Centric Returns From AAPEX/SEMA with Several Honors

This year's SEMA and AAPEX shows may be over, but the Centric Parts team is still celebrating our 2012 participation. Not only did these shows give us a chance to meet with customers - old and new - and to show off our latest products and catalogs, but the shows were also very memorable for other reasons too.

During the Auto International Association (AIA) Import Products Awards ceremony held at the Sands Convention Center, Centric's President Dan Lelchuk accepted two awards on behalf of the company. The 2013 Brake Systems Catalog was deemed the best of the bunch, and the new Posi Quiet with Hardware line took the overall highest honor in being named Best Product. Centric was the only company present to claim wins in two categories this year. 

Over at the Las Vegas Convention Center, StopTech and Power Slot were well represented, mounted on a dozen or more high profile show cars this year. One of them even won a top award at SEMA. A StopTech supported project earned the Gran Turismo Award for Best Truck or SUV.

The project was a very special Toyota Sequoia made over into a family dragster by the team of newly crowned NHRA Top Fuel Champion Antron Brown. Brown was competing against three other Toyota sponsored racers in the Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge. His 650-hp, five-seat 'DragQuoia' was the favorite of video game creator Kazunori Yamauchi, who will feature the creation in an upcoming edition of the Gran Turismo game series. The DragQuoia was also chosen in several top ten SEMA show car lists by major publications like Car and Driver and Motor Trend.

In addition, the StopTech/Power Slot booth featured one of only three brand new 2013 SRT Vipers at the show. The one in our booth (top) was a black GTS model with the optional Track Package, featuring StopTech AeroRotors as an upgrade to the standard discs fitted to lesser models. The car received a ton of attention from attendees and the media, as it should. This newly updated version of the iconic American super car features an 8.4-liter V10 producing 640 hp and 600 ft-lbs of torque. With a price starting at just under $100,000, it is actually quite a bargain too, competing head to head with Porsches and Ferraris costing up to three times as much.

Another award that came in just before our trip to Las Vegas was the Toyota Quality Alliance Gold Supplier Award - a huge honor. The Gold Supplier Award is presented to top Toyota parts and accessories suppliers who have consistently demonstrated their commitment to product development, product quality, operational quality and product support. As a long-standing technical partner with Toyota, Centric products have shown up on several Toyota, Lexus and Scion models, including the newest Scion FR-S sports car that features a StopTech Trophy Race Big Brake Kit on its World Challenge GTS race car.

In fact, StopTech BBKs were found on several versions of this hot new sports car - from tuners like Perrin, AEM, Hotchkis, Injen, DC Sports, Outperformance, Five Axis, Forgestar, Rocket Bunny, and more. In addition, we saw StopTechs on Mustangs, BMWs, Audis, Porsches, Camaros, Hyundais, Acuras, Subarus and others.

One of our favorite StopTech moments this year came when internet automotive personality Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire and other shows, chose a StopTech Trophy kit as the brake component for his dream SEMA build, where he scoured the millions of convention hall square feet to find his overall favorite engine, suspension, supercharger, wheels, tires…and brakes. With every brake company represented at the show, that was quite an honor. 

What do all those brake terms mean?

Centric Parts just updated our glossary of braking terms, which defines dozens of terms that you may encounter when talking about brake components, systems, operation, installation, upgrades and more. The newest version of the glossary is available today on our website, under the tech support tab at the top. The glossary is posted online and also available for download as a pdf, in English or Spanish.

"The Glossary is the most complete documentation of its kind available anywhere and features detailed explanations of braking systems, components, processes, testing protocols and more," according to Centric President Dan Lelchuk. "The Glossary is a great educational tool and should be on the required reading list for counter people, sales people and technicians."

At Centric, we pride ourselves on being not only a great brake supplier and manufacturer, but also one of the best educators about brakes, providing our customers with not only the glossary, but also an extensive list of technical white papers, technical guides, wheel fitment charts and more on our CentricParts.com website. In addition, we have a tech support line that has handled tens of thousands of calls in the past several years - most about our products, but many about competitors' products as well.

Not only that, but Centric also contributes our expertise for magazine articles, web posts, TV shows, radio programs and more on a regular basis, to teach the public about proper brake operation and safety. This all works to help us achieve our goal of helping people better understand their brakes so they can make better, more informed decisions about one of the most important systems on their cars.