Inside Ryan Millen’s Workshop

While Ryan Millen and his team are busy and en route to their next event, Gorman Rally, we went to his shop to take some measurements of our dampers, which we recently finished up for them and are now installed onto his other RAV-4.

Here are a few pictures of the car while it was on jackstands:

Still some final prep before this car goes into its next event.

Still some final prep before this car goes into its next event.

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We needed to take a few measurements of the dampers installed, as well as check the settings.

Kind of surprised to see OEM disc brakes and sliding calipers on a full-fledged rally car. Then again, this probably is a great testament to the factory equipment.

Kind of surprised to see OEM disc brakes and sliding calipers on a full-fledged rally car. Then again, this probably is a great testament to the factory equipment.

Rears were harder to get a good look at, since they've buttoned everything up, including gravel guards.

Rears were harder to get a good look at, since they’ve buttoned everything up, including gravel guards.

Kind of hard to not get distracted in this shop. I mean, its filled with race cars and parts. Rod Millen (Ryan's father) has his old Pikes Peak Tacoma. That kept getting my attention!

Kind of hard to not get distracted in this shop. I mean, its filled with race cars and parts. Rod Millen (Ryan’s father) has his old Pikes Peak Tacoma. That kept getting my attention!

 

Jay Leno’s Garage with Special Guest Ryan Millen

Ryan Millen, who is campaigning in his TEIN equipped Toyota RAV4 had a guest spot on Jay Leno’s Garage!

Leave it to Jay Leno to take you on a tour through Los Angeles! Looks like a lot of fun, especially taking a rally prepped front-wheel drive car with automatic transmission through the streets!

Ryan Millen comes from a family born in racing. His father is famed driver Rod Millen. The same Rod Millen that drove the Pikes Peak Toyota Celica up that mountain in record time.

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Ryan’s brother, Rhys Millen, has also made a name for himself as a drift, hill climb, and rally racer! He’s also a stunt driver for movies on the big screen!

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Ryan’s uncle is Steve Millen. Yep, the same Steve Millen that drove the IMSA 300ZX most of you had on posters plastered on your wall.

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I guess it was inevitable for Ryan to start piloting some race cars of his own. Except Ryan chose off-road racing has his forte.

For 2015, Ryan started working with Toyota and took a new RAV4 and converted it for rally racing duties.

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Ryan stumbled upon a set of our Group N dampers, obtained through Global Rally Cross driver Stephan Verdier. We originally sponsored Mr. Verdier when he was campaigning his GDF Subaru. So, the suspension wasn’t necessarily a direct bolt on into the RAV4.

Ryan got a hold of us about servicing the dampers, which we thought to be an interesting use of our dampers in the first place. We figured if he was going to be putting these dampers through the same abuse as Mr. Verdier, we should give him some more support! So started our sponsorship with Mr. Millen!

mt-hood-rav4 Ryan Millen RAV4

He’s had great successes so far, clinching several spots atop the podium. That’s impressive, considering the RAV4 has the most minimal of modifications- fully caged, TEIN Group N suspension, minor brake upgrades, but no power adders (unless you count a loud exhaust as one).

We hope this only means more rally racing for Ryan Millen for 2016, and we hope you be his suspension supplier for the New Year!

Some of the photos, and this awesome in-car footage of the RAV-4 through bustedwallet.com:

Super Lap Battle by Global Time Attack Results

We’re glad to see some of our friends back at it at this past Friday’s Super Lap Battle by Global Time Attack, which took place at Buttonwillow Raceway Park!

As far as TEIN-equipped cars go, we had Sportcar Motion’s Acura Integra Type R on Super Racing dampers, which ran a 1:52.886 just last year. We also had Pradana “Ping” Wilianto’s Acura CSX on our Mono Flex dampers, who had ran a 2:01.314 last year, and Bobby Lane Racing’s Honda Accord on Mono Flex dampers (1:59.158 last year).

During the off-season, if there even is one, we hadn’t received any special requests from these guys. Normally, we’ll at least get a damper refresh/rebuild request. Instead, they all focused on a few other modifications to get their car ready for this year’s event. With the exception of Sportcar Motion, who hadn’t really touched their Type R since last year except to rebuild their transmission and try a different rear diffuser.  They are using a different tire for this year, however.

Anyway, it was still an event for us to attend with our in-house engineer, in hopes that we could provide some trackside support to these guys and any other teams/drivers using TEIN dampers.

Just like previous years, we ended up just looking like the Maytag repair man with nothing to do except take notes on each vehicles suspension setup.

We were absolutely impressed with each teams performance. Their results are as follows:

 

Sportcar Motion’s Integra Type R (Limited FF class)- 1:51.916

2nd Place Finish!

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Pradana “Ping” Wilianto’s Acura CSX (Street FF class)- 1:59.639

2nd Place Finish!

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Bobby Lane Racing’s Honda Accord Limited FF class)- 1:55.241

3rd Place Finish (behind Sportcar Motion’s Integra)!

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Each achieved personal best times, which was great news! As you can expect from their placement in their respective class, competition was stiff. In Limited FF, Point Zero Autosound and Performance trucked their Acura RSX all the way from Ontario Canada for this event! They finished in 1st place with a 1:51.789! Just a narrow margin between first and second place!

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*We must note that the Sportcar Motion looked to be on pace for an even better time. But, on the last stint out on track, a brake failure caused the Integra to spin. Fortunately, driver Tim Kuo was able to recover from the spin without any further damage to the car. However, the damage to the brakes was all that was needed to prevent another fast lap.

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Pradana “Ping” Wilianto had one goal in mind- a sub 2 minute lap. Why? He’s one of the few Street FF cars that is a legitimate street car. He retains full interior and air conditioning (you gotta maintain some amenities on the track!). Last year, he was under Enthusiast FF with a 2:01. Now under the Street FF class, he clocks in a 1:59, and not much else has changed to his CSX’s setup!

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Bobby Lane Racing also kept their car relatively the same. Last year, we revalved for much stiffer springs to compliment their new aero package.  A 1:59 was a very respectable time last year. This year’s 1:55 is even more impressive!

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Overall, we’re very happy for these guys. Of course, we’re impressed with the out-of-the-box performance our Super Racing set for Sportcar Motion’s Integra and Mono Flex set for Ping’s CSX did. But, it always comes down to overall vehicle preparation, which each of these guys did a stellar job at! We won’t be satisfied until they stand atop the highest podium. So you can bet we’ll do what we can to get them there next year!

It was also great to see some of our other friends, such as Evasive Motorsports Scion FR-S and Will Wattanawongkiri and his S13 at the event. Unfortunately for Will, mechanical issues plagued him from staying in competition.

Super Lap Battle (Buttonwillow) Evasive FRS (Custom)

Super Lap Battle (Buttonwillow) WWR S13 (Custom)

We also fancied the Spoon Sports Civic Type R being piloted by Dai Yoshihara! Ran a super quick 1:48 in Unlimited FF!!!

Super Lap Battle (Buttonwillow) Spoon CTR (Custom)

And this year’s overall winner- GST Motorsports’ GC8 piloted by Jeff Westphal! 1:38!!!!! Whoa

Super Lap Battle (Buttonwillow) GST GC8 (Custom)

GTA Super Lap Battle

Following SEMA this year is the much anticipated Super Lap Battle by the Global Time Attack series which takes place at Buttonwillow Raceway in Buttonwillow, CA!

We’re pretty excited about it. We always attend when we have some sponsored teams to support trackside. Fortunately, we typically don’t have to do much since the teams and their associated cars are very well prepared.  Don’t tell our boss, though. He might make up some job for us to do while we’re at the track.

Anyway, we expect to see the usual suspects at the track- Sportcar Motion, Bobby Lane Racing, and Evasive Motorsports. Hopefully we’ll see quite a few more TEIN equipped vehicles we can assist while we’re there.

Pradana “Ping” Wilianto’s Acura CSX on Mono Flex coilovers:

ping csx

Bobby Lane Racing’s Honda Accord on Mono Flex:

grocery getter

Sportcar Motion’s Acura Integra Type R on Super Racing:

SCM Integra

And the much anticipated Evasive Motorsports Nissan GT-R on Super Racing coilovers:

evasive gtr

Above all, we expect to see some new track records for each respective class!

GTA Super Lap Battle takes place November 14, 2014.

We hope to see you there!

 

Geoff Stoneback’s Report on FD Texas

 Our good friend Geoff Stoneback has made a pretty great impression on his rookie year under the Formula Drift series, especially in the Pro 2 category, which he currently leads.

It has been far from easy. Geoff and crew have had to learn along the way just where they stack up against the heavily funded teams we all cheer for and are familiar with. Newcomers never have it very easy in this competitive sport. We’re glad to see Geoff sticking to it and giving it his all.

Round 6 in Texas was another tough event. Here’s Geoff’s report:

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“After a tough defeat at Round 6 Formula Drift, we brought the car back to R/T Tuning to fix our drivetrain issues and make the car 100%. We had enough time to get the car working perfect while also adding a 100 shot of nitrous to keep up with the horsepower wars. We headed to Texas, hitting some scenic routes and stopping at skateparks to ride our BMX bikes. We arrived on Tuesday, hung out with our friend Nate Hamilton and did another once over on the car.

Since we did Pro-Am with Lonestar Drift last year, qualifying first and finishing on top of the podium, we felt very confident going into this round. However, this year the course was changed a little bit with the run up being cut about 100 ft. The clipping points were all moved up 20 feet for the first outer and the second outer clip. They added a second inner clip around the big sweeper, which would drastically change how tandems would be run. A third outer clip was added at the end of the sweeper as well. I didn’t think this would be a drastic change but it took a couple runs to get used to it, but it didn’t flow as well as the previous year.

We made tiny adjustments on the car during early practice and headed into pro 2 practice and into qualifying. The weather was very odd during Texas, with temperatures in the 70s, totally different from last years 110 degrees. During Pro-2 Qualifying it started to rain and we went out to make our first pass. We landed with a score of 68 landing us in 2nd place. Before our second run we were bumped out to the 6th seed and I was ready for the second run! The run started out perfect hitting every clip just how the judges wanted it. As I was entering the sweeper my serpentine belt ripped, I lost power steering and ended up off track getting a 0, ending with qualifying in 6th place. The team and I stayed late, fixed the issues from going off track and put on a new belt after inspecting each pulley.

Friday practice went around and the rain still came. We kept our rain setting on and went out for our practice runs. We felt good going into it and as we did our first Pro-1 qualifying run I ended up with a 69. The rain dried up and the track was getting gripper and people started to make some smoke. We switched to our dry setting and prepared to lay down a solid run to keep us in top 32. We qualified a lot better than some of the top guys so I knew that I had to step it up and secure a good qualifying spot. Our second run landed us in 17th place with a 76. We were set up to go against Conrad Grunewald in Pro-1 Top 32.

After hitting the Pro-1 drivers meeting, it was time for Pro 2 Top 16. Our first battle was against a long time friend and old Team mate Dennis Mertzanis. We led first and on the first turn, Dennis went off track giving us a huge advantage. During our chase we applied pressure throughout the whole course and got the win. Our second battle in the top 8, would be against Jeff Jones. He beat me last time in Seattle, so I definitely needed this win. He led first and we put great pressure on him especially in the sweeper. In our lead run, we laid down a great run, gapping him a couple car lengths and got the win. Moving up into the final 4, we face Brandon Witnick. I led first and had the advantage with him barely anywhere close. In our Follow run, I had to play catch up and went to aggressive into the sweeper, almost spun, giving him an easy win.

Saturday was another day. We wiped the slate clean and stayed positive. Practice went well and we were up against Conrad Grunewald in Top 32. On our follow run, he left us off the line but caught him through the first outer zone and was door to door the entire run. I felt amped and was ready to lead. On my lead run, I came off of the inner clip weird and shot me off line through the whole track. Entering the sweeper I threw too much angle and scrubbed too much speed and Conrad made contact with me. It was deemed my fault and Our weekend was ended.

Although we had a tough weekend physically and mentally, I had a great time hanging out with fans signing autographs and taking pictures. We finished Pro-2 in 4th place, still keeping 1st place in the standings. in Pro-1 we only lost one position and are currently in 24th place. We have a great chance in winning the first Pro-2 championship as well as Rookie of the year!

Thank you for support!”

We now go into the final round at Irwindale Speedway on October 10-11. We hope to see some great results from Geoff. Most importantly, we hope to get to hang out with this swell guy!

Here’s a great in-car from Geoff at Texas!

Geoff Stoneback Heads to Formula Drift Rd. 5

Here are a few words from our good friend, Geoff Stoneback, and his adventures at Evergreen Speedway for Formula Drift’s Rd. 5 race!

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“On Thursday July 18th, my crew and I arrived at Evergreen Speedway for Round 5 of the 2014 Formula Drift season. We had double duties with Pro 1 & Pro 2 and were very eager to attack this aggressive course. Coming off of Round 4 and not qualifying, we had to mentally focus and prepare to go out for qualifying.

Thursday practice went well for us! The first time that we drove the course we realized how long and hard the bank was. Our alignment wanted us to push down further from the wall, but with the amazing crew that I have they stiffened the driver side to allow us to stay up in the outer zone and filling the touch and go area. We had a solid four hours of practice, until we needed to be at our Pro 2 meeting.

We had an hour of Pro 2 practice until it was time for qualifying. Our first run was the better of the two landing us in 4th place with a 74. Friday we had a long day of driving and meeting the fans. It started with a Pro 1 practice and into Pro 1 qualifying, but before qualifying we smashed up our third and fourth gear slider on our transmission taking us out of practice on Friday. Luckily, we borrowed some parts from Chris Forsberg and the guys at R/T Tuning got the transmission out and fixed in no time. We did a couple more practice laps and headed into qualifying.

On our first run we landed a 69 putting us in 27th place. Our second run we put down a 74 putting us in 17th place, our best qualifying spot yet. I was really excited to qualify so well until we heard that we were up against Daijiro Yoshihara. Although he was in a new vehicle, he is a former champion and in no way considered an easy win. Taking our momentum from Pro 1 into Pro 2 is always a great experience. Having that extra seat time on the track was our biggest advantage. After the top 16 ceremonies, we first faced Will Parsons in his Corolla AE86. I thought this could be an easy win as long as I do not take myself out. In our lead run I made the mistake of tapping the wall off the bank, sending me off course and giving him the advantage. On my follow run, Will tapped the second out zone wall in the power alley sending him off line. Knowing that I was at a huge deficit, I passed Will going into the inner clips giving us a OMT (One More Time). On our OMT run, I applied the pressure on him where it mattered and kept it consistent. We got the win and our next battle was against Jeff Jones.

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Jeff was looking pretty solid, but his runs were inconsistent. On my lead run going into the power alley, I hit a bump and it caused me to correct my steering giving us a OMT. On my lead run in the OMT, I got too caught up in Jeff’s weird line off of the bank, almost hitting him so I backed off and ended up in his line of smoke and transferred into the outer clip 20 ft too early giving him an easy win. We ended up finishing Pro 2 in 4th place and tied in first with Dan Savage.

Heading into top 32 on Saturday, the team and I went over how we could make the car even better for Pro 1. We dialed in some more grip, knowing the competition was going to be fierce. We put down solid runs in practice, however at the end of practice we noticed our clutch slipping. We were literally the last run in top 32 practice and we were also the second battle so we had no time to get it swapped out. We adjusted the pedal so it would hold and hopefully last until we had time to fix it during the top 16 break. The first battle was against Dmac and Tony Angelo. On the first run, Tony followed and put his car into the bank giving them a 5 minute call. We were called to the line and hoped the clutch held throughout this battle. On my lead run, Dai did a little flick up to the bank to surprise me out, however I applied the pressure and put up a great follow. On our lead run, my clutch was slipping when I floored it down the straight away. I backed off the throttle and it hooked, but when I went to initiate, our car had so much grip it would slip in 4th gear. I bobbled twice and downshifted into 3rd where it held a bit but we didn’t have 100% in it. We finished the lap but since we drove straight for half of the bank we gave an easy win to Dai. Although we got knocked out in top 32, Dai came up shook my hand and said “you are really good and I’m glad your clutch slipped because you had me.” We laughed a bit and honestly it felt amazing hearing that from a former champion. We hung out and watched the rest of the field battle it out.

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At the end of the weekend we are tied for 1st for Pro 2 and we are in 23rd place in Pro 1. We are still leading in the Rookie of the year race. After the abuse the car took in Seattle, we brought the rig home to make sure the car is 100% for Round 6. We had a great time meeting new fans and signing autographs and look forward to making better progress in Texas!”

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Sounded like a pretty fun weekend overall! Car problems will always happen. At least we know Geoff and the GS Drifting crew will do whatever it takes to get the car back on the track and put on a good show for the crowd, as always! Best of luck in Texas, Geoff!

Another Rally xD Podium at NEFR

Our favorite rally team, the TEIN-supported Rally xD, had a pretty good weekend at round 6 of Rally America,  the New England Forest Rally event. Although not at the top of the podium, they were able to secure a 2nd place finish.

As they had dealt with in past events, a few troubles came their way. This time, a transmission swap was necessary to keep the xD in competition. After about 35 minutes, the team got the car back on the gravel.

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By then, the damage had already been done. Driver Matthew Johnson had a lot of ground to cover. He and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey did well, cutting the margin to within a couple of minutes. Again, enough to garner a second place finish.
As always, the hard working driver and crew pushed beyond their limits to get the car to the finish.

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Great job, guys!

 

 

Toyota Team Thailand Race at Nurburgring

Recently, Toyota Team Thailand attended the 24 Hours of Nurburgring. We were fortunate to work with them as their suspension supplier (even though this car is riddled with Bilstein Stickers; Bilstein was an event sponsor), and they even put our EDFC Active Pro to use for this endurance race.

Endurance racing brings a lot of concerns. As you can imagine, running a vehicle for 24 hours straight is bound to take its toll on some components, especially the drivers and team members. But definitely, equipment is put to the ultimate test.

Suspension components are every bit as critical. Dampers go through tens of thousands of cycles for compression and rebound (if not more), eventually heating up the damper oil. It is critical for the dampers to function at a consistent level at all times.

Having EDFC Active Pro definitely helps to negate the effects of heat soak and damper oil degradation. Being able to tune suspension based on their current condition helps to maintain that consistent damping force the driver needs. Otherwise, the driver has to make changes in driving style that may hamper their performance and elapsed time. And in endurance racing, low elapsed times is key.

Here is Mr. Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Company at the seat of the 2014 Toyota Altis! Just to the lower left (dash center) is our EDFC Active Pro Controller.

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Here, the drivers explain a bit about their car. This was the first ever endurance race for the team. This presented them with a huge learning curve for this type of racing.

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The Altis is a pretty nice looking car! Wish they had these stateside!

Nurburgring 24-4 (Custom)

As mentioned, Bilstein is also a sponsor for the event. So, it kind of made it difficult to see TEIN as the suspension supplier. Fortunately, we had a few TEIN and Dampachi decals on the car!

Nurburgring 24-3 (Custom)

 

Fortunately, the team saw the race through the end. Out of 241 entries, Toyota Team Thailand finished 109th with a total time of 24:01:41.283. Just a few ticks over the 24 hour mark. Nevertheless, their race was completed!

Congrats to Toyota Team Thailand!

 

Here’s a video that the team put together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyaxIZGvdlE