The BMW X1 is Europe’s best selling all-wheel drive vehicle, and due to that strong demand, Americans have been denied the privilege of seeing it on our shores. But now rumor has it that the BMW X1 M35i xDrive will make its way to America as the first M Performance vehicle for our consumption.

It has already been confirmed that we won’t be getting any of the already announced M Performance Diesel vehicles, but the X1 M35i xDrive would certainly be an acceptable consolation prize. And since the upcoming BMW M135i won’t be coming to America anytime soon, it certainly makes sense that the German automaker would find the X1 M35i the perfect vehicle to launch the M Performance brand in the US.

The X1 M35i xDrive will feature the same 320-hp performance seen in the M135i Sporthatch that will be making its way to Europe shortly. Along with that, the X1 will get an M-tuned chassis, reworked suspension, refreshed aerodynamic package, and M-specific wheels. It will easily become the flagship model for the X1 if and when it makes it to America.

Hopefully this rumor will pan out in being true, since America is certainly hungry to get their hands on some M Performance models.

GALLERY: BMW X1 with M Package

[Source: XBimmers]

The Evora GTE is the most powerful Lotus to date, making 444 horsepower with a 3.5-liter v6, but track-bred performance isn’t quite enough to make it pop.

Instead Lotus signed a deal with rapper/producer Swizz Beatz to collaborate on a special line of cars that have hiphop swag. This isn’t the first time an automaker resorted to the rap community for extra buzz, as Funkmaster Flex and Ford had a tie-up earlier in the decade.

Lotus chose the Alvin Ailey’s Opening Night Gala to show off their chrome-adorned special edition Evora GTE. Aside from serous horsepower, the car gets an automated manual transmission and carbon fiber throughout the body, good for shaving off anther 231 pounds.

Honda is moving ahead with plans to deliver a higher performance version of the CR-Z. In fact, according to a report by Temple of Vtec, CR-Z project leader Norio Tomobe-san has confirmed the car is already in development.

The first rumors of a CR-Z “Type R” came from Honda itself, with the release of the CR-Z Hybrid R concept at least year’s SEMA Show, delivering 200-hp thanks to a turbocharged version of the standard engine. Fast forward 12 months and Honda once again had something to show at SEMA, this time a supercharged version of the factory 1.5-liter 4-cylinder Integrated Motor Assist hybrid engine. Honda PR reps have also hinted to AutoGuide that this supercharged version is the more likely path.

GALLERY: Honda CR-Z Hybrid R Concept

[Source: vtec.net]

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Another SEMA Show has come and gone and we’ve got the videos to prove it. From modified Civics, to Ferraris and everything in between. And let’s not forget the models.

Watch all of AutoGuide’s 2011 SEMA Show Videos after the jump and check out the complete coverage here:

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For those who are paying close attention to the aftermarket industry, this years SEMA Show might always be remembered as the year RAUH-Welt became a household name. Well, maybe just among car nuts.

RAUH-Welt Begriff or RWB for short, is a small Japanese tuner known for its wildly customized air cooled Porsches, with big fender flares and even bigger spoilers. To the best of our knowledge, no RWB has ever been on display at SEMA, and to make these cars even more special, they are the first to be built in America.

The light green car (above) sits as the main attraction at the Falken tires booth, while the white car (below) belongs to former 0-60 Magazine editor-in-chief Brian Scotto. Scotto now works for Ken Block, managing his new Hoonigan brand and so we’re certain the car has plans beyond just the SEMA Show.

We expect to see numerous other RWB Porsches at SEMA next year and there’s already evidence the trend is catching on. We spotted a few similarly-styled German sports cars and have included them below. Enjoy responsibly.

GALLERY: Rauh-Welt Porsches

GALLERY: Custom Porsches of SEMA

High End Performance is known around the nation for building some of the world’s top show cars while running a shop that supplies some of the rarest and highest quality parts around. But what sets them apart from the crowd is their custom, hand-crafted wide body kits that can see on many of their show cars. This matte orange Nissan GTR was spotted in the Eneos booth, and is arguably the best creation to come out of High End to date.

High End owner Ben Abutin is known for meticulously hand-crafting custom widebody kits for his customers. And we’re digging everything about this GT-R from bumper to bumper. The front bumper does a fantastic job in flowing with the GTR’s headlights, while the widebody almost looks factory. The car then headed over to DTM Autobody to gets it body sprayed a nice, bright matte orange that fits in perfectly with Eneos.

Based on the logos on the car, it looks like this GTR sports suspension from Cusco, carbon fiber accents from Seibon while the HRE Wheels are wrapped with Falken Tire rubber. We’re sure we’ll be seeing more of this GTR now that it’s made its official debut at SEMA 2011.

GALLERY: Eneos / High End Performance Nissan GTR

While perusing through the Central Hall of this year’s massive SEMA Show, we came across this little gem tucked away in AirREX’s booth. There was a bit of information that was lost in translation, but AirREX is an air suspension manufacturer out of Taiwan and decided to use a Honda Insight to show off their product.

It probably sounds strange to hear of a Honda Insight sporting air bag suspension, but AirREX also equipped with sleek black Insight with a custom widebody – that’s surprisingly done well – and an aggressive set of Volk Racing TE-37s in a brilliant, bright red shade. Matte gray was applied to the body to give it some contrast, but we feel that the Insight would have looked a lot better without it. Nonetheless, this is one of the nicest and coolest Insights we’ve ever spotted and kudos to AirREX for finding a way to get people to their booth.

GALLERY: Widebody Honda Insight

Jon Sibal’s Scion iQ won this year’s edition of the Scion Tuner Challenge, beating out a mid-engined iQ as well as a race prepped example to take home the prize.

Sibal claimed the $10,000 reward for his iQ, which featured a 32″ flat-screen TV in the trunk, complete with a Wi-Fi hotspot and a motorized system to allow for flush mounting inside the tiny iQ. In second place was Michael Chang’s iQ-RS, which was fashioned after what an iQ race car would look like, while the iQ-MR, which featured a mid-engine conversion, came in third.

Check out AutoGuide’s SEMA coverage here

Gallery: Scion iQ Tuner Challenge

Matte-black cars have become as much a part of the SEMA Show as Chinese tire manufacturers and lingerie-clad models. While we’re tempted to post up galleries of those two (we know how much Chinese tires turn you on), we’ll stick with the cars for now.

Ranging from American muscle to a Rolls-Royce Phantom, and everything in between, we even found a matte Ford Raptor and a Chevy Sonic. Browse through the extensive gallery below.

GALLERY: SEMA Show Matte-Black Cars

Taste the rainbow and check out all the colorful matte painted cars from the SEMA Show here.

We’ve seen sneak preview shots of Enjuku Racing’s Hyundai Genesis project, and now it’s sitting happily at the BC Racing booth showing off its supercharged LS1 engine swap. The swapped Genesis is sitting on a new set of white BC Racing  wheels sporting a perfectly aggressive fitment. The LS1 swap is clearly executed well, sporting a Chase Bays wiring harness and a fancy supercharger.

The Genesis project is lowered on a set of BC Racing coilovers, while the LS1 has some goodies from ISIS Performance, SPEC Clutch and Quaife. A brake upgrade came courtesy of Wilwood while the carbon fiber goods are from VIS Racing.

You can check out a video of the Genesis here.

GALLERY: Enjuku Racing Supercharged LS1 Hyundai Genesis