Rally xD Sno*Drift 2012

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January 27th 2012 saw the start of the Rally America Championship series, and the TEIN sponsored Sparco Rally xD is off to a great start.

The Rally xD team managed to nab a 2nd in class win in spite of the frigid temperatures of Atlanta, Michigan and the subsequent snowy/icy/slushy road conditions they faced.

Andrew-Comrie Picard and Jeremy Wimpey returned once again as driver/ co-driver, piloting the xD expertly against the likes of Fiestas and Focuses, and even some Evo’s and STi’s.

 

After the event was finished and the team returned to sunny SoCal, the Specialized HG Dampers were removed from the xD and brought to us for a tear down and refresh before the next event.
Close, in-house repairs are definitely an advantage when you need your products back ASAP.

The next Rally America event will be February 24-25th in Salem, Missouri.

Check back for more coverage and results of the TEIN sponsored Sparco Rally xD in future Rally America events.

(Pictures via rallyxd.com & scion.com)

Multi-Link Suspensions and MacPherson Suspension-Camber Adjustability

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There has been many customers inquiring about the Upper Mounts with Camber adjustability.

Yes, we do offer Upper Mounts with Camber adjustability and they are offered for certain applications, with MacPherson Struts type suspension.

Here is a quick look at a MacPherson strut and why it is able to be used with a Camber plate.

MacPherson Strut Type – A design in which the strut connects to the hub assembly directly to the chassis of the vehicle. No upper arm is used to control the movement of the hub. This design usually allows the camber and caster angle of the suspension to be adjusted from the upper mounts. Some vehicles with front struts may not use camber adjustable mounts because of limited space in the strut tower or major design differences of upper mount designs.

 

Multi-Link aka Shock Type – Independent or multi-link type suspensions utilize a shock. An upper and lower control are used to control movement of the hub. (double A-Arm, wishbone, etc…). This design does not allow camber or caster adjustment to be made from the upper mounts since all it will be doing is moving the coil over from one side to the other without adjusting camber since it does not bolt on directly to the hub for camber or caster adjustments.

 

The Upper Mount below is a Camber Adjustable plate offered for some applications with MacPherson type Coilovers.

The below Pillow Ball Upper Mount is for Multi-Link Suspension it is not camber adjustable but it is a good replacement of the OEM Upper Mount since a NWB spherical bearing is used in place of the rubber bushing, which allows for improved tire grip and more accurate wheel alignment.

Evasive Motorsports’ Latest Race Car Project

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We are proud to once again work with Evasive Motorsports and their latest project car, an E46 BMW M3. This vehicle will be a dedicated Time Attack vehicle.

Mike Chang of Evasive Motorsports previously used this car as a daily driver. But I imagine, especially after putting in a lot of seat time in their Limited AWD Class CT9A Evolution and Street FR Class AP1 S2000 (of which they both clocked the fastest times in their class at last year’s Super Lap Battle), the E46 certainly found itself a new job in life.

Fortunately for us, we’ve had some experience with the E46 M3, developing a one-off damper kit for use in the Super Taikyu series. In fact, we obtained a set directly from TEIN R&D for Evasive to work with while they dial in their car for track duty. These 3-way adjustable dampers are a far cry from anything street compliant as they are designed for 30+kg/mm springs front and rear. *We are now developing a Super Racing type damper kit for this chassis with rates much more suitable for track conditions we see Stateside. Our in-house engineer Shuichiro will be working side by side with them during this development.

Front dampers installed

Front and rear damper w/ spring assembly

Stay tuned with us and Evasive Motorsports as this vehicle continues to develop throughout the year!

Attention 2011+ Hyundai Genesis coupe owners!!

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As most of you know TEIN USA has R&D department in our U.S. office.

And we have been providing overhaul service and been developing our products.

This ’11+ Hyundai Genesis coupe was on our development list because of  Hyundai has changed sway bar link to longer one from year model 2011.

And finally TEIN USA has confirmed that our damper kit will fit with ’11+ models.

Those who with ’11+ Genesis coupe needs to purchase the sway bar link from dealer, but ride height came out exactly same as early model and same handling characteristics.

Here is the picture shown the difference of the sway bar link of the  early model and ’11+ Hyundai Genesis coupe.

Long one is ’11+ Hyundai Genesis coupe and shorter one is for ’08-’10.

Stay tuned with TEIN USA R&D department! 

More development will be out soon!!

Cardomain

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To all the car fanatics and Tein supporters out there who keep up with our blogs. I have stumbled upon a website in which you can show off your vehicle like on a summer night parking lot meet with out the authorities making you sweat. Car domain is like a Facebook for your vehicle dedicated to car fanatics of all vehicles all over the world. In the search engine just type in TEIN and a list will automatically populate with all the profiles on the website that have TEIN products listed as a modification to their vehicle. If you do not own any of our products and are considering one of our kits, you can possibly view how your vehicle would look with our kits by searching for your vehicle’s model on this site. You can also send messages, request new friends, add images, and list modification as easy as any other social networking website. Below are some pictures of some nifty vehicles I found with our products installed. Visit the website to check it out for yourself.

 

Zoom, Zoomin’ on TEIN

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Another TEIN staff had mentioned this car earlier this month which caught my attention after checking out the post on Speed Hunters. The 2005 Mazda 3 SP23 4dr is not your typical car that would be used for drag but definitely thinking out of the box.

This car has taken a full gutting, even changing out the front and rear windscreens, as well as changing to a smaller battery and relocating it in the front passenger foot-well along with the ignition system mounted next to the drivers seat for quick access.  A 6 point roll cage and harness bar custom made by Mercury Motorsports located in Australia assure more safety when the car is screaming down the track. The car amazingly still has the stock brakes but as a precaution a  Deist parachute was added should the brakes give out when clocking in times of 11.6 @ 130mph.

 

 The engine was as built by Mercury Motorsports , changing to Pauter Rods, Wiseco Pistons, Cosworth Head Gasket and Water Pump, Weapon R Intake Manifold, Mishimoto 52mm Half Core Radiator and adding a GT3528R turbo with a 44mm Tial Wastegate with a side exit exhaust to give it that extra kick and achieve 405hp at the front wheels.

Keeping that SP23 planted to the track would be a combination of Mickey Thompson Drag Slicks and TEIN Super Streets coilovers.

For most info and pics of the car check out Speed Hunters weblink below.

 http://speedhunters.com/archive/2011/11/28/car-feature-gt-gt-zoom-zoom.aspx.

 

Juke Street Basis Coilover Testing

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Street Basis Coilover testing for the ’10+ Juke has been completed.

The ride height drop for the Juke: Front -50mm and Rear -50mm.

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

 

Here are some Before and After pictures of the transformation your Juke can go through.

 

(Before)

(After)

(Before)

(After)

(Before)

(After)

The Street Basis Kit for the Nissan Juke is available for purchase now.

Tein USA currently does not stock this item in house, however, it can be special ordered.

Scion FR-S

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So it seems that the upcoming Scion FR-S (and Subaru BRZ, for that matter) are expected to be the most in-demand of sport compacts for next year. And you can bet with a front engine, rear wheel drive layout over a coupe body, it will be tons of fun. So much hype has been generated on the internet through various web magazines and blogs. Scion, in general, does very well in promoting their cars and tuners are quite eager to get their hands on it.

Check out this video from Speedhunters

Seems like Ken Gushi is already getting comfortable with this car! I look forward to seeing this at Formula D events!

Here’s a link to the vehicle specs

http://www.frs-scion.com/specs/?gclid=CJHAr4DS_6wCFWNLpgodiB7oSg

Will TEIN be making any suspension for this car? You bet! Well, once we get our hands on an FR-S, or BRZ, at least.

Subaru BRZ

If any of you readers get your hands on one and are close to our Downey, CA facility, feel free to contact us for R&D testing.

TEIN Street Advance Dampers Arriving Soon!

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Over the past year, we’ve been working on some new products for you, starting with the Street Basis dampers replacing the popular Basic damper line.

Now we have a new replacement for the Super Street Dampers- the new Street Advance series!

These new dampers are the latest in TEIN technology, incorporating many of the new components the Street Basis has but with the addition of the Advance Needle. What’s the benefit of this new needle? A large increase in damping force change (over *200%) compared to an equivalent Super Street damper, within the same 16-click usable damping force settings. That translates to a much more noticeable change in ride and handling fee, and better optimization of damping for various road conditions.

On top of the new Advance Needle, we’ve included the same high durability components and coatings the new Street Basis dampers utilize, such as improved damper finishing (shot blast + 2 stage powdercoating) and ZT coating on threaded portions for a smooth adjustment of ride height and the highest level of protection from the elements. These kits are designed to give the end user a long service life. And like all TEIN dampers, they can be rebuilt and even customized to your needs!

*some models may differ in damping force increase over comparable Super Street Damper.

A few of the first applications to reach the US will be

Acura CL 96-00
Acura Integra 94-01
Acura RSX 02-06
Acura TL 99-03
Acura TSX 04-08

Honda Accord 90-93, 94-97, 98-02, 08+
Honda Civic 96-00, 01-05
Honda Fit 09+
Honda Prelude 92-02

Mazda Miata 90-98, 99-05

Scion xD 08+

Subaru WRX 02-07
Subaru STI 04, 05-07

Toyota Prius 10+
Toyota Yaris 07+

With many more popular vehicle applications to follow in February.

Below is a link to our website with some information regarding the new Street Advance dampers.

http://www.tein.com/products/street_advance.html

We’re happy to be bringing these over starting January 2012! Keep posted with us as we continue to add new applications to the Street Advance damper list!