Monthly Archives: April 2010

2010 Mazda 3 Lowering Springs

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S.Tech Spring testing on the 2010 Mazda 3 has been completed.

For testing we used currently available TEIN Japan High.Tech Lowering Springs (gold colored springs).

The final US Spec S.Techs will be available sometime in the Summer of 2010. The specification will differ from the TEIN Japan spec springs we used for testing due to the differences between the US and JDM model vehicle.

Expect the ride height drop to be: Front -40mm and Rear -40mm

The actual drop may vary by models due to the weight of different components (ie Transmission, Packages, etc.)

We take measurements at all positions of Compression and Rebound with and without the tires installed.

Above we have the tire installed and damper fully compressed to check for any clearance issues. Our products do lower your vehicle a considerable amount as compared to stock and we wouldn’t want any unnecessary damage to occur due to too low of a ride or too little clearance between parts.

Note: these are the Japanese Spec Lowering Springs, our final US Spec S.Techs will be Green.

A staff of enthusiasts

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The TEIN USA staff is filled with automotive enthusiasts from different age groups, backgrounds and levels of interest.  Tuning philosophies, budgets and experience vary greatly but it makes for some interesting conversations. It also gives our product development section a chance to hear feedback from a wide range of opinions. Here are just a few of the staffs cars’.

Philip’s EVO 9 SE. Street/ track toy with the main goal being balance of all parts. Utilizes many parts in which TEIN USA distributes including Carbing, Defi, Takata, SuperPro and rocking Super Racing coilovers. Basically built/ tuned like a traditional shop demo car in Japan (trying something different than the normal US build).

Paul’s WRX. Custom valved TEIN FLEX with 8kg/ 5kg spring rates. Nothing crazy here but lots of bolt-on parts with total tuning in mind. Mainly a street car with an occasional track event.

Jon’s FC. A true do it yourself build including motor rebuild, tranny rebuild, paint and all the maintenance. Mono Flex dampers keep this a fun track toy while still maintaining good ride comfort for street driving.

TK’s Eclipse. Not the most popular model in the Eclipse family but purchased because this car was not offered in his home country of Japan. TK has previously owned an Integra DC2, JDM GC8, Skyline GTS-Type M, D32A, and Opel Omega. This daily driver uses Super Street dampers.

Ryan’s Civic Si 4dr. This daily driver features Super Street coilovers, Fujitsubo Legalis R exhaust, and a host of bolt-on parts. Ryan has been tuning his car on the local mountain passes and will be soon hitting the circuit for the first time.

TEIN Japan testing Honda CR-Z

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The new Honda CR-Z has been immensely popular in Japan with tuners and consumers alike (there are even rumors about a CR-Z one make race series). All of the big manufacturers have at least one as a demo car including TEIN Japan.

TEIN was one of the first companies to release a coilover for this car and you might think we would release a BASIC or Super Street damper but Japanese consumers wanted Mono FLEX coilovers. So that is what we produced.

Here is a video of TEIN Japan R&D department testing the TEIN CR-Z at Sodegaura Raceway in Japan.

cr

N1 Racing parts on a street driven Civic Si Sedan

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Mike of Evasive Motorsports has successfully been using our Mono FLEX coilovers on his street/ track Civic Si Sedan. The car has finished well in the last few events (class win at Super Lap Battle Finals 2009 and class win at Redline TA 2010 Rd.1) and Mike wants to keep it that way. Mike already added a larger diameter sway bar and a revalve but still wanted more vehicle rotation. So Mike and our engineer agreed the next step was to try some parts from our N1 race kit.

The parts arrived last Friday and Mike brought the car in a few days ago for us to install the parts and perform the needed revalve to make it all work.

The N1 kit is used on many cars competing in Japan’s Civic One-Make race series. Normally these cars use spring rates of 20kg front and 26kg rear. Modifications are very limited to keep the racing tight.

We ONLY used a few of the parts from an N1 kit:

N1 pillowball rear spring seat, Special 20kg rears springs, N1 HAS (Height Adjustment System)

The N1 pillowball rear spring seats are NICE (you can see that the top section can pivot). The spring can now better match the travel radius of the lower control arm and allows the use of a straight spring which are readily available in various sizes and rates. Normally a barrel shaped spring is used for more spring stroke but alternate spring rates are not available.

To make this all work we needed to change the stroke and damping force of the rears dampers. Then in order to balance the car front to rear we increased the front spring rate to 16kg, shortened the stroke, and increased the damping force.

The end result is very aggressive spring rates, short suspension travel and race car like handling. When we took the car out for a test drive on local roads and highways the ride was surprisingly smooth. A passenger would never guess that the car has such high spring rates. The car is firm but not bouncy. It absorbs the bumps well and settles quickly for optimal grip.

A few more pics of the Civic Type-Rs TEIN sponsors in Japan. These cars look so good with just livery and being slammed.

2009 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS

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S.Tech Spring testing on the 2009 2.4L Mitsubishi Lancer GTS has been completed.

The S.Tech Springs Part # SKE20-AUB00, which have been available for other Lancer models, are now approved for use on the GTS as well.

The ride height drop for the Lancer GTS: Front -51mm and Rear -30mm

The actual drop may vary by models due to the weight of different components (ie Transmission, Packages, etc.)

You too can have an aggressive drop that changes the image of the entire car, at a cost that won’t hurt your wallet. Contact you local Tein Dealer. http://www.tein.com/dealer_list/index.html

Coilovers for 1st Gen Integra & CR-X / 3rd Gen Civic

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TEIN Authorized dealer Heeltoe Automotive specializes in Honda/ Acura tuning and asked TEIN to produce a coilover kit for the ’84-87 Honda CRX/ Civic and ’86-89 Acura Integra. The result is called the Medieval Pro Coilover Kit exclusively sold by HeelToe.

All product development was performed in our HQ in Downey CA and the kit is manufactured in our Yokohama Japan factory.

The kit has features similar to our Super Street coilovers. 16-way damping force adjustability with a ride height adjustable rear. The front suspension retains the standard torsion beam from Honda. Heeltoe allows customers to pick the TEIN rear spring rate and also offers different diameter torsion beams for the front.


Additional stock of these limited edition coilovers is now available through HeelToe. Please visit Heeltoe’s website at, www.heeltoeauto.com for additional technical information or to place an order.

A look inside TEIN USA HQ in Downey CA

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TEIN USA has two locations in the US. Our headquarters is in Downey, CA and our East Coast facility is in Norcross, GA.

A small showroom filled with samples of all the brands we carry. TEIN USA is the exclusive US distributor for DEFI, Fujitsubo, Carbing, and SuperPro. We also distribute Takata and Auto-Tech Interiors (ATI).

A look at the front office where most of the day-to-day operations are taken care of.

A typical desk and staff multi-tasking.

Service area where dampers are repaired or overhauled. One of our technicians hard at work. You can see the NMB shock dyno in the corner and a few of the repairs being processed in the foreground.

One of the many aisles in the warehouse. S.Tech springs can be seen on the left, various coilovers on the right and some Fujitsubo at the very end.

This is the section of our warehouse where we prepare products for shipping and house smaller items.

A few of the project cars (Elliott’s EVO X, Import Tuner 370Z, TEIN Mustang) we are either working on or temporarily storing for upcoming events.

The Import Tuner/ TEIN Lexus ISF sitting in the back of the warehouse. Look for a feature on this car in an upcoming issue of Import Tuner. This thing makes over 510WHP and 550 ft-lbs of torque with the help of a wet NOS kit.

Video of Vaughn Gittin Jr’s drift Mustang at Long Beach

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Awesome video of Vaughn Gittin Jr at Formula Drift – Long Beach. You can see the dual EDFC controllers mounted in the dashboard. ASD did an awesome job building this car in a short time. Everything about the car is all business especially the interior – So fresh and clean.

Vaughn Gittin Jr: Monster’s Street Fighting Man from Drift Alliance on Vimeo.

Formula Drift Rd.1 Winner Vaughn Gittin Jr.

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TEIN would like to congratulate JR Gittin for winning Rd. 1 of the 2010 Formula Drift Championship. Even more impressive is that this was the debut event for JR’s new ride which is the Monster Energy/ Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang built by ASD and featuring TEIN 2-way coilovers with dual EDFC.

JR unveiled this car on Thursday night at a special Falken FD pre-party at Rod Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory in Downtown Los Angeles.

TEIN does not produce an off-the-shelf 2-way kit for the Mustang so the kits on JR and JTP cars’ are from our Specialized Damper program (SPD). The SPD program allows any customer purchase a made to order kit from our Yokohama, Japan factory.

TEIN was out at Rd. 1 in Long Beach with a small booth. Thank you to all the people that stopped by to say hello and purchase some TEIN goods.

Special thanks to Marc M. of Auto-Tech Interiors for the action pics of JR’s Mustang.

Specialized Damper Program

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Although this isn’t the latest offering from TEIN, it is a fairly new program now offered by TEIN USA.

The Specialized Damper Program allows customers to design a one-off kit built to their specifications. Click HERE to link to TEIN Japan’s Specialized Damper Program page.

With a wide variety of options available for the customer to choose from, we are able to create a kit unique to each customer’s request. Options include, but are not limited to

  • Twin-Tube or Monotube construction.
  • Pillowball Upper Mounts(Optional camber adjustment on MacPherson Strut-type), if applicable.
  • Custom Coil Spring for non-height adjust kits.
  • Use of new steel components or reuse of OE steel components( OE spindles may be required if integral to the OE strut)

and many other options.

OE suspension design may be the only limiting factor( we base the design strictly off of the stock mounting points). So this may exclude the use of a coil-over type dampers, pillowball upper mounts, custom leaf or torsion spring, etc.

Lead time to have such dampers made may vary, depending on the options, complexity, as well as the manufacturing schedules of TEIN Japan (all suspension components are manufactured and assembled in our Yokohama plant).  Expect an ETA of 3-4 months from start to completion of manufacturing (excludes shipping ETA).

Here are a few examples of damper kits requested by a few customers.

KPGC10 Skyline 2000 GT-R

Lancia Delta Integrale

Kia Forte

Hopefully this opens up a new set of options for you, should you not find what you’re looking for.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call!