In a strange way, getting through the SEMA show is all about building a routine. Mornings are for taking the edge off of your hangover, just enough so you can interact with the other industry types you can't avoid. Afternoons are for finding all of the evening's viable watering holes and miscellaneous boozing opportunities. And nights, well, let's just say we don't remember too much about what happens after dark in Sin City.
It's a good thing there's a trade show in town, otherwise we wouldn't get any work done. For 2005, the 39th annual SEMA show in Las Vegas, Nevada, was bigger than ever and boasted one very important element: Honda as the Vehicle Manufacturer of the Show. This was the first time in history that a non-domestic company has assumed the role, and as such, Honda had more than 50 vehicles on display throughout the massive convention center halls-including 19 '06 Civic Si's and 12 Ridgelines. Also on display were the six competitors in the first-ever RSX Challenge (in which HT took second place; see the saga on page 58), as well as display vehicles from dozens of other tuners.
Of course, SEMA is a trade show that places emphasis on the aftermarket, so there was no shortage of cool new toys to set the imagination afire. Here's our report on our favorite cars and products from the 2005 show.
2006 Acura National Press IntroductionA couple of days before SEMA kicked off, Acura public relations invited several members of the press to Las Vegas to get reacquainted with its lineup and especially become familiarized with two of its hottest sedans, the RL and TSX. Almost the entire Acura line will see some change in '06-mainly the addition of another color option-but it was the pair of four-doors that received the biggest changes for the new year. To introduce the updates, Acura offered test-drives in many of its models on the infield at the LV Motor Speedway and plotted a course around beautiful Lake Mead and the Valley of Fire.
First up, the TSX sports sedan: Most will be happy to read that the 2.4-liter K under the hood has been tapped for more. It breathes better now, thanks to an increase in throttle body and intake diameters, a valvetrain gifted with bigger intake valves and more robust cams, and an exhaust opened up as much as 5mm in some sections. But the engineers at Acura dug deeper than that.
It appears a real effort was made to make the motor more bulletproof. The '06 K24 crank is purportedly stronger and comes with additional balance weight. The valve reliefs in the pistons are deeper. The rods are stronger. Heck, even the crankcase has been drilled to reduce cylinder-to-cylinder pumping pressure.
The good news is the changes make five more horses on paper. We qualify it that way because, in our driving, the increase was imperceptible. What is perhaps as remarkable is that Acura says the sedan actually gets better city gas mileage with the changes, boasting a bump of one mile per gallon. Equally impressive is that the notorious torque steer that the previous iteration had has been engineered out.
In addition to the engine mods, the TSX flosses a new look in '06. Outside, it rocks new front and rear bumpers, a cleaner grille, integrated fog lamps, and a new 17-inch, nine-spoke wheel. In the cabin, a memory seat, thicker steering wheel, blue colored gauges and an instrument panel trimmed in metallic accents make up the refinements. Finally, in the noise, vibration, and harshness department; stiffer front upper suspension arms, and a lower wiperblade profile cutting through the wind both help to reduce noise. The quiet will be useful for appreciating an audio system that now boasts an auxiliary jack for a digital music player, located in the center console.