For several decades, one of the best indoor car shows in the world was the Oakland Roadster Show. Since Spectre used to be based in the Bay Area, it was always a great way to scratch the car show itch in the middle of January, when the weather was still miserable. Then several years ago we moved Spectre Headquarters to sunny southern California, and lucky for us the Roadster Show followed us a few years later and is now called the Grand National Roadster Show.
We displayed at the show for the first time this year, and the event took place January 1 – 3, 2010. The Los Angles Fairgrounds were packed with killer kustoms, incredible hand-crafted roadsters, land speed cars, dragsters, traditional hot rods and even a few muscle cars. Over the course of the three day event we met some incredible people and saw some amazing cars. We also showed off several Spectre vehicles, including our ‘70 Camaro and ‘70 Mustang Mach 1. People who passed through our booth also got a sneak peak of our new prototype intake for GM LSX motors.
Take a look at the photo gallery below, and get ready for car show season! We have a full calendar this year, so look for the Spectre cars and rig at GoodGuys shows, on Power Tour and more!
Over the past year we have conducted extensive dyno testing on a variety of high-performance vehicles to determine exactly how much power you can gain by reducing inlet air temperature. Frankly, the power gains are stunning – particularly on older muscle cars that typically have a round air filter on top of the carburetor that draws air that has been pre-heated by the radiator and exhaust.
By ducting cooler ambient air to the engine, you can dramatically improve performance. The more powerful your engine (and therefore the more air it requires, since engines are basically big air pumps) the more it is effected by inlet air temperature. Here are some examples.
On a typical hot summer day, underhood temps in a classic mucle car can be as high as 190 degrees. By reducing air inlet temperature 50 degrees - to 140 - the engine gains 25 horsepower and 26 lb/ft of torque. Dropping air inlet temperature to ambient (in this case 80 degrees), the formerly 300hp engine becomes a 360hp engine!
Performance improvements are even more impressive on a 350hp engine - which gains 70 horsepower and 75 lb/ft of torque when air inlet temperature is lowered from 190-degrees to 80-degrees. Think about that... there are very few ways you can add 70 horsepower to your engine without tearing into the internals or adding nitrous.
Ever wonder why your car feels so much faster on cold winter mornings than on hot summer afternoons? The more power you make, the more your engine is effected by the density (temperature) of the air. Cooler, denser air means more oxygen is packed into the combusterion chamber on every compression stroke of the piston. The more powerful the engine, the great the improvement in power. A 500 horsepower engine can see a 100 horsepower gain from a 110-degre inlet air temp drop. But even a modest 30 degree inlet air temp drop picks up 24 horsepower and 25 lb/ft of torque!
A few weeks ago we hosted a party for participants of the SEMA Media Trade Show. Basically it’s a showfor magazine and blog editors where they walk from suite to suite, talking about the latest speed parts and trends in the industry. This was our first time at the show, but in typical Spectre style we wanted to show everyone a good time and roll out the red carpet for our friends in the automotive media.
Editors and bloggers having a bite at the Spectre MPMC party
Since we have rolled out so many new cold air intakes for the muscle car market in the past year, we felt this was a great opportunity to show off our latest hardware, race cars and more.
The original plan was to hold an outdoor type car show, but since the weather turned ugly (a rarity in here in So Cal) we moved everything inside, including the dinner, cars on display, a film about the SpeedLiner, dyno runs and more!
We want to thank all the manufacturers and journalists who attended the event, the car owners who supplied Spectre ProFab equipped vehicles for the indoor car show, the editors who brought cars for top-speed dyno runs and of course the entire Spectre Performance staff for all their hard work making the party happen.
Rob Kinnan of Hot Rod Magazine (L) and Matt D'Andria of Motorator.com (R) chat in front of the Spectre SpeedLiner
Part of the SpeedLiner crew with the record-setting land speed car
Strapping down the Petronix project Camaro SS on the dyno for a top speed run.
The Easy Access Oil Changer relocates your oil filter to the top of the engine compartment where it’s easy to change without a mess. The kit also includes a filter relocation bracket that holds an extended oil drain line attached to your oil drain plug, a 12v pump that plugs into your cigarette lighter to help pump out all the old oil without getting dirty on the ground, and a variety of fittings to make it work on nearly any vehicle.
Other advantages include the ability to run large capacity high-performance oil filters and the ability to move your filter away from headers or other heat sources that can cause burns during service.
The Spectre Performance Double Dually has had a very competitive year. First the big pickup pushed the Speedliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats, then it got roped into Autocross duty at the GoodGuys Pleasanton show. Spectre Founder Amir Rosenbaum was a the wheel and he wowed the crowd with a clean, fast run in the extra-long pickup. The truck features twin rear axles, full airbag suspension, billet wheels, custom paint, a 496 big block and a custom Spectre ProFab Cold Air Intake.
Our own Brandy Morrow is not only a core part of the Spectre Performance marketing department, she is also one of the fastest women in the GoodGuys Autocross series. Here’s Brandy racing the Spectre ‘70 Mach 1 Mustang at the GoodGuys Pleasanton show. The car features a built small block, 6-speed transmission, ProFab Cold Air Intake and custom Spectre aluminum spoilers.
Spectre Performance sponsored the engineering category of the 2009 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational at Spring Mountain Raceway in Pahrump, Nevada, so company founder Amir Rosenbaum drove our ProFab equipped, mid-engine LS7 powered El Camino in the event.
Held immediately after the SEMA Show, the race challenges the coolest/fastest/best cars from the show to prove their performance on the track. Categories including road racing (timed laps), autocross, 0-60-0 and engineering. Competitors ranged from high-tech Camaros to a blacked-out Bentley GT Speed and even a new ZR-1. We had some brake issues with our car, but it still did very well.
Mary Pozzi is an 11-time SCCA National Autocross Champion, a GoodGuys Street Challenge Autocross Champion and a tech moderator on several top forums, including Pro-Touring.com, Lateral-G.net and Camaros.net. She took her ProFab equipped ‘73 Camaro RS to the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational at Spring Mountain Raceway in Pahrump, Nevada, and competed on the track against some of the fastest street machines in the nation. In the end, Mary’s red Camaro was the 2nd fastest car in the Autocross (the only car that was faster was a race-prepped 427 Cobra) and in the Top 10 on the road course.
Courtney Hines, owner of The Cad Company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, discusses the outrageous engine that powers the SpeedLiner: a bored, stroked, twin-turbocharged 529 Cadillac that makes quadruple digit power on the dyno and managed to push the SpeedLiner over 340mph without eclipsing 5,000rpm.
He has designed everything from tail sections for passenger jets to components for top fuel dragsters. Ken Rappaport talks about his role in the SpeedLiner project, and the speed secrets involved in crafting the slick streamliner’s narrow slippery shape.
A few weeks ago we hosted a party for participants of the SEMA Media Trade Show. Basically it’s a showfor magazine and blog editors where they walk from suite to suite, talking about the latest speed parts and trends in the industry. This was our first time at the show, but in typical Spectre style we wanted to show everyone a good time and roll out the red carpet for our friends in the automotive media.
