Hot Rides Show 2009

Hot Rides Show and Cruise 2009

Metrolina Expo

The Hot Rides Show and cruise was held at The Metrolina Expo in Charlotte, NC on September 19, 2009. This show was a little different for me because its rare that you can actually attend a custom car show that's held indoors. To top that, just outside of the building was a drifting competition that kept all of the visitors entertained all day. I don't see how those guys can drive those cars like that! It takes a lot of skill to slide those cars around the cones like they do.

The hot rides show consisted of about 30 cars. Most of these cars were imports, but thats not to say that they weren't cool. Several had some impressive mods, while others hadn't been customized that much. I had the Impala on full display with all of its latest mods and it was a big hit at the show. It was an event packed car show with hundreds of custom rides showing off their modifications. A "db drag" was held at the show for car audio enthusiasts to see if there sound system was really as loud as they thought it was. A db (decibel) drag is a competition for audio enthusiasts to see an actual number for how many decibels there sound system put out. The owners hold a sort of microphone near the bottom of their front window that measures the "loudness" of the sound. Some of the vehicles there had some serious sound pounding out of there subwoofers!

Another event at hot rides show that is sound related was the exhaust competition where drivers can see just how loud their exhaust is, similar to that of a db drag. Some of those imports' exhausts were defining! I remember one Nissan 350z hitting around 164 decibels, which is louder than a JET-ENGINE at close range!

The awards at the hot rides show ceremony was kind of lop-sided since I took home 6, thats right six, "best of show" awards including Best Paint, Best Interior, Best Engine, Best Audio/Video, Best Wheels, and Best Car. I was very excited to think about just how far my 96 Impala SS had come along over the years.

Please look through the pictures below to see some of our favorite rides at The Hot Rides Show and Cruise

Custom Mazda 626	Mazda 626 engine
Huge Greddy intercooler on this Mazda!	This guy was doing some final detailing on his killer 350z for the judges at hot rides show
Spotless twin turbos on this 350z!	This 350 had some huge exhaust to let out that boosted power!
Deep black custom 350z	Custom 350z
3000GT ready for some action	Custom modified blue 3000GT
Ford Focus	Custom Dodge Stealth presented by 3sx.com
The engine in 3sx.com 's Dodge Stealth	This custom Stealth had some sound in it too!
This B.R.E Drift car took the win in the street-wise drifting competition	This Cadillac surprised me when I looked under the hood!
In case you can't see it, the emblem on the center brace says LS6 !	This custom civic hatch was tricked out!
This custom civic hatch was a right hand drive vehicle. Pretty unusual for the U.S.	He has won several awards in the past with his modified Civic
This was another custom civic hatchback sitting beside the orange one	Heres the back of the custom burgundy civic hatchback
I took a break and stepped outside to see this guy setting up some cones on the drift course that had beeen mknocked over	This green Civic was totally customized! It had custom paint, engine work, lighting and a heck of a sound system in the back seat! It was rolling on air ride too
Engine and custom headlights in the custom Civic	Rear seat of the custom civic. I can tell you that that sound system was LOUD!
Another sdhot of the custom fiberglass enclosure in the back of this custom civic	rear of the custom civic
air ride suspension setup in the trunk	Heres the custom 96 Chevrolet Impala SS fully built by yourcustomcar.com
Custom 96 Chevrolet Impala SS	Yeah I can make em get low!
I had the custom 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS shinning good!	Here you can see my latest interior mods, custom seats and glassed door panels
Here are the rear seats and custom speaker deck. Yeah those seat belts are black!	Had the custom 96 impala SS on full display
Custom tribals in House of Kolor on the YourCustomCar.com SS	Thats why I got the "Best Engine" award
This Infiniti was tearing up the drift course!	This was an incredibly clean custom VW jetta
custom jetta interior	Now that's what friends are for!
Custom Mitsubishi Lancer	Lancer interior
I've never seen an Oldsmobile 442 Solar like this	He has received several awards for this unique olds in the past.
Beautiful red 350z	The red on this civic was flawless!
That red civic had the coolest valve cover paint jobs I've ever seen!	how do you paint on wood grain?!!
Thats all paint!	Highly modified Dodge Stealth
Stealth engine	Custom Stealth interior
The electronics in this Stealth trunk baffled me, but it looked cool!	You don't always have to have a full out custom car to attend a car show, as long as you have fun!