AST Suspension – USA

Earlier this year we talked with Edmunds.com about an interesting concept. Can you make an Evo X still streetable yet fast enough to beat a Nissan GTR on the track? Since one of our test cars is an Evo X that drives to AST every day AND we race it in NASA Time Trial, we thought we had the right combination.

Edmunds.com has had the suspension on their Evo X GSR for almost a year now. The final installment was this test at Streets of Willow. Check out the video!

While I was at AST in The Netherlands this week I shot a short video of the new air jack with elephant’s foot.  While a normal air jack lifts the car enough to change tires during fast pit stops, the elephant’s foot allows the race car to be raised even higher for major work. No more floor jacks, simply extend the air jacks, lock them into the elephant’s foot, extend the air jack again and place the safety stand in place!

The 2009 SCCA Solo2 Nationals was the breakout event for AST Suspension. If this independent YouTube video is any indication of the popularity gaining with ASTs, I’m not sure what is. Pay attention to the large number of AST stickers on various makes and models. . Nationals video.

When points matter most, AST delivers. As does Ian Stewart! Ian built his National Champion Mini Cooper with the best of the best. Ian needed the best suspension money could buy BUT he needed it to fulfill the rules of NASA’s Time Trial classes which have point values on adjustments and dollar amounts. Accrue too many points and you’re in the next fastest class. Naturally we suggested AST 5100s which use the same competition parts as our 5200 two way remotes and 5300 triple adjustable shocks at a lower price point. Ian proved that good driving and single adjustable shocks can (and do) win at the national level. You don’t have to “break the bank” to win. Thanks again Ian!

RobiSpec was in full force at the Redline Time Attack event Round 7. Robert “Robi” Fuller piloted his new ‘08 STI complete with AST 5200 Suspension. Robi, known for his suspension tuning with another shock company, took the STI out on its maiden voyage with AST dampers and took home the win in class and Overall Stock class as well. Robi said, “The shocks were great right out of the box. The car had so much grip, I didn’t have to adjust them all day.” We can’t wait until he dials the car in for the Finale at California Speedway.

Thanks to the RobiSpec team for brining home the win. Good luck at Fontana!

In order to better share our testing, we will be publishing our track notes on the website for dealers and customers to see. This will provide a way to distribute our results as we test new products and setups on our coilover kits.

Check out our first addition here!

AST Suspension – USA is proud to announce new updates to the 4000 Series line of dampers. These updates were developed directly from customer and dealer feedback on the product and enhance the performance of the 4000 Series damper on the track and street. Some updates only relate to the 4000 Series struts while other improvements will be added to struts and shocks. produced. Customers with older 4000 Series dampers are welcome to contact an AST dealer for a quote on upgrading any current generation. Click here for more information!

AST Suspension USA would like to thank our customers that won or trophied this year at SCCA Solo2 Nationals. Many of our drivers were building their cars a few months before the event and still won! Wait till next year when they sort their cars and are ready for the Lincoln Airpark surface. Several of our trophy winners missed first place by hundredths of a second! Here is a listing of our winners and trophy positions.

2009 National Champions
Mike Simanyi – Street Mod National Champion (running AST 5200s)
Katy Nicholls – Street Mod Ladies National Champion (running AST 5200s)
Karen Kraus – E Street Prepared Ladies National Champion (running AST 5200s)

2009 Trophy Winners
Matt Lucas – Street Touring Xtreme (running AST 4200s)
Craig Wilcox – B Street Prepared (lost by 0.070s, running AST 5200s)
Jon Pomrenke – Street Touring Xtreme (running AST 4200s)
Amy Fair – Street Touring Ultra Ladies (lost by 0.069s running (running AST 5200s)
Cristy Carlson – Street Touring Ultra Ladies (running AST 4100s)
Joe Silva – B Street Prepared (running AST 5200s)
Thomas Bleh – D Street Prepared (running AST 4100s)
Kent Kroll – E Street Prepared (running AST 4200s)

Thanks again to all our customers who trusted AST Suspension to provide them with some of the best shocks on the market. We can’t wait to see what happens next year when they have more testing under their belts! As you can see, whether you run our 4100, 4200, or 5200s, you can win on AST Suspension.

Turn In Concepts, a Subaru shop selling AST shocks, won the Street AWD class this weekend at Redline’s visit to Autobahn Country Club. TiC’s customer car had a blown shock from another shock company and replaced the set with a test set of AST 4100s which were over two years old. Needless to say, the ASTs aren’t coming back off the car after this win! TiC will be competing in several Redline Events this year. We hope to meet up with them at Nashville.

For the full details go here.

Test driver, Jeff Wirtz, pulls off another winning weekend at Texas World Speedway in College Station, TX. Here’s some video of the inverted start and Jeff passing the entire field during the 20 minute race. Jeff won the previous race which means the next one has an inverted start where 1st place is last, etc.

Way to go, Jeff!