SEMA Show 2009: Car Gadgets Galore

The annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas is the trade show for displaying anything and everything that can be added to a car -- from air filters to air fresheners. The automotive aftermarket industry gathers to unveil and gaze at the latest parts and accessories, while automakers and car customizers turn out in droves to display how vehicles can be tricked out with all the stuff.

Cool car gadgets, like the Kiwi MPG from PLX Devices ($89.99) shown above, are always a part of the SEMA Show experience. It's a digital gauge that plugs into the OBD II port of most vehicles made after 1996 and can be mounted anywhere in the interior to show mpg, mpg per trip and dollars of gas consumed at the push of a button. It will also display fuel used, distance traveled, distance to empty, rpm, speed, coolant temperature and more. And if your car displays a "Check Engine" light, the Kiwi MPG can read the engine code and clear it, saving a trip to a mechanic.




We saw several "crash cams" at SEMA, but the Paparazzi Sidekick Drive View Recorder ($349.99) was one of the coolest, as well as one of the few available in the U.S. It's a self-contained unit that mounts to a car's windshield and continuously records to a supplied 2GB SD card. If the camera detects a shock over a certain level -- such as slamming on the brakes -- it automatically saves 12 seconds of video before and eight seconds after the event. It can also be manually engaged to capture video at the scene of an accident or to just get a great drive down for posterity.

A big part of the SEMA Show is car bling -- everything from massive 22-inch wheels to chrome replacement parts. Grote Industries allows adding some shine to almost any part of a ride with its LightForm flexible LED lighting film. It's less than 1 millimeter thick, flexible and even waterproof so that light can be added to almost any area of a car. Each LightForm strip measures 10 inches long and one-half inch wide, and up to three strips can be connected. They come in red, amber, green or blue and have a peel-and-stick adhesive backing.