Porsche 997 GT3 Coilover Testing

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Paul P.

You’ve read that correctly- we’re now testing on a 997 GT3 Porsche with our very own 3-way adjustable dampers! While Porsche’s aren’t necessarily anything new for us, we’ve only made a name for ourselves developing and producing products for the Japanese vehicle market (JDM, if you will). But, with increasing demands for products internationally, the TEIN group has branched out into other vehicle markets and made some unique suspension setups, specifically for rally and off-road. Our expertise doesn’t stop there, however. We love road racing, too. This latest example is no exception.

This past year, the TEIN group has been working with a few customers (997 GT3 customers, specifically) wanting better suspension than what the car comes with, and what was currently available as aftermarket. Off the lot, the GT3 is pretty hard to beat, or in this case, make better. So that sounded like a great challenge for TEIN engineering!

So, while TEIN Japan was taking care of overseas inquiries on this, the TEIN USA group had a customer who was just as interested. It turns out our good friends at Evasive Motorsports had a 997 GT3 and were going to start developing the car for track duty. That was a good coincidence!

Anyway, we finally got the prototype 3-way adjustable dampers in from Japan and headed over to Evasive Motorsports to do the install. So far, so good! First reports from the owner is that the car’s ride quality has improved! Next up is some track testing, which we’ll report on soon. So stay with us as we get more updates!

Here are a few pics of the install with Evasive Motorsports for now!

3-way adjustable dampers, made through our Specialized Damper Program

The factory supplied dampers are quite nice. But, that TEIN Green, though……

Fronts installed

Rears on

Looking good so far!

Preloading It Up

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Sergio M.

Full-length adjustable coilover spring tension is an area which many consumers aren’t too knowledgeable about. Details that “more preload is best” or “no preload is best” have always been a talked about subject. In general, the function of the spring tension on a full length adjustable coilover is for a more fine tuning of the suspension if used competitively. Such preload adjustments for regular street driven vehicles, which seldom see a track event, aren’t really need. That’s not to say that you can not use the preload on the street. It’s just that there would not be much of an advantage unless you are looking to achieve a desired ride height or ride feel.

Preloading will change the characteristics of the spring, but not the spring rate. As the spring is a linear in rate, the rate will not change under preload, but the spring’s reaction will be affected. With the spring compressed, its natural instinct would be to push back to its original shape. Thus, the force already exerted when compressed will creating a more aggressive ride quality. The drawbacks to having too much preload will be spring bind or, in worst case scenarios, a broken piston rod or damper component. Spring bind can create a loud tapping from the springs during normal use of the vehicle, not to mention terrible ride feel since spring stroke is all but eliminated. The continuous spring binding creates a kind of solid state to the coilover assembly which will transmit the road vibrations and shock over to other damper components, eventually causing it fail.The broken piston rod or component can be caused by the excess spring tension, as well.

Relieving preload from the spring or creating “negative preload” would change the ride height of the vehicle along with the dampers’ piston stroke. The drawbacks to excessive negative preload would be a loss of piston stroke, noise from the spring, poor ride quality, and eventually damper failure. The piston stroke loss would allow for the damper to bottom out, which in turn would create a poor ride quality as the dampers’ upper springs seat or mount would be riding against the bump rubber. With the constant bombardments, the bump rubber will eventually break down causing some of the rubber material to fall in between the seal which can then cause the seal to fail. This can also create noise caused by the spring’s loose condition, which will shift back and forth on the damper assembly when the damper is extended and compressed. This occurrence is most common over uneven road surfaces such as driveways, dips, or at times freeway expansion joints. This could cause damage to the damper body threads, spring seat, and upper mount.

Preload.2.rev

If you are uncertain as to the preload of your full-length adjustable coilovers, the best recommendation is to set the spring seats to the installation manual’s suggested position. This position will offer the optimal damper stroke and adjustability.

Another Great Season for Rally xD!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Paul P.

If you want to finish first, first you have to finish.

Although they fell short of the 2wd championship for Rally America, the crew at Rally xD went full force for the season, showing that hard work and determination really pays off. It was far from easy this season, having to face teams with some super competitive machines, improving their xD with a complete overhaul, and having to overcome the typical hurdles that rally racing has in store for them. That’s no short matter to these guys. They kept on truckin’, and that persistence pays big dividends towards the end result. They took the 2013 season in second place!

The preseason started with a fresh slate. The team put together all their ideas for building a new Scion xD and preparing it for the abuse they were now quite familiar with. In went a reconfigured seating arrangement for driver and co-driver, pushing them rearward just past the B-pillar and helping redistribute some of the weight from the stripped and caged chassis. Their proven power plant from a previous season went back in along with some upgrades to cooling in an effort to keep the boosted engine reliable under load. A redesigned rear suspension (a true coilover instead of the factory setup) allowed them to reinforce the twist beam where it was weakest, a problem they’ve faced once before. The new chassis was looking more like a formidable opponent to the factory-backed Ford Fiestas, which are much lighter than the xD.

However, nothing ever comes easy in this sport. There are too many unknowns, and sometimes you find that your best preparation was still not good enough. But, that didn’t deter this team from finishing the season strong. They visited the podium in every event, showing that they could still maintain good pace even with a few setbacks.

At any rate, I continue to maintain that this is one of the hardest working teams in the series. TEIN is proud to be their suspension partner for the past few seasons, and we’re glad to see this team grow into the true professionals that they are.

We wish them the best for next season, as we sure they are ahead of schedule in coming up with another competitive package!

Congratulations, you guys! We know next year will be just as exciting!

2014 Acura RLX Sema Car

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Sergio M.

This application had actually come as a shock to me and a few other staff, as we first though that the testing was for mass-production. However, this will end up being a SEMA car to be displayed in the Acura booth. This particular application was to be considered for testing but at a later time and it was, in a sense, placed on the back burner for a bit. Inquiries did come in from customers and dealers, but not so much to push forward the testing period for the vehicle. This testing and prototyping will apply to future product releases, should product development still be considered.

SEMA 2011 002 (Small)

Unfortunately, at this time I don’t have a clear release date nor do I have information of the product to be released for this vehicle. The prototype kit is also being deemed as classified for the time being, which I hope to later provide the details as to which product was used. One thing for sure is that it will utilize a completely different kit than the previous models. If you are heading out to SEMA this year, stop by the Acura booth and check out this RLX. Also, if you are looking to get a kit for this application, keep sending the inquiries and the testing can be pushed up on our list.

CARABINER KEY CHAIN

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Sergio M.

You might notice a small difference on our New Carabiner Key Chain.

The difference between this NEW model and the OLD model is the new darker green color of the key chain and carabiner, it also comes with an additional key ring.

We currently have the New Carabiner Key Chains available, you can order them from any of our TEIN Authorized Dealers or through our Online Shop.

The new part number is TN016-011 MSRP $9.00

NEW CARABINER KEY CHAIN

The previous Carabiner Key Chain was a bit lighter in color and only came with key ring holder.

OLD CARABINER KEY CHAIN

Formula Drift Finals!

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Omar A.

The Formula Drift season will soon come to a close. On October 11-12, Irwindale Speedway will be hosting the final race for the season (Round 7, Final Fight)

We will attend this year’s last event for the season, as we normally do. Last year we also attended the first and last event. I can’t deny we got a little overwhelmed with how many spectators attended and stopped by our booth. This year we expect nothing less.

So get your cash ready and stop by our booth. We will have all kinds of TEIN goods, and several other products for sale. Along with knowledgeable TEIN staff to answer any product or technical questions you may have.

http://formulad.com/

Hope to see you there!!!

GS Drifting Racking Up Another Championship!

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Paul P.

On top of being involved in US Drift, Geoff has his hands in the Midwest Drift Union (MDU). This past weekend (9/20-21), Geoff and the GS Drifting crew took off to Xenia, OH to participate at the final Midwest Drift Union event of the season at the Kilkare Speedway.

Prior to this event, the last event held on the Streets of Detroit was a fun, albeit disappointing result for Geoff. Not that they didn’t place well, but just that some judging calls weren’t as scrutinized as they should have been. Anyway, not one to let the second place finish from that event put Geoff and the team down, they’ve since won the US Drift championship for 2013, took the win for the Formula Drift Pro-Am series at Texas, and were looking forward to finishing the Midwest Drift Union series.

Here’s Geoff’s feedback of the final round of MDU:

“Streetlife Tour is always a big turnout. Some of the best names on the East coast and Midwest come out to battle for first place, cash and bragging rights. It also happens to be the final round of the Midwest Drift Union series.

In 2012 we went to the finals and faced the 2012 MDU champ “Magic” Mike Pollard. In the final battle during his lead run, mike debeaded a tire which sent him into the wall, spinning out back into the bank and hitting me into a wall. We were both okay, which was great, but we never got to finish the battle because his car couldn’t make it back out. I Did a Bi run and got the win!

So fast forward a year, we’ve just won the US DRIFT 2013 series, 2nd at Holley LS fest and a first place finish at Formula Drift Pro am series at Texas Motor Speedway. We had an amazing finish and we knew that coming into the final round of the Midwest drift union there was going to be a lot of pressure. Not only were we second in points (at 107 points), 13 behind the leader Brian Peters (at 120 points), but we also had to try and repeat another first place finish. Mike Skudlerack wasn’t far behind in points with 105 and Andrew Lewis with 102.

The competition was fierce. “Rapper” Dan Savage, Dave Bellemo and James Evans came from the the VA/MD area. I faced them a bunch of times during US drift series. So, with the knowledge of how each driver was this season, I knew this weekend was no joke. All of the Midwest Drift Union dudes were there, as well. Mike Skudlerack, Andrew Lewis, Jake Mautren, and Shane Whalley, just to name a few.

We came to the track Friday afternoon only to see a huge overcast right above the oval track. We went through tech, had a small drivers meeting and got into our groups. Group A hit the track. Within 15 minutes someone in a red FC hit the wall HARD and the track went cold for a while. Then it started to rain. “No big deal” I thought as the rain would stop. A couple minutes later a monsoon came through and you couldn’t even see 3 feet in front of you. The staff called it in for the day and we went back to our hotel to catch up on some much needed sleep.

On Saturday the rain continued to come down until lunch time. The staff decided to break practice sessions up to 20 minutes each. The course was still wet so every run group first runs were on ice. I think we had a total of 4 practice laps until we had another drivers meeting. We were supposed to go into qualifying, but since it rained they gave us an extra practice session.

We were pumped! we only linked the course maybe twice and knew we needed to do more before we felt really comfortable and gave it our all. So we went out for our first practice run before qualifying, entered hard into the bank and halfway through the bank, BOOM, we blow up another differential. That put a quick end to getting another practice run before qualifying!

We tried our best and swapped the diff in about 10 minutes trying to get back out to feel the new differential out, but our time was up. We stressed hard going into qualifying. While going onto grid to qualify Brian Peters came up to me and told me about his car. His trans blew up and he couldn’t compete today. He is a great driver so I was bummed that he couldn’t come out and battle, but it was a little stress reliever and we didn’t have enough already!

On our first run, we gave little angle into the bank and hit it pretty hard, but I was about 5 feet coming off of the inner clip before the infield. I knew what I had to do for the second run! I launched hard and entered higher, but had a bobble on the bank and was still 3 feet off of the same inner clip. Happy we put points on the board, but upset because we knew that was not a top qualifying run. At the meeting we found out we qualified 7th and our first battle was up against Shane Whaley.

I’ve faced Shane before at round 3 The streets of Detroit. We got the win there and Shane is a competitive driver, so we knew he was out for blood. During our follow run, Shane drove off track in the infield giving us the win.

Our next battle was against our good friend “Rapper” Dan Savage. We have faced “Rapper” a bunch of times this season, with the last battle at Holley LS fest. We both made it to the finals where Rapper took the win and I placed second. This knew it would be a tough battle. However, during our lead run, “Rapper” broke an axle near the end of the course and couldn’t get his car fixed in the 5 minute time period.

here it was, the Most anticipated battle of the night and possibly year in the Pro Am series. “Magic” Mike Pollard vs. Geoff Stoneback. We followed first laying down a solid follow run, but a slight bobble in the bank gave mike the advantage. During our lead run mike sucked into us during the bank and was very aggressive . Maybe too aggressive because in the infield he followed real close and dropped 2 front tires in the dirt. I had no idea so when they called for a OMT I thought to myself, “here goes nothing leave it all on the table!”

We followed Pollard again and laid down a pretty sick follow run. On our lead run mike came in to hard and spun on the bank. I had no idea until the end of the course when I already saw him at starting grid! after our battle we hugged as good friends that we are and went to change tires. During that period we hard Mike Skudlerack smacked the wall hard. His car wasn’t as bad as James Evans but he couldn’t fix it in time and we were up against Jake Maturen.

Jake has always been solid driver and we haven’t faced him all season. We just had to do what we kept doing. Our front tires were loosing grip so on our lead run we e-braked hard into the bank to set the car up properly so we wouldn’t have a bobble like the previous runs. We laid down good lead and we were anxious to follow. We Followed Jake fast aggressive throughout the track.

When we pulled up to the ceremony, I was pumped. Previously Mike Skudlerack Crashed, having him finish in 4th wasn’t enough points to beat us. Brian Peter’s car broke so we were sitting on top of another 2013 Pro Am championship!”

Looks like Geoff did more than finish the MDU 2013 season. He finished the season at the top of the charts!

There has never been a dull moment at any of the events this past year. This final round of MDU wasn’t going to be any different. Qualifying at a low 7th place, Geoff had quite a task ahead of himself, and he achieved a great feat to get the overall win!

Once again, our most sincere congratulations to Geoff and the GS Drifting team on what has been a stellar year. We look forward to seeing Geoff continue to grow in 2014 as we’re sure his schedule will be jam-packed with events! Keep on the lookout for this guy!

Also, here’s a great write-up on Geoff from Wrecked Magazine

http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/blog/2013/10/01/geoff-stoneback-new-fd-driver-and-pro-am-champion/

Overhaul Repair Cost Confusions

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Sergio M.

Recently it seems that many Overhaul customers whom have sent in their dampers for service have been under the assumption that the overhaul repair base price includes any other parts which may be needed or replaced. However, this is not correct.

As an example, I will use the Super Street coilover overhaul base price. The base cost for the repairs, which includes damper oil, seals, nitrogen gas recharge, o-rings, and overhaul labor is $75.00 per damper. This service does not include (should they be required) any other internal or external components such as piston rod, piston valve, bump stop, dust boot, etc.

The area highlighted in white and blue on all three images shown below detail this info.

OH.Page.2

A few customers have claimed to have been told over the phone by a TEIN Staff that the total cost to repair one damper would be our listed base prices (ex. Super Street $75/ HA $80/ Type Flex $100) and would include extra parts, which is incorrect. These notes are also detailed on our overhaul agreement form which is the customer is to fill in and sign agreeing upon the terms of the service, and sent in with the dampers.

We would just like to bring this to everyone’s attention as to try and avoid any future confusion as well as show everyone that we do express the possibililty of extra charges for the service on top of the standard overhaul service.

Geoff Stoneback Takes On The Lone Star State!

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Paul P.

He obviously stands out as one of the youngest and most talented drifters out there right now, and we’re extremely proud to see how he progresses. Geoff has continued to put on a great performance during each event. This time, Geoff and team took their talent to Texas Motor Speedway, which was also hosting the Formula Drift Championship series.

This was truly a great chance for Geoff to shine and show the Midwest what he was capable of.

As mentioned, Texas Motor Speedway was also hosting the Formula Drift Championship, where many teams that have better funding also have some of the better built cars out there. It really reflects on how well this sport has grown in popularity within the last decade. It is great to see drifting recognized as a sport!

Geoff, although not backed up with the same type of sponsorship, and mostly making his way through the drift circuit on his own, still has plenty of support from the manufacturers he represents. It was time to impress.

Geoff has always represented TEIN well ever since his sponsorship, even including the TEIN mascot, Dampachi, as part of his graphics scheme! Then again, who doesn’t love to sport this mascot?!

Here’s Geoff’s experience in his own words-

“We are always trying to better our driving. It doesn’t matter if it’s grassroots events, pro-am series or other miscellaneous competitions. We are there to have fun and improve our skills. When we heard that Formula Drift was going to have a pro am competition at round 6 in Texas, we knew that this was going to be one of our biggest events this year!

We kindly messaged our friend Aaron Losey, runner and founder of Lone Star Drift series and asked if we were able to come down and compete in this event. We did not want to upset anyone coming down and only doing one round of the series and possibly messing up their points brackets, but for us this was a stepping stone to get the experience of being at a Formula Drift event. We got the green light from Aaron and headed down to Texas after getting second place at Holley LS fest.

We arrived at Texas Motor Speedway on Thursday morning, unloaded and headed out to practice. We have driven this course before last year for XDC but we did it reverse, hitting the big sweeper first then going into the long straight power alley. We had a little idea of what to expect going into practice.

The track layout was awesome! There was tons of runway to enter at speeds around 90 MPH. You could really throw the car with tons of angle hitting the first clip, then lift off the throttle the tiniest bit to swing the car around into the second inner clip. After that it was hammer time as you go WOT and clutch kick in 4th gear if you needed to get closer to the rear clipping zone in the power alley. Once you pass the rear clipping zone you stay 100% WOT and stay committed until you transfer to the next rear clipping zone and e brake check and foot brake to scrub the fast speeds and finish off taking the deepest line in the sweeper.

We had a great practice session Thursday, so we decided to sit back and watch the FD drivers tear the track up.

On Friday we took 45 minutes to practice where we just kept doing what he did on Thursday and took really deep, wide lines filling all of the clipping zones. We headed into qualifying and we focused hard on our task and laid down a 92.5 on our second qualifying run, securing the 1st qualifier spot.

We then took some more time to watch FD and watched how their cars were so much faster, the suspension set up that those guys run and the way the car squats and sets itself as they power through the line was insane!

On Saturday we had another 45 minutes of practice where we took things easy and kept doing our runs like we did the previous two days. We had a Bi run in the top 16 so we moved to the top 8 to face a Texas local- Garret. He had a built V8 s14 and my spotter Dan Popowich said this was going to be the hardest battle of the day. We left the line hard and fast as the car squatted down the line. We entered into the first turn with Garret right on our door. It wasn’t until the power alley where we hammered down the throttle and created a big gap. Upon finishing the sweeper, we dropped a tire the slightest bit in the dirt. I knew it was a small mistake that could end our top 8 battle fast. During our follow run, we kept on his door down the runway and entered with Garrett. We scrub some speed on the first clipping point, since we knew the power alley was our strong point. We caught up through the power alley and entered into the sweeper with decent proximity. Garrett didn’t take a real deep line in the sweeper, so we applied pressure on his door and finished the run. I was nervous because of the dirt drop, but we got the win!

Our next battle was against another local Texan John (A.K.A. “J-FLO”). He drove a Nissan 350 Z with some power adders. On our lead run we gapped John hard on the runway and put down a solid run. On our follow run, it got tricky. We gave John some space and going into the first clip he ran it over, shooting the clip 10 ft in the air and into my bumper/hood/ windshield. I tried the best that I could to drive through it and tried to correct and dodge the clip and still drive through the course. However, I ended up going off track at the worst stop and broke my power steering rack and cracked my header. I thought this was it. We didn’t make it to the final around, but little did I know, when John hit that clip he spun out. We both double zeroed but with my lead run, we had the advantage and got the win.

Going over the car, our header was cracked and sounded like crap, our power steering was sketchy and barely there, but we still had to finish this final battle. We went up against the top guy in the Lone Star drift series, Tim “Big Stick” Koenning. The guy is literally two feet taller than me!! Since we had a weird power steering issue we were a little worried going into this battle but we did the best that we could with no power steering. We left the line hard and entered in 4th gear. With the high speeds, the steering wasn’t as bad as i thought. We rode inner clip 1, but hit inner clip two, riding the rear clipping zone and transferring into the sweeper with tons of speed and tire smoke. We finished the run and Tim wasn’t far behind. On our follow run we left no mercy for Tim. We entered with him and scrubbed a little too much speed and he gaped us a bit, but then got right on his door during the power alley. In the rear sweeper I applied pressure as I was trying to put my front wheel in his rear quarter panel.

We finished our runs and congratulated each other on our respective runs. We were happy that we had a clean run and that the car held up to the abuse. We felt pretty good and wanted to hear the call if we won or not. However, being with Formula Drift, they wanted to keep it suspenseful for the fans and said that they would announce it later on at 7:30 at the FD podium.

We went back to the pits and talked with other drivers and with fans. Some FD drivers came up to us and said how good we were doing and some judges also came up and said some of our runs were top 16 qualifying runs. We were pumped! For us to have people in FD see how well we did and come give us high 5’s and kind words was a win right there. We watched top 32 til it was time to get the results.

At the podium it was announced that we finished first! We hopped up on the number 1 spot, smiled for the camera, enjoyed the rush, and hung out with fans!

All in all it was a great experience for the whole GS drifting crew. We have an idea of what it will be like us for next season and though we had a successful season, it is time to step it up and head into Formula Drift for the 2014 season!!”

We’re absolutely thrilled for Geoff and the GS Drifting team for achieving some great accomplishments this season. Furthermore, putting his talents on the same track as the big boys in the Formula Drift Championship series proved to be a success. We have no doubt that “Geoff Stoneback” will be a name to hear for years to come in the drifting world.

From all of us at TEIN, congratulations Geoff!

Geoff Stoneback Takes Home the 2013 US Drift Championship!

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Paul P.

Geoff had a pretty busy August, to say the least. He had to prepare for two events this month, both on one weekend, giving him very little room for any error. Fortunately, Geoff was prepared.

On the 15th, Geoff and his crew loaded up their S14 at their tuner, R/T Tuning in Lansdale, PA, which they had recently installed a new G-Force GSR 4-speed transmission to replace their T56 gearbox which had been experiencing a few issues in past events.

Leaving later than expected, they stopped over in Columbus, OH to the Kenda Tire warehouse to get stocked up for the events, then made their way to Detroit, MI for Midwest Drift Union on the streets of Detroit.

Upon their arrival, Geoff’s good friend, and fellow drift competitor, Mike Skudlarek, offered his house as accommodation for the crew, taking the team around the greater Detroit area along many of the scenic routes of the Motor City, giving Geoff and the team time to relax before a hectic race weekend.

With Geoff’s recently repainted S14, they had no vinyl for this event. So at midnight, at a parking lot of a grocery store (which provided them with enough lighting), they went right to work putting their sponsor decals on. Afterwards, it was a short night’s rest before the event.

As mentioned earlier, the event took place on public roads around Detroit, and some portions were recently repaved and transitioned into older surfaces, giving the drivers a mix of grip and slip to deal with. The next morning, Geoff took the car out and gave it a 50% run around the course. After getting a feel for the layout during practice, Geoff was informed that his driving line would make it difficult for slower cars to follow him. So Geoff had to discuss and redo his driving line.

During qualifying, Geoff had a spin on the older section of pavement, where there wasn’t much available grip. After another qualifying run, Geoff was placed at a disappointing 15th grid spot. So it was on to battle.

The first run was against the LS2 powered Pontiac GTO Shane Whalley. During Shane’s lead run, the judges deducted points for braking through the sweeper, giving Geoff the win.

Through the Top 8, Geoff faced Dan Summers, which eventually went into OMT (One More Time), but on Dan’s lead run he crashed, destroying a wheel and some suspension components. Repairs were made in the allotted time for Dan to make another run with Geoff. However, Geoff was quick to strike, making a deep, smooth line giving him the nod once again.

Top 4 was about to get a bit tougher. Geoff faced the lighter, more powerful S13 of Andrew Lewis. Not deterred from the this fact, Geoff kept right up to Andrew’s door. Fortunately for Geoff, Andrew’s car suffered from a broken axle. Unable to repair the car in time, Geoff once again got the win.

For the final battle, Geoff was up against Mike Skudlarek. Both runs weren’t exactly working in either driver’s favor. However, a few mistakes by Mike ( hard braking in the sweeper; not initiating drift on the follow run) went unnoticed by the judges, giving Mike the win.

So, a tough and somewhat disappointing 2nd place finish for Geoff.

Next was a trip to West Virginia for the US Drift Rd. 4 event.

Already late in the day in Detroit, Geoff and crew hit the road just after 11pm, making as few stops as possible to make it to the driver’s meeting at 8:30am the next day.

Knowing that their 2nd place standing in the US Drift championship was a really close one (14 points behind James Evans), Geoff had to really step it up for this event. Making it to the drivers meeting with just a few minutes to spare, Geoff soon made his way out to practice.

The course was super fast, with entry speeds anywhere between 75-90 mph. Also, it was raining. To make practice difficult, Geoff had to bring the car in, make some suspension setup and tire pressure changes, giving him little time during practice to get a feel for the revised setup.

Qualifying went relatively smooth for Geoff, and he placed a 3rd grid spot for himself. US Drift points leader James Evans qualified 7th, so Geoff’s earned points in qualifying were starting to get him towards the top.

With only 12 qualified drivers for this event, things were starting to look up towards Geoff’s championship. The first battle against the 2jz powered S14 of Charlie Tyson was actually easy enough for Geoff to get the nod, even with Charlie running extremely consistent and fast the whole day.

Good news came Geoff’s way when James Evan was knocked out during Top 16, while 3rd place points holder Troy Manners, was put away in the Top 8. This mean an automatic 2013 US Drift championship for Geoff!

Not one to call it a day, Geoff went into the Top 4 against Dave Bellemo in his 1JZ powered S14. Slightly preoccupied with the thought of the US Drift championship on his mind, Geoff had a a somewhat difficult time getting focused. Fortunately the run went into OMT, and Geoff was able to get the nod once again.

For the final run, Geoff faced ex-teammate Dan Savage. Dan, a good friend of Geoff, taught him tandem drifting, so Geoff knew that this run would be good fun. On the first run, with Geoff in tow, Dan spun on the last inner clip, just inches away from Geoff potentially crashing. On the second run with Geoff leading, Dan kept it close up until the second inner clip where Geoff put out a lot of angle, losing Dan who eventually spun off! Geoff took home first place for the event!

So there you have it, a second place finish in Detroit, a first place finish in West Virginia and a 2013 US Drift championship all in one weekend!

We’re certainly proud of Geoff and team and their accomplishment for this season. But it is far from over- the final round of Midwest Drift Union, Clubloose Freedom Moves, Holley LS Fest in KY, and Formula D Pro-Am in TX are a few of the upcoming events that Geoff has lined up for him. We look forward to his updates!

Congratulations, Geoff, on your 2013 US Drift championship!

https://www.facebook.com/GeoffStoneback484drift

http://www.usdrift.com/

http://mdudrift.com/

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