Monthly Archives: April 2010

A look back at US Drifting – Part 2

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From 2003 to 2009 TEIN USA supported the following cars/drivers:

TEIN 350Z – Murao                                                              TEIN/ OS Giken S14 – Murao

TEIN JDMRice S13 – Murao                                                  DRFT FD3S – Utsumi

DRFT S13 – Utsumi                                                              Team Falken S13 – Koguchi

Team Falken S14 – Yamamoto                                            Team Rotora S13 – Ken Gushi

Team Rotora S13 – Ernie Fixmer                                         Team Falken S13 – Gittin

Team Falken/ Discount Tires – Young                                 Team Falken EF – Hatakeyama

Team Falken Camaro – Hampton                                         Team Falken FD3S – Yamamoto

Team Falken FD3S – Angelo                                                Team Falken G35 – Wan

Team Falken Mustang – Gittin                                              Team Falken S15 – Forsberg

Star Girl Racing S13 – Mei                                                   Team X Mustang – Beckford

Honda R&D Element – n/a                                                    Milano Auto – Kregorian

Team Falken/ Discount Tire IS300 – Sumida                       Team Falken/ NTB RX-8 – Yamamoto

Team Falken/ Boso Garage S13 – Petty                              Team Falken Sky – McNamara

Team Falken 350Z Convertible – McQuarrie                       Team Falken 2010 Mustang – Pawlak

Monster/ Team Falken  2011 Mustang – Gittin

Ross Petty’s ride back in 2007 which used custom valved Super Drift coilovers.

Falken IS300 from 2007 which was driven by Hiro Sumida. Utilized mono tube TEIN coilovers and EDFC.

2008 Falken Sky driven by D-Mac. Using TEIN Super Street coilovers and EDFC.

2009 Falken 350Z convertible driven by Tyler who finished third overall in FD last year. Utilizes a Super Racing coilover kit with custom valving and dual EDFC.

2010 bodied Ford Mustang driven by JR in 2009. TEIN 2-way coilovers and dual EDFC.

For the 2010 FD season TEIN will be used on 4 Falken drift cars which include:

Falken Sky driven by D-Mac

Falken 350Z Convertible driven by Tyler

Falken 2010 Mustang driven by JTP

Monster Engery/ Falken Tire 2011 Mustang driven by JR

Import Tuner Magazine with Lana Lopez

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Be on the lookout for the June issue of Import Tuner magazine which features the Import Tuner project 370Z and cover model Lana Lopez. Chief editor Carter Jung finished up the photography at TEIN USA and the pics were awesome. Import Tuner is also putting together a video featuring an interview with Lana, check for that at www.importtuner.com

Co-cover car is the 370Z which Tyler McQuarrie drove at the Super Lap Battle finals to a third place finish in the Street FR class. An outstanding result considering this was the first time the 370Z had ever been on the track since the twin Turbo kit, TEIN Mono Flex coilovers,  Project Mu BBK, Volk TE-37, Sunline Racing aero amongst a host of other parts were added to the car.

Tyler McQuarrie on the way to running a 1:59.829 at ButtonWillow Raceway Config #13.

One of the many pit crew members for the 370Z – TEIN Engineer, Ryoh Takizawa.

You can read the full article on the 370Z build and tuning in the latest issue of Import Tuner magazine.

5 Consecutive Rally Wins

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Driver Patrik Flodin of Sweden took home his 5th consecutive Rally win this past weekend at the Jordan Rally. This marks his second 2010 class win in P-WRC competition.

Patrik Flodin on left with co-driver Goran Bergsten on right.

2010 Rally Results for driver P. Flodin and TEIN Gr. N coilovers:

1st Production Class at Rally Sweden (WRC Rd. 1)

1st Group N – China Rally (Rd. 1)

1st Group N – Russia Rally (Rd. 1)

1st Group N – Swedish Rally (Rd. 2)

1st Production Class at Jordan Rally (WRC Rd. 3)

*Flodin did not enter WRC Rd. 2

Note: all wins were while using TEIN Gr. N coilovers

For P-WRC competition Flodin has been piloting the Uspenskiy Rally Technica Subaru STI equipped with TEIN Gr.N dampers. The Gr.N dampers have been working well as the Sweden Rally was in snow and the Jordan Rally was in the desert. Gr.N dampers include a Temperature Compensating Valve (TCV) which is a mechanical system that changes oil flow based on oil temperature. This allows the damping force to stay more consistent as the oil temperature changes.

A look back at US Drifting, Part 1

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As the 2010 Formula D season opener soon approaches I took a look back at when TEIN USA starting to get involved in the US drifting scene.

For TEIN USA it all started back 2003 when D1 first came to the US with a non-points event. We sponsored a few cars that came over from Japan including the DRFT FD3S, Falken S13, Falken S14 and we even entered our almost stock 350Z street car. Way back then Falken Tire boss, Nick Fousekis, saw the potential in Drifting and put together a small team and TEIN jumped on board as a product sponsor. Over the years TEIN has sponsored a few other teams, entered a few cars of our own but has mainly supported the teal and blue.

TEIN 350Z lined up against DRFT FD3S at the Inaugural US D1GP in 2003. 350Z driven by Murao and DRFT FD3S piloted by Utsumi. The sunken in wheels and skinny tires on the rear of the 350Z were the only way it could keep a decent slide since the only power adders were a K&N intake and Greddy exhaust which still got the car into the top 16.

Koguchi’s Falken sponsored S13.

Back in 2004 Team Rotora had a multi-car team and one of their drivers was a high school student named, Ken Gushi.

TEIN USA’s 2004 US D1GP entry. Driven by Murao and KA Turbo power.

This is JR’s original S13 in the old Falken livery. TEIN has been a proud sponsor of JR since 2004.

TEIN USA’s 2005 D1GP entry. Richard’s S13 aka JDMRice. Driven by “Gui Gui” Murao.

First FF Drift car in the US driven by Hatakeyama and Seigo Yamamoto’s S14.



One of two Falken RX-7s. This one was driven by Seigo Yamamoto and in the background is Hubert Young in the Discount Tire/ Falken S13.

One of the more unique FD entries was the Falken Camaro which one of the first iconic Muscle cars to drift. Driven by Ryan Hampton.

Falken Mustang S197 driven by none other than Vaughn Gittin.

Soon to come is part two.

Redline Time Attack Season Opener

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We want to congratulate Evasive Motorsports and SportCar Motion for their class wins in this past weekends Redline Time Attack held at ButtonWillow Raceway.

Evasive Motorsports campaigned two vehicles. Their well known EVO 9 in the Super Modified Class and a Civic Si in the Enthusiast FF class.

Driver Tim Kuo piloted the EVO 9 to second place finish with a time of 1:47.987 on Yokohama slicks. There is still lots of time left in the car and we will be working with Evasive to dial in the Super Racing coilovers.

Driver and vehicle owner Mike Chang pushed the Civic Si Sedan to a 2:04.085 for the class win in Enthusiast FF. Expect this car to get faster as we will be making changes to the rear Mono FLEX suspension (soon to be using parts from a TEIN N1 racing kit).

SportCar Motion debuted their Integra Type-R in the Modified FF class and driver Renzo Marsano not only took the class win with a 2.00.055 but beat the next top finisher by 4 seconds. The crew at SportCar Motion will soon be testing out new spring rates and new valving to make the ITR even quicker.

Driver Renzo Marsano of SportCar Motion accepting his trophy for the Modified FF Class win.

On track photos by Duane Uyeda – The Octane Report. You can checkout more pics from the event at OctaneReport.com

Falken Tire Drift Sky Testing

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Falken Tires recently posted a video of D-Mac practicing with his newly modified Sky which is now producing 800HP. The video speaks for itself.

You can see the dual EDFC controllers in the dash board which Darren adjusts at the 53 second mark.

TEIN has been a proud sponsor of the Falken Drift program since 2003. In 2010 we will be supporting 4 Falken Drift cars. More on this at a later date.