|
Pictures from Hot Import Nights: Nightshift 2007 in Chicago
I've found another home, and I'm definitely not alone. Soldier Field's parking
lot was packed again this year for Hot Import Nights Nightshift. I think the
show may have been even bigger this year than last year. It certainly felt like
there was more going on. In addition to the hundreds of cars that were showing,
there was also drifting, auto-crossing, motocross, dyno runs, and, of course
a concert.
People always used to complain about how these events were just full of Hondas,
but I think they've now officially shifted to Scions. That's not all bad since
there is a lot more variety in the Scions since they are made to be modded.
This blue Scion tC and red
Scion xB were just amazing. The Hondas were still out though. I especially
like the cars that one group brought, they featured a nice mount of JDM parts
inside and out: silver Honda Civic, black
Acura Integra, and white Acura Integra. The
two biggest surprises were probably seeing the new
Impreza WRX and an Aston Martin DB9. The DB9
easily wins that beauty pageant though.
Chicago drifting gets a bad rap because there
aren't really any tracks near Chicago. To get around this, the Hot Import Nights
organizers usually just section off one part of the parking lot, set up some
cones, and then let the drivers go crazy. Drivers from groups like the Touge
Factory and Drift Brigade came out to destroy their tires for our amusement.
The exhibition was nice overall, but it felt normal to me because I've already
seen so much drifting this year. One of my favorite parts was seeing one of
the Justin Pawlak
doing donuts while hanging out of his RX-7.
The dyno that Valvoline brought was pretty cool to me. The
dyno allowed us to see how much power these pretty cars were really making.
It's nice for the owners of the cars too because there are usually not nearly
as many people watching your car showing off its power on the rollers. I talked
with the owner of a Turbo VR6 GTI and he told me
that the cars weren't making as much power as they should have. He though that
the dyno was off, but I also think that the heat plus the lack of a fan blowing
on the cars was causing the numbers to be off.
The motocross at HIN Nightshift was something
new to me. You might not expect import lovers to be into that sort of thing,
but everyone like to see someone else risk their necks. You should tell that
these guys were pros though because error was not an option because they were
basically jumping over a bus.
This was another great year for HIN in Chicago. There's a lot to do even if
you're not into cars. But the cars are still my favorite part. Here are some
of the ones that caught my eye:
Features
• HIN Show Stoppers
• My Favorite Cars from the Show
• Engines from Hot Import Nights
|
