Philadelphia Auto Show Coverage: Part 2

OK!  It's time for another addition of my Philly Auto Show Coverage!  Above you will see a bi-xenon projector from a 2013 Mini Cooper S.  I'm thinking this would be a good addition to Project DC5, and I'll be keeping you guys updated on that in the coming week.  ;)

Anyway, last week I took a trip to the Auto Show as you guys know, and I copped some pictures upstairs, in the luxury sections, and in the DUB Show Section.  The DUB Section is a compilation of tuner cars and marketing centered around the younger generations of drivers.  It's amazing to see how far it's come since I was a kid.

I mean it was only a couple of years ago that I was looking at a pimped out Escalade on "22s.  Now there's everything from modified motorcycles, to crazy sound systems, vendor booths selling HID's and other car parts, and tuner cars.  The Philly Auto Show has truly stepped up their game in the past couple of years.

From a night rave-like showroom floor, Philly has changed the theme to red carpets and smooth rides.  Modified Mustangs and Murcielagos adorned the showroom floor with the addition of a few banging other cars as well.

One controversial build at the DUB Show was this Volkswagen sitting on some mesh BBS's.  Rumor is that it was built in quite a short amount of time from the frame up!  It's funny that people still have time to bitch about dark tints even after all of that owner dedication.  Haters!!  Hahah, don't kill me...

But hate aside and controversy aside, it was a good touch to my experience.  The beautiful wheels and shiny paint...the rowdy engines and rare rides...the loud music and poster girls...and more will definitely linger in my mind this year.  Let's hope next year's DUB Show is this good!

And while you're hoping, don't forget to hop on over to the Facebook Page to see more photos NOT posted to the blog from the auto show and other adventures in the life of Lexi.Laron Author, Dillon.

Thanks for reading, as always, and have a great-ass and car-filled day!!!  >:D

Philadelphia Auto Show: Classics, Exotica, and More

So I went to the Philly Auto Show last week and decided that it was finally time to throw some photos up with the close of the show this Sunday!  I'm gonna go easy on you guys with the words and I'll just focus on the pictures.  ;)

See you guys when I post up the rest of them!

Check out this oldie limo!

American muscle.

Philly Fiat??

Let the good times roll with this turbocharged beast.

Mean as hell.  I loved how simplistic the Mazda 3 remained, even in this age of technology and crash test technology.

And for the closer, here's this Lamborghini Gallardo.

Peace...

Editorial: I'm Muhammad Ali in the Ring!

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!  These were words to be feared if you were a boxer back in the days of Muhammad Ali.  He said he was "the greatest before [he] ever knew [he] was" and in the Thrilla in Manilla Ali went on to beat Frazier in their third match to become the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of The World.

Source

Subaru's story may be similar-- hell, they may have even had serious suits and battles to be won before they claimed the title as the heavyweight boxers of the automotive industry, but truthfully I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED!  Sorry for killing the mood, but it's the truth, and honestly fighting is overrated, so I don't even care!

Subaru SVX from Philadelphia Auto Show 2012

The matter of the fact is that even though Subaru is the Heavyweight Champion of the Auto Industry in Boxing currently, there were previous challengers and even champions, dare I say-- George Foremans or opponents like "Smokin'" Joe Frazier if you will.

The engine was first made in 1896 by Karl Benz, the notable founder of Mercedes-Benz, and later gained popularity amongst other German companies such as BMW Motorcycles and Volkswagen before it was ever tinkered with by Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.

DIS NIGGAAAAAA Source

Yet, even though Subaru was not the pioneer of the flat-four boxer engine (or the flat-six if you're more of a Tribeca guy) they have done an amazingly well job of engineering engines with low centers of gravity for performance and rally cars that stand up very well to high boost pressures and are even capable of running well in N/A applications!

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Just look at their newest engine which was co-designed with Toyota.  The engine is capable of an admirable 100 HP/L, producing 200 break horsepower and 151 lb-ft of torque, producing eight more lb-ft of torque than Honda's performance K-Series motor.  Keep in mind the K-Series was supposed to be an extremely efficient design for its time, coming out in the early 2000's.

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The aforementioned engine is known as the FA20 and was designed specifically for the BRZ/FR-S/GT-86 which is the Subaru/Toyota (Subaruyota?) sports car developed to satisfy the souls of yearning drivers everywhere.  Sporting a shortened oil pan and intake manifold, it's no wonder this thing is so capable of lurking so deep within the depths of the new RWD LOLlercoaster from the two companies.

Under-exposed pic from the Philadelphia Auto Show of 2012

Yes, it seems that the D-4S hybrid port/direct injection, chain-driven camshaft havin', AVCS valve train phasin', all-natural motor has shocked us all.  Subaru, cheers...you continue to amaze.  FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A BEE.

The Philadelphia Auto Show: My Adventure

January 29, 2012:  The Philadelphia Auto Show

The morning of the Auto Show began at Drexel University, where I go to school.  I stayed over my boy's dorm in University City after a great night of hanging out with friends and got up early to meet up with some other people at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

I got up early to get some morning shots in as well!  Before I go to shoot something, I like to be as warmed up as possible, exercising my eye for the pictures ahead of me.  Luckily I found this awesome Civic Hatch!  I love the EK, but it's still nothing like my RSX.  ;)

PS, props to the owner of this car.

Off to the magical kingdom of bums and trash: Center City, Philadelphia!!!

Colorssssss! c:

WHAT, HOE?  Some Philly-behind birds right there!  Hahah.

THE MAJESTIC BIRD--

THEN THERE WAS A PRIUS.

The lighting was amazing out, it's a shame I couldn't have made a post about a shoot made outside.

However I did get this sweet Stance:Nation-style shoot of two Versas on in a second.  Check it outtt, staggered poses!

Stay out, tourists!

Okay, we were just kidding.  :)

--XOXO, Philadelphia

So, this is just a calibration shot, but apparently Chevy is on its bean-size car ish!  This is called the Chevy Sonic LTZ.  I've read about this car before in MotorTrend.  Apparently it has a 1.4 liter, turbocharged ECOTEC Engine with about 130 horsepower and a six speed transmission, woahhh Chevy!!  I thought they also upped the displacement in one of their models, but tossed the turbocharger and kept the power the same, but I could be incorrect as the Chevy Website says nothing about this.

Anyway, cool stuff, Chevy!

Speaking of cool Chevys, check out this Camaro ZL1, Chevy's new top-of-the-line Camaro.  With one powerful 6.2 Liter V8, sporting an Eaton Supercharger, and boasting an impressive 580 horsepower, this car is not meant to be easy on your neck muscles, most likely wrenching your neck into an arched position, forcing your head into the head rest.

And it's not all power, either.  The car runs a 7:41:23 on the Nurburgring Circuit according to the Chevy Website.  Not too shabby, eh?

Scion xB, tC, and xD models

The Camaro SS

One of the biggest disappointments this year, aside from the stock Civic Si was this modified one.  I mean, yes you have a great paint job on this car with plenty of modifications in the hood-- and there were DEFINITELY some modifications under the wheel wells and in the shock towers, I'm sure.  But, what happened to the real Civic?  Wasn't the Civic supposed to be a sport-compact car with great handling, a small motor, and tuner support?

Now we're putting big K24 Engines in Honda Civics, and lengthening the wheel base.  I want to see something better than this Honda.  I'm disappointed.

Here are some pics of the stock Si that was on display.

All of the cars had missing shift knobs, FYI.

The Fit!

Those wheels and Brembo Brakes :)

Those Recaro Seats :)

That stitched, leather steering wheel!

That MIVEC Turbocharged Engine!

Must be an Evolution :)

This here is a GTI.  It has an engine in it.

It's a TSI.

There's a steering wheel with red stitching...

And an automatic transmission...

And then there was this, the Subaru BRZ!

I hate everything right now, so I'm just going to post pictures and hope everyone stops bothering me, K?

On display with the BRZ was its older brother, the SVX LSi.  If you remember seeing these things around, you'll remember seeing the dual-pane windows and the unique headlights that seem to look like those from a Mercury Sable.

And although this car was built to be fast, the automatic transmission and leather seats certainly don't scream sports car.  I think Subaru teaming up with Toyota was the best move, considering the all new BRZ will be light weight, have a low center of gravity, a manual transmission, and cloth, stitched racing seats-- none of this automatic crap.

4wd Turbo XT, What?  What the hell is this?

Apparently this car was designed to look like a wedge to improve its aerodynamic efficiency.  Everything from its engine placement to its mudguards are supposed to make its coefficient of drag as low as .29.

The model on display here had a 4-speed automatic transmission rather than the 5-speed manual with overdrive.

WRX, anyone?

Yada yada yaaah, I'm getting mad bored, so LET'S STAND HERE IN A TRACK JACKET, GUY!  What a slut.

Once I got past the douche in the track jacket, things cleared up pretty quickly for me as I looked at this Z in the favoritest car manufacturer section at the auto show, NISSAN.  Plenty of people didn't even know what they were looking at, as one guy called this a 360Z, and I think that the Nissan Badge makes people stupid, because somebody also said that Honda makes the engine in the GTR that I saw, that's false, btw.

I liked this car.  Although it was an auto convertible, it sat nicely and the interior seemed very well put together.  The curves on the exterior flowed very well and although I tried to show it off in my pictures, I got lazy and decided I didn't care.

I'm going to try and not be angry for a second even though I'm annOying myself!

This GTR WAS COOL!

LOOK AT THIS GIRL'S BUTT!  AND THIS CAR'S BUTT.

THIS CAR HAD A HOT SIDE PROFILE

AGAIN.

NICE WHEELS, NISSAN.

SLUT.

Everyone got out of my way so I could shoot this hahahah, it pays to have a big camera.

After Nissan, I moved onto Ford, who really stepped up their game this year, bringing out their 1.6 and 2 liter EcoBoost Engines in their 2013 Ford Fusions with plenty of trims to choose from.  

The EcoBoost engines come with turbochargers, hence the name "EcoBoost," and they also sport direct-injection.  Something that is useful when considering fuel economy.  It eliminates extra flow paths which otherwise would be considered when designing engines with computational fluid dynamics analysis.

Honestly, Ford had it all, they had tons of different trim models for their Fusion, extremely fuel-efficient full-size trucks, little Ford Fiestas (which I truly enjoyed), and even their Laguna Seca Mustang!

Ford is proud enough of their engine technology that they actually put their engines out on their own displays.  Chrysler also did this for their Fiat engines and I also believe they did it for their OHV Hemi Engines, but their displays didn't compare to Ford's in my eyes.

Here were two engines on display.

A Mustang pool table?  Hahahah

This Hybrid Ford Fusion looked so pretty.

Aston Martin DB9, anyone?

Stay tuned for more cars from the classics display, Buick, Chrysler, Hyundai, Lexus, Acura, and the DUB Show!

Peace!