Category Archives: Random

Abe goes to Wekfest

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Who’s Abe?

Abe is the owner of a show car that we sponsor. He owns a 2004 Lexus LS 430 which has FLEX Sedan coilovers coupled with a Platnium VIP Cup Kit. The setup allows Abe to raise and lower his VIP styled Celsior over 2.5″ by hitting a few switches.

The FLEX Sedan coilovers were developed to slam big body Japanese sedans. Typical ride height adjustment range on the coilover kit is 3.5 to 4 inches. Meaning on a stock ’01-’06 LS430 (UCF30) the ride height adjustment range is:

Front: +20mm to -112mm (+.79″ to -4.41″)

Rear: +20mm to -116mm (+.79″ to -4.57″)

Okay, enough about the coilovers for now. More on that at a later date. Or contact us for more details. Application list can be found by clicking HERE.

Abe rolled up to SF with his buddies from Platnium VIP who did all the body work and paint on his LS.

Herbst Pavilion is part of the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, CA.

Abe’s LS430 parked with other Platnium VIP cars.

Abe’s LS430 features Kranze wheels, Junction Produce body kit, custom metal body work and custom black paint.

Gordon Ting built this GS450H  for Lexus. Features custom Super Racing coilovers and a host of aero mods.

Lovin the old HKS livery.

Lots of Ol’Skool cars in attendance.

Plus newer cars like this 370Z.

Deep dish wheels and slammed always looks good.

Photos courtesy of Abe Ko.

When life gives you lemons.. be adventurious & build a drift car

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I remember back in the day my family would always be amazed when I would build Legos or my R/C cars exactly how it was shown on the box without looking at the instructions. Let me tell you that was skill (brushed a little dirt off my shoulder), but the drift build that I came across and am about to show you just amazes me.

(Note the low ride height in this picture. TWO THUMBS UP & Ryan approved!)
The vehicle being built is not your common drift vehicle, its a Toyota UTE (Toyota Tacoma here in the states). It has been stripped to the bare single cab.

As you can see the modifications have begun. S15 SR20 transplant, ARC radiator, Cusco Strut Tower Bar, Bride seats and TEIN HA coilovers (discontinued model, similar to currently available Super Street coilovers).

The rear end looks to have deleted the shock and leaf spring combination to a solid frame. Now if someone could just teach me to weld this well..

For more updates on this build, visit the following link.

B(uild).Y(our).O(wn).B(eater)

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Normally, I’d make fun of dudes wearing Emo jeans. But in retrospect, they’re probably very effective in preventing the wearer spend money, since they’ll have a hard time accessing money in their pockets because their pants are too tight. So haha on them and on me!

I bring this up because we are faced with yet another recession. Sucks to hear, I’m sure. However, it’s a serious matter for so many of us that have doubts of our job security, or in transition into a new career, or live paycheck to paycheck. You should think thrice before spending your hard-earned money.

But a recession can’t prevent all of us from having fun, right? Well, not so fast there, bud. I may have some cash in my pocket, but that doesn’t mean I can spend money like a mad man. It’s time to be smart with my money, put some cash aside for that rainy day. It’s better to be safe than sorry. And I don’t know about you, but being in debt is no longer for the elitist. It’s a club most American’s are a part of. Bigger than FaceBook. FACEDBook, is more like it.

However, if you are a penny pincher, you can always find ways to have fun on the cheap. Who says you always have to buy new? Who says expensive is always better? There are a lot of great pre-owned cars out there at very affordable prices. Some of you already have a great car to build upon, but you don’t even know it.

I like breezing through Craigslist for cheap cars that have great performance potential. How about a ’91 Civic Si for $3000? All stock, clean title, clean interior, and 117k miles (LOW for its age, if it’s the original motor), and Red! Ahhhh, takes me back to my high school days. Nice buy if you ask me! Still has A/C, a tape deck and TWO (count ’em) speakers! Wawaweewahhh!! Good deal.

Assuming you buy this car in good condition, and had another 3 grand put aside for mods, you’d have yourself a nice daily driver/beginner’s track tool.

Let’s see what mods are available during my work,,, uh, I mean, research hours.

949 Racing’s durable 15×8 6UL wheels are affordable at $159/ea.

You can get a nice set of 225/45/15’s mounted on them for around $450.

TEIN’s SS-P’s are a nice coilover package for a start in road racing, while still having more than enough compliance for daily commuting.

DSA36-2USS1, msrp $1390

So that’s about $2,476 spent. With another $524, I can change out a few bushings. The rear trailing arm bushing goes out pretty quick. Super Pro makes one, part number SPF0807K for $113.

Super Street magazine’s project EF. The car came to us with the bushing already ripped completely out.

With the new SuperPro bushing installed = no more slop or wandering rear end.

They also have some sway bar mount bushings (front- SPF1528-__*K *different inside diameters available $27, rear-SPF1532-__*K *different inside diameters available $21).  You’d still have enough money to do other bushings, but the aforementioned tend to wear early. I’d probably apply that extra money into a nice set of brake pads, brake fluid, and maybe change rotors, unless resurfacing them is good enough. Then a simple oil change and coolant flush, followed by a basic check up on spark and timing would complete it for me.

Not a bad way to start, if Honda’s are your thing. This car is a great platform to build upon, and with the coilovers, you’ll be able to experiment with different spring rates. You can also get the dampers revalved if you want to try much stiffer springs. Beyond that, engines of similar size or even a B-Series, and now K-Series motor, can be swapped in. But hey, let’s keep it simple for now. With this setup, you’ll be,,,,,,,, well,, you’ll be slow. But with a low power motor, you can improve on other skills, such as learning to maintain your momentum through turns, or establish your vehicle’s limitations, as well as build up your track skills and memory. From there, sky’s the limit. Budget’s the limit, too. You can be the next Stig (look at the above Civic pic for motivation)!

So, not to fear, those of you with limited budgets. Be good with your money, or face some serious financial woes. Be a wise saver and shopper. Research before you buy, and don’t by crap! Some of you may be able to score these parts mentioned as used goods! Dunno about the bushings, though.

Take it easy, guys and girls and happy tuning!

Do not try this at home!

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I came across this rad video over the weekend of a custom built Kawasaki vs. corvette powered RX7 as they drift battle it out around the track.

Now what does this have to do with our company you may ask. Well its rad for one, it has some insane drifting and check out around 1:50. Yep, I spy some TEIN coilovers. This V8 RX7 driven by Jim Guthrie (professional race car driver) is using our Super Racing coilovers. Overall its a dangerous and awesome video. RC car camera=win, The End.

WHAT THE PACK-AGING?

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Hello to all. Some products have new packaging, basically we have gone colorless.

The EDFC Control Units have changed overall packing eliminating the previous packing into a smaller box. The box still says “TEIN EDFC” but is only stamped on the top section of the box. It still uses the same part numbers and all parts inside the box are still be the same.

Another change to the packaging was to the damper boxes. The older damper boxes have green in the logo and on Dampachi.

The new style packing has all solid black printing, the overall look remains unchanged. The other change is that the part number label also had a Dampachi printed in black on some damper boxes, Dampachi is now gone.

Thus far these would be the only product box changes. Hopefully these pics would better help future purchasers questioning whether the item is genuine or not.

To all the DIY guys out there…

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Hi Folks!

A friend posted this up and it got my attention. What a great idea!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I definitely support local shops, whether it be automotive related, or bicycle related, etc. And definitely electronics related- I dare not attempt to disassemble/assemble electronic components.

However, there is also the side of me that takes great pride in fixing the things I own by myself. I don’t know, it’s just self-rewarding knowing that I not only completely took apart something and put it back together just so I can give myself a high-five.  But really, are we all that capable to fix complex items? I mean, I can understand changing batteries in a remote control (or can I?) or fixing a squeaking door hinge. But sometimes self repairs can go,,,,,

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!!!!!! All this disassembly junk to remove/replace the crummy stock fuel line.  And yes, I enjoyed doing this. But at times it left me half-guessing and questioning my work.  In the end, I gave myself two high-fives for this job! This left me to tackle other challenges normally labeled as “advanced” tasks. Whatever. I’m still no “pro” but I’m sure I saved myself a nice wad of cash.

However, there are a few things that I’d rather leave alone and have it professionally fixed, whatever that means. These days, it seems that everyone is a pro (mechanic, photographer, model, you name it) so do your research in finding a well established shop. Seriously, though, I’m not one to take apart my computer and I most likely never will. So I’ll have the Nerd Herd or Geek Dudes, whatever they’re called, fix my stuff.

Sometimes at work we get consumers looking for rebuild kits for their dampers, and my reply is normally, “That sir/ma’am is a good-looking question.” Really, that sounds like it can be fun! Then again, after being able to see what is involved with a damper rebuild, and getting to work on a few myself, I start shying away from such an idea of providing a rebuild kit. Honestly, with the way I drive,,, sometimes,  leaving that kind of liability into my own hands scares me. I’d have no one to blame but myself if a part I attempted to fix broke while driving. I know this just sounds like a ploy to put some cash in TEIN’s pocket, but I’d rather the customer put their mind at ease knowing that an experienced engineer is going to fix their suspension.  So, take this post for what you think it’s worth. I’m not here to bash the shadetree mechanic. Otherwise, I’d be bashing myself.

BTW- we’re not against offering technical support or repair walk-through at TEIN. So for small repairs and advice, feel free to give us a call!

Again, I’m no different than many of you out there. We’ve all put some hard eared cash into everything we own. I’m all about saving money. If I can fix something myself, then why bother paying someone else to do it?  And, being such an enterprising guy myself (SHAHHHH RIIIGHTT!!!!), I will end up taking on the repairs personally. But hey, I know my limits. I’d rather have something fixed by a reputable shop and then learn how to do it myself than stand knee deep in parts that I don’t remember disassembling.

Anyway, if you are looking for some self motivation, check out http://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto

I’ma go work on my VW Bug now.

Take care now, bye bye then!

STILL A KID AT HEART

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Hey everyone. I was walking around the office one day and found all these COOL toy cars around.

I was wondering how we got so many toy cars and why we even had them.

It seems that they were all given to us by the manufacturers since we gave them permission to use our company logo as you can see in the bumper and side skirt of this Scion XB.

These two are replicas of the Falken Tire drift cars vehicles that we have sponsored. Oh how Vaughn’s Mustang has changed over the years.

We have all sorts of sizes for these cars. They range from medium size die cast to small Hot Wheels as well.  I had fun shooting these toy/ replica cars as it reminded me of a time when I would just look in my toy box and spend countless hours playing with my toy cars. Even now, if I see a Hot Wheels that I like you, I still buy it.

I wish I could of open the package and play with all of them, HAHAHAHA!!.

We even have some that were given to use with display stand like this one from Jada toys.

It was nice re-living my childhood now back to work. LOL

One Happy TEIN Family

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This post is on my wife’s car who is currently using the TEIN Super Street Damper kit. She drives a 2007 Honda Accord Coupe EX  4Cyl. It is just about stock with very few mods which include: 19×8  Racing Hart T5 wheels with 36 offset, Super Street without pillowball Mounts, and SPC Performance camber correction kits. She loves it.  She never had experience with a damper kit before on previously owned vehicles, only using lowering springs.

” I have only used lowering springs from different companies and was happy with the ride feel and drop they offered. I never really knew what a coil-over was and I think that I would have been surprised to find out that a car had coil-overs as I would have not paid much attention .”

When I got her a set of Super Streets for her car she was psyched and interested in how the car would ride. She wasn’t familiar with the adjustments can do on any shock absorber.

” My first thoughts of the Super Streets were that they felt great but I was expecting them to be a little firmer. Then my husband let me know that the adjustment was set at full soft and he adjusted it to the half way point. Right away I felt the change in the cars ride and the feel during turns. He then set it to the full stiff setting which I also immediately felt. The cars reaction on turns was drastic. It felt very planted and not like it was gonna flip. The car has greater control with the coil-overs in comparison to my old lowering springs. My husband was surprised to find that I preferred the stiff setting over any of the others.”

I couldn’t help but too slam her car prior to the test drive but she was uncomfortable with height and insisted I raise it a little. The current ride height is great for daily use – looks good and rides well.

“ In my personal opinion with no influence from my husband (even if he works for TEIN), the Super Street coil-overs are a great kit to use on the streets. Its a cool kit because I can have my husband set the ride height and ride quality to what I want. I would recommend this kit to anyone who wants a specific drop since you can adjust it. Not saying anything bad about lowering springs as they are great but you are limited to the drop.”

Her understanding of the coil-over kits is greater now but if she can only understand the slam. LOL. Her car goes to show that even if I’m currently not sporting TEIN Suspension, someone in the family is. H

opefully I’ll have a Specialized Damper made for my next project. Time will tell.

For the love of the build

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With the SEMA show soon approaching and a few late nights in the garage area I am reminded my of first real build. A 1993 Civic CX. Started as my daily driver with a B16 swap and ended as a fully built Honda Challenge ready H1 car. Pardon the picture quality.

Rollin on 14″ blacks was the way to go and check out those Euro clear lenses.

I had the normal street built Civic hatch for the late 90’s early 2000’s. B-series swapped EG, Champ white paint, gutted interior. After getting ticket after ticket I decided to build a track car. It would eliminate the number of tickets and allow myself to build something crazier. The process took years as my inexperience led me to replace parts with better parts many times as I learned more about each particular part.

Cleaning up the engine bay for new rattle can paint and very mild wire tuck.

GSR block with B16 head. Erick’s racing header, electric water pump and old school Iceman intake.

Starting to get really serious with a custom 8-point cage. Removed all the tar and glue I could find. Plus gutted the dash and removed almost everything to save weight, even the E-brake system (big mistake, so inconvenient not to have an E-brake).

Removing all the tar was a pain but it reduces weight and looks good.

Thinking that BIG HP and good suspension would make up for my novice level of driving skill I was always in search of new, better parts. Swapping to a new head with a better port&polish, new valves, springs, cams, etc… I did this many times as newer parts became available. (hint: power is not the most important factor but I think reliability is)

Check out the Haynes manual in the corner. I tried to do as much as possible by myself so that I could save money.

Final engine setup with oil cooler, coated header, Koyo rad, etc… Made 215WHP from a 1.8L with ITR pistons, Skunk2 Cams and Hondata.

Car was featured in Super Street magazine courtesy of Mr. Ricky (RikDaddy) Chu.

Starting to look like a proper race car – interior painted and graphics completed.

Car coming together with gutted dash back in, custom DEFI setup and some nice door covers.

Another angle of the interior. Got to have the EDFC for practice which allows for more track time and less time in the hot pits. Accusump system, Sparco bucket, roll cage padding, fire system and master kill switch, etc…

Finally got out to the track (Streets of Willow)  for some testing and fun. We did some product testing and comparisons as a TEIN engineer was on-hand. My FLEX coilovers worked great with some stiffer springs and adjustment.

Fun time at the track. No timing, just lapping for fun.

Me behind the wheel.

My car would never enter a wheel-to-wheel Honda Challenge race but it did go to Time Attack (now called Super Lap Battle).

Time Attack at ButtonWillow raceway. Driver is Mr. Dennis Caco of AutoCanon (creator of MaxBoost which was a cartoon in Import Tuner magazine for those youngsters who might not know).

I sold the car after learning that having a quick street car is more fun than a full blown race car. Race cars are just too complicated with towing, spares and the limited amount of time you actually get to drive it (can’t just go for a weekend cruise or to a buddy’s house).

In the end I discovered that learning, researching parts and actually wrenching was what I loved most. Maybe someday I will build another track car.

Revalving dampers for competition

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Scott Tsuneishi, senior editor for Import Tuner magazine is here today. He is taking photos and collecting data as we revalve a set of Mono FLEX dampers for a street/track Honda S2000. This particular S2000 is being built to display at SEMA in the DC Sports booth and then compete in the 2010 Super Lap Battle Finals at Buttonwillow Raceway on Nov. 10th.

Scott taking pics of R&D Assistant Jon who is hard at work

This vehicle build features C-West body kit, i-VTEC upgrade from Design Craft, DC sports exhaust and a plethora of other high quality parts. Evasive Motorsports is helping with aero and tuning so you know this car will be quick around the 2.6 mile course. Target time is 1:57 on street tires.

Jon performing the actual revalving

R&D Manager Mr Takizawa reviewing the damping force graphs for the newly revalved shocks

We will be doing our part to make sure the suspension is competitive at the track and comfortable enough for daily driving.

Check out future issues of Import Tuner magazine for the complete story and to see how this project S2000 does at the track.