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Tag Archives: Subaru
J T Motoring’s FR-S Build
One of our good friends, Brian Hung from J T Motoring out in Massachusetts, has made a name for himself bringing JDM tuning to New England. His latest build for 2013 is this beautifully crafted Scion FR-S.
When Brian, contacted us, you can already guess that he needed a suspension solution. We were fortunate enough to be one of the first coilover manufacturer’s to have something readily available for the new FR-S, and for Brian, it was a no-brainer to step up into the Type Flex coilovers since this build was more than show. He had performance in mind for this project. Matched to our coilover package is another new offering- EDFC Active. This was, in fact, one of the first cars in New England to sport this setup. But, this car is full of plenty “firsts” for its region.
By the looks of it, you can see that no expenses were spared. No corners cut. Brian wanted to push the emphasis on JDM and he chose the highest quality for parts that he could find, which happen to be the very same brands he sells at J T Motoring.
The spec sheet has more listed than all the ingredients needed for a Thanksgiving dinner. And looks to be more delicious, too.
Exterior:
APR Carbon Fiber Fender Insert
APR Carbon Fiber Brake Inlet Ducts
APR Carbon Fiber Trunk Garnish
Rocket Bunny Version 1 Kit
Buddy Club LED Tail Lights
JT Motoring Custom Retrofit Black Housing Head Lights
Nokya Yellow Turn Signal Front Bulbs.
Footwork/Brakes:
TEIN Flex (JDM Version)
TEIN EDFC Active with GPS
Tanabe Front and Rear Tower Bars
Buddy Club 4 piston/ 330mm rotors Front Brake Kit
Buddy Club 2 piston/ 330mm rotor Rear Brake Kit
Engine:
HKS Supercharger
ARC Oil Catch Can
Buddy Club Racing Spec Condenser Grouding Kit
MXP Front Pipe
MXP Cat-back with adjustable exhaust tip
HKS Oil Cap
Interior:
Bride Euro 2 seats in red buck skin
Bride Type VZ brackets
ATC Carbon/Suede Steering Wheel
MXP Titanium Shift Knob
STRI Club Sport Boost Gauge
STRI Vent Pod Gauge Holder
Kenwood dnn0990hd Double DIN Navi/DVD Receiver
Takata Drift 2 4pt Harnesses
Wheels/Tires:
Volk Racing TE37RT
18×9.5 +23 front
18×11 +17 rear
Wheelmate 5×100 to 5×114.3 conversion front 25mm
Wheelmate 5×100 to 5×114.3 conversion rear 30mm
Project Kics leggdura racing lugs
And they’re not done yet. More parts are being added to this project! We’ll try to get updates on this build!
For those of you out there in New England, give our friend Brian at J T Motoring a call. He can help you get your build to where you want it to be!J T Motoring
1183 Hyde Park Ave.
Boston, MA 02136
Boston, MA 02136
Tel: 617-364-6888
Web: www.jtmotoring.com
Also, please be sure to follow them on their Facebook page!
SEMA 2013 in Review
To those that have attended SEMA for several years now, it may not seem new and exciting each time you’re there. In fact, there are many new things happening. A lot of great, innovative designs and products being made or to look forward to for the new year.
It still holds true, though- sometimes it doesn’t feel so new and exciting. I’ve been to SEMA for 8 years consecutively ever since I started working here- 5 years as an exhibitor, 3 as a visitor. Each time, it just feels like there are only running changes within the industry.
However, being able to work with a manufacturer like TEIN, you get an inside view of how the industry is evolving. Some of these new and exciting things I’m looking for are hidden within the details of the product. That’s what’s great about SEMA, because you’re able to speak directly with representatives of each manufacturer and get some insight into their latest developments and offerings.
Unfortunately, we didn’t exhibit this year. But you can be sure to see us there in 2014, as we have some new products to show and explain to our customers!
As I had mentioned, we didn’t exhibit, but I was still a visitor. I was able to walk all the halls and lots to check out many of the vehicles being displayed. I also met with many of TEIN’s authorized dealers and distributors, as well as many of the media personnel who work hard to keep the performance parts industry in the minds of consumers like you! It was great to be able to do all of that during a relatively short week. As always, I was on the lookout for TEIN related vehicles.
Here are a few new vehicles we helped out with, some of which we previously mentioned on our blog or on our Facebook page
First up was the 2014 Acura RLX we recently did testing on. This one is on a prototype set of Street Flex coilovers
Acura also brought out last year’s ILX, which we provided TEIN Super Street coilovers for. This year, it had a different paint scheme, as well as a few other cosmetic updates.
The Toyota booth also had a few project vehicles we assisted with.
The new 2014 Corolla. This one is on a set of Gravel dampers built through our Specialized Damper Program.
It also had some unique railing on the front and rear bumpers. That way, the Corolla doesn’t only serve as a rally car, you can do some bike tricks off of the bumper. Hahahaha!
Their 2014 RAV4 was also a unique display vehicle. The concept was a recreational vehicle with some very off-the-wall amenities fit for a triathelete! It had a mini fridge, blender, and sink in the back seat area. In the trunk was a mini shower. And yes, these items were all functional! We had to create a suspension kit that would take the weight of the shower equipment, plus water storage. Quite a unique opportunity for us to build something special!
At the Toyo Tire booth was a Lexus IS AWD that the Rally xD team built. As you would guess, these guys have a relationship with Scion, which in turn has ties to Toyota and Lexus. It was definitely a far cry from their usual rally purposed builds. But, damn, it was great looking car. This one is also on a prototype Street Flex coilover set. Oh, and that bike up top was actually made by Lexus!!! Full carbon frame and fork!
Some other notable vehicles that returned from last year were Crawford Performance’s Subaru BRZ at the Enkei booth. He’s still on our Mono Flex coilovers, which he uses for track days. Those wheels look great! Soon to be released, btw!
Our friend Robert from Magnaflow drove his 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe to display. Unfortunately he had to work the show, so we weren’t able to speak with him much. His car looked great, though! Love the stance he was able to get with our Street Basis coilovers!
Also, Ken Suen, driver of the red FA5 Civic Si sponsored by Sportcar Motion brought his new 2014 Civic Si, which was at the TSW booth. He apparently modified his set of Mono Flex coilovers to fit this car. We, on the other hand, are making a Mono Flex kit specifically for this platform (we already have Street Basis, Street Advance, and Street Flex available).
A non-TEIN related display I really liked was Falken Tires’ ALMS Porsche. Battle scars and all on display.
Also, Dai Yoshihara’s Rocket Bunny V2 kitted BRZ
I know I’m missing a bunch of photos you all wanted to see, like the Liberty Walk stuff. But, that’s not really what I’m into. Don’t get me wrong, the F430 looked great! I just really like the sport compacts out on the market a bit more.
Oh, and the last, but definitely the first thing I saw at SEMA was Morgan Jade Bui of Sportcar Motions’ EH Civic drag car! about 1,100 hp to the front wheels! Can you handle that much power?
Yeah, I still love import drag racing. Don’t judge me.
Ain’t Nothin’ Gonna Break Their Stride
Serious question- When will Evasive Motorsports take a break from building fast cars?
Actually, I’m hoping they never stop. But really, they seem to just crank them out each year.
For some of you devout Evasive Motorsports fans, you already know they’re making room at their shop by selling their record-shattering AP2 Honda S2000 (1:53.99 around Buttonwillow CW13 under the Street RWD class). Yes, sad news for them, but great news for anyone looking for a well-built roadster!
In its place a new Subaru BRZ.
Yeah, we know. We’ve been posting a lot about the FR-S and BRZ. With good intention! Not only has it generated so much buzz as the “It” car for 2013, but they’ve shown to be quite capable around the track with minimal modifications. Just over a week ago, we posted about CounterSpace Garage’s review on our Super Racing dampers for the same vehicle. The praise we’ve received for our coilovers has been great! But really, we’re just glad to see that people have accepted this new vehicle platform and have already done some great things with it. So, like it or not, we’re going to keep posting about this fine platform!
Anyway, Evasive got right to work on this car. Not long after picking up the car from the dealership lot (I mean literally within the same hour) we received a call from Mike Chang. He was looking for suspension. As luck would have it, we had another set of Super Racing dampers for them to use (the first set with CounterSpace Garage). So from dealership, to TEIN USA, and right to Evasive’s stomping grounds to get this new project underway.
Along with our Super Racing coilovers, this BRZ sports Rays 57Xtreme 18×9.5 all around fitted with Advan AD08’s, Project Mu Club Racer pads, EVS Tuning 70mm front pipe and single exit exhaust, Cusco Adjustable Rear Lower Control Arm, and a Voltex Type 1S rear wing.
Quite a simple setup. I may be missing some other small details. But the largest detail- veteran Time Attack driver Robert (a.k.a. MaxRev) Walker will be hotshoeing this ride around the track.
During a test session on Feb 16th, Rob put down an initial lap time of 2:01 around Buttonwillow’s CW13 layout. The very same layout that has been used during Redline Time Attack, Super Lap Battle, and Global Time Attack’s events.
Mighty fast for such minimal modifications!
With this initial time, I’m sure the crew at Evasive will be able to whittle that down well into the sub 2 minute figures. We’ll be working closely with them as they get this new project dialed in!
TEIN Super Racing Review by CounterSpace Garage
As exciting as the launch has been for the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ, we were all expecting the aftermarket to blow up with many great parts for these two cars (that share the same platform, in case you didn’t know!). And while that may hold true, what has also become apparent is the lack of information available to the public regarding these parts.
CounterSpace Garage has stepped into this vehicle segment to provide fans of the FR-S and BRZ the most up-to-date information, as well as unbiased product reviews as the parts become available.
CounterSpace Garage comprises of two guys, David Leung and Mike Kang. Both are avid track enthusiasts and operate their own shop catering to the Honda S2000 market, and of course the FR-S/BRZ market. Check out their site when you have a chance.
http://counterspacegarage.com/
They approached us last year regarding suspension for their Subaru BRZ. As it sits, it is a relatively stock vehicle. The only aftermarket parts they had on the car at the time were a Berk Technologies Axle-Back Exhaust and Enkei RPF1’s sized 17×8 +45 offset with Hankook Ventus RS3’s sized 224/45. They later added an AP Racing front Big Brake Kit. But that was it.
As luck would have it, we had just received some TEIN Super Racing dampers directly from TEIN Japan. It was a great opportunity to get feedback directly from the BRZ owners.
They had recently put up a post on ft86club.com on their review of our suspension.
(http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=651485)
We must say that we are quite impressed in how their review went, and we really appreciate their praise for our product! And, to be fair, they’re no slouches when it comes to track driving duties.
They weren’t able to complete all their testing, however. They still have a set of Maxxis Victra RC1’s on Wedsport TC105N’s sized 17×9 +35 to try out, as well as some optional spring rates for the Super Racing dampers. We definitely look forward to that review.
Below are some pictures taken from their ft86club.com post
Below is a video of their lap record for Streets of Willow
Here’s some information regarding our Super Racing dampers for the FR-S/BRZ
Super Racing Damper kit-
DSQ54-81LS1
msrp $3650
*Kit includes
-Four dampers (2 front strut, steel bodied; 2 rear shock absorbers, aluminum bodied)
-Pillowball Upper Mounts (2 front camber/caster adjustable; 2 rear offset)
-Camber adjustable front lower brackets
-Helper Springs for rear
These are 2-way adjustable dampers. Front struts are inverted with compression adjustment on top and rebound adjustment on the underside. Rears include external reservoir with adjustment knob for compression, while rebound is on the top of the piston shaft. 16×16 way damping resolution for compression and rebound. Compatible with our EDFC (and soon-to-be-released EDFC Active).
Springs are sold separately, giving the end-user the opportunity to tune the suspension to their preference. Recommended is our 10kg/mm front and 12kg/mm rear.
msrp for springs is $140/pair
Spring part numbers (recommended rates)-
RS100-F1140 (10kg ft springs)
RS120-E1150 (12kg rr springs)
Optional springs (special order from Japan)-
RS090-F1140 (9kg ft springs)
RS100-E1150 (10kg rr springs)
RS120-F1135 (12kg ft springs)
RS140-E1150 (14kg rr springs)
These Super Racing dampers are now available through any of our authorized TEIN dealers! In fact, I believe CounterSpace Garage has a special going on for these…..
2012 SEMA Show
I had a chance to attend this years SEMA Show in Las Vegas at the Convention Center. The last time I had attend SEMA was in 2008. This year’s booth wasn’t as big as the booth from 2008, but worked out well for Paul and I since we were the only two manning the booth. Overall the booth traffic was pretty good, but not as busy as expected. The smaller crowds may have also been due to Hurricane Sandy affecting most of the eastern seaboard cancelling many flights out and wreaking havoc. Our hearts go out to all those effected by the disaster.
This year’s must-have import display car was none other than the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ. Not saying that the car isn’t sweet looking, just too many at the show- over 70 examples from my understanding. I didn’t really get a chance to walk through the show and check out more of the displays since there were only two of us at the booth, which made it rather difficult for either of us to really walk around. We were able to get few quick snap shots of our hall at break time. Even with the breaks, it still wouldn’t be enough time for us really go through the hall since it’s so massive, and this is only considering the hall we were in and not the others, as well as those on display outside.
Below are some of the pictures we were able to take, but for more of those photos check out our Facebook page’s Photo Album named “The 2012 SEMA Show” https://www.facebook.com/teinusa
Many thanks to all those who stopped by our booth this year. Your interest and support in TEIN is greatly appreciated!
08+ STI/ WRX ATI Gauge Cluster
ATI has released the gauge cluster pod for the 08+ Subaru Sti and WRX models. A previous concept of the pod had been produced but never went into production. This pod mounts the same as the previous concept on the passenger side dash with a proper view of the gauges from the driver’s side.
The surface of pod has a synthetic rubber material which emulates the texture of the factory dash surface very well, and also helps protect from the suns harmful UV rays. This pod allows for the use of only 60mm (2 3/8 inch) size gauges. Optional grommets to fit 52mm (2 1/16″) gauges are available as well!
The gauge pod requires some modifications to allow it to mount to the dash. The pod comes with the mounting hardware and installation instructions. But, it is recommended to be installed professionally for those unsure about the doing it themselves.
The gauge pod is priced at a reasonable $149.00 MSRP and can be purchase through a TEIN Authorized Dealer near you. For a list of dealers please visit our websites Dealer List ( http://www.tein.com/dealer_list/index.html ) to find a dealer near you.
FR-S or BRZ?
It has been almost over a month since this years hottest sports car, Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ came out to the market.
TEIN USA has been developing products for these two cars to deliver our products to the customer as soon as possible.
I have been wondering what is the difference between FR-S and BRZ?
Exterior dimension, interior, engine, transmission, chassis and tire sizes are the same in between these cars.
But, when I drove BRZ that came in for development, I felt a big difference!
BRZ’s suspension are set as a mild setup, if you push harder it simply understeers and will not take you to oversteer motion.
But, the FR-S has an opposite character than the BRZ.
The FR-S has stiffer damper with softer spring. And if you know how to push hard, this simple, less electronically controlled device (compare to newer higher performance car) and fun to drive machine, it’s just pure fun to drive!
My conclusion is FR-S and BRZ are totally diffent set-ups
If you want to get pure driving pleasure go with FR-S, and if you want affordable yet nice, well-designed coupe go with BRZ.
And I will leave damper dyno chart (in .pdf format) for FR-S and BRZ for comparison.
FR-S madness
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
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.