Monthly Archives: May 2012

ONE SLAMMED ELEMENT!!

Posted on by

‘Sup Guys! As you can see, this Element does not look like your ordinary slammed Element. Then again why would it, since this one belongs to one of our staff that is known for slamming his cars!

You can see how much lower it is compared to another staff member’s stock Element here.

This slam didn’t come easy. Gonzo had to look over lots of design drawings and come up with the one that basically lowered the car to his liking! He decided to go with customized Basic dampers from a 2001-2005 Honda Civic re-valved to 10kg and 14 kg springs. After he completed lowering his Element he purchased a nice set of Enkei’s (first gen NT03+M  18″ by 8 1/2″  to make it look even lower (overall diameter of the wheel and tire is smaller than the factory setup).

**The 2001-2005 Civic Basic kit is is not a direct swap into the Element- steering arm location is not the same and requires custom steering tie rod ends to make it work. It should be noted that if anyone decides to do a similar modification to their vehicle, it is at their sole discretion.

Some of his upgrades are a S2000 steering wheel with functioning cruise control, a rear camber kit and a Carbing blue anodized shift knob.

 

 

 

 

FR-S madness

Posted on by

As we had wrote the previous entry before, we have been testing our product for Scion FR-S.

Usually, we spend about a week to test fit and take data for each product.

But, since Scion FR-S will be an ultra hot vehicle in the market for this year and some new FR-S owners are already getting delivery of their vehicles, TEIN USA boosted up the speed of the development schedule for Scion FR-S!

Yes, TEIN USA R&D dept worked hard past week to develop product for Scion FR-S as soon as possible to send out to everyone! As Jon had mentioned in his previous post, we have tested S.Tech and High Tech lowering springs and Type Flex dampers, with more product to come later this year. In fact, a few dealers have already pre-ordered sets of High Tech lowering springs, which are set to arrive towards the end of June! In case you want to order, the part number is SKSA0-G1B00. This will give the FR-S a -25mm front and -20mm rear drop. Great for owners that may eventually plus-size their wheels!

High Tech, S.Tech, and Flex products ready for fitment.

By this point, we've probably spent as much time under the hood as Scion R&D!!!

Fortunately the Type Flex dampers bolted up fine for our first test! And the handling is great, btw 😉

Our tests include highway driving...

...and also some local road driving. Or, in this case, very boring traffic.

Stay tuned as springs and damper-kits are soon to be out for everybody!! Up next is testing on the Subaru BRZ! We’ll keep you up-to-date on that testing!

 

To Whet Your Appetite

Posted on by

Lately there has been a lot of buzz, hoots, hollers, tweets, status updates, tumblr post, you name it, regarding the soon to be FR-S and BRZ.

We’ve recently updated that Tein Japan has some products for those cars now available.

And now to stimulate your already insatiable hunger for more things FR-S/BRZ we announce that testing has commenced stateside, and probably by the time you read this we will have finished with the preliminary testing.

We were able to test Flex Dampers and some S.Tech and High Tech springs this time around.


Stay tuned for some more information regarding the ride height drop with the products we tested this time around.
Also Tein Japan plans to release some Mono Tube Dampers as well, which we will soon be testing.
A lot of exciting things are happening.

 

Monster Falken 2012 Mustang

Posted on by

Working here at TEIN USA, I’m usually getting picked on because I would rather drive American muscle vs. a Japanese import. Now don’t get me wrong, Japanese import vehicles are reliable cars that can be tuned to perfection. But I’m more of a supercharged, convertible Roush Mustang with a Dual Flowmaster exhaust system type of guy. The 2012 Monster energy/ Falken Tire sponsored Mustang is a very good example of what I’m talking about. It has a roaring 800 horsepower 6.7-liter V8 engine. It also sports a set of Azenis RT615K tires and HRE Wheels Competition Series C21. I bet you guys are wondering, “OK, it’s a beast of a car, but what does it have to do with TEIN”, right? Well of course I wouldn’t be blogging about this beauty just because of its performance tuning and RTR body kit if it did not sport our TEIN 2-way adjustable coil overs with dual EDFC custom made to maneuver this pony 🙂

 

 

Overhaul Pricing

Posted on by

Now, I know we list an overhaul starting price on our website. However, we do know that some customers are a little confused when we give them a quote higher than what they may find listed. I’m hoping to clarify on this matter a little bit.

On our Service page on www.tein.com, you will find a link to our Overhaul Price List. You can find a list just like the above image which is the starting price for our overhaul service, as well as revalve service (if you plan on having the dampers matched to a specific spring rate). Again, this is just the starting price for the work covering new seals, damper fluid, nitrogen gas fill, and labor.

However when we receive your dampers, we have our in-house engineer inspect the dampers to assess any damage or potential damage from the original parts. As you can imagine, there are a lot of moving components that comprise the complete damper. In some cases, we can reuse many internal parts. But in the event that an engineer finds a part to be under specification, we will suggest to replace those items. If you’ve ever received a quote much higher than the starting price, it is because of these findings.

This picture shows what type of internal parts may need to be replaced for twin-tube type dampers (Basic, Super Street, Flex, Super Drift).

This list above is for mono tube damper-specific parts.

In all cases, our staff will go over the details with the customer to let them know what will possibly need to be replaced on the damper part by part. Again, we know that for some customers a high quote is not what they are expecting. We just take these extra steps before starting any work to make sure that the customer has an overhaul that is worthwhile and that will last just as long as an out-of-the-box kit.

*For the record, we’ve taken a customer’s request to reuse some of his old parts (a damaged piston shaft was one of them) when overhauling to save on some costs. The kit came back to us not too long after because the nitrogen charge ended up leaking out past the new seals.

So we will do whatever the customer requests, within reason. But believe me- we do so hesitantly.

We do, however, leave some new internal parts as only a recommendation to replace. But in many instances, it is probably best to take the engineer’s word when they suggest part replacement.

Of course, if you need some explanation or any assistance with your dampers you’re thinking of having serviced by us, please feel free to give our staff a call at 562-861-9161, and we will take the time to go over the service in detail for you.

Toyota FT-86 aka Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ

Posted on by

TEIN Japan has been hard at work testing and developing the following items for the Toyota FT-86 aka the Scion FR-S, which will share a similar suspension platform as the Subaru BRZ, since both companies had full development with the vehicle.

Currently TEIN Japan will not be offering any S-Tech lowering springs due to the reason below.

**For vehicles manufactured on or after January 1st, 2006 in JAPAN, if the lower edge of the fog light is less than 250mm from the ground when lowered, it may not comply with Japan’s vehicle safety regulations.
Please adjust the ride height to secure the minimum 250mm clearance. For details on inspection standards, please contact the nearest National Agency of Vehicle Inspection.**
 
Of course we have regulations here in the States as well, but they vary from state to state. Please look up the regulations in your state before lowering your vehicle.
 
We will be developing the S-Tech lowering springs for the U.S. models but will begin testing on the vehicles in June. We will also develop the  Street Advance coil-over specific to the U.S. market as the kit offered in Japan will not give much of a ride height adjustment range due to the aforementioned reason.
 
 
If you would like to purchase a suspension kit from Japan as a Special Order for the Scion FR-S or the Subaru BRZ for the U.S. market,  we recommend going with either the Flex, Mono Flex, or Super Racing coil-over kits as these coil-overs are full length adjustable and will be able to lower the ride height without affecting spring preload.
 
 
Please visit the following links for an online catalog of the products offered for the Subaru BRZ and the Toyota FT-86 in Japan.
 
Toyota FT-86 http://issuu.com/teinglobal-fanclub/docs/86_leaflet
 
Subaru BRZ http://issuu.com/teinglobal-fanclub/docs/brz_leaflet
 

Genesis Coupe Tech Info Update

Posted on by

Hey everyone! Back again with some tech info that would come in handy for anyone looking to buy a Basic damper kit for a Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

This info was brought to my attention by the R&D staff during their test period with a 2011 model Genesis Coupe as well as further info which had been found on the web. It seems as though the design on the front shock absorber endlink rod mounting tabs have changed from the original production model years to the most current model years sharing the same chassis code. The older model years would have the endlink ball joints facing away from each other in opposite directions (180º). The newer model years would have the endlink ball joints opposing each other at a 90º angle. Provided below is a photo of the different endlink rods which would detail the model years and endlink rod part numbers.

 **Please note that the model years listed below would correspond as followed: Part # 54830-2M000 would be found on 12/19/2008 – 9/15/2010 models year vehicles, Part # 54830-2m001 would be found on models after 9/15/2010 – Current 2011 models**

 

By referencing the photo above as well as the model year of your vehicle, it should help to determine the correct parts needed. For newer model years “after 9/15/2010 – Current 2011 models”, the older style endlink rods would be required when using our Basic damper kit.

Although the info provided above would help in determining whether endlink rods would be required on your application I would still recommend checking to see which shock absorber type your vehicle currently uses. Even though the parts are different for those model years, there is a possibility of the shock absorbers being swapped between models years.

Hopefully this tech info helps out anyone looking to change their stock suspension to coilovers on their Hyundai Genesis Coupe.