AST Suspension – USA

Cobb was working on a car today on a lift.  It happened to have some low-end Asian sourced coilovers on it.  I noticed the rear shock walking by and shot this picture.  This is what is called “dead stroke”.  As you can see, the manufacturer uses some generic shock they have and puts a threaded bolt on the end to make it fit this application.  What you end up with is a bunch of wasted space!  We always look to maximize stroke and minimize dead stroke on shocks.  Most low end kits will use the same shock for as many vehicles as possible and this is a prime example.

Andy Hollis is showing ‘em how to do it. He’s 12th overall in a Honda Civic with 200 whp and custom AST 5200s! Great job Andy!

http://onelapofamerica.com/history/2010/results/showResults.shtml?y=2010&res=OVL_CUM

(reposted from SCR Performance)

SM-CLASS EVO WINS PROSOLO EVENT IN LINCOLN, NE

May 1-2, 2010, Lincoln, NE: This past weekend, SCR Performance team driver Chris Mayfield achieved his goals: a class win in Street Modified (SM) class; and parity with the top driver in B Street Prepared (BSP) class, another race division with nearly the same index as SM.

As is usual in early-season competition, the car Chris drove—a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution—had recently experienced changes intended to improve its abilities. The AST 5200 series double-adjustable dampers were using yet untested spring rates, and the Evo’s swaybars had been revised as well. Brian Tobia of Tobz Performance Tuning improved the engine mapping to achieve better torque from the CBRD BBK turbocharger. Additionally, a strengthened and rebuilt transfer case by Jack’s Transmissions had been installed to increase the reliability of the drivetrain.

When Mayfield arrived at the event site on Friday evening, it appeared that the SM class might not provide much competition, as the field constituted mostly vehicles from the lower-level Street Modified FWD (SM-F) class. By Saturday morning, however, that had changed: the SM roster filled out with the BSP class runner-up finisher at the 2009 Solo National Championship and other trophy-earning, National caliber drivers—all driving well-prepped and similar Mitsubishi Evolution RS’s and SE’s.

Mayfield immediately found his graphite-gray Evo to be substantially quicker out of the hole than those of the competitors, often gaining a car-length lead from the drag-race style start before reaching the first course feature. The recent changes to the car worked exceptionally well, and Mayfield was able to win the class with a sizable .676-second margin of victory over second place. As the class winner, he also earned contingency prizes from Hoosier Racing Tire and Hawk Performance brake pads.

Not only did Mayfield drive quickly, cleanly and consistently out on course, but he also nailed the starts that are so crucial to the ProSolo racing format, keeping nearly all of his reaction times to the “Christmas tree” starting lights to within 0.1-second of a perfect start; and rocketing the Evo through the 60-foot mark in only 1.6–1.7 seconds.

As winner of his class, Mayfield automatically qualified for the Gumout Super Challenge round of competition, but declined to compete in the interest of extending the life of the car’s Hoosier tires, which were worn significantly by Lincoln Airpark’s abrasive concrete surface.

Thanks to SCR Performance, Tobz Performance Tuning, AST Suspension, CBRD Speed Factory, and Jack’s Transmissions for providing their critical components and expertise. The result: a class-winning machine that literally stunned both spectators and competitors this weekend. Stay tuned for more developments and competition results!

Get a sense of what it’s like to pilot this AWD missile through a ProSolo autox course by watching this in-car video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BFAJH3GEII

AST drivers showed ‘em how its done this weekend in New Jersey.  Cameron Benner was 0.9s off first place in his Cobb Tuning STI.  Not bad for his first time at the track.  This car will be dialed in for Vegas.  Trey Cobb and his 370Z came out strong as well.  We spent some time working on spring rates and valving on the shocks and Trey finished less than a second out of the podium.  Not too shabby on the OEM street tires!

Turn In Concepts, definitely the underdogs in Modified AWD class (competing against the Cobb GTR), put up a valiant effort all weekend.  In Time Attack sessions, Tony W. was only 1.8s off the monster GTR in a STI with AST 4100s.  GTR driver, Brian Lock, and Tony W. put on a GREAT show for the Super Session.  The crowd went wild when Tony was able to keep up with Brian.  Great job by all the teams and the Cobb GTR for putting together a great win and show.

Due to our increases in economies of scale, we have been able to reduce prices on some of our higher volume models. This spreadsheet link now includes retail pricing for all AST products.

AST 4100 Models with reduced prices:

- E36, E46, E90 now $1899 (shocks and springs)
- Subaru GD, GD STI, GR now $1999 (shocks and springs)

AST 4200 Models with lower prices:

-E36 and E46 now $2899

We are currently ramping up inventory on these models.  Call your dealer for more information!

Evo X, Solo2

Check out the video of Chris Fleming’s Evo X MR. This car makes 400 whp. Chris finished 2nd at the National Tour on R888. Not exactly Hoosier A6 grip, but the video looks good. Great view of the suspension moving through its travel

Congrats to our drivers at the SCCA National Tour last weekend held in Mineral Wells, TX.  Jeremy Foley driving a C6 ZO6 took it to Super Stock with a 2.5s overall win for the weekend.  Mark Madarash recently added AST 4100s to his E Street Prepared Firebird to keep his winning streak continuing.  As a testimony to how well they did, Mark and Jeremy placed 1st and 2nd in PAX for the weekend.  When karts and F Mod cars are present, that really says something to have two heavy cars take 1st and 2nd in PAX.  Awesome job!

In 10 classes, AST cars took first or second place and sometimes both!  Way to go drivers!

AST Suspension – USA is sponsoring World Challenge this season with aggressive contingency offers for the drivers in all classes.

One team in particular has jumped in head first with AST and World Challenge.  Hondaworks made its debut at the St. Pete race.  While their main car is not ready to race, Hondaworks brought their well sorted Honda Civic to the race.  The results were spectacular!  The race will be broadcast on VS. April 18th.  Make sure you set your recorder for the 2nd race where Hondaworks driver, Kevin Helms, “hole shot” the big boys going into Turn 1.  He held off the pros for several laps before they were able to get by him.  Kevin’s Civic started out life as a $400 car so to run with the Acuras from RealTime is quite an accomplishment.  Great job Hondaworks!  Look for these guys to be a contender as the season heats up.

Meet Jeremiah, our first contingency winner! A regular among the Texas Region NASA crowd, Jeremiah pulled off some great wins this weekend at Motorsport Ranch – Cresson. We had several winners from this weekend including some TT drivers like Ken Orgeron in his E46 BMW M3 (already on AST 4200s). Great job guys!

Jeremiah will be one of the first to test our Ford Mustang SN95 shocks built for NASA’s CMC (CamaroMustang Challenge) class.