All Mustang Kits as well as individual components are available and in-stock with same day shipping.

Sway-Bar Set Part Number 9962

MSRP $ 455.81

Variant 3 Coilover, Dual Adjustment, Stainless Steel Body, Lifetime Warranty,  Part Number 21025

MSRP $ 2195.00 

Variant 1 Coilover, Factory Tuned, Galvanized Body, 5 Year Warranty, Part Number 12024

MSRP $ 1297.11

Lowering Spring Kit Part Number 5812

MSRP   $ 296.44

See www.belltech.com for more information.

With the temperature in the 70’s, live music and the smell of tri-tip on the grill, 20,000 street rod and muscle car fans lined the streets and filled the fairgrounds trying to take in all of the 3500 show cars and trucks.  This was a very special event for Belltech as it was the first public display of the Belltech Muscle Car coilovers.  These high performance coilovers are designed, engineered and produced in Germany by Belltech’s parent company, KW Automotive.  Long known in the European automotive aftermarket, KW is famous for making Street Cars handle much better at autobahn speeds, and race cars even faster on the track.  This type of engineering has found its way to these double adjustable, V3 Belltech coilovers available for late model, Camaro, Mustang and Challenger.  There is no better way to improve the ride and performance of your late model muscle car.

Make plans now to go to the 21st annual  ”Autumn Get Together” in Pleasanton, November 13th-14th,  look for the Belltech booth, ask for the show special, tell ‘em Matt sent ya!

KW Suspensions was proud to be on hand to offer support to our racers as well as field questions from anyone attending that needed to know why KW Suspensions and the sister brand ST Suspensions, continue to be the choice of many of the top teams. Those who stopped by the booth were impressed by the quality of the product on hand and were looking to spec out kits for their street cars as well. 

Once the sun set behind the mountains, the real fun began, T-shirt Cannons to Jet-cars,  Punk Rock Bands to Poster Models, the vendor area has it all and a little something for everyone! With the familiar notes of the National Anthem in the air, the sell out crowd packed the stands.

Tire Smoke filled the air as motors shrieked and cars were flung sideways at  triple digit speeds.  Since this was a night time event some of  the cars have really evolved into functional light shows with LED strips, and my personal favorite downward facing lights in the rear to amplify the rolling white tire smoke!

When the brake dust settled and the tire smoke cleared, Tyler McQuarrie was the victor over Discount Tire and KW Suspensions supported Daijiro Yoshihara when Dai’s motor decided that it just had enough of bouncing against the rev limiter in the heat of the desert all day and called it a night. The crew wrenched  on the car for the allowed five minutes, but the problem couldn’t be sorted out that quickly and Tyler gained his first hard earned victory this season, taking the top spot in an all Falken podium.

If you consider yourself a gear-head, racer or just car enthusiast and haven’t had the pleasure of attending a drift event, make plans now for Round 6, Point of Impact in Sonoma California, September 10-11, you will not be disappointed, as it is quite a show. Stop by the booth, check out our coil over lines, and say hello while you are there!

Once inside and parked, the lot was filling up with a wide range of solid cars with quite a few standouts.  Most of the time when you arrive at a show like this, car owners jump right into the cleaning duties, but the on-again, off-again mist kept all but the most dedicated from cleaning off the road grime from driving to the event.  The early morning arrival time seemed to make energy drinks a popular choice for most meet participants.

 It was a great idea for the organizers to pick a nice big parking lot near the beach and the boardwalk.  I know that I wandered over that way to check it out and saw many of the car owners taking in some of the sights and sounds.  You had your choice of all types of food and drinks,  I can tell you that the Garlic Fries are way hotter than you think!

 When I returned from the boardwalk more cars had arrived, parked at the back of the lot were two super clean Fairlady Z’s.  They were drawing quite a crowd and I had to wait just to get a shot without a herd of people standing around taking pictures with cellphones.  Another big crowd draw were the cars from Sonic Motorsports in Mountain View California, they brought some truly jaw dropping, drool worthy rides.

The Belltech lowering kit lowers the Ram by 2 inches in front and 4 inches in the rear through the use of lower coil springs. As an additional performance option, Belltech also offers its top of the line Street Performance lowering shocks that offer a shorter appropriate stroke for this lowered application as well as a sportier internal valving that increases handling response without the harsh ride trade off. The Street Performance shocks also help in managing the increase unsprung weight of larger diameter ally wheels and tires.The two inch lowering in front does not require additional camber correction as the factory camber correction allows the vehicle to be brought back to a more aggressive -0.8 degrees of camber which offers more aggressive turn in response.

To ensure proper suspension travel, load carrying capabilities and most importantly driving safety, Belltech’s lowering kit also includes their specially formulated progressive bump stops. Unlike cut OEM or polyurethane bumpstop solutions the Belltech lowering bumpstops are designed to provide a soft unnoticeable transition but also the strength that can support the fully loaded truck while still offering sufficent suspension travel and no metal on metal contact. During the development process, Belltech engineers even checked for proper suspension compliance under full load by loading the truck to 1.3 times its maximum rated axle weight capacity (that’s over 1 ton in the truck bed.)   

See Belltech’s specially formulated bumpstops in action on the 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 here.

To increase steering response and reduce understeer, Belltech also created a 13/16th inch solid rear anti-sway bar for all Ram 1500 applications. The kit is designed to increase rear roll stiffness and be mounted on stock or lowered trucks. By using Belltech supplied endlinks, the kit can even be fitted to vehicles that were not originally equipped with factory anti-roll bars.

For more information on Belltech’s proven lowering solution for your Dodge Ram, contact your local Belltech dealer or Belltech directly at 800-445-3767.

Read part 2 and part 3 of High Performance Pontiac Magazine’s Project GTO here or online at HPP’s website at www.highperformancepontiac.com/tech/hppp_1009_high_performance_suspension_kit/index.html

Article and images courtesy of High Performance Pontiac Magazine

Belltech would like to congratulate Hil Lord of Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada, and his 2007 Chevy Colorado on being July’s Winner of Belltech’s Truck of the Month.

Winner’s Trucks – Tech specs.

July’s second winner is Justin Rosenburg and his 2008 Chevy Silverado LT. Both get one of our exclusive Belltech Jackets. Congratulation Guys, good job!

• Chris Fields, 1998 Chevy S10

As this car heads out for its first season in the the 2010 pro-drift series, Eurotuner magazine got a chance to capture it in its innaugural glory and features the car on its cover. Read about Team KW Michael Essa’s BMW here or visit www.eurotuner.com for this and other related stories.

Images and article courtesy of eurotuner magazine.

For more stories and webisodes on this Audi TTS project build, visit http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Features/article_5601.shtml

Video and images courtesy of Fortitude.com

As the permier consumer and industry show in North America, the SPO COM Long Beach SUPER SHOW give both car show goers a chance to show off thier rides, see the rest of the tuning world, enjoy the bikini contests , see live performances as well as talk to manufacturers.  KW suspension was present with a display along with Suspension Techniques both showing off thier products as well as Micheal Essa’s M5 powered BMW drift car and Calvin Eng’s SEMA M3 street car . Among the many vehicles present were top rank drift cars as well as time attack cars equipped with KW coilovers. Take a look at the cars and venders present in our photogallery below.

 Simply log onto http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/contest/kw/ and follow instructions to register and have a chance to win yourself a set of new coilovers for your ride. Learn more about KW suspensions and its independent compression and rebound adjustable, Stainless Steel  Variant 3 coilovers at http://www.kw-suspension.com/us/kw_variant_3.php

The 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart is powered by the 2.0L turbocharged 4B11 engine similar to the one found in the Lancer Evolution X and also features an AWD powertrain. Super Street Magazine took the stock vehicle and modified it further with KW Variant 2 Coilovers, 19×8.5 inch SSR Type-F wheels in gold as well as basic bolt on power parts from DC Sports.

The Super Street Magazine staff plan to show off this vehicle at the 2010 SEMA show and have a long list of additional modifications planned including a carbon fiber hood from Seibon, fender modifications and more power. Follow the build process online at http://www.superstreetonline.com/techarticles/sstp_1003_mitsubishi_lancer_ralliart_sportback_project_car_dyno/index.html

Images courtesy of Super Street Magazine

More commony refered to as MOD, the event has started since 2004 and actually occurs on both the east coast and the west coast at Mitsubishi’s coporate headquarters in Cypress, California and Manufacturing headquarters in Normal, Illinois. With every year, the show gets bigger attracting cars in the hundres. Since the release of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8, the show has become an Evo playground although other prominent platorms like the Eclipse, Starion, Galant and of course 3000GT still attend.

MOD 2010 marked the come back of the tuning industry with more cars, vendors, raffel prizes, displays and chances to interact with the people behind the cars at Mitsubishi. One of this years trends was the prolification of KW products among the hard-core Evo tuning crowd, who understand the value of high quality products and the importance of proper suspension tehcnology. Take a look at some of the pictures from the show.

Images courtesy of OctaneReport.com

The the cover story on this car as featured in REQ magazine, an underground enthusiast publication here.

Images and article courtesy of REQmagazine

Black Swan Racing Wins the American Le Mans Series Larry H. Miller Utah Grand Prix

July 13, 2010 Boston, MA: Black Swan Racing scored its second consecutive American Le Mans Series victory on Sunday July 11, 2010, winning the Larry H. Miller Utah Grand Prix. The team had an outstanding weekend overall; Jeroen Bleekemolen set pole position and then both Tim Pappas and Jeroen lead their stints in yet another solid victory. Following the race, the drivers advanced to 5th place in the championship and the team moved up to 4th.

During the race the Black Swan Crew executed flawless pit stops and Team Engineer, Marc Feinstein, deployed a risky, yet effective two-stop strategy that proved effective over the rest of the field’s three-stop plan. Chris Barber, Black Swan’s Crew Chief, delivered Pappas and Bleekemolen a car that ran flawlessly for the two hour and forty-five minute race distance. These important factors, and a little bit of ‘lady luck’ insured that the Swans were untouchable by the formidable Alex Job and TRG teams.

“This was a great race with no problems in any part of the car or team and that’s how you win races,” said Tim Pappas. Bleekemolen continued, “I had a great stint. I had the car in the lead and was able to keep it there for a long time. We were on a little different strategy than the others so we weren’t going to lead the whole way. I was pretty disappointed when (the World Cup final) was tied after 90 minutes and I had to get in the car. There are probably a lot of people back home who are crushed. But I’m very happy with our win. It’s much more important to me to win this race!”

With the post-race disqualification of Alex Job’s number 81 car, the Swans are focused on closing the gap to first place in the championship and having a chance to run for the title. “It’s going to be hard to beat the 81 car since we missed Sebring, but we’re not going to quit trying to win races and the GTC title remains my goal for 2010,” said Pappas. As long as the team performs as it has in the past two races, anything is possible.

Black Swan would like to thank its partners and sponsors for their contribution to the team’s success, in particular KW Suspension, which gave the team an newly updated shock package that has proved to be unmatched by any other manufacturer.

Stay tuned for the action at Lime Rock Park on July 24th, which will be live on Speed Channel in the USA at 2:00pm EST.

For more information, please visit:

www.americanlemans.com

www.blackswanracing.com

www.renewablechoice.com

www.kwsuspensions.de

Press release courtesy of Black Swan Racing

July 4th, 2010 Redline Time Attack at Willow Springs smells of sweet success for the Evolution Racewerks team & their sponsors!

• Street Class RWD win
• Overall Street Class win
• New lap record for Street Class RWD

With driver, VJ Mirzanian, at the wheel, and new sponsorship from Hankook Tires and Velocity Motor Cars, the BMW 135i, set a scintillating time of 1:29.326sec during the Circuit Battle on Saturday night and smashed the previous track record for Street RWD by more than 3 seconds!

VJ also laid down a smoking time of 1:29.331sec during the Competition session on Sunday afternoon which ensured class victory in Street Class RWD, as well as making the 135i the fastest Street Class car for the day – beating even the AWD competitors!

The ER team worked through the night on Friday til 7 am, Saturday morning to make adjustments to the suspension to accommodate for the new RS-3 tires sponsored by Hankook and the rear suspension arms sponsored by Velocity Motor Cars.

During Saturday’s Circuit Battle, ER went head-to-head with another BMW 135i with a similar engine and chassis modifications; it was even using the same tires. However, the ER 135i was unstoppable this weekend, beating the other car by almost 1 second per lap, with an advantage of more than 2 seconds for the two combined hot laps.

The ER team continued to make adjustments on Sunday and the car ran even faster in the Competition Rounds, setting its fastest lap of the day at 2 pm, despite high temps.

Time Attack Results:

ER wins Street Class RWD and Street Class Overall, smashing the previous track record for Street Class RWD by more than 3 seconds! ER now holds the track record for Street Class RWD at Willow Springs!

Belltech would like to congratulate Steven Wilson of Republic, MO and his 1997 Chevy S-10 on being June’s Winner of Belltech’s Truck of the Month.

Winner’s Trucks – Tech specs.

June’s second winner is James Shumate and his 1998 Chevy Tahoe. Both get one of our exclusive Belltech Jackets. Congratulation Guys, good job!

• David Wilkins, 2001 Ford Lightning
• Kyle Diniz, 2001 Chevy Reg. Cab Stepside

view complete image gallery

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Read the Road&Track Jan2010 road test comparison article here or online at www.roadandtrack.com/tests/comparison/sultans-of-slide for this article, images, and the two part video.

The HKS GT600 package is an upgrade hardware system for the Nissan GT-R designed to inhance the GT-R’s power output up to 600hp while still using the original turbos. To maintian the high end equipment theme of this GT-R, TW Auto also installed KW Variant 3 coilovers and the Kw HLS system. KW suspensions invested a great amount of time into the development of the GT-R suspension to ensure that the system exceeds the performance of the stock GT-R suspension. With testing and lap times at the famed Nordeschleife and Hockenheim race tracks, the KW Variant 3 coilovers eliminate some of the transitional issues of the original shocks as well as improving lap times. The Variant 3’s independent compression and rebound adjustors also allow users to adjust ride quality for either optimal street driving or track performance. As an added convenience, TW Auto also installed the KW HLS4 kit. the HLS 4 system uses four hydrualic cylinders installed along with the coilover springs to automatically raise the front and rear of the vehicle from its static height by approximately 50mm. This is a huge plus for low sports cars that need to navigate tight streets and steep driveways found all over Hong Kong. The system operates with the simple push of a button installed on the dash or from a remote key fob. The HLS system for the GT-R also integrates with the vehicles computers to automatically lower the GT-R when at speed.  For more information on or to interactively see the KW HLS system in action, visit http://us.kwsuspension.de/us/kw_hls.php. None of the KW components interfere with GT-Rs existing systems to cause unwanted fault lights or codes.

We are developing new projects for the following vehicles:

2009+ Dodge Ram 1500 Extended/Quad Cab 2WD

2008-2010 Ford F250 or F350

2002-2008 Dodge Ram 2500 or 3500

2004-2009 Chevy Colorado 2WD or 4WD with the Torsion Bar front suspension.

If you have the truck we are looking for and are willing to bring it to our Headquarters near Fresno, California for at least a week, please contact Belltech at Engineering@kwautomotive.com for more details and to see if you’re truck is a fit. In exchange, the vehicles used in our R&D process will receive the Belltech Sport Truck treatment courtest of us.

Waterfest is the largest VW/Audi Car Show and Motorsport event in North America, and the second largest of its kind in the world. Waterfest, now in its 16^th year is a two-day event (July 17 &18th) held at the world-class Raceway Park facility in Englishtown, New Jersey. This year has an expected total attendance of over 21,000 including over 2,500 participants. Events include, car show, quarter-mile drag race, autocross, autocross school, tire burnout contest, stereo sound off competition as well as an exhibition area with 125 vendors and sponsors. Be sure to stop by and see KW and ST’s new product applications as well as getting special show pricing on coilovers for your vehicle.

Belltech Sport Trucks along with other performance name brands such as Hawk Performance Brakes, Flowmaster and RCI joined forces to tour the British Columbian interior from June 21st through 24th, 2010.

The parking lot tour was planned in conjunction with Lordco, a leading Canadian chain of autoparts stores and visited six towns including Merritt, Kelowna, Kamloops, Penticton and Vernon  the BC interior stores doing parking lot shows. In addition, it was a great opportunity to meet and educate local store employees, managers as well as the end consumers .

Press Release

Berk Technology Lands Their Third Podium in a Row at Redline Time Attack

Santa Ana, CA, June 01, 2010:  The Redline Time Attack series just had its third West Coast region event out at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA and Berk Technology was in attendance yet again looking for another podium finish.  Auto Club Speedway uses about half of the NASCAR banked super speedway oval track and pairs it with the twisty flat pavement of the infield road course.  This track configuration is unique as exceptional handling is key on the infield, however horsepower and aerodynamics are highly rewarded on the high banks of the NASCAR oval.  Berk Technology has come up with an exceptional combination of the two that landed our 135i on the podium for the third straight event in a row! 

The first two Redline Time Attack events of the season were at tracks that rewarded light weight and exceptional handling.  With the help of sponsors like KW Suspension, Hankook Tire, OS Giken, and Velocity Motorcars we were able to conquer tracks like Buttonwillow and Las Vegas Motor Speedway by getting our car to handle with the best of them taking home a 1^st place finish and a track record at Buttonwillow, and a 2^nd place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Since the third and fourth events are at tracks that reward horsepower and aerodynamics, we shifted our focus a bit and we called upon sponsors like APR Performance, GIAC, and AEM Electronics to get us the power and aerodynamics needed to be competitive at these types of tracks as well.  After some new aerodynamic goodies from APR Performance and an alignment from Evasive Motorsports, we were ready for battle!

Last time the Berk Technology Time Attack BMW 135i was at Auto Club Speedway was back in November of last year at the 2009 Redline Time Attack Finals.  There, we ran our personal best time of 1:54.909 and although we knew that this year the temperatures would be much hotter in May, our first goal was to set a new personal best.  We also knew that Jeremy Croiset in the Berk Technology Toyota MR2 set the track record for our class here back in November at a 1:50.692.  Despite being almost 30 degrees hotter and windy, Berk Technology driver Mike Bonanni drove our 135i to a 1:51.373, over three seconds faster than we were back in November and less than one second away from the track record! 

Bonanni’s 1:51.373 lap landed the Berk Technology 135i in 3^rd place overall in the Street Tire class and 2^nd place in the Street Tire RWD class, just 0.153 seconds behind 1^st place.  Mike Bonanni also beat out professional rally and drift star Stephan Verdier in the Evolution Racewerks BMW 135i by just over one second making for some very close and exciting racing!

This event also marked the first time the Berk Technology 135i competed in the famed Super Session 5-lap wheel to wheel sprint race.   The race pitted Berk Technology against Dave Lemon in the Mazdatrix RX8 battling for the championship points lead in the Street Tire RWD class.  At the drop of the green flag, Bonanni took the lead over Lemon and never looked back putting Berk Technology into the championship points lead!

“Although we missed 1^st place by painfully small margin, we are extremely happy with the results we came home with from this last event.  We have built a car that is extremely competitive on nearly any type of race track and I feel very good about our chances of winning the championship this season.” – Mike Bonanni, Driver

The next stop on the Redline Time Attack Western Regional Series is at Willow Springs Raceway on 4^th of July weekend.  Be sure to come out and see the action first hand!

 Press Release courtesy of Mike Bonanni and Berk Technology

Photos courtesy of MotoIQ.com

This demonstration vehicle was imported as a rolling chassis to the US to be built as a kit car. The HPA crew disassembled much of the stock Scirocco to make room for the modifications including a 6 cylinder engine, a beefed up Haldex AWD system, many more custom HPA modifications using parts from the Audi/VW parts bin, and of course KW clubsport coilovers. To find out more on HPA’s first Scirocco FT565 and its performance, read the Road & Track Magazine test article and see the video here at www.roadandtrack.com/future-cars/supercar-scirocco

Paramore takes the 2010 Honda Civic Tour Full-Throttle on the

Hottest Coast-to-Coast “Green” Tour

Paramore’s Customized Honda Civic Si Coupe to be Won by Lucky Fan

(NEW YORK, NY) March 11, 2010 — Paramore jump-starts the hottest music scene this summer as the headliner for the 2010 Honda Civic Tour. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. announced the participation of the 2008 and 2009 Grammy-nominated band today. The tour will kick off July 23 in Raleigh, NC and visit 31 U.S. cities and one Canadian city.

Over the past decade, the Honda Civic Tour has provided nearly two million fans with an exclusive, interactive concert experience with up close and personal access to their favorite bands. Honda Civic Tour continues this commitment in 2010 by supporting extraordinary musical artists Paramore. The band will take the stage with the infectious material off their gold certified third album, brand new eyes, the studio follow-up to 2007’s RIOT! (which has sold over two million copies worldwide). brand new eyes brings driving, fist-pumping anthems to truly stun fans on this year’s 2010 Honda Civic Tour.

Joining Paramore on tour are Tegan and Sara, the hugely popular singer-songwriter sisters who released their sixth studio album, Sainthood, in 2009. Other amazing supporting artists will be announced at a later date. Members of Paramore’s fan club will have access to an exclusive pre-sale March 22, with advance tickets also available March 23 on www.HondaCivicTour.com. The general on-sale date is March 27, beginning at 10 a.m. (check your local listings). As always on the Honda Civic Tour, tickets will be priced for maximum affordability for all fans. Become a fan today and register for pre-sale info and codes, as well as tour updates, at www.Facebook.com/HondaCivicTour.

“We’re so stoked to be a part of the 2010 Honda Civic tour. It’s a big deal to have our name at the top of that bill. Not only does Honda bring great bands and their fans together every year to rock, but they’re really carrying the banner and helping to make concerts environmentally friendly,” said Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams. “We’re looking forward to rocking out GREEN with you this summer. See you at the show!”

Beyond sensational live music, Honda Civic Tour is also deploying an exciting environmental action plan. Partnering with Reverb (a leader in the “greening” of concert tours), the 2010 Honda Civic Tour will again be a green tour, with onsite concert innovations to help green the music industry and reach its millions of fans by promoting simple actions. Details at www.HondaCivicTour.com.

The 2010 Honda Civic Tour featuring Paramore aims to encourage fans that it’s easy to be green. A portion of every ticket purchased will be donated into an eco-fund designated for sustainability efforts. Being green can’t get any easier than buying a ticket to the 2010 Honda Civic Tour. Continuing with the Honda Civic Tour tradition, Paramore has customized and autographed their very own one-of-a-kind Honda Civic Si Coupe, which will travel with them on the 2010 tour. Honda Civic Tour gives fans the unique opportunity to go beyond the typical tour experience with the chance to win this one-of-a-kind Paramore Honda Civic Si Coupe. Please visit www.Facebook.com/HondaCivicTour to become a fan and receive updates with more information on the sweepstakes opening soon.

Paramore’s acclaimed third album, brand new eyes, features two Top 10 Modern Rock hits, “Ignorance” and “Brick By Boring Brick.” The collection was among 2009’s biggest popular and critical successes, debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200 and coming in as the “Album of the Year” in Alternative Press’ “Readers Poll ’09,” as well as the #2 favorite on the magazine’s own “Best Albums of 2009” tally. The New York Times’ Jon Caramanica placed “brand new eyes’ on his 2009 Top 10, praising it for “choruses (that) roll up like tidal waves.” SPIN magazine counted brand new eyes among its “40 Best Albums of 2009,” noting that Paramore have “entered the rarified world of rock that matters.” Further honors keep piling up, with Paramore recently being declared “Favorite Rock Band” at the 2010 People’s Choice Awards and “Best International Band” at the NME Awards.

Past Honda Civic Tour headliners include The Black Eyed Peas, Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, Everclear,

Incubus, Good Charlotte and New Found Glory, Dashboard Confessional, Maroon 5 and, most recently, Panic at the Disco. Produced by Marketing Factory, the Honda Civic Tour brings innovation and environmental consciousness to the masses by combining the hottest in automotive technology with the hottest in music.

Visit the official Honda Civic Tour website at www.hondacivictour.com or paramore.net for more information.

 The 2010 Honda Civic Tour Schedule (Dates and Venues Subject to Change):
July 23 Raleigh Boutique Amphitheater Raleigh, NC April 2
July 24 Delaware State Fair Harrington, DE April 3
July 27 Toyota Presents the Oakdale Theater Wallingford, CT* March 27
July 28 Comcast Center Boston, MA* April 3
July 30 Constant Convocation Center Norfolk, VA* March 27
July 31 Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD March 27
August 3 Meadowbrook Pavilion Gilford, NH March 27
August 4 Pier at Penns Landing Philadelphia, PA March 27
August 7 Hersheypark Stadium & Star Pavilion Hershey, PA March 27
August 8 Darien Lake Performing Arts Center Darien Center, NY March 27
August 10 Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City Cleveland, OH March 27
August 12 PNC Pavilion Cincinnati, OH March 27
August 14 Marcus Amphitheater Side Stage Milwaukee, WI April 2
August 15 Meadowbrook Music Fair Detroit, MI April 2
August 18 Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island Chicago, IL April 2
August 19 The Lawn at White River State Park Indianapolis, IN March 27
August 21 Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN March 27
September 1 The Arena at Gwinnett Center Atlanta, GA April 3
September 2 St. Augustine Amphitheater St. Augustine, FL April 9
September 4 Bayfront Park Amphitheater Miami, FL April 9
September 5 UCF Arena Orlando, FL March 27
September 7 UNO Lakefront Arena New Orleans, LA March 27
September 8 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Houston, TX March 27
September 10 Nokia Theater at Grand Prairie Dallas, TX March 27
September 13 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Denver, CO April 24
September 15 Dodge Theater Phoenix, AZ March 27
September 17 Theater at HP Pavilion San Jose, CA March 27
September 18 Viejas Arena San Diego, CA March 27
September 19 Honda Center Anaheim, CA March 27
* Tegan and Sara will not appear at this show.

About Honda Civic

The Honda Civic meets the needs of a diverse audience with economical and fun-to-drive performance in a wide variety of choices and styles. Offering five distinct models, the lineup includes the technologically advanced Civic Sedan and Coupe models, a Civic Hybrid, a high-performance Civic Si and a dedicated natural gas-powered Civic GX. All Civics were recently enhanced inside and out for the 2009 model year with new exterior styling, colors and increased availability of tech-friendly features. The Civic’s reputation for durability, quality and reliability helps it stand apart from the crowd.

About Reverb

Reverb is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2004 by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and her musician husband, Adam Gardner of Guster. Reverb provides turn-key greening programs for artists’ tours while conducting grassroots outreach and education with music fans everywhere. Reverb’s greening program is generously funded with tour proceeds.

Media Contacts:

Rogers & Cowan, Honda Civic Tour

Fran Curtis / Caitlin McNamara / Lauren Wilsman

212-445-8423 / 212-445-8232 / 212-445-8486

fcurtis@rogersandcowan.com / cmcnamara@rogersandcowan.com / lwilsman@rogersandcowan.com

Paramore

Christina Kotsamanidis

212.707.2241

Christina.Kotsamanidis@atlanticrecords.com

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Christina Ra

310.795.8584

christina_ra@ahm.honda.com

As the 2010 Formula Drift season in the U.S. starts this April, Formula Drift Singapore will soon after kick off the Asian Drifting Series.  The Singapore event will be held on April 24th and the Singapore Formula Drift Series has announced Dai Yoshihara to be one of three judges for the total of four events to be held in 2010. 

 Earlier this year, Dai was invited by one of the local competitors to fly to Singapore to give instruction and advice in Drifting to some of the drivers who will be competing in April.  “Having Daijiro sit beside me as a I drifted was a huge help as he could correct my mistakes on the spot and improve my technique faster,” explains Jason Tan, a Formula D competitor.

“During the day long training session, I was able to help them correct their techniques and adopt the right habits,” Yoshihara commented on the practice/training day.  “The drivers in Singapore have really improved their skills over the years.  Being out here really shows how much Drifting has grown…it’s really world wide!”

The first event of the year will be held at the Formula 1 Pit Building with 45 competitors drifting around turns 1, 2, and 3.  This year, the Singapore Formula Drift Series will record scores and drivers will be competing for championship points, a first in the Asian Drift Series.

For more information on Dai Yoshihara, please visit www.daiyoshihara.com and www.formuladrift.com.sg.

Video and press release courtesy of Formula D and Falken Tire.

Check out their Porsche 993 suspension test of our clubsport suspension as well as some back to back lap time results here or online at  www.europeancarweb.com/tech/epcp_1006_kw_suspension_clubsport_coilovers/index.html for this and other related stories.

Images and text courtesy of european car Magazine

48.000 visitors attended the show and informed themselves about new innovative products in the automotive aftermarket.

Highlight at the KW booth was a Renault Megan and a Renault Megane Coupé both with KW coilover Variant 3 and LSD Doors.

Again, the drivers offered the spectators a very good race and a lot of action on the track.

The KW technology ensures, that the BMW race cars perform absolutely marvelous on the track. KW automotive GmbH and the organizers of BMW ALTA GT Radial One Make Race both agree, that the sponsorship is a valuable cooperation for all involved parties. KW automotive GmbH wishes the drivers good luck, competitive action and motorsport success in this exclusive race series.

KW Suspensions now offers a Variant 3 coilover kit for the LAMBORGHINI Gallardo LP 560-4 Type 140. The kit allows for lowering of the front axle from 5-25mm and 5-30mm in the rear axle.

Variant 3 inox-Line
Part no. 352 11 004 ( without original lift system)
Part no. 352 11 204 ( with original lift system)

Variant 3 is state-of-the-art technology for the skilled and experienced driver. The separate and independent compression and rebound damping options allow a truly individual driving set-up

The demons that have kept Daijiro Yoshihara from showering his fans and competitors with champagne from the top of the podium in the entire 2009 Formula Drift season were finally slain this past weekend with a hard-fought and definitive victory at Formula D Atlanta. Dai entered the event with a new confidence as his team had worked vigorously since last round in Long Beach to fine tune the LSX powered Falken Tire Discount Tire s13.  The fruits of all the hard labor were just beginning to ripen as Dai received a score of 89.4 in his second qualifying run, placing him in the solid fourth spot amongst the Top 32.

Although Mad Mike Whiddet is also equipped with the same Falken RT-615K’s that are on the Falken Tire Discount Tire s13, Dai was able to easily defeat his Top 32 opponent this round.  This victory led him to face Patrick Mordaunt for Top 16, which seemed to be a bit of a coincidence, as the pair faced off at this very same event last year.  However, the outcome this time around was quite different as Dai’s extremely aggressive lead and chase runs left no questions of who would be advancing to the Great 8 to face the extremely dangerous Darren McNamara. 

Excitement swelled among all witnessing the two highly sophisticated Team Falken Tire drift cars lining up next to each other to do battle for the Great 8.  And after two tense runs with both drivers performing in near unison, a justly One More Time was called by the judges.  With Dai to lead the first run, both drivers held nothing back and charged down the hill of Road Atlanta.  DMac was a bit overzealous this time, leaving Dai no room to transition and tearing the rear bumper of the Rocket Bunny aero off in the process.  DMac’s mistake left the Falken Tire Discount Tire s13 with some missing body parts, but granted Dai victory and passage into the Final 4 to face Chris Forsberg in his proven 350Z.  After a tough battle between close friends, Dai rose victorious over Chris to compete against yet another teammate, Vaughn Gittin Jr., for first place.  The pressure associated with competing against a very formidable opponent to be the champion of Formula D Atlanta did not faze Dai at all as it was loud and clear to fans and judges alike who would be crowned king of this event with just two short runs.   It has been long awaited, but supporters jumped for joy and yelled in cheer as Dai Yoshihara raised his hands in victory as the announcement of the winner was made. 

This win meant more than just the fourth time that Dai has received a first place finish.  More than the fact that this was the first ever win by a Discount Tire livery car.  More than just Dai sitting in 2nd overall Formula D points and 1st overall Tires.com Triple Crown points.  This win was redemption for a bad 2009 year; it was a resurrection of Dai’s drifting mojo. 

Recovery from the Lexus-eradicating crash that occurred last year at Formula D Seattle was painfully gradual.  It wasn’t until Irwindale last year that Dai finally felt better only to be disappointed with a top 8 finish.  One discouragement after another left Dai seriously doubting his ability to compete at a championship level.  Fortunately, the unconditional support from his sponsors, friends, and fans became his driving force and inspired him to continue working hard to bring home a well deserved win. 

With the ever evolving sophistication of drifting, it is harder than ever to get on the podium, but Dai is more confident than ever and is once again able to run at 150% to become the 2010 Formula D Champion.  An emotional Dai advises all “To stay positive and work hard to achieve your goals.”  He would also really like to emphasize his deep appreciation to all his sponsors and fans for their moral support, as it was an integral component to this weekend’s win.  Please catch Dai at the Formula D New Jersey on June 4th-5th.  If unable to make it to the event, a livestream can be found on both www.MotorMavens.com and www.FormulaD.com.

For more information on Dai, please visit www.daiyoshihara.com.

Check out Project Car Magazine Civic sway bar install for their Project EF Civic here or look up your anti-roll bar application online at www.stsuspensions.com

Images courtesy of Project Car Magazine

Read the Super Street Magazine project Civic suspention techniques anti-sway bar install story here or online at www.superstreetonline.com/techarticles/130_0812_honda_civic_ef_suspension_upgrades/index.html.

Images courtesy of Super Street Magazine

Vivid Racing and KW Suspensions North America have teamed up to giveaway 3 sets of coilovers (Variant 1, Variant 2, and Variant 3) 100% FREE to lucky winners! We are looking for the sickest road racers, auto-x drivers, car show fanatics, drift racers, and daily driving enthusiasts to share photos of their car and why they should get a FREE set of KW Coilovers. The best part is, YOU VOTE FOR THE WINNER! KW has won the 24hr of Nurburgring 5 times, they are also podium finishers in FormulaD, and even Vivid Racing has proven their quality taking our Project 997TT to 206.2mph at the Texas Mile! So enter this contest and get fitted with the best coilovers in the market!

So How Can I Win?

What are the Rules?

Belltech would like to congratulate Lino Vargas of Jersey City, NJ and his 2004 Ford Lightning on being May’s Winner of Belltech’s Truck of the Month.

Winner’s Trucks – Tech specs.

May’s second winner is Jim Sacco and his 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab. Both get one of our exclusive Belltech Jackets. Congratulation Guys, good job!

• James Wesley, 2003 Ford F-150
• Kenneth Kinnaird, 2000 Chevy Silverado
• Mike Shuff, 1992 Chevy 1500

The BSR team were able to acheive pole position during qualifying, fastest race lap, and lead every lap of the race at the American Le Mans Laguna Seca Six Hours race. This is an amazing result considering this was their first race on KW competition products. The second place car was beaten by one complete lap and the third place car by two laps.  

See the BSR press release below:

May 28, 2010, Boston, MA USA:

Black Swan Racing won its first American Le Mans Series race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with brothers Jeroen and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen partnering with team owner Tim Pappas for a GT Challenge victory. The entry led all six hours and ended up a lap ahead of TRG’s Porsche of Andy Lally, Rene Villeneuve and Henri Richard.


“We had a great start in Long Beach but some things went wrong; today it went really right,” said Jeroen Bleekemolen, who won the class pole and set the class’ fastest race lap. “It’s great to get the win and hopefully move up in the championship.”



BSR made its 2010 debut at Long Beach but ran into trouble early in the race. It was the first outing for the team since the 2008 season when it ran a Ford GT in the GT2 class.

Team owner Pappas couldn’t imagine much of a better start to the season.

“This is pretty cool. We came out for Long Beach without much preparation,” he said. “We had a difficult, frustrating race. We went home and worked hard and practiced. All the guys at Black Swan are great and it showed today. The Bleekemolen brothers came over and helped us to have a great race. We didn’t put a tire off and made zero mistakes in the pits and that put us in a position to get our first race win. It’s just awesome!”



The whole weekend was flawless for Black Swan with the team scoring the ultimate auto racing-racing trifecta: pole position, fastest race lap, and a commanding victory.  The results can be attributed to the incredible effort put forward by every member of the Black Swan team.  Since Long Beach, BSR has tested and prepared with much diligent effort in order to extract the maximum performance potential from its GT3 Porsche.  Laguna proved that the Swans are a force to be reckoned with.

BSR must also recognize its partners’ hard work, without which the victory would not be possible: KW Automotive, who provide shock absorbers and suspension technology to the team; Renewable Choice Energy, who are offsetting 100% of the team’s carbon emissions, Competition Specialties of Walpole, MA for expert body work that keeps the team looking best in show; and Porsche Motorsport for their on-going technical support.

The next race for the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix. The two-hour, 45-minute race is set for 2:05 p.m. MT on Sunday, July 11 from Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. SPEED will air the race same-day at 4 p.m. ET. Live radio coverage will be available on American Le Mans Radio presented by Porsche – a production of Radio Show Limited – as well as Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 242. Visit the Series’ schedule page for ticket and accommodation information. Live Timing and Scoring, track schedule, entry list and much, much more will be available on Racehub at americanlemans.com.

You can follow the Tim Pappas on Twitter (@tpap54)

Or for more information, please visit:

www.blackswanracing.com

www.competition-specialties.com

www.renewablechoice.com

www.kwsuspension.de

www.porsche.com

Its been four years since the car first hit the track. In that time, many things have changed. Now in its fourth evolution, the FXMD (Factor X’s new name) continues to set records as one of the fastest production chassis vehicles in the time attack circuit. This hard won success didn’t come easily though. FXMD started off as just a bunch of guys that wanted to go fast and set records with just a grassroots racing budget. But lessons came quickly and the team soon developed the skills and knowhow to not only build a fast car, but also one that could survive the brutal conditions of time attack racing.

While the formula for their success hasn’t changed much, the car itself has. Even in 2006, the Acura NSX was a dated chassis. At one time a super car, the NSX’s power output and two wheel drive configuration are now eclipsed by cheaper and faster economy based cars. Despite this, the FXMD team stuck with their formula of a turbocharged mid engine chassis with proper balance and minimal weight. One difficulty of competing at this level with a two wheel drive car with massive amount of power needed to keep up with the pack. Turbocharging the 3-liter V6 offered the power, but the original powertrain strained under the stress and torque now being harnessed. The FXMD team learned many expensive lessons in their quest to harness over 500 horsepower through a transmission originally designed for a fraction of that amount.

As the transmission became more robust, the power level also increased. The engine is now bored out to 3.2 liters as well as being extensively reinforced. Cooling the boosted intake charge also provided a challenge since the engine and intercoolers all reside in the rear of the vehicle with limited airflow. After experimenting with several configurations, the current iteration of the FXMD NSX now sports a liquid to air intercooler as well as massive oil and coolant heat exchangers. On high boost, the engine can make nearly 700 hp at the wheels.

Chassis work also evolved with the car. First to go was as much weight as possible. The NSX was gutted down and stripped of all its street car civility to maximize its power to weight ratio. Wheel and fender size also increased to maximize mechanical grip. The FXMD team tried several street and track suspension options with limited success before they found KW suspensions and its 3-way KW competition coilovers. The all aluminum, external resivore monotube shock was designed in germany originally for ALMS and Le Mans competition when Honda was actively competeing with the NSX. It features high and low speed compression damping force adjustability as well as an overall rebound force adjustment that allows the damping force curve to be progressive or digressive at the user’s discression. This car’s handling capabilies are pretty amazing considering the fact that this NSX still uses all the stock suspension control arm components other than bushings and a bolt on race suspension from KW.

The final evolution was performance found through better aerodynamics. With so much power and minimal weight, aerodynamics would prove to be the critical factor in keep the car planted. The evolution of the stock body to wide fenders and larger and larger wings, diffusers and canards continually increased the car’s speed.  

The FXMD NSX is a radical version of the original supercar, but many aspects of the original design still remain. The control arms, subframes and overall suspension geometry all still remain the same as Honda had intended: A testament to the engineering prowess of the original Honda designers. Modified versions of the original all aluminum engine and transmission still reside in the engine bay even though the car makes almost three times the original power.

As other teams find newer cars and faster lap times, the FXMD team still perseveres and continues to challenge much newer vehicles and larger racing budgets. This underdog philosophy is what makes the FXMD team and NSX so appealing.

Production chassis records at:

Cal Speedway infield Modified RWD

Cal Speedway roval Unlimited Overall

Buttonwillow CW13 Unlimited RWD

Willow Springs “Big” Unlimited Overall

Carolina Motorsports Unlimited Overall

Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch Unlimited Overall

Las Vegas Motors Speedway Outside road course Unlimited Overall

KW now offers a Variant 3 coilover system consisting of independently adjustable compression and rebound damping force adjustment as well as a corrosion resistant Stainless steel INOX housing. The Variant 3 kit allows for lowering from 1 to 2.6 inches lower in front and over 2.4 inches of lowering in the rear.

KW Variant 3 coilover: PN: 35250052 (avalible July 27th, 2010) 

The Variant 1 coilover features the same lowering ranges as well as the Inox-lined stainless steel housing and a custom valved adjustment free shock.

KW Variant 1 coilover: PN: 10250052 (TBA)

Photos courtesy of Wesley Hamachi

Find out more about the June cover story and the feature cars including a KW equiped Yimi Sport tuned 2008 Subaru WRX STI here Evo vs STi or online at www.importtuner.com/features/impp_1005_sti_vs_evo/index.html for this and other related articles.

Images and article courtesy of Import Tuner Magazine

Read about the KW equipped supercharged GT Channel Nissan 350Z time attack convertible driven by Dai Yoshihara and how it compares to Import Tuner’s own project 370Z here Import tuner Z shootout or online at www.importtuner.com/features/impp_1006_350z_vs_370z/index.html for this and other related articles.

Images and article courtesy of Import Tuner Magazine

Read about the Pontiac High Performance Project GTO  here or online at High Performance Pontiac’s website for this and other related stories at www.highperformancepontiac.com

Images and article courtesy of High Performance Pontiac Magazine

KW street comfort
Part no. 180 81 031

Your sport suspension kit is too hard for you? Do you want a sportive,dynamic suspension with remaining comfort? With street comfort suspension KW offers you the solution, you can create that sportive look while keeping as much comfort as possible. Long trips on the highway will be a pleasure; fun can be had on county roads.

KW Clubsport for the2009+ Chevy Camaro
Part no. 352 80 842

KW Clubsport coilovers were developed for customers, who demand a better handling vehicle when participating in track day events, but also require a setup that could be used every day. The Clubsport was specifically designed for the Nordschleife using track day tires. By using the optional adjustable top mounts, the suspension geometry can be adjusted to the requirements of tires and the intended use. The mentioned adjustment options combined with the independently adjustable rebound and compression damping technology allow a suspension setup according to the vehicle load, tire characteristics and different track conditions. KW Clubsport meets every demand regarding a coilover for the usage on the road and the race track.

Variant 3 is state-of-the-art technology for the skilled and experienced driver. The separate and independent compression and rebound damping options allow a truly individual driving set-up

KW suspensions now offers its innovative hyudralically driven KW HLS automatic lifting and lowering system for the Mk IV VW Golf. The KW HLS system uses hydrualicly acutated bellows fitted to a vehicle’s coilover system to automaticall lift or lower a vehicle at the press of a button. The new application is now avalible as both a complete KW coilover set with KW HLS 4 or KW HLS conversion kit for vehicles with already exisiting KW dampers. These KW coilover kits could be height adjusted from 45-65mm on the front and 35-65mm on the rear axle.

KW HLS Kits are offered in 3 configurations: HLS conversion kit with shorter springs to adapt to existing KW coilover, HLS conversion kit with lowering springs for OEM coilover kits (such as Porsche GT2 or GT3), or Complete KW coilover kit with HLS adapted to it. The hydraulic cylinder unit is installed between the spring perch and spring. The pump unit is installed inside or near the spare wheel well. A programmable control unit processing the CAN Bus signal for speed control is also included in the kit.

KW HLS complete kit with KW coilover kit V3
(axle weight: VA/FA -1020kg)
Part No. 352 80 421

KW HLS conversion kit for KW dampers
(axle weight: VA/FA -1020kg)
Part No. 192 80 421

Find out more about the HLS system and operation at http://us.kwsuspension.de/us/kw_hls.php

Berk Technology Gets Another Podium at Redline Time Attack!

Santa Ana, CA, April 26, 2010:  After a highly successful season opener to the 2010 Redline Time Attack Series Season, Berk Technology was looking towards returning to the top of the podium in back to back wins. This time they headed out to the desert to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Sin City, Nevada. But like after every successful weekend of racing, the next event doesn’t always go as planned. Berk Technology fought off gremlins with their BMW 135i to an impressive second place finish, just a little less than one second behind top spot.

The weekend started off with an oil cooler leak that required some quick fixin’ and the remainder of the practice sessions were dedicated to dialing in the suspension and aero on the Berk Technology 135i. With every track being so different and the weather conditions out in Las Vegas, Berk Technology analyzed all the data gathered through three sessions in order to get it ready for qualifying.

When Sunday rolled around, the weather was great and the team was ready to back up their win. They slapped on a fresh set of Hankook RS-3 tires and first session would yield a blistering 1:48.981, but the top cars were sent off to verify their legality. Unfortunately for Berk Technology, the BMW 135i’s time would be tossed out due to the threads on the APR Performance splitter tension rod bolts being 1/16″ below the minimum ride height. Needless to say the team was disappointed, but rules are rules – and off they went to grind down the bolts so it wouldn’t happen again.

Driver Mike Bonanni once again took the wheel for the second session, but unfortunately Bonanni could not better his previous time and ended up with a 1:49.111 which stood as the official time for Berk Technology’s 135i. Track conditions weren’t entirely ideal with rocks having been kicked up all over the track. Unfortunately by the time the track was cleaned up, the Street RWD class had already run and there was not enough time to re-run. Regardless, everyone was on the same playing field with the same conditions in Street RWD so Berk Technology would pleased with the second place effort behind Jeff Tyler and the HP Autowerks BMW 335i which is also powered by Berk Technology’s catless downpipes.

Overall the weekend didn’t go exactly as planned, especially since Berk Technology worked hard in preparing the car to run a five lap super session for extra points. After round one, Berk Technology worked quickly to have a cage installed to pass tech for the Las Vegas event but unfortunately the super session was canceled due to the delays from cleaning up the track. Berk Technology is looking forward to campaigning their BMW 135i in the next super session to show off what it can do against the competition.          

Although it was a weekend full of ups and downs, the Berk Technology crew gave it 100% and are very happy with another podium finish.  Although the Berk Technology 135i barely missed 1^st place, it was a full five seconds ahead of 3^rd place and ran a time that beat out all but two of the Modified RWD class cars as well, quite a feat for a Street Tire class car!  Look for Berk Technology back on top of the podium at the next round held at Auto Club Speedway at the end of May!

Belltech would like to congratulate Eric Gray of Sterling, Verginia and his 2003 Ford Lightning on being April’s Winner of Belltech’s Truck of the Month.

Winner’s Trucks – Tech specs.

March’s second winner is Clint Petree and his 1993 Chevy C1500 longbed. Both get one of our exclusive Belltech Jackets. Congratulation Guys, good job!

• Christian Geedling
• Jeff Lowe
• Edith Padilla
• Bryce Andrews
• Brock Sanders
• Tom Daley
• Chris Kiertucki
• Jeffrey Bailey
• David Wilkins
• Tim Washer
• Mike Hughes
• James Raley

view complete image gallery

KW suspension now offers a coilover kit for the MITSUBISHI Outlander (Type CWO). The kit lowers the stock vehicle by 35-65mm on the front and 5-35mm rear axle and increases the sport handling of the sport crossover.

  ]]> http://blog.kw-suspension.com/archives/2704/feed 0 3405 http://blog.kw-suspension.com/archives/3405 http://blog.kw-suspension.com/archives/3405#comments Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:17:48 +0000 gciordas http://blog.kw-suspension.com/?p=3405 Belltech Sport Trucks, Suspension Techniques, LSD Doors and KW suspsnesions team up to display at the fourth annual Galvan’s Classic Car and Truck Show at Fresno’s Regional Sports Park on March 26 and 27th, 2010.

In additon to all the pre-1974 cars and trucks in attendance, Galvan’s also gave away a 5.7L 330 hp Chevy Jasper engine to the Grand Prize show winner. Scroll through our gallery to see some of the amazing cars and trucks on display including Belltech’s own 2006 SEMA Chevy Avalanche and 1956 Chevy Bel Air Delivery. 

For additional detials on the Galvan’s show, visit www.galvansclassiccarshow.com.

Among all the Belltech suspension solutions for Sport Trucks and Muscle Cars, Belltech also unveiled it 2-inch drop spindles for A-Body chassis and 1955-1957 Chevy Bel Air drop kits.

SPD Metal Works spent much of the off season refreshing Dai’s nostalgic S13 chassis with the many refinements required to aid in capturing that elusive Formula D championship title.  In addition to all the mechanical enhancements, the project manager of Dai’s Nissan 240sx chose to outfit the vehicle with the rare and ultra stylish Rocket Bunny aero kit bathed in the red and white Discount Tire livery.  With just a few short test sessions prior to engaging the course that threatens catastrophe with the smallest margin of error, anticipation and excitement levels were through completely through the roof.

The first couple runs on any street course is always unpredictable due to the amount of debris, oil, and other waste littered on the pavement by the automobiles that would normally drive on the streets.  Fortunately, the practice session went over smoothly, requiring only a simple gear change prior to qualifying.  Dai was able to hit a score of 78 points with his first run, placing him at a solid 12th overall.  “The car felt great after the gear change and I feel confident for Top 32,” commented Dai after qualifying.

Feeling great and ready for battle, Dai was put against John Russakoff for Top 32 competition.  Russakoff put up a great fight, and after a one more time, Dai went on with a victory.  Dai’s Top 16 opponent, Tanner Foust, was much more formidable in his NASCAR V8 powered Scion tC.  Dai followed the first run, and although Foust was not able to pull away at all, Dai made the minor mistake of coming in too shallow.  He then led the second run where both men performed close to perfection.  Due to the small infraction of having a slightly shallow angle in the first run, the victory was awarded to Tanner.

Immediately following the FD weekend, Dai and his team set off early in the morning for a practice day to sort out some minor mechanical problems and to fine tune the KW suspension.   At the end of the test day, an exhausted but content Dai exclaimed, “the car keeps feeling better.”  Although the battle of the Long Beach ended in a loss, it proved to be a great start for Dai to fulfill his revenge and be the Formula D champion of 2010.

For more information, please visit www.daiyoshihara.com.

Press release courtesy of Falken Motorsports 

 James Deane
Age - 19
Height: 6′4″
Hometown - Castletownroche, Co, Cork, Ireland.

Team - Falken Drift
Crew Members - Kenneth Deane, Mike Deane Jr., Mike Deane Sr., Robbie Thornton, Des McCartey.
Car - 2001 Nissan Silvia S15

Tires - Falken Azenis RT-615
Engine - 2.2L SR20DET
Horsepower - 400hp+
Suspension - KW 3-way competition
Brakes -
Wheels - SSR Professor MS1R’s 18×10(f) and 18×10(r)
Exterior - Vertex Ridge widebody system, APR GTC 300
Interior - Sparco
Sponsors – Falken Tire  

Michael Essa
Age – 29
Height – 5′10″
Weight – 170
Hometown – Los Angeles, CA

Team – GSR Motorsports
Crew Members – Kekoa Fleming, A.J. Mindel
Car – 2010 BMW 335i coupe

Tires - Nitto NT05
Engine - BMW M5 V10
Horsepower - 480 whp/360 wtq
Suspension - KW 3-way competition
Brakes - Willwood 6 piston 
Wheels - 18X9(f) 18X10.5(r) Enkie PF01
Exterior -
Interior - Sparco Pro2000 seats and harness, Sparco wheel

Sponsors – GSR Autosports

Billy Johnson

Age – 24
Height – 6′0″
Weight – 160
Hometown – San Clemente, CA

Team –  Cricket FXMD
Crew Members – Ken Namimatsu, Radomir Banda
Car – Acura NSX

Tires - Yokohama A005 slicks
Engine - Honda 3.2L V6
Horsepower - 650 whp
Suspension - KW 3-way competition
Brakes - Performance Friction  
Wheels - CCW C10 wheels
Exterior - Custom Autokonexion Widebody, AMB Aero
Interior - Sparco CF EVO seats and harness, Zero Mass steering wheel

Sponsors – Cricket

 website: www.billyjohnsonracing.com

 Joon Woo Maeng
Age – 26
Height – 5′11″
Weight – 130
Hometown – Cerritos, CA

Team – Bergenholtz Racing/Full Tilt Poker
Crew Members – Ed Bergenholtz, Ron Bergenholtz, Amy Song
Car – 2007 Mazda RX8

Tires - Nitto NT05
Engine - 3 rotor, GT42R turbo, HKS intercooler
Horsepower - 550whp/500ft lbs
Suspension - KW 3-way competition, Steen Chassis rollcage
Brakes - stock
Wheels - Exterior - Interior - Sparco pro2000 seats, champion ltd ed steering wheel – MAXXIS Tires, LSAUTO.COM, CFR , SAM’S Auto Land, GENIUS Tools, TOMEI, A\’PEXi, ACT,SEIBON, Mishimoto, AIT Racing

Sponsors – Mazda, MazdaSpeed, HKS, FIVE A.D., Steen Chassis, KW suspension, OS Giken, Tial, WPC, The Driveshaft shop, NGK, BakerR, Attic, Everitt Boles Motorsport Insurance
Sponsors

Website – JoonMaeng.com
MySpace – myspace.com/joonmaeng
Facebook – Click Here
Twitter – twitter.com/joonmaeng
YouTube – youtube.com/joonmaeng

Rhys Millen
Age – 36
Height – 6′
Weight – 195
Hometown – San Juan Capistrano, CA

Team – Hyundai Red Bull Drift Team
Crew Members – Rhys Millen, Eric Cantore, Costa Gialamas, TJ Hanrihra, Tim Dunbar
Car – Hyundai Genesis Coupe

Tires - Toyo Proxes R1R
Engine - turbo charged Hyundai 3.8L Lambda
Horsepower - 500hp / 570tq
Suspension - KW 3-way competition
Brakes - RMR Special
Wheels - ENKEI RPF01
Exterior - RMR wide body dry carbon
Interior - Sparco seats, steering wheel, harness

Sponsors – Hyundai Motors America, Red Bull USA, Toyo Tires, ENKEI Wheels, Exedy Clutch, Sparco USA, Genius Tools, AEM, BC,JE Pistons, Royal Purple oil

Website – rhysmillen.com

Robbie Nishida
Age – 31
Height – 6′
Weight – 160
Hometown – Tokyo, Japan

Team – Dynamic Autosports / Hankook Tire
Crew Members – Adam Depner, Jeff Le, Phi Phung, Jason Fajardo, Eugene Chang, Mike Marella, Keith Covey, Will Chang
Car – 2009 Nissan GT-R (R35)

Tires - Hankook Ventus RS-3
Engine - VQ35DE Stroked to 3.7L with a Brian Crower Kit
Horsepower - 540hp / 525tq
Suspension - KW 3-way competition
Brakes - Brembo Front
Wheels - WEDS Sport
Exterior - Seibon Carbon
Interior - Sparco Corsa Seats, Simpson Harness, AEM Gauges, A’PEXi Boost Controller
Sponsors – Hankook Tire, Dynamic Autosports, Gruppe-S, ACT, Weds Sport, Crooks & Castles, C-West, Peak Performance, Attic, HPI Racing, Status, Brian Crower, AEM, J&E Pistons, KW Suspension, Seibon, A’PEXi, Drive Shaft Shop, Portflow, ADAware

Website – http://ameblo.jp/robbie31

Eric O’Sullivan
Age – 30:
Hometown - Dublin, Ireland
Nationality - Irish
Team - Dynamic Autosports, Hankook
Car - Subaru WRX Sti
Team – Dynamic Autosports / Hankook Tire / Rockstar Energy Drink
Crew Members – Adam Depner, Jeff Le, Phi Phung, Jason Fajardo, Eugene Chang, Mike Marella, Keith Covey, Will Chang

Tires – Hankook Ventus RS-3
Engine – EJ25 2.5L
Horsepower – 340bhp /350 ftq
Suspension – KW Clubsport
Brakes – Project Mu / Brembo
Wheels – Enkei RPF1 Front 17×9 et+15 / Rear 18×10.5 et15
Exterior – APR Widebody
Interior – Status Seats, Simpson Harness, AEM Gauges, HKS Boost Controller
Sponsors – Hankook Tire, Rockstar Energy Drink, Dynamic Autosports, Gruppe-S, APR, PPG Gearset, Brian Crower, ACT, Enkei, Status, J&E Pistons, HPI Racing, AEM, KW Suspension, Crooks & Castles, Attic, A’PEXi, Drive Shaft Shop, ADAware

Website – ericosullivan.com

Dai Yoshihara

Age – 30
Height – 5′10″
Weight – 150
Hometown – Tokyo, Japan

Team – Falken Tire
Crew Members – Mike Kojima, Scott Dodgion 
Car – 1992 Nissan 240SX

Tires - Falken Azenis RT-615
Engine - 6.0L LS2 Aluminum V8
Horsepower - n/a
Suspension - KW 3-way competition
Brakes - Wilwood
Wheels - Volk RE-30
Exterior - Rocket Bunny

Interior - Sparco
Sponsors – Falken Tire, Discount Tire, SPD Metal Works, Mobil 1, Go Pro, Speed Hunters, Iforged, KW, Sparco, Wilwood, OS Giken, McCleod Clutches, Drive shaft shop, Griffin Radiators, Mothers, APR, Percy’s Speed Glass

Website – www.ilovedaijiro.com, www.daiyoshihara.com

The event is a vital element within the modified and tuning car market and the biggest of the show season. ISTS provides the ideal opportunity for KW to target this lucrative market effectively at the start of the season.

Over the winter period KW UK has been working hard on redeveloping it´s look at this years shows. ISTS was the first opportunity to show off the new stand and products. KW now have a 8.5m trailer that once the awnings are attached, spans to an impressive 16m x 13m fully closed off or open area. Complete with graphics the stand really stood out amongst the other traders. Many comments referred to the mobile display as being to an F1 standard.

Inside, you could dribble over two brand new Ford RS Focuses. The white one belonging to KW UK which squatted nicely on KW´s Variant 3 with the High Lift System fitted to the front. The Green focus which belonged to one of KW´s customers sat on our Variant 1 system. A big thank you to Mark the owner, for not only supplying his car for the display, but for also providing a huge amount of elbow grease and keeping both cars looking like they had a mirror finish all weekend… Mark, you can now rest!!!!!

We were also displaying all coilovers from Race to Road along with Sway-Bars and our HLS (High Lift System) in action. Not forgetting we had a dedicated corner showing off the new Weitec coilovers too. The action wasn´t contained within the new stand either. KW UK were one of the official sponsors of the event so it came of no surprise that we supplied a lot of track time to really show off how KW performs around the track. Thank you to Mitch, Darren and Lee for making that happen.

Overall a good start to the season and a good response from the general public. Thank you to all that showed an interest in us and our product. And for those that were putting their own car equipped with KW through it´s paces around the Silverstone circuit… we trust you were the envy of every other driver in the corners that didn´t have what you have, and we can only think it put a big smile on your face.

Read the story here or online at http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/tabid/59/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1337/Project-EVO-X-Part-1.aspx for this and other related stories.

 

Project EVO X: Part 1 – Suspension

By Mike Kojima

What does the guy that has the Ultimate Streetcar do for a daily driver?  Cheston Chiu is no stranger to building some really sick iron.  His super clean, built to the hilt twin turbo 350Z is no show car.  The Z placed second, missing first place by less than a point in Sport Compact Car Magazine’s Ultimate Street Car Contest and repeated the performance when the USCC torch was handed to Modified Magazine after SCC’s demise.

Since the Z is a bit extreme to be a daily driver, Cheston wanted something nice but not as boring as his Maxima beater.  The car still had to have some potential for some nice modifications but nothing that would render the car impractical as a daily driver.  After considering several different options, Cheston settled on a 2010 Mitsubishi EVO X.  The biggest reason was the twin clutch TC-SST transmission. 

The TC-SST transmission is an advanced transmission.  It is actually a computer controlled manual transmission with electronically controlled twin clutches.  What is cool about this system is that the next gear can be pre-selected for lightning fast seamless shifts–faster than humanly possible.  The computer can control the shifting and clutch like an automatic transmission or you can manually shift via steering wheel mounted paddles. The clutches lock up solidly and there is no power-sucking, slipping, slush-box torque converter to waste power, nor are there inefficient power-dissipating planetary gears like a conventional automatic.

The TC-SST transmission has the comfort and the convenience of an automatic transmission with the efficiency and directness of a manual transmission.  Although manual control is nice, the computer actually does a pretty good job of shifting.  In sport mode, it hits the downshifts perfectly and holds gears when driving in the twisties just like you would yourself.  The electronics rip off perfectly rev matched downshifts better than you can.  After driving the car hard we feel that it might do pretty good if you let it do the shifting!  Cheston liked the idea of a super automatic!

Cheston also liked many of the EVO X’s other advanced driver’s aids such as Super All Wheel control that vectors torque around the chassis to help steer and stabilize the car as it does its thing, ABS brakes with electronic force distribution and active stability control that makes for a fast and stress free drive without compromising performance.  Unlike many other performance cars, the electronic aids on the EVO X are relatively transparent to the driver, just the thing for a serious performance enthusiast.

We had a pretty tough job in our quest to improve the EVO’s suspension.  The stock MR hardware features genuine Eibach springs with Bilstien struts calibrated to them–nice!

Cheston’s goal with project EVO X is rather complex.  While ultimate performance is the goal, since the car will remain Cheston’s daily driver, the car cannot simply be built for all out track day performance.  It must be both fast and livable in daily use–a difficult challenge to be sure.

 

The KW Suspension Variant III coilovers are some of the best street dampers available.  They feature double independent adjustment of compression and rebound damping, Imox coated Stainless steel shortened bodies, caviatation eliminating remote accumulators, and helper springs.

In typical MotoIQ fashion–building balanced cars–we attacked the suspension before the engine.  The first and most critical parts of any suspension build are the dampers and springs.  We chose KW Suspensions Variant III coilovers because we feel that they are one of the best street suspensions out there for the serious driver.

Variant III’s are a unique advanced gas charged double adjustable twin tube damper.  Although some people may dismiss twin tubes as low end dampers compared to monotubes, the KW’s are a high precision twin tube with the characteristics of a monotube.  We have always felt that independent adjustability of compression and rebound damping is important for any car that is going to be tuned for optimal handling.

Technosquare’s Howard Watanabe uses a spring compressor to help disassemble the stock struts and reassemble the KW’s.

The V3 has the rod and piston riding in the inner tube with the rebound damping adjuster built into the low speed bleed circuit.  A spring loaded needle valve controls the size of the low speed bleed orifice.  The needle valve is attached to a long rod extending to the top of the piston shaft where it can be reached and adjusted with an allen wrench. The rebound adjustment primarily affects the low speed damping–shock piston velocities in the 0-2″ per second range.  Low speed damping adjustment affects body motions such as roll and pitch.  This is in the area which the driver feels the most when driving fast.  The piston also has a conventional deflected disc valve system for controlling the rest of the velocity range.

The foot valve lives on the bottom of the inner tube and regulates the flow of fluid between the inner and outer tubes. Another spring loaded needle valve controls the size of the low speed compression damping orifice located in the foot valve.  The needle valve is adjusted via an allen screw on the bottom of the shock body.  Like the rebound, the compression adjuster also mostly influences low speed compression damping, which like rebound is the part of the damping curve that influences body motion.

Howard Watanabe of Technosquare helped us do the installation quickly and carefully.

In grassroots motorsports where you don’t have a large pit crew and in dual purpose track street cars, being able to quickly and easily adjust the damping is important.  Some double adjustable shocks require disassembly of the shock assembly so a button can be pushed while the shaft is rotated and other time consuming methods.  The KW’s easy to reach external adjustments make dialing in the chassis a lot easier.

The V3’s have a large adjusting range which is very handy for the serious grassroots suspension tuner.  A big range of adjustment means that a big range of spring rates can be used without having to revalve the shocks.  The KW’s adjusters also have consistent discreet adjusting increments which are consistent throughout the range.  Most adjustable shocks, especially the lower cost ones, do not have consistency in the adjustments.  The damping force adjusting increments varies greatly from click to click and the adjustment range is small.

Variant III’s allow the use of the stock rubber upper spring perch, a good thing for a daily driven street car.

The V3’s damping curve can be tailored from mildly digressive to heavily digressive.  A digressive damping curve means that there is more damping at low piston speeds.  At higher piston velocities, the valving blows open bypassing fluid to where there is less overall damping. Digressive curves give good body platform control while still allowing a decent ride and minimizing traction reducing tire shock and hop.

A really cool feature that the V3’s have is the remote accumulator.  The accumulator is like a remote reservoir found in some super high end race shocks.  On the V3 this accumulator is a canister with a rubber bladder that is pressurized with nitrogen gas. Oil from the outer tube can flow back and forth from the outer tube to the accumulator.  The bladder inside the accumulator gives the fluid displaced by the volume of the shock shaft as it goes in and out of the shock body a place to go.  The rubber flexes and the gas compresses giving the incompressible fluid room, preventing the shock from getting hydraulic lock.

Another very cool feature that the VIII’s have is this eccentric and camber bolt built into the upper strut to spindle bolt.  This allows camber adjustment without having to resort to a camber plate, allowing the stock rubber insulated upper mount.  Just the thing for daily driving!

Typically, a twin tube shock simply has a volume of air or gas in the outer tube at the top of the fluid to allow for shaft displacement.  This works ok, but under hard use the air can get mixed with the fluid and the frothy mix has less damping than non-emulsified fluid.  This mixing of air and oil is the primary cause of shock fade in hard use.  Another disadvantage of a standard twin tube is that usually only a low gas pressure can be used if the shock is indeed gas pressurized.  Pressurization is good because it reduces fluid cavitation through the valves at high piston speeds.  Cavitation is localized boiling in low pressure zones like the backside of shock valves.  Cavitation also causes the fluid to foam and loose damping ability. The V3’s accumulator and rubber bladder prevent the gas and fluid from mixing.  The bladder is pressurized to about 60 psi with nitrogen gas to reduce cavitation of the fluid.

KW addresses some of the issues that coilovers usually have on street cars.  Many times the threaded body of the shock corrodes as it’s hard to keep cut threads from rusting, especially where the spring collars are turned on the threads even with rust resisting platings and coatings.  Typically the spring seat is made of a different metal than the shock body.  This causes galvanic corrosion. The shocks on a street car are exposed to the elements and receive very little maintenance.  These issues cause the threaded body to corrode to the spring seat making a frozen mess. KW addresses this issue by using stainless steel for the shock body coated with their proprietary Inox coating.  The spring seat is made of a corrosion proof engineering super plastic.  This makes for a coilover body that that is always silky smooth in adjustment and will never corrode, even in salty east coast winters!

 

Text and images courtesy of MotoIQ.com

Read the story here or online at http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/1500/project-subaru-wrx-sti-part-3-streetable-track-worthy-suspension.aspx for this and other related stories.

Project Subaru WRX STi Part 3: Streetable Track Worthy Suspension

Project Subaru WRX STi Part 3: Streetable Track Worthy Suspension

By Mike Kojima

In our last segment of Project Subaru WRX STi we tackled the car’s weakest area, its handling, and made significant improvements by installing Whiteline’s basic handling pack suspension kit. Although we were very favorably impressed with the kit’s enhancement of Project STi, we needed more. We wanted more than just a better handling car; we wanted one that had the potential to put the hurt on the competition in time attack events as well as a decent street ride because this car also serves as a daily driver.

 

Although the stock STi dampers are valved more stiffly than the base model WRX, we wanted something with higher spring rates and more damping, especially with our sticky tires. When pushed hard our car would exhibit float, body roll and poor transient response. The STi had an edgy feel to it where it would break loose when turning in without giving much warning to the driver.

The KW Variant III suspension is one of the most advanced street suspension packages on the market featuring independently adjustable compression and rebound damping, remote accumulators and sophisticated multistage frequency sensitive valving.

We also wanted to lower our ride height to lower our center of gravity and to reduce weight transfer under cornering to the outside tires without reducing bump travel. What most people don’t realize is that simply lowering many cars reduces bump travel to the point where the car rolls onto the bump stops as soon as hard cornering is established. This causes severe over or understeer depending on which end of the car runs out of travel first. In order to handle well the car must be kept off the bump stops. This is the first golden rule of good handling that most people ignore.
The first and most critical parts of any suspension build are the dampers and springs.  We chose KW Suspensions Variant III coilovers because we feel that they are one of the best street suspensions out there for the serious driver. Variant III’s are a unique advanced gas charged double damping adjustable twin tube damper.  Although some people may dismiss twin tubes as low end dampers compared to monotubes, the KW’s are a high precision twin tube with the characteristics of a monotube.  The KW Variant III’s independent adjustability of compression and rebound damping is also a huge advantage over other streetable suspensions. Independent adjustability of compression and rebound damping is important for any car that is going to be tuned for optimal handling under a wide range of set ups and conditions like a dual purpose street/track car.

The low speed rebound damping is controlled mostly by the piston on the end of the shock rod.  Turning the rebound adjusting knob located on the top of the shaft screws the tapered metering rod “V” up and down varying the size of the orifice.  The low speed fluid flow is represented by the green arrows.  At higher shaft speeds the mid and high speed circuit kicks in, the high speed fluid flow is show by the blue arrows. The hydraulic pressure deflects the metering disc shown in yellow for mid speed damping and higher velocities allow the spring loaded blow off of the disc to open.

The rebound adjustment primarily affects the low speed damping–shock piston velocities in the 0-2″ per second range.  Low speed damping adjustment affects body motions such as roll and pitch.  This is in the area which the driver feels the most when driving fast.  The V3 has the main shaft and piston riding in the inner tube of the shock body with the rebound damping adjuster built into the low speed circuit.  A threaded tapered rod that goes to a knob at the top of the shaft controls the size of the low speed damping orifice.  The knob is adjusted with an allen wrench. Screwing it in and out raises and lowers the tapered end of the rod into the orifice which changes the amount of fluid that can flow through it.  When the orifice is mostly blocked by the taper, little oil can flow and there is a lot of low speed damping. When the orifice is open, the fluid can flow freely and the damping is decreased. 

The piston also has a unique two stage system combining a deflected disc valve system and a spring loaded blow off valve for controlling the rest of the velocity range.
The foot valve lives on the bottom of the inner tube and regulates the flow of fluid between the inner and outer tubes. A spring loaded needle valve controls the size of the low speed compression damping orifice located in the foot valve as well as the valve spring preload.  The needle valve is adjusted via an allen screw on the bottom of the shock body.  Like the rebound, the compression adjuster also mostly influences low speed compression damping, which like rebound is the part of the damping curve that influences body motion.  On rebound the fluid flows through orifices and the damping force is controlled by the unique combination of deflected dics valves with a spring loaded blowoff function. The combination of deflected disc valving and spring loaded blow off give KW’s their unique range of control with frequency sensitivity.  This helps the shocks produce both firm control and a smooth non tire shocking ride.

In rebound, the shocks foot valve located on the bottom of the shock, simply acts like a one way check valve allow fluid displaced by the shock shaft to flow into the outer tube and the hydraulic accumulator.

In grassroots motorsports where you don’t have a large pit crew and in dual purpose track street cars, being able to quickly and easily adjust the damping is important.  Some double adjustable shocks require disassembly of the shock assembly so a button can be pushed while the shaft is rotated and other time consuming methods.  The KW’s easy to reach external adjustments make dialing in the chassis a lot easier.

The V3’s have a large adjusting range which is very handy for the serious grassroots suspension tuner.  A big range of adjustment means that a big range of spring rates can be used without having to revalve the shocks.  The KW’s adjusters also have consistent discreet adjusting increments which are consistent throughout the range.  Most adjustable shocks, especially the lower cost ones, do not have consistency in the adjustments.  The damping force adjusting increments varies greatly from click to click and the adjustment range is small.

In compression most of the damping control is handled by the foot valve so the valving in the piston mostly acts like a one way check valve with some damping control across the board at all speeds.

The V3’s damping curve can be tailored from mildly digressive to heavily digressive.  A digressive damping curve means that there is more damping at low piston speeds.  At higher piston velocities, the two stage valving blows open bypassing fluid to where there is less overall damping. Digressive curves give good body platform control while still allowing a decent ride and minimizing traction reducing tire shock and hop.
A really cool feature that the Subaru V3’s have is the remote accumulator.  The accumulator is like a remote reservoir found in some super high end race shocks.  On the V3 this accumulator is a canister with a rubber bladder that is pressurized with nitrogen gas. Oil from the outer tube can flow back and forth from the outer tube to the accumulator.  The bladder inside the accumulator gives the fluid displaced by the volume of the shock shaft as it goes in and out of the shock body a place to go.  The rubber flexes and the gas compresses giving the incompressible fluid room, preventing the shock from getting hydraulic lock.
Typically, a twin tube shock simply has a volume of air or gas in the outer tube at the top of the fluid to allow for shaft displacement.  This works ok, but under hard use the air can get mixed with the fluid and the frothy mix has less damping than non-emulsified fluid.  This mixing of air and oil is the primary cause of shock fade in hard use.  Another disadvantage of a standard twin tube is that usually only a low gas pressure can be used if the shock is indeed gas pressurized.  Pressurization is good because it reduces fluid cavitation through the valves at high piston speeds.  Cavitation is localized boiling in low pressure zones like the backside of shock valves.  Cavitation also causes the fluid to foam and lose damping ability. The V3’s accumulator and rubber bladder prevent the gas and fluid from mixing.  The bladder is pressurized to about 60 psi with nitrogen gas to reduce cavitation of the fluid.
KW addresses some of the issues that coilovers usually have on street cars.  Many times the threaded body of the shock corrodes as it’s hard to keep cut threads from rusting, especially where the spring collars are turned on the threads even with rust resisting platings and coatings.  Typically the spring seat is made of a different metal than the shock body.  This causes galvanic corrosion. The shocks on a street car are exposed to the elements and receive very little maintenance.  These issues cause the threaded body to corrode to the spring seat making a frozen mess. KW addresses this issue by using stainless steel for the shock body coated with their proprietary Inox coating.  The spring seat is made of a corrosion proof engineering super plastic.  This makes for a coilover body that that is always silky smooth in adjustment and will never corrode, even in salty east coast winters!

The low speed compression damping adjustment is mostly handled by the foot valve.  The low speed fluid flow is shown in green.  When the adjusting knob is turned, the spring preload on the needle valve controlling low speed fluid flow is increased, this increases the initial force needed to open the valve.  When high speed flow needs to be control, like when hitting a big bump, the much larger compression blow off valve opens, its fluid flow is shown in blue.  This allows the shock to react and absorb the impact.  Thus you can have both good control external adjustably and decent ride.

The front KW struts have an eccentric on the upper strut to spindle bolt making the camber adjustable in a wider range than when just using a camber plate alone. The main springs are also paired with helper springs to keep tension on the main springs even when the suspension is at full droop.  This helps keep the springs quiet and prevents the possibility of the spring coming out of place in hard track driving. Another cool feature of these dampers is that the damper body is shortened so the car can be lowered without losing bump travel. This is a highly important feature allowing a low car that will still stay off the bumpstops in a corner while maintaining reasonable spring rates. Bottoming under roll when cornering is the #1 cause of ill handling in modified cars so its critical not to give up bump travel in a lowered car.  We adjusted our STi 1.2” lower in the front and ¾” lower in the rear for now. The dampers feature modular construction and can be taken apart for rebuilding or revalving if so desired.

Whiteline’s camber/caster plate allows adjustment of both camber and caster, adding caster is critcal for the STi’s handling.

While we were in there we also installed a set of Whiteline caster camber plates in the front suspension. The caster camber plates allow adjustment in two axes so the camber and caster can be adjusted. The modified plate allows 1 degree more positive caster than any other plate on the market. The top strut shaft mount in the camber caster plate features a spherical bearing which eliminates the stock mounts sloppy rubber. Although this transmits a bit more noise, the lack of slop here helps keep the alignment true even though this is a highly loaded part when cornering. It also ensures that every bit of wheel up and down movement passes though the damper and is controlled.

With the caster camber plate in place we returned to West End Alignment and realigned the car to run 2.5 degrees negative camber and 6 degrees of positive caster, two more degrees of caster than we were able to get stock. This gave us a much improved on center steering feel and much sharper turn in. The cars once rubbery reflexes now felt sharp. If you remember in our first installment, rubbery, slow and unresponsive steering was the biggest dislike of this car in stock trim. With the additional negative camber and the lack of flex in the upper mount understeer was greatly reduced as well.

Our driving impression of the KW V3 coilovers was very favorable. In some ways the ride was much improved over the standard STi shocks and springs. Although the ride was firmer, the freeway chop and the seasick float of the stock suspension were reduced. The car had much improved steady state cornering and was much more neutral. The best thing we noted under track conditions was that the cars sudden transition to oversteer was further reduced with adjustment and the car became even more predictable with less of an on edge feeling even though the chassis was much more responsive to steering input. This is one of the best off the shelf coil over system for the STi on the market and perhaps the best riding system in every day street use that we have tried to date.

The front XRD bar is a lot thicker than stock and straighter as well making it over 200% stiffer than stock.

To continue our upgrade path we next once again turned to the suspension.  We were planning to attend a NASA track day at Willow Springs and we wanted to have a more track ready suspension. In previous segments we had installed Whiteline’s basic handling package. Although we were pleased with the results we wanted to up the ante and take the car to the next level, the next level being near race car levels of grip and response.  We also wanted to take care of a few niggling faults that the car had in the suspension department as well.

The Whiteline XRD rear swaybar compared to stock, note the adjustment holes.

The first step was to give the car some more roll stiffness.  Although the car had little body roll as is, we knew that we would get a lot more when we bolted on a set of soft R-Compound tires.  The tires additional stick loads the chassis harder.  To counter this we installed a set of Whiteline’s racing XRD bars.  The XRD bars are two way adjustable in the front and three way adjustable in the rear.  We believe that bar adjustability is important in a track car as it enables you to quickly adjust the car to changes from track to track or changing from high speed events such as track days to lower speed tighter work such as autocross.

Whiteline’s heavy duty swaybar mount kit prevents the rear swaybar from tearing out of the chassis

 

Whiteline’s bearing equipped end links directly couple the swaybars to the chassis, no lag or gush here!

The stout XRD bars are a whopping 27mm in diameter and over 160% stiffer than the handling packages 22mm bars.  They are also an amazing 280% stiffer than the stock 20mm bars.  We also installed Whitelines optional ball and socket solid bearing end links and heavy duty rear mount kit.  The bearings have length adjustment so they can be installed without preload which can affect handling balance from side to side.  Without the cushion of bushings they ensure that any body roll will be fully against the swaybars full torsional stiffness.  This greatly improves response.  To protect the bearings, Whiteline end links have a neat feature, dust boots. To prevent the stiff rear bar from tearing off the chassis, we also installed the optional heavy duty rear mount.  This is much stronger than the stock rear mount and should prevent the bar from damaging the rear suspension.  We set our bars at full soft in front and the middle of the three holes in the rear.

This shot shows the Whiteline XRD STi rear bar in place with the Heavy Duty rear mount.

The front bar in place.

Whiteline’s diff carrier mount keeps the rear differential from banging around and contributing to wheelhop.  The stock rubber bushings are retained and the kit does not increase vibration or noise.

When shifting briskly at or near wide open throttle, we also noticed a disturbing banging noise coming from the back and underneath the car. Sometimes when accelerating out of a tight corner we got shuddering wheelhop from the rear wheels. To alleviate this we installed Whiteline’s diff carrier lock and transmission mounts.  The stock diff carrier and transmission mounts are soft rubber and they allow these parts to bang around quite a bit. The Whiteline parts are made of harder 70 and 80 durometer polyurethane and stop the unwanted motion with no detectable increase in vibration or harshness.  We feel that these parts can probably go a long way to prevent drivetrain breakage as the wheelhop and banging sure felt like something was going to break.

Whiteline’s STi tranny mounts also help reduce drivetrain wind up.  Like the diff mounts they do not increase noise and vibration.

Since we were planning to so some serious track work, we also replaced our street anti lift kit with the race spec kit.  The main difference between the race kit and the street kit is a change in durometer in the bushing from 70 durometer to 90.  We noticed a slight increase in harshness but felt it was barely discernible.  We also noticed a slight improvement in steering response. 

Finally following Whiteline’s recommendation we installed their rear crossmember lock.  When Whiteline was developing the WRX, they noted that after a few miles the torque load would skew the rear diff carrier to one side which messed up the alignment settings. The problem was worsened when using sticky tires.  They determined that the diff carrier was actually shifting 2-4mm under load throwing the alignment off.  This is a considerable amount and it made the WRX impossible to set up properly.  Because of this issue, the locks are mandatory for any WRX/STi that is going to be driven seriously.

Whiteline’s crossmember lock keeps the rear cross member to which the rear suspension is bolted to from moving back and forth.  This is a serious problem with the STi.

Whiteline developed a special bolt with a large shoulder that would thread into an unused set of weld nuts in the chassis that conveniently enough lined up with a hole in the crossmember in a way almost as if Subaru intended to have this sort of lock in place as standard equipment.  The bolt solidly locates and centers the entire rear diff carrier in place allowing for precision alignments and not allowing shifting of the rear wheels location no matter how hard the side loads.  On our car this also eliminated the last bit of nibble from the rear of the car under acceleration.

We installed Whiteline’s race anti lift kit to replace our older street anti lift kit.  The race version uses 90 durmoter bushings which are much harder than the street kits 70 durometer.

2004 STi’s are plagued with soft and squishy steering rack bushings.  They are so bad, Subaru redesigned them for 2005.  The stock steering rack bushings allow the rack to move and shift back and forth.  Sometimes the steering centering even changes!  We replaced the horrible stock bushings with Whiteline’s hard urethane parts which cured all of our issues.  This was perhaps one of the worst things about our car and Whiteline’s cure is cost effective and works extremely well.  We would recommend it even for people with stock 2004 models!

Whiteline’s steering rack bushings were Godsend in fixing our steering with a wandering center.  We would recommend this for people with stock cars.

As a last step we brought project STi to our favorite chassis shop, Westend Alignment in Gardena for a more aggressive track alignment.  We set up Project STi as follows.

Front:
Six degrees positive caster
2.5 degrees negative camber
1/8 inch total toe out.

Rear
1.5 degrees negative camber
Zero rear toe

If you were to drive this set up daily, it would probably have significant negative effect on front tire wear in which case we would probably recommend zero front toe and 1.5 to 2 degrees negative front camber.

At the track we set our tire pressures to 35 psi hot and had a go at it.  We were amazed; our car was the best handling STi we had ever driven.  Steering response was razor like with excellent turn in, the car refused to understeer and would simply go into a nice easily controllable 4 wheel drift.  Lifting the throttle or trail braking would cause the tail to step out nicely which would help get the car to pivot and rocket out of the turns.  We felt no need to fiddle with damping or swaybar adjustment as we had hit the nail on the head.  Tire wear was excellent under track conditions with no chunking and the tires wearing absolutely flat and even across the tread.

Even though I have driven and fallen in love with several modified EVO’s in various track events, I was surprised to find myself liking Project STi better.  With its sharp turn in and predictable on throttle antics and wide powerband the car was a killer, turning race car like lap times and beating nearly every car in NASA’s advanced lapping class even with a young inexperienced driver.  Our little car was delivering near exotic performance on a budget.

In project STi’s near future we will bring you some improvements to its clutch, cooling system, brakes, chassis stiffness and then, perhaps some more power.  After this it will be time to bring on Project EVO.

Sources

KW Suspension

Technosquare

Global Performance Parts (US distributor for Whiteline)

Images and text courtesy of MotoIQ.com

Watch OctaneReport.com’s video and interview with the Berk team driver, Mike Bonanni and some in car videos or read the story at 

Images and Video courtesy of Octanereport.com and Berk Technology

Available as a Belltech complete kit or as separate components, the Belltech lowering solution consists of a rear flip kit and its custom tuned Street Performance shocks absorbers for superior handling performance and uncompromised ride comfort. The front can be lowered down to three inches in half-inch increments while retaining the factory spring, which allows a cost effect alternative to lowering spindles. The rear flip kit is a full 5-inch drop and includes black powder coated heavy duty saddles, shackles, spring plates as well as all necessary hardware to correct the driveline geometry. Other leveling and lowering height options are also available as well as rear anti-sway bars for flipped and non-flipped street suspensions. For additional information, call (559) 875-0222.