Toyota TRD Tundra Street Concept at SEMA 2008

Toyota Racing Development have created the TRD Tundra Street Concept, a vehicle which has been lowered, charged, restyled and most importantly significantly customised to satisfy SEMA 2008's performance-seeking crowds.

Based on 2007's Toyota Tundra and featuring the stock 5.7-litre DOHC VVTi V8 engine, the Street Concept hosts a range of supporting technical and styling upgrades, namely starting with the supercharging and intercooling of its V8 powerplant. The Eaton Roots-type supercharger features integrated air-to-liquid intercooling, while a TRD cold air intake system provides the necessary air flow improvements. A stainless dual exhaust and uprated TRD brake system also join the technical upgrades.

Modified suspension arrives hand-in-hand with a stance-enhancing lowered ride height and is joined by a revised front grille and front fascia, restyled bumper arrangement, new bed cover and integrated spoiler in creating a more aggressive look. A custom red paint job and 16-inch forged alloys complete the restyle. Inside and leather touches adorn central console and inner door, while seat fabrics also get the custom touch.

Kicherer CL 65 Coupe with 650hp

Kicherer has realised the value of absolute power by putting in some outstanding work into a Mercedes-Benz CL 65 AMG. The car is Benz's finest work as far as the coupe body type is concerned, already sporting a nice 612 hp/ 450kW V12 of two turbos and 1000Nm. Kicherer was never going to be satisfied as any power-hungry world car fan would know, and so decided to up the game a little. Later on that.

For the exterior they chose a few changes, headlined by 9 and 10 x 20" Kicherer RS-X lightweight wheels, carbon fiber mirror shells, rear diffuser, front grille and front apron whose deflector is also of the black light stuff. The exhaust system is a mirror-finished affair with four tailpipes, and supposedly makes the most glorious of sounds.

Inside as expected the CL 65 receives velvet glove treatment, from the alcantara ceiling, carbon intarsia, to the nappa leather seats, and handmade hand-worked shag pile carpet for the back. And now for the numbers you want. Kicherer has managed to squeeze out 38 more stallions out of the engine to give it a well-rounded 650 hp/ 486kW and oak-pulling 1200Nm. A rear diff lock helps plant it firmly on tar. For that you get 0 - 100km/h in 4.2 seconds and a limited 320km/h for your top end.

2008 Cobra Jet Mustang Drag Racer at SEMA

Despite the problems Ford is experiencing right now, such as the utter and complete meltdown of its domestic market, it's still making the Ford Mustang just a fun car.

Ford Racing has released a slate of race-ready Mustangs and this latest is what Ford calls the FR500CJ, and what we, who prefer names rather than soul-less numbers to describe things, will know as the Cobra Jet.

This latest Cobra Jet harkens back to a better time for Ford -- a time when it held a considerable lock on its share of the US market. More specifically 1968, when Ford won the NHRA Winternationals with its then Cobra Jet and helped solidify the Mustang as a legendary American sports car. Only 50 of those original Cobra Jets were built and if you happen to have one in your garage right now, then you won't have to worry about the current global recession hitting your local economy.

Also, you can order one of these at your local Ford dealer. Which, at least, means that Ford is serious about putting these cars out there and not just up for show at SEMA.

Oddly, Ford Racing doesn't yet provide any (real) numbers on performance. But you can guess it comes with some tweaked variation on the 4.6L V8 found in the Mustang GT, which produces about 325 hp.

Novitec Rosso 599 GTB Fiorano Bi-Kompressor

There are cars, sports cars, supercars and then comes...what? Well, then comes this 599 GTB Fiorano by tuner Novitec Rosso who make this Ferrari's numbers look a lot like the Italian carmaker's F1 car.

We have 808 ph, 823 Nm of cranking capacity and a top speed of more than 340 km/h. Track times are 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds, 0-200km/h in 9.7 and 0-300km/h in 25.5 seconds. If you're giving out numbers on your 0-300km/h time, you have confidence in what you're putting out there on the street.

The Novitec Rosso's Bi-Kompressor V12 adds 188 hp and 215 Nm of torque from the 'factory' 599 GTB (factory must come in quotes since Ferrari builds its cars by hand, not by assembly line). The price for this newly tuned engine is 46,900 euros, which comes to about 250 euros for each additional horse.

Novitec Rosso is a tuner with top engineering capabilities. This tuning work includes aerodynamic improvements and the largest street-legal brake parts with steel discs and six-piston brake calipers. The press release provides all the nitty details.

Further pricing quotes were not released but you can expect them to be astronomical for this is as exotic as tuning gets.

BMW X6 by Hamann

The BMX X6 is a tricky vehicle to classify. In photos, it can look like a hot-hatch on steroids. Up close, you see the SUV in the vehicle. It's dimensions are even larger than the X5 and the only thing that cramps its cargo room to make it less than the X5 is the sloping hatch - a styling cue that makes the X6 unique and hard to pin down.

Of course, the term-du-jour is Crossover, which is what Hamann-Motorsports uses to describe the X6. But their treatment is a little more adventurous than that. Hamann boosts the X6's 3.5i gasoline/petrol version from 306 to 360 hp and the 3.5d (diesel) from 286 hp to 320 hp. Cranking power is also considerably elevated by 140 Nm to 540 Nm in the 3.5i and taken to a massive 660 Nm in the 3.5d from a previous 580 Nm.

On the outside, Hamann offers the option of 23-inch rims, in need of 315/25R23 tires. Oh, and the price tag for just the four wheels is 9,385 euros. Yes, this is an audacious tuner that also messes with the BMW sound with a four-pipe exhaust system that gives the X6 a more grounded sound.

The tuning kit also comes with a collection of spoilers and skirts and the interior gets a once-over with special carbon-fiber materials too. But Hamann is a performance tuner and this X6 definitely puts on a show.