Author Archives: Philip C.

SuperRally at X Games 16

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This past weekend was X Games 16. New for this year was SuperRally where four cars compete bumper to bumper on a dirt course. TEIN sponsored professional drifter, Stephan Verdier, driving his Subaru STi. The vehicle is actually Stephan’s drift car converted back to AWD and tuned for rally. Changes included a different motor and transmission package from Crawford (must use turbo restrictor plate per the rules), rally suspension, gravel tires and a host of other parts.

Being that Ford and Subaru had multiple cars entered into SuperRally I think it was safe to say that Stephan was a big underdog. However practice times showed that Stephan was one of the quickest competitors. His Crawford powered STi showed it easily had the power to compete with the high power and light weight Fiestas from Ford which are purpose built for Rally Cross competition.

During morning practice Stephan made contact with the wall and damaged both the front and rear of his car. His car arrived back to the pits with a motor trouble, suspension damage and body damage. It took his skillful and dedicated crew hours to get his car patched up enough to compete. TEIN engineer, Mr. Nakai was on hand to help with suspension tuning and witnessed the team fix a broken cam sprocket, pull the chassis with a truck, replace suspension components and repair the bodywork. At this point he was lucky to even make it to the starting line.

In the first round Stephan faced Dave Mirra, Ken Block and ACP.

Stephan blasted off the line and held his lead for the entire race earning the win and entrance into the final round.

In the final round Stephan faced Tanner Foust, Brian Deegan and Sam Hubinette. This time the Fiestas blasted off the line and Stephan used his Crawford power to gain third position.

Through aggressive driving he moved into second behind Foust but relinquished the position to Deegan 3 laps later.

300 meters before the finish Stephan slowed from a damaged intercooler pipe which allowed Hubinette to pass him for third. The Gr.N suspension worked flawlessly throughout practice and competition. The coilovers provided Stephan with good traction for the Crawford power plant, high cornering speed and smooth landings.

It was an exciting race no matter the outcome and I cannot wait to see this event again in 2011.

Special thanks to Gordon Ting of 0-60 magazine for the X Games pass and the images.

New England Forest Rally VIDEO

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0-60 magazine just posted their video from the 2010 New England Forest Rally featuring their project Rally xD. Check out the soft landing at the 55 second mark. The HG dampers worked well under the especially harsh conditions of this rally and took the abuse of multiple jumps. Note: this car weighs in at over 3000 lbs. so it is in no way a light weight vehicle.

If you love rally racing, cars flying through the car and crashes check out this weekends X Games 16.  TEIN sponsored driver Stephan Verdier will be competing in his STi which is using TEIN Gr.N dampers.

Video courtesy of 0-60 Magazine and photo courtesy of Gordon Ting (0-60 Magazine).

New England Forest Rally 2010

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Recently arrived back from the New England Forest Rally (NEFR) in Maine. This was the final event for the 2010 Rally America series. Our sponsored 0-60 magazine Scion xD placed second in the FWD class losing to a high power Dodge SRT-4. Scion xD co-driver Catherine Woods clinched her first championship when the Scion crossed the finish line (driver, Chris Duplessis clinched his National title at the previous round).

The 0-60 rally xD has been a successful project finishing 2nd in two national events in two starts. An amazing accomplishment as the car is almost stock. Since the Oregon Trail Rally in May the car received a new Quaife differential, rear wing and slight weight reduction. The motor remains completely stock.

Car getting final prep work done before the rally inside driver, Chris Duplessis’s barn at his family’s farm, Pooh Corner Farm in Bethel, Maine.

NEFR is considered the harshest rally of the series. Of the 64 entries at Stage 1 only 41 started the final stage (Stage 12). The stages are littered with large rocks/ small boulders and even a few man made jumps.

Chris and Catherine blast through Stage 2.

One of five services throughout the two day event. Most service times are 30-minutes which gives the crew enough time to inspect the entire car, change wheels, clean brakes, adjust the suspension, make any needed repairs and of course keep the car shiny.

At the finish line. 2nd place in 2WD.

Video by Rally America recapping NEFR 2010 and the 2010 season.

Special thanks to Forest Duplessis and the entire Duplessis family.

Photos courtesy of 0-60 magazine, Gordon Ting, Benson Ting and Gary Castillo of Design Craft Fabrication.

Super Lap Battle Video w/ Janelle Ha

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Mr. Super Lap Battle just sent me this video from SLB – Las Vegas. This was an exhibition type event which was invitation only. The event featured a few of the top contenders in various classes plus new comer Zenkai Motorsports. TEIN was well represented as Crawford, Evasive, SportCar Motion and Zenkai are all using TEIN coilovers.

Check out the video which features Janelle Ha.

Future Import Tuner magazine feature

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Luke Munnell of Import Tuner magazine was at TEIN yesterday shooting the Lexus ISF for a future feature. The ISF is an Import Tuner project car which TEIN USA sponsors. We have helped with the build and maintenance ever since the beginning of this project. The car was displayed at SEMA, CES and has competed at Super Lap Battle finals. It is the only newer body style IS to compete in SLB that I can remember. Tanner Foust drove the car to a 2:02 in the 2008 finals. I think the car can definitely break 2 minutes with the current NOS setup, wider tires and some aero upgrades.

Although Luke’s title is Technical Editor for Import Tuner magazine he along with all the editors do multiple tasks. One of Luke’s favs seems to be shooting feature vehicles.

Setting up the lights for one of many pics. Each shot takes at least 10-15mins to setup and then constant tweaking until everything is perfect.

Our warehouse is not ideal due to sky lights, tons of reflections, etc… so the right lighting is key to getting a good clean shot.

With everything in place it is time to shoot.

Luke will come back to shoot the exterior pics at one of his secret locations. Nah jk, just a spot nearby that he found on the way to TEIN. Pickup Import Tuner to see the full feature.

Mitsubishi Owners Day 2010

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On Sat. we attended the MOD event held at Mitsubishi HQ in Cypress, CA. As one can imagine the event was filled with all models that Mitsubishi produced. The event included cars, girls, vendors, food and lots of free raffle prizes.

EVOs

There were many vendors on hand including both manufacturers and shops.

Our booth had two vehicles on display which are both owned by TEIN employees. Philip’s EVO 9 SE and Jon’s EVO 10 GSR.

Few items including Super Racing Coilovers on display in our booth.

Right down the aisle from us was TEIN Authorized Dealer, Evasive Motorsports. Evasive sales rep. Dennis’s EVO X on display in their booth. His EVO features Mono FLEX coilovers, Volk CE28s, Voltex lip and a host of other parts.

TEIN Authorized dealer, Road Race Motorsports had a large booth space and a few cars on display including Robert Tallini’s Eclipse race car. This car uses custom valved Super Street dampers.

Walking through the show we met, Wes, a proud 3000GT VR4 owner using TEIN Flex coilovers.

Looking forward to MOD 2011.

For more coverage of MOD 2010 check out The Octane Report.

Class Wins at Redline Time Attack w/ video

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Congratulations to SportCar Motion and Evasive Motorsports for their class wins at Redline Time Attack Rd. 6 at Willow Springs Raceway in California.

Modified-FF
SportCar Motion’s EG Civic took home first place in the Modified-FF class with a time of 1:32.884. This high speed course suited the big power and aero package SportCar Motion prepared for this course. Driver Renzo Marsano beat the second place finisher by over 3 seconds. See the video below for one of Renzo’s laps.

Enthusiast-FF
Mike C. of Evasive Motorsports took home the class win in Enthusiast-FF class with a time of 1:38.941. Mike sits atop the overall points and is the strong favorite for the National Championship. Mike has driven the 2008 Civic Si Sedan to 4 class wins in 4 events. What makes that record even more amazing is that it is done with only a few key modifications. Mike’s Civic is using a revalved set of Mono FLEX dampers which we have been working with him on over the season.

Visit the Octane Report for full event coverage.

Photos courtesy of Duane Uyeda and Arthur Guo of the Octane Report and Loi Song of SportCar Motion.

Fun Times at ButtonWillow Raceway

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This past Saturday was Industry Track Day 6 at ButtonWillow Raceway. Six of the TEIN staff drove at the event in cars ranging from a stock 2009 Civic Si to a modified Lexus ISF. For two of the staff this was the first time they had ever been to a real road course. It was fun to see everybody’s lap times getting quicker throughout the day and hearing the light-hearted trash talking.

Staff cars lined up and waiting for the sessions to begin.

Ryan – 2009 Civic Si. All stock except for when he swapped to 17″ Gram Lights with Advan Neova AD07s in the second session. Best Time of the Day 2:29

Drifting an FF?

Birthday boy Jon – 2010 Evo X. Mono Flex coilovers, EDFC, SuperPro RCA. Best Time of the Day 2:20

“It’s my Birthday and I’m 2 yrs old.”

First time at the track with the new car. So Clean.

Paul – 2002 WRX. Engine bolt-ons and S.Tech lowering springs. Best Time of the Day ~2:19

Paul resembling Subaru ace Roger Clark with the open face helmet and mask.

Philip – 2006 EVO 9. 365WHP and lots of mods. Best Time of the Day 2:09

Cruising around.

Nakai and Hirayoshi – 2008 Lexus ISF. Performance version Comfort Sport coilovers, EDFC, LE-37s, Neova AD07s and a few minor bolt-ons. Nakai’s Best Time of the Day 2:11, Hirayoshi’s Best Time of the Day 2:27

Cooling off between sessions. This thing sounds mean with custom Fujitsubo exhaust and paddle shift 8 speed.

It was a fun day to hangout outside of the office, joke around and DRIVE. Everyone is already looking forward to the next event.

Checking Tire Pressures and comparing driving lines between sessions.

Paul keeping Birthday Boy Jon behind him. Jon’s cries of “Let Me Pass” could be heard from the pits.

Fun Times.

Go to the OctaneReport to see more coverage of the event.

Photos courtesy of Joey Leh of the Octane Report, Jonathan Velasquez, TEIN staff and wives.

SuperPro Roll Center Adjusters

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TEIN is the exclusive distributor for Australian made SuperPro brand of polyurethane bushings. We recently got some SuperPro roll center adjusters in stock. One of the guys here with a new EVO X decided he wanted a set so I took pictures of his install. Since the front lower control arms needed to come off this was the best time to also upgrade the front arm bushing as well.

Here is a picture of all the new parts.

SuperPro RCA for EVO 8/9/10, Part # SPF-FPR-004

SuperPro Polyurethane Bushing for front lower control arm – front inner, Part # SPF2418K

Remove ball joint to hub bolt, disconnect swaybar link and two bolts securing the inner points of the lower control arm.

Pop the dust boot off and remove the C-Clip. An extra set of hands makes things easier.

Easiest and safest to use a hydraulic press to remove the OEM ball joint. Other option is a rent or buy a ball joint tool kit. Note that on the underside of the arm a small ring of aluminum may break off or stretch when the ball joint is pressed out – this is normal.

OEM ball joint removed. Cleanup any heavy scratches to the arm (there should not be any if the press was used properly).

Here you can see the OEM ball joint next to the new SuperPro unit. The SuperPro unit has a taller base instead of a taller shaft like other manufacturers. This makes it more rigid.

Press in the new RCA. Make sure the RCA sits all the way in which will make the groove for the C-Clip flush with the top of the arm.

Install the C-Clip.

Pressing out the front inner bushing. Takes a little creative positioning to get everything to line up perfectly.

Cleanup the arm from any scratches and install the new SuperPro bushings. Use plenty of grease and insert the two bushings first. Then grease the pin and use a vice or press to push it in.

Arm installed. You can clearly see the height difference. Make sure to torque all bolts to factory settings.

This bolt should be tightened and torqued while the car is at 1G so that the bushing’s natural position is at ride height and not full suspension droop.

You will notice that the SuperPro kit does not include new taller tie rod ends. According to SuperPro engineers new tie rod ends are not needed but due to high consumer demand SuperPro will be including new tie rod ends in the near future.

Lastly have an alignment done as both camber and toe will have changed.