat next to each other. The mint-green Mazda RX-7 above clearly lost a Wankel rotary and somehow, someway received a Pagani (aka AMG) V12 in the exposed engine bay courtesy of Gooichi Motors in Florida. And in the background, a full carbon-fiber R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R from Garage Active owner Kazushige Sakamoto with purple weave sat calm and collected—despite a 930-horsepower RB30 under the hood—relishing the attention of detail-focused fans who simply could not believe their eyes.
Confusion At Dodge
In an era that needs to adopt the burgeoning EV industry while also celebrating the glories of internal combustion, Dodge arrived at SEMA trying very hard to deftly navigate the times. In addition to the e-muscle concept, a new hybrid Hornet crossover sat front and center based largely on the Alfa Romeo Tonale. And then a Durango Hellcat with knobby tires on huge rims, rally lights, and a rooftop awning sat nearby—absolutely boggling the minds of anyone who thought they might be checking out a Dodge overlanding build, to say the least.
Better Than Stock
Off-roading and overlanding probably stood out as the secondary theme of SEMA 2022 after the steady march toward electrification. This Bronco ProRunner concept from APG tended to draw in fans who perhaps expected a Raptor. And in some ways, with room for up to 40-inch tires and a track width up to 14 inches wider than the base Bronco, this aftermarket solution actually looks better than Ford's factory Raptor. Of course, the Raptor's LiveValve Fox shocks and additional power—not to mention, a factory warranty—still sound pretty good, too.
Worlds Colliding At SEMA
Meanwhile, a Jeep JTe concept from Quadratec more successfully blended the worlds of off-roading and electrification. Building on a Wrangler 4xe hybrid platform, Quadratec retained the partial electric drivetrain but chopped the body down to a two-door and stretched the bed 10.5 inches longer than a stock Jeep Gladiator. The project came about as part of a partnership with the non-profit Tread Lightly!, though many overlanders who wish Jeep would build an actual Gladiator with two doors and a full-length eight-foot bed probably came away disappointed, despite the honorable efforts to promote cleaner practices among the off-roading community.
Racing And Modified Racers
Alongside the customs and concepts, purpose-built racecars also fulfilled the need for speed that many SEMA show attendees bring to the door. These two builds at the ENEOS booth showed off divergent sides of the motorsport world today. The pickup project for drifter Dai Yoshihara started life as a 2006 Nissan Frontier Pre-Runner but now sports a VR30DDTT out of a new Nissan Z, now fully built with pistons, rods, a new turbo, and upgraded exhaust to support 600 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. The Porsche, meanwhile, will make purists scream thanks to an EJ25 Subaru boxer-four dropped in behind the rear axles. Why swap in a horizontally opposed Subaru engine to replace a horizontally opposed Porsche engine? Boost, of course! Faruk Kugay from DevSpeed Motorsports decided that with the right mods, the Subie flat-four can crank out up to 550 horsepower—or 135 hp more than the 2007 GT3 produced stock, all while shaving 170 pounds off the tail-happy rear end.
The Winning Build
Of course, every bonkers build arrives at SEMA in the spirit of friendly competition, though the official Battle of the Builders gets a bit more serious than that. The winning project this year came once again from Ringbrothers, in the form of a truck that barely resembles the 1948 Chevy pickup that serves as little more than light inspiration for an F1-style open-wheeled, bewinged screamer with over 1,000 horsepower from a 510ci tall-deck LS engine built by Todd Goodwin that could only ever take home an overall victory.
Overall, SEMA definitely returned with a vengeance this year, once again revealing (and setting) the trends that dominate the current automotive landscape. Hopefully, with planned expansion for more publicly accessible days and possibly even a music festival next year, the absolute insanity that SEMA brings to Las Vegas each year can continue to thrive by evolving with the times.
Sources: semashow.com, hemmings.com, lvcva.com, hptuners.com, powermastermotorsports.com, coopertire.com, gooichimotors.com, automotiveperformancegroup.com, quadratec.com, and ringbrothers.com.