Auckland Autosalon 2004
Each Autosalon event on the calendar evolves the show a little, the standard increases, the size increases and new this year even a few new extra features.
The Autosalon hopper made its debut at the Auckland event this year. A purpose-built, hydraulic suspension equipped Mitsubishi L200 Triton that hops the front wheels up to 2 metres off the ground. Apparently the hopper was going strong all day Saturday but due to some breakages it was unfortunately retired sometime on Sunday.
Also new to the salon a dedicated motor sport section including such examples as an awesome BTCC Honda Accord, Mitsubishi EVO and Alpine sponsored race karts amongst others.
I was surprised to see many of the same cars as the last Wellington show with Slap! definitely providing the largest audio retailer driven force at the event. Also at the show were the regular Alpine, Sony, Fusion and Sound Stream demo cars plus single entries from Panasonic and previously unseen Crossfire.
In the soundoff hall the orange Big Noise truck kept the music cranking most of the day. A massive JBL Crown amp sat on display to wow the show goers. Unfortunately the sad excuse for a speaker system running during the hopper display made sure that there was no lack of treble to go around, some of the SQ competitors sprinting out of the hall with ears covered at the horror. Sadly evidence that not all people are dedicated audiophiles.
The audio competition area at this event was reduced to a fairly small size. Many competitors had to park outside and drive in and out of the allocated hall as required. However the DBdrag comp ran trouble free throughout Sunday with good scores all round. Most systems were around the 133db – 137db with a few busting the 140db mark. The previous Street A record of 139.6db was destroyed by the eaudio team who pushed it to a massive 146.7db with a Calibre Mk2 and a pair of DD3510s in a Mirage hatch. Well done guys.
The Honda presence in the show was particularly strong at this event, my pick for the day most definitely the whippn integra. The 2004 Auckland Queen/King of AutoSalon award was taken out by Sarah Young/Warren Sare with their bronze DRJKYL EVO.
Congrats to the winners and our thanks to the sponsors, supporters, organisers and competitors.
Enjoy the pics! Provided by Conemaster + some poached from the nzhondas forum courtesy of STR8LN and others.
Unofficial results poached from CAA forums of all places.
Street-A
146.7
143.?
135.4
134.3
Street-B
143.9
137.7
137.1
135.9
132.3
Street-C
144.9db
