2008 USCC Car Show - The Results

The car show portion of the USCC is probably the second least important test for the competitors, just barely edging out the ever-exciting base price test. Anyone who has picked up a copy of Sport Compact Car knows that, for the USCC, it's usually go before show and, big surprise, it was pretty much the same for this year. This year's car show judging panel consisted of the always-flashy James Chen, of Axis Wheels, and two other guys that no one really knows. One is myself and the other is Trung Pham. For anyone that is asking, Trung is a judge for Hot Import Nights and I am in charge of the events, including the Super Lap Battle, run by the International Auto Group within Source Interlink Media, LLC, SCC's parent company.

Coming into the competition, we knew this wasn't going to be a typical car show. Those are where you'd get more points for having more TV monitors on the car and, at the same time, you couldn't show up with bird crap on your car and expect to do well. This year's car show winner wasn't hard to pick. Not only did Cheston Chiu's 350Z look good on the outside, he did a good job with the details too. For example, on his carbon fiber panels, he would leave certain parts unpainted to accentuate the overall aesthetic of a street car with lightweight racing parts.

The next four cars, however, were not as easy to place, with only six points separating second place from fifth. At the end of the day, it was two measly points that separated the Bergenholtz Mazda3 from the Renner Motorsport GC8-chassis Impreza. The GC8 started life as a front-wheel drive Impreza L before the Renner guys swapped over a STi drivetrain, added a full 22B wide body kit, and painted the car with the infamous Subaru World Rally Blue. They even swapped in the interior, from a later-model Impreza WRX STi, which you'd swear was installed straight from the factory. Even with all this work, it was a couple of cracks, where the wide body panels attached to the rest of the car, that ended up being the difference between second and third place. Even though we know those cracks are most likely due to chassis stress, seen from the massive amount of lateral-g the car pulls at the track, it's similar to showing up for a date with mustard on your shirt. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

For those looking to compete next year, pay attention, you don't need to go full show style with neon and TVs in the headrests but you do need to execute everything in a clean manner. Follow these three steps and you'll do ok:

Wash your car and clean your interior.Wash your car and clean your interior.Wash your car and clean your interior.

For the USCC, the car show judges will always understand performance comes first but the least you can do is clean your car. That and slip us a 50 dollar bill.-Elliott Moran