At last year’s PRI tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, we happened to catch GZ Motorsports’ racing vacuum pump on display. After talking with company founder Greg Zucco, we’ve given a lot of thought about the VP series Vacuum pumps.
PRI Coverage
Video: Add This To Our Wish List: GZ Motorsports’ Racing Vacuum Pump
by Bobby Kimbrough
on January 6, 2012
At the 2011 PRI show, Powermaster rolled out a bunch of new hardware for late-model V8 cars, covering applications for both Blue Oval and Bowtie aficionados.
PRI 2011: Champion Spark Plugs Continues to Bring New Technology
by Bobby Kimbrough
on December 26, 2011
At the 2011 PRI trade show, we checked in with Richard Keller of Champion Spark Plugs to find out how Champion deals with ever changing technology in automotive engines and fuels to provide a spark plug that lasts and is a good value.
Fueling your daily driver, street/strip ride or full-tilt race car is no joke. How many times have you seen a fellow competitor or heard of someone you knew of, who’s motor ran dry, ultimately melting their mill down.
Whether you race on the strip, oval, or simply just restore cars for a living, having a differential for your application is critical for your success. When we stopped by the folks at Eaton Performance booth at PRI 2011 they reminded us how crucial choosing the correct differential is.
PRI 2011: Stainless Steel Brakes Adds Front Drag Brakes, Billet Hub
by Mark Gearhart
on December 23, 2011
It’s all about lightweight now-a-days. Not only are people concerned about saving weight on their race cars, but also street cars as well. Stainless Steel Brakes has introduced a new line of Competition front brakes (to compliment their race rear brake kits) designed for performance race and street vehicles.
PRI 2011: Superflow’s New Mobile Touch Screen Tablet For Dyno Users
by John Gibson
on December 22, 2011
One of the most frustrating things when a engine is on the dyno has to be leaving all of the data and controls behind to walk back into the dyno-room to make an adjustment. Now with Superflow’s latest data acquisition system you can carry the wireless dyno controls and information with you.
While robots will inevitably rise up against us, overthrow and enslave us to toil in their chromium mines and vacuum their houses, in the meantime they turn out some darn good speed parts, and Scorpion Racing Products is making the most of the time we have left by using them to manufacture quality US-made parts.
People often look at Crane Cams as strictly a camshaft company, but many forget that Crane has been an innovator in digital ignition systems. We stopped by their booth at PRI 2011 and learned more about their points replacement systems. Watch the video here.
PRI 2011: Kooks Custom Headers Adds 5.4 and 6.2L Raptor Applications
by Mark Gearhart
on December 22, 2011
If you are looking for more horsepower for getting around, or just want to hear that ‘big block’ purr, then you should take a look at Kook’s Custom Headers. Offered in 1-3/4 or 1-7/8ths inch primaries and for the 5.4 and 6.2-liter engines, Kooks boasts up to a 40 horsepower gain to the rear wheels.
PRI 2011: Bell Racing’s Old School Helmet Design With Modern Touches
by John Gibson
on December 21, 2011
For 2012, Bell Racing Helmets is debuting a new line of vintage helmets that will feature popular helmets from each era of racing, but with modern technology and modern construction. We stopped by Bell Racing’s booth at the 2011 PRI show to check them out.
PRI 2011: Quickfuel Technology Showcases Affordable Slayer Carbs
by John Gibson
on December 21, 2011
With so many choices on the market it can be extremely confusing on how to choose the correct carburetor. One carburetor that caught our attention at the 2011 PRI show was Quickfuel Technology’s new affordable Slayer Carburetor Series.
PRI 2011: Bilstein Unveils New Drag Shocks, Universal Rally Struts
by Andrew Wolf
on December 21, 2011
Here at PRI, Bilstein has launched a number of new products aimed at different markets, including their Drag line of shocks with a street/strip attitude for the Fox body Mustang and F-body Camaro, along with new Universal Motorsports Struts for road racing, oval track, and rally racing applications.
PRI 2011: Innovate Motorsports Sees What’s Happening When You Don’t
by Kevin Shaw
on December 21, 2011
Innovate Motorsports’ new MTX Dual Function Gauges are four gauges: three are dual function, consisting of oil pressure/oil Temp, water temp/voltage, and a boost/shift light. The fourth gauge is a exhaust gas temp gauge, which doesn’t require a secondary function.
Lincoln Electric is well known for their welders and the ability to join metal, with the release of their new Tomahawk line of Plasma cutters, they may become better known for the ability to cut metal precisely at any location. We checked out the Tomahawk Plasma cutters at this year’s PRI tradeshow.
The braintrust of K1 and Wiseco has resulted in a series of products that have been designed specifically to benefit the other, and to maximize each part’s inner potential.
We stopped by McLeod Industries booth at PRI 2011 to check out their complete driveline solution. They also showed off their new clutch that is ready for 2500HP+ applications. Watch the video here.
Among the many high-end race component manufactures available to us during the PRI 2011 Show was Aerospace Components. Aerospace’s newest parts consisted of their F-Body brake kit for ’93-04 F-Bodies and their transmission cable bracket including the bellcrank feature.
PRI 2011: Dynojet Owners Give Us Opinions On Dynojet’s Chassis Dynos
by John Gibson
on December 13, 2011
Deciding whether or not to invest in a chassis dyno can be a tough decision. At the 2011 PRI tradeshow we had the opportunity to speak with a variety of race shops, engine builders, and race teams and get their opinion of Dynojet chassis dynamometers. Watch the video here.
PRI 2011: DynoJet Chassis Dynos at SCT Performance’s Open House
by Bobby Kimbrough
on December 12, 2011
We got a chance to see how DynoJet Research and SCT Performance’s partnership works to benefit automotive enthusiasts. Read more about it here.
When we walked into the 2011 PRI tradeshow each morning we were greeted with the #28 Ford from Roush Yates Performance warming up on a Dynojet chassis dyno. After seeing and hearing the #28, we just had to stop by the Roush Yates booth to get the lowdown on not only the Ford but also the Dynojet Chassis Dyno.
Sitting behind a fence of velvet ropes and brass poles, the war horses of a bygone era were on display at this year’s 2011 PRI Show in Orlando, Florida. Not that of horse hide or bone, but of acid-dipped steel and aluminum cylinder heads and intake manifolds.
PRI 2011: Crane Cams Shows Us Their Complete Digital Ignition Line
by John Gibson
on December 12, 2011
When we stopped by the Crane Cams booth at PRI 2011 we were reminded just how far digital CD ignitions have come in the short time that Crane has been producing them.
PRI 2011: SCT Performance Knows How To Make Things Move… Literally
by Bobby Kimbrough
on December 9, 2011
SCT Performance relocated their facility in August of this year. At the PRI tradeshow, the company invited everyone at the trade show to visit their new location with an open house. Our crew went and checked out SCT’s new crib.
Within the motorsports industry race teams have been choosing Crane Cams optical distributors for quite sometime. But what people often forget is that Crane also has this technology available in a street/performance application.
We talked with John Dickey of AED about the inaugural BLP Racing Products Carburetor shootout prior to the PRI Trade Show.
We talked to Federal Mogul’s Marketing Manager about their new line of MLS head gaskets for racing and street use. Find out how Federal Mogul used NASCAR cup teams as research and development vehicles for your high performance street car here.
Mustang is the dynamometer of choice for serious performance tuners and aftermarket product developers for a reason: they know the facts. This year during the PRI 2011 Show, Mustang introduced their new engine and chassis dynamometer combo dyno.
Mac’s Custom Tie Downs create some of the best car-hauling straps around. Mac’s designs everything from custom-like track systems, deck hardware, tie downs, straps, wheel nets and everything in between to assure your investment is hauled safely and securely.
While not everyone is a fan of import/sport compact drag racing, you have to give credit where credit is due and admire just how much power and speed it’s possible to squeeze from a handful of cubic inches with a little help from the right turbocharger…
Here’s a stat for you: Moroso says they’ve added more than 135 new products to their catalog for 2012, and the printed version is already as thick as the Henderson, Nevada white pages (ProTip: If you were born after 1990, the “white pages” was a way to convert forests into overflowing landfills.)
Over the last 13 seasons, ProCharger has powered nearly 100 customers in a multitude of racing organizations and venues, and this season, they added another seven championships spanning five different series.
Whipple is no stranger to the world of horsepower. After All, they’ve been dealing out full-lace, bolt-on packages for our favorite small-, and big-block combinations for years.
Within the aftermarket industry, varying manufacturers can make some wild claims about full-functionality when it comes to a complete ignition system. For the most part, much of the functionality is limited and isn’t very interactive.
In the performance game, counting on quality reigns supreme. When you’re going heads up in a drag race, or even just hitting up the Sunday cruise scene in your project car, quality counts! That’s exactly the reason why Lunati has made a point to manufacture engine components of the highest quality.
Our inside man at Holley explains how they have redefined winning by redesigning the 4150 HP carb to produce the new Ultra HP series race carburetor.
JE Pistons, a company that has specialized in high performance pistons for over 60 years, has developed their own high performance head gasket line for domestic and foreign applications. To find out more about JE’s Pro Seal line of MLS head gaskets, read more about it here.
There is so much more that goes into each pass at a dragstrip than what the average fans sees. We were shown one example of this at Penske Racing Shocks booth at PRI 2011, when they showed us their triple adjustable drag racing shock.
Remember what it was like to go into the toy store at the mall when you were a kid? So many things you wanted, all laid out in rows upon rows, beyond the wildest dreams of avarice… It’s easy to recapture that feeling when you flip through the Moroso/Competition Engineering catalog.
PRI 2011: Garrett’s New GTX Line of Turbos Boost Wider Applications
by Mark Gearhart
on December 8, 2011
While there are traditional GT series turbos with similar specifications built with the same name, the GTX turbos boast an array of upgrades that allow them to be more efficient on the bottom and top of the boost map to better compliment small and large displacement motors.
It isn’t the first and it certainly won’t be the last, but Mike Castellana’s brand spankin’ new fifth-generation Camaro is arguably the best-looling, most accurate rendition we’ve seen to date, and since its unveiling this fall, drag racing fans have been champing at the bit to see this up and close and personal.
PRI 2011: Davis Technologies Measures All Axis of Your Race Car
by Mark Gearhart
on December 8, 2011
One of the coolest products we saw at PRI had to be Davis Racing Technologies’ all axis sensor. This product, still without a name and in the prototype stage, has the ability to detect exactly what your vehicle is doing through a quarter mile pass.
PRI 2011: SCT Performance’s Mobile Device Tuning With iTSX Programme
by Bobby Kimbrough
on December 8, 2011
SCT Performance has almost made the driver obsolete with their latest developments in wireless programming. Ok, maybe not the driver, but they have made tuning your engine easier with the iTXS application that allows wireless tuning and engine data monitoring on your iPhone or iPad. Read more about it here.
COMP, a name so synonymous with racing, it practically defines everything speed. That’s why this year they opened up shop in the center of the PRI showroom, with enough floorspace to run laps on.
Today, the racing and performance industry are losing these pioneers at an alarming rate, and the Quarter Mile Foundation, through its Project 1320, has set out capture the stories, the successes, and the frustrations of these legends of the quarter mile, while they still can.
PRI 2011: Ross Racing Pistons Adds Applications, Subtracts Weight
by Paul Huizenga
on December 7, 2011
Ross Racing Pistons always has their display stocked full of gleaming aluminum goodness, waiting to be picked up and touched – great if you’re shopping for some new slugs, but a chore for the poor guys from Ross who have to keep wiping off fingerprints (and drool)…
PRI 2011: Strange Introduces Street/Strip Aluminum Center Section
by Mark Gearhart
on December 7, 2011
There has been a longing for an aluminum center section that can hold up to the rigors of street driving. Strange Engineering has listened to the cries and has released a center section with thru-studs, meaning there are no bolt heads on the end caps and only on the differential’s front face.
PRI 2011: Mast Motorsports Continues Their History of LS Innovation
by Paul Huizenga
on December 7, 2011
Horace Mast of Mast Motorsports has built quite a following in the LS performance world by creating some very potent hardware, and at this year’s PRI show we got a look at some of the very newest dreams carved out of aluminum from his company.
A proper race bred vehicle is more than just a competent drivetrain. Sure, you’ve got the braking system dialed in and the tires have plenty of tread left in them for maximum adhesion to the road. However, how are your fluids being transferred from the pumps to the parts which need lubrication…
These days, with performance numbers eclipsing four digits marks, slowing down is just as important is getting up to speed. Moreover, having teh ability to brake later and harder before entering a turn will allow the driver to increase any distance in the competing field.
