For those who ponder how aftermarket parts and performance upgrades are available as soon as an automobile hits the market, this Honda CR-Z measuring session is the answer. The Specialty Equipment Marketing Association, or SEMA, brings the big car makers together with aftermarket gurus far enough ahead so that the good stuff is ready for action as soon as the automobile is. The three 2011 Honda CR-Z hybrids shown here are being measured for everything from seat covers to supercharger systems. Constructing a 2700 or so pound production automobile that has an electric motor, an internal combustion engine, multiple batteries – and survives the NHTSA giant mechanized robot gorilla and evil steam shovel gnashing of cars test is a feat in itself. The new Honda sporting hybrid is a departure from the usual drab green automobile formula. This joint Honda-SEMA measuring session means the titans of the automotive aftermarket are already at work, and that Honda CR-Z owners will have a choice of suspension, brake, wheel, and engine modifications ready straight away. Now if Ford would finally build the Nucleon, we could hop up the on board atomic reactor with some hot control rods and exotic fissile isotopes.
Thanks go out to Honda and SEMA for letting us peer into this top secret session. Archive imagery courtesy of Honda. Look for the 2011 Honda CR-Z in late August 2010.
I didn’t know SEMA facilitated such things. Do they do this with most vehicles or merely those getting a lot of press?
Not sure if they have one for every new car release. I think they focus on cars and trucks that folks are bound to modify.