I received a last minute invite to attend SEMA and AAPEX this year, and it didn’t take much convincing to make the decision to go. I’ll get into some of those details later, but for now I'll try my best to walk you all through my thoughts and feelings throughout the trip as we progress. Attending SEMA is for sure a bucket list item for most so I was quite excited to go and experience the hype for myself. Reviews have always been a mixed bag of good and bad so I had tempered my expectations but also had no idea what I was getting myself into. To sum it up briefly, it was simply overwhelming and overstimulating for my first trip there - but that’s not a bad thing.
Both SEMA and AAPEX events are meant to be for people in the industry, however, over the years it seems that attendance has expanded past industry people and now many joe-schmoes (myself included) have found their ways in through the doors. If you did not know, SEMA is the North American epicenter of all things in aftermarket automotive performance, while AAPEX is more of the OE side of the house. Occurring once a year in Las Vegas, the largest players in the automotive space gather at this trade show to show off their latest products and vehicle builds, create new industry relationships, and educate the industry on the latest and greatest. There were definitely a handful of people who made me wonder how and why in the hell they were even there. The number of those who lack general etiquette was actually staggering. SEMA exhibits for four days with the first three being exclusive for members of the industry only and the last day being open to the general public.
As always, shooting at shows can be a challenge. As it’s typically crowded, I want to be mindful of what space I’m taking up and aim to be spots where you’re not blocking others from taking their pictures or those simply trying to enjoy viewing the cars. While this is more of a courtesy, I just personally never want to be that one obvious person who is just causing minor inconvenience to others everywhere I’m going. You’re allowed to take up your space, just don’t be in the way. I sometimes don’t get a photo of a car because of this, and I’m bad for remembering to go back for one. I’m also trying to be as present as possible, so it’s easy for me to get lost behind the camera as I focus on trying to capture the moments rather than being in them.
Anyways, onto the photos from day one…
My day started off at the AAPEX forum which this year took place at The Venetian. SEMA is held at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, so there is some transporting needed inbetween the two shows. After a morning at AAPEX, I headed towards SEMA by monorail. Getting off the monorail you’re greeted by an outdoor show which features hundreds of cars and trucks before you even enter into the convention centre. On one side of the lot, Rays occupied a section for their World Tour which celebrates their 30th anniversary. You already know I had to go there first.
Starting the show off for me was this new Landcruiser sitting on a set of TE37 Saga S-Plus with a Tein livery.
Equipped with Tein suspension and their new upper control arm. Reminds me of how Camburg does their upper control arms.
Crazy TCP-Magic Widebody Mazda RX7. Looks like a real track monster.
FL5 Civic Type R with Mugen lip and skirts, EVS mirrors and Volk Racing CE28N-Plus.
Close up of the CE28N-Plus. I loved the fitment of this one.
Motormaven’s IS300. I love this generation of IS - fun fact, I was inbetween an IS300 and my FD CSX. In an alternate universe, I’d be modifying IS300s.
Maybe one day I’ll still build one but they are getting harder and harder to find in good condition.
Outfitted INEOS Grenadier on Volk Racing TE37XT. I’m starting to see these gain popularity at home. I probably see one once a day on my work commute. They are pretty rad.
Matching spare on the tailgate and all of the other accessories needed for an off-the-grid adventure.
C8 Corvette on Volk Racing G025. I quite enjoy the styling of the G025 and think they work really well on higher end sport cars that can fit larger 19”+ wheel sizes.
New Sequoia on Rays Offroad 05X.
The first time I have seen these Rays Offroad M6 wheels on this 6th generation 4Runner. While they were released early 2025, I haven’t come across these until SEMA.
The M6 is a 1 piece cast constructed wheel. I actually quite like this styling. There is a bit going on with the design here but it works for me and is paired very well on this 4Runner.
New generation Tacoma on Rays Offroad 08X.
Ken Gushi’s GR86 Formula Drift car also made an appearance to celebrate Rays World Tour with a set of Gram Light 57DRs.
E30 M3 with OG TE37s in a brushed finish.
A close up of the TE37s to highlight the brushed finish. I personally think the spoke stickers look a bit large, but what do you guys think? The replacement stickers only come in one size designed for 17/18” models, as far as I know. These are 16”, so that could be the reason why.
Displayed at Sparco was this Porsche 964 with a proper set of OG TE37 finished in Magnesium Blue. I thought this had great fitment and colour combination.
Inside with some Sparco accessories - most notable being the Sparco ultra carbon bucket seats.
Sparco was also out showcasing some of their competition and street series of seats.
Sparco also brought out a lifted Can-Am on TE37XTs. Crazy.
The Acura Spice IMSA GTP Lights Racer that was prepared and raced by Comptech during the 1992 season of GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) and also won.
Of course winning on Volk Racing wheels.
Rays display of TE37s and many of it’s variants to celebrate it’s 30th anniversary.
Another display showcasing more of their wheels but with some vintage models and some modern.
This Rays RW-LMP1-MF08 was specifically designed for Gazoo Racing for their WEC cars.
Another specialty designed wheel for JGTC (as per the name). I’m unsure what car these were for.
Another race specific application - this one for Super GT500 racing series (as per the name).
A Volk Racing wheel featuring an aero disc. It was labeled as a MS01 Competition 1991 - I couldn’t find any more information about it online, but thought it was a cool looking wheel.
Rays even had a display where you could “feel the difference” between a genuine and fake TE37 Sonic SL.
They even chose a pretty good looking replica wheel - asides from the lip and engraving, it looks pretty similar. I think this would have fooled many people into thinking it was a real TE37.
Here on the broken wheel, the entire face has completely sheared off at the base of the spokes - it does not look like damage from an impact and you can see the evidence of casting at the break.
Just a reminder that just because a wheel is casted does not instantly mean they are weak and of poor quality. It’s when companies or manufactures specify poor quality controls or methods during their production that leads to premature or catastrophic failure. We live in a world where the technology and machinery exists to make products of extremely high quality - but it is all driven by economics.
That’s why when you buy a “cheap” wheel, you get a product that may look great, but then it lacks certain standards or qualities - the manufacture’s goal or job is to fulfill orders from companies based off what they are willing to pay and if they just want the cheapest solution possible, this is the end result…
Display showcasing Ray’s recent offerings from their MID wheels and Rays Offroad Wheels lineup.
Another look at the M6 finished in Side Sunlight Silver.
Rays did bring some of their other offerings from Volk Racing here as well.
Debuting at SEMA 2026 was the newest addition, the RE27, and RE27 M-Spec. For those wondering what the difference is, it’s literally just the engraving on the lip, where the “M” in M-Spec stands for Mackin Industries. It’s cool to see this wheel feature a partially anodized lip, a nod to the OG TE37.
Leencustoms’ Porsche 964.
The interior was very well put together as well - I loved this dark green interior with a camo design carried throughout the seats, door cards and dashboard.
Peep the single red gauge - nice contrast of colour, but does not feel completely random as it matches with smaller elements of the interior, like the hazard button.
V-Spec II Nur R34 Skyline… if you know, you know. Incredibly rare trim with only ever 718 produced for the entire global market.
Styled with Nismo Z-tune aero and Ganador mirrors.
I don’t know much about the A90 Supras. I just know that this one looks great.
The new GRMN Corolla.
Sam Du’s Rav4 GR Concept. The goal was to create a GR variant of the Rav4 as if Toyota had done so themselves. Best photo I could get at the time as a lineup for the GR experience began forming.
Battlecraft/Stickydiljoe’s Voltex equipped GR86.
I’ve seen this car on screen through Instagram and Youtube plenty of times - so it’s cool to now see it in person. It has a great presence.
With Toyo Tires and Rays, this GX550 has all the right stuff.
From the nineties, this EG Civic sits as a time capsule on display.
This highly modified hawkeye STi looked well put together.
Jimmy Oakes’ 964 on Volk Racing VRX-10 Mesh wheels…
Which was powered by a Maserati V8. The ITB intake plenums were 3D printed - great use of 3D printing here.
I made myself inside once it started getting hot outside. Konig’s booth which was first up by the entrance. I thought they had a fun display so I tried to highlight that here. This was still early morning but it started getting busy quick.
MV Forged had a lineup of exotics and super cars - while this 964 may not be considered exotic or super car level, it still showed great alongside the others.
I have never heard of MV Forged myself, but that’s cause they cater to a demographic that I don’t belong to. Pictured here is a 992.1 911 GT3 RS with a Manthey Kit.
Bugatti Chiron with the AL13 wheel booth. Another bespoke wheel brand for high end exotics I presume. They have a person attending this car for the entire duration of the event to keep it completely dust free - I presume.
A Lamborghini something. Well above my pay grade so I’m not actually allowed to know what the model name is. It was hard to get a photo of the entire line up from MV Forged due to the traffic (not that I cared in particular).
You can tell from this photo the amount of people moving through a narrow opening. An insane number of people with their cameras doing the thing while lacking all spacial awareness (myself included).
Wild looking thing.
I then continued on into the garage shop type area where they had tool companies, tire machines, alignment racks, and all that sort of equipment. It was insane as this was on the second level of one of the halls. There were plenty of companies like Rotary, Hunter and Corghi (to name a few) that all had booths at this scale.
I couldn’t even fathom the amount of weight on that floor, or how they even set these booths up. The logistics to set up the show to host something like this is impressive. All of the machines and lifts are fully functioning too - these are not just for display - they showed live demos so all of these equipment needed to be installed with full power and air hooked up to them.
I moved on pretty quickly from the tool and shop equipment section of the show and made it into the Central Hall where Rywire’s 964 was on display at the CSF Cooling booth. You may have already seen this online as it’s a favourite of many - and for good reason.
If you want to learn more, there are videos on YouTube that go into greater detail with Ryan himself.
The Midori Green works great here and I’m a fan of the colour matched wheels.
White also looks amazing. Ryan in the background as well sharing his build progress with anyone who wanted to stop by and chat.
I really enjoyed the pop of yellow on the seats with the accents of green throughout the interior. It’s done tastefully and not over the top.
Very interesting intake plenum here. I loved the styling of it, in this sort of low resolution triangle mesh design. Super unique and very interesting to look at. I didn’t get close enough to tell, but the larger body looked to be 3D printed. There are welded couplers on them which makes me curious to know what material they used here - maybe titanium, but definitely looks like some sort of exotic material.
964s seemed to be quite popular for the tuner crowd and all the ones that caught my eye thus far were so well done and quite unique from each other.
Beautiful BMW E9. I don’t know anything about these - found it incredible, however.
Nismo wheel wall??
Nismo wheel wall 😎
Bringing back OEM parts for the 90/2000s Nissan sports cars? Couldn’t find out any more information, but I don’t think that is the case. I think this was more of a display rack for their booth.
OK - Sentra Spec V??
This was a surprise to see. This is a concept car built by Nissan to show the idea of what a Spec V could look like. Loaded with a lot of borrowed Nismo parts from the GTR and 370Z, this Sentra looks pretty bad-ass if you ask me…
The widebody kit is so good. Subtle but aggressive.
I really like this… coming from a Honda guy too.
I didn’t notice at the time, but after going through the photos, there’s an external Motec display on the dash that they integrated into the factory cluster/screen. They did an incredible job with keeping it looking clean and almost OE and intentional.
Nismo merch looking pretty good - I almost wanted to get something for myself.
Nismo Off Road showing off some pretty neat stuff. I was surprised I didn’t see more of these posted on social media at the time I’m writing this (already a few days after the opening day). This “Jungle Patrol” looked pretty tough to me. Cool concept with the open top for the safari.
Average height Chinese man for scale. The Jungle Patrol is properly tall.
This Pathfinder also received the off road treatment. High clearance front bumper, sliders and a tubed roof rack.
I like these Nismo wheels - of course done by Rays.
The rear is equipped with a swing out for a spare tire and also cut rear bumper and steel bumper, although it doesn’t look like it will do much protecting as it sits higher than the plastic bumper. The swing out also mounts into the rear quarter which doesn’t seem to be the best solution available - but it is just a concept his point.
Frontier dubbed the Ronin. This one was my favourite out of the off road renditions from Nismo. I especially enjoyed the livery. There was also a mirror underneath to show off a twin turbo set up. I didn’t get a good photo of that, unfortunately.
A car that received a ton of attention was this full carbon fibre bodied EK Civic put together by Round Cat Garage and Seibon. Mickey of Round Cat Garage also hanging out and sharing his build journey about this Civic hatch.
Seibon usually gets a bad rep for poor fitting panels, however the fitment was pretty darn good. Maybe these panels were constructed together for this car which would have helped getting everything lined up right, but I thought they did a good job.
Working with composites looks pretty difficult when trying to manufacture with tight tolerances. I’m not in the composite business so I don’t fully understand or know the process but I would imagine it still requires quite a bit of manual labour when it comes to more of these one off pieces.
The 7-Eleven and Toyota GR Supra collaboration. Unsure of what kit is on this Supra, but it looks great.
This is a neat one - This GR Corolla by Rookie Racing is a hydrogen powered concept that was developed to test alternative fuels in a harsh racing environment. The team behind this participated in Super Endurance racing with this exact car to try and go carbon-neutral.
Pictured is just some of the madness which I believe is Hydrogen storage and fuel cells.
Sung Kang’s AE86 from his new movie, “Drifter”. I got to watch a panel interview with Sung Kang, Larry Chen and Cody Walker to promote the movie and some. I think it has only showed publicly at TIFF where it premiered.
Toyota came out with a fleet of lifted Woodland concepts for a majority of their SUV and van lineup of vehicles. They are more of less styled the exact same fashion.
Here is the Crown Signia Woodland concept.
Grand Highlander dressed as the Woodland concept.
They also had a Sienna, Rav4, and bZ4X in Woodland clothing.
Toyota also did a Snowhunter concept for it’s lineup of trucks where they traded tires for snow tracks and then equipped with some off-road accessories and a white camo livery.
The Sequoia in Snowhunter spec. These Snowhunters look fun.
And the 4Runner. Missed the Tacoma, but I’m sure you get the point.
The Advan booth had this time attack style S15 with a full carbon front end.
Relatively simple GX550 at the Rays booth inside.
FL5 Type R also with the Rays booth with a new set of Gram Light 57NR wheels.
G80 M3 sporting a new set of RE37s. I really like this wheel and I think it pairs well here.
Just a display of Nitron Suspension struts.
Another civic from the past. Buddyclub front bumper and Racing Hart Type C wheels all looking period correct… that is until you see under the hood which shows off an L15 turbo swap.
Frozen in time, but also modernized with an L15 engine swap.
Wilwood’s booth - Just thought they had a cool booth.
The rotor light I thought was a nice touch. I think they had their entire catalogue on display.
A Carerra GT that gets driven hard apparently…
…and they aren’t shy of letting you know about it.
Larry Chen’s E36 M3 made waves this year at SEMA. Displayed at the APG Brakes booth, this was a favourite amongst many.
I too am a fan of this look.
Dustin William’s Sorcery wide body NSX was revealed this year at SEMA - also displayed in the APG Brakes booth.
Honda Civic Type R HRC Concept vehicle which debuted earlier this year at Tokyo Auto Salon has now made it’s appearance on American soil showcasing at SEMA. This prototype consists of dedicated HRC performance upgrades which include; increased cooling, performance exhaust, higher flowing intake, revised ECU mapping, and aerodynamic upgrades.
Honda does mention that this prototype is actually under development for the North American market, meaning we could be seeing a hopped up Type R from factory for the FL5 platform.
Although its wrapped in this camouflage, you can see some of the aero upgrades - front splitter, canards, wider air intake opening on the bumper, rear diffuser, and a different styled rear wing.
Maybe the most notable and largest change to the aerodynamics are the updated fenders with an addition of a larger vent that sweeps above the wheel arch. This change looks a bit off putting to me and feels like an after-thought as it does not seem to flow with any body lines.
Honda Civic Type R TCR built and raced for IMSA competition. This year Honda placed second in the final manufacture standings, with this car winning at Watkin Glen’s International.
Honda N600 also on display at HRC. This one looks as if it was built for rally duty but I did not get the history of this one.
The Hasport K20C1 engine swapped Prelude presented at the HRC booth. I was following this build on YouTube up until the few days before SEMA - it’s a neat feeling being able to see this in person after watching the build progress online.
I caught the Prelude at a time when Rickie from Throtl and Brian from Hasport/Vtec Academy were filming a walk-through video together. Throtl also put together their rendition of a Prelude with the same swap, however they went with an OEM+ approach to create a Prelude Type R had Honda released one - Hasport on the other hand went for the race/track route.
It’s cool to see the contrast between and the iterations and innovations that people are coming up with to explore unchartered territory and accomplish new things in this space. I did get a chance to see the Throtl Prelude in person, but was unable to get any good photos as it was too busy by the time I got there and never made it back again to take photos. Both had excellent execution and I think achieved what they aimed to portray.
Yeah - that looks like a K20C1 swap. Nothing too fancy under the hood, but the engine fits in there as if it could have actually come from Honda that way.
White on blue always looks sharp. Awesome job by the Hasport & Vtec Academy team. Also actually really cool to see something like this with the HRC booth.
An AMR26 (current season) Aston Martin F1 car with of course a Honda built power unit.
The most winningest chassis in HRC program history is this exact NSX GT3. Developed for GT3 competition racing, this car won 22 races and 3 championships between 2017 and 2022. This was recently restored by HRC earlier this year and I heard that it’s also looking for a new owner…
Felix Rosenqvist’s IndyCar 500. This won the drivers’ championship, manufactures’ championship and rookie of the year and the Indy 500 for the 2026 season.
The all new 2026 Passport Baja Trophy Truck that’s going to be driven by Bryce Menzies where it makes history as the first hybrid powered trophy truck to compete in the SCORE World Desert Championship.
A look into the front suspension assembly and it’s relatively simple. The portal axle unit sits very close to the wheel and tire… but as they say, clearance is clearance. Both control arms are beautifully machined pieces…
Fox suspension was chosen to keep this trophy Truck riding smooth and quick across the desert.
Not much going up front behind the front fascia either. Some cooling items and four Baja Design Squadrons which make up one headlight.
The HRC Passport Baja Chase vehicle that will be providing support to the trophy truck above. In order to be a chase vehicle, this passport also got some support modifications from HRC which included a set of forged wheels by Titan 7 and upgraded suspension.
HRC also had a display showcasing some of their new lineup of performance parts that will be made available for purchase. An even larger big brake kit upgrade for the FL5 and DE5 chassis is pictured here. While the FL5 and DE5 already come with factory Brembo brakes, HRC decided that for hardcore track use, the factory units would not suffice and therefore even thicker and larger Brembos are needed…
A 2 way adjustable coilover also for the FL5 and DE5 chassis. Designed in collaboration with KW Suspension, these allow for camber adjustment, rebound and dampening, and ride height adjustment.
HRC wheels in collaboration with Titan 7 Wheels which means you can now get a set of forged wheels straight from the Honda and Acura dealership. HRC has only announced these parts for the United Status thus far, so no luck for us Canadians - for now anyways.
F150 Raptor on Volk Racing M6 wheels showing at the Rays booth. So good. I want this.
Ford Bronco with Rays Offroad D325 wheels. The exterior panels were ditched for carbon fibre pieces and the doors replaced with the lap bars from amusement park rides (kidding). I love this baja desert racing look - it looks incredibly tough.
Throtl’s Prelude build in the Idemitsu booth. The Regamasters are a classic Honda look and that’s no different here.
Again, couldn’t get much of a full picture cause it was super busy at this time and I forgot to come back at a later time. It’s all over the internet by now though.
G87 M2 with Alpha-N aero sitting on Advan RZ-DF2 wheels.
I liked Bilstein’s booth display. Quite simple in comparison to many others, but it looked good.
TJ Hunt’s Aston Martin Vantage with GT3 kit and colour matched HREs.
Lifted with an air jack system.
Another one of Larry Chen’s many cars at SEMA - this one is his E30 with a 7-Eleven livery showing at his booth.
I think I started walking to another hall at this point. There are literally cars everywhere - even as you leave the main halls, the hallways and skywalks connecting each hall all had some vehicle or motorbike on display.
This Toyota FJ40 was sweet.
This offroading but kinda slammed Honda Acty. The wheels look huge on this, but they’re actually only 15’s. It goes to show how small these kei trucks are. The roof top rack/light bar rack is an interesting design. Instead of mounting a rack directly onto the naked roof, there is a roll bar that extends up and over the roof to provide a platform for the rack. Cool concept for an “offroad” build.
Matt’s Off-Road Recovery Morrvair - A custom off-road recovery vehicle derived from a Chevy Corvair station wagon. I watch his YouTube channel from time to time and have learned a lot about recovery methods and techniques. Pretty crazy some of the things he’s had to help recover.
Toyota Landcruiser that has modern day touches and features while still retaining that old school style. I love this look - it’s so clean and well done.
The interior is mint, with an updated modern day Toyota steering wheel.
New generation Tacoma on Rays 05X wheels. All offroad on the outside…
…but all racecar on the inside. Bride Zeta buckets for the front passengers and a JQ Werks Madtrace steering wheel system. Although many people modify both offroad builds and track builds, you never really see a blend of the two. This was an interesting take and shows that maybe you can have it all with a one car solution… just maybe…
These mini skylines are so cool!
Powered by a 1.3L turbo charged engine. I wonder how they drive. I would assume that this must feel exactly like a go-kart.
That was it for my first ever day at SEMA. Everything is competiting for your attention and if you’ve got self-diagnosed ADHD like me, then you’re bound to get lost, miss an entire row of vendors, or spend way too long in one booth - but that is also the great thing of SEMA - there is just so much to see that it’s easy to really get engulfed into something. I’d find myself walking in zig-zags just because I’d want to go see XYZ over there rather than walk row by row. I would be looking on Instagram seeing cars or booths that I had missed just to find out it wouldn’t have happened had I walked row by row.
Since this show happens every year, companies and car builders are constantly out there trying to innovate, create, and develop the next greatest thing. There are so many products to learn about, details in each car to catch, and areas of the show explore. As this was my first time ever at SEMA, I tried to walk majority of the show so that I could plan out my next two days to narrow down what I wanted to see in greater depth and what I feel like I could pass on. With over 20,000 steps in over 8 hours, I estimate I’d only covered about 50% of total ground, but maybe only caught 10% of what was going on. I feel like I was speed-running the show too.
I made a mental note to try and revisit what I wanted to re-visit, but I also still had the remainder of the show to see… this was just SEMA too - there was AAPEX happening concurrently too that had lots to offer as well. This was going to be a challenge to try and “see” everything…
That wraps up my day one and what I found interesting enough/could take a photo of. Day two actually was a bit more “chill” as I was privileged enough to take part in some personal and business development events and meetings happening at AAPEX… I took whatever free time I had at that point to cover AAPEX, so stay tuned to see what my day two looked like.
