Speed & Sound: Performance – Hyundai Sundai 2009
Story & photos by Shaun Keenan
Every year for the past five years, the Toronto Hyundai Club has organized an event for owners to come together to talk shop, mingle and check out what other like-minded individuals have done to their rides.
The event usually falls on the last Sunday in August (as long as it’s not the long weekend) and for the past three years has been hosted by Hyundai Canada at its headquarters in Markham.
Besides getting to check out several new models like the Genesis coupe and sedan, Accent, Elantra and Sonata on display, other big draws this year included a show-and-shine, contests, raffles and door prizes, a free barbecue, technical presentations, plus a few vendors and a race car alley.
On this front, Attrell Racing was on hand up with its two new fully-built 3.8-litre Genesis coupe race cars that are campaigning in the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Toyo Tires. Four Star Motorsports of Georgetown, Ontario built the near identical racers driven by Bob Attrell and Jonathan Rashleigh. Attrell owns Hyundai and Toyota dealerships in nearby Brampton.
The fast family from Montreal’s Fast Motorsports (Bob, Glenn and Lee Chaplin) were also out in force with their full weekend setup and three Tiburon race cars that compete in the same series. While the car show judges’ scores were bring tallied, everyone gathered round the covered trailer to learn some things about wheels and tires. Fast Wheels are available through Hyundai and other manufacturer dealerships across the country.
Almost all of the 60-plus vehicles that pre-registered for the event came out despite the foreboding forecast. It did not rain, though, and, as for awards, long-time Hyundai tuner Sean Morrison impressed the judges and fellow owners on route to winning the award for “Best Engineered” vehicle of the show.
Morrison’s 2004 Santa Fe has been in the works since almost day one. Now, it’s a veritable entertainment centre on wheels with a custom Pentium 4 computer running at 3 GHz installed in the trunk floor that controls a multitude of fun stuff like a big widescreen monitor, DJ stand and complementary sound gear. Morrison tells me the 160 GB hard drive contains over 3,600 songs, 30 movies and two GPS programs to give judges plenty to consider. Of course, the exterior and interior are fully done up too!
The other top award (Best of Show) went to Robert Cioffi for his two-litre turbocharged 1997 Tiburon that is totally unique. Having been working on this car for a decade now, it’s seen many changes through the years. The exterior has been customized with parts from other makes, including a Subaru hood scoop, BMW Z3 front fender inserts, and Toyota MR2 rear fender cutouts finished with Mercedes Kompressor side gills and vertical doors, for instance. A Garret GT35 ball-bearing turbo with three-inch exhaust puts down 300 hp and 305 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Other nice 
features on Cioffi’s whip include K-Sport adjustable coil-overs, four-piston Wilwood brakes and custom interior, but the full list would go on for pages.
All in all, it was a great day and if you want to participate next year, check out www.torontohyundaiclub.com. Of course, you might feel out of place if you’re not rocking a Korean. But, hey I showed up in a bright yellow Camaro SS and didn’t get tossed.[PSGallery=vv8ltbvo2]
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