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AST Suspension – USA offers its 2012 Motorsports Contingency programs.  AST has deep roots in motorsports from the amateur level to the pro ranks.  The 2012 contingency programs reflect AST’s commitment to motorsports at every level.  Drivers will be able to earn awards, issued in the form of a certificate to be used toward the purchase of AST suspension products or rebuilding services.

Below is a list of the 2012 Contingency programs by sanctioning body.  Click on the link to view all rules and directions to submit a racer application.

Grand Am – Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
Official Supplier and Contingency Sponsor – GS and ST
http://www.grand-am.com/
Program details

NASA Pro Racing – Regional Events
Contingency Sponsor – AI, AIX, CMC, GTSU, GTS1-5, HC1-5, PTA-F, ST1-2, and TT
http://nasaproracing.com/
Program details

SCCA Solo – National Tour
Contingency Sponsor – All Classes
http://www.scca.com/solo/
Program details

SCCA Solo National Championships, NASA Pro Racing National Championships and SCCA Club Racing Runoff programs will be made available Summer 2012

AST Suspension – USA President, Brian Hanchey said, “ we are excited to provide strong opportunities to subsidize motorsports for our loyal amateur and pro racing customers.”

AST Suspension once again dominated the GS class, taking the top 13 positions and sweeping the podium.  The No. 61 Roush Racing Mustang Boss 302R won followed by the No. 48 Fall-Line Motorsports team and the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports took the final the podium position.

AST Suspension occupied 2 of the 3 podium positions for the in the Street Tuner class.  The No. 31 i-MOTO Mazda Speed 3 took the checkered flag and the No. 81 Bimmerworld BMW 328i took 3^rd place.

Billy Johnson, driver of the No. 61 Roush Racing Mustang lead the final 18 laps of the GS race despite a string of BMW M3s working the draft in the final laps.  Pierre Kleinubing, driver of the No. 31 i-MOTO clinched his first win in the ST class by beating the No. 10 Kinetic Motorsports entry by 0.021 seconds!

Brian Hanchey, President of AST Suspension – USA said, “It’s good to be back at the track.  We had several top teams mention after the race that the shocks made the car ‘the best it has ever been at Daytona’.  I-MOTO’s  team manager, Tom Badger, told us he couldn’t be here (in winner’s circle) without us.  They have struggled to make the car work for the driver’s, but their last two wins definitely changed that.”

GRAND-AM Continental Tire Challenge teams utilizing AST dampers include: Turner Motorsport,
Roush Performance, Stevenson Motorsports, Fall-Line Motorsports, BimmerWorld Racing, Rum Bum Racing, DeMan Motorsport, CKS Autosport, Subaru Road Racing Team, Starworks Motorsport, Mitchum Motorsports, A.M. Performance, i-MOTO, Trade Manage Racing, BGB Motorsports, Doran Racing, Multimatic Motorsports, Dempsey Racing, Rebel Rock Racing, Automatic Racing, Autometrics Motorsports, CJ Wilson Racing, Rehagen Racing, Vehicle Technologies and Compass 360 Racing.

We are having an Inventory Clearance Sale from now until February 15th to sell all remaining AST 4100 and 4200 series dampers located here in the US and in Holland. This is to make way for the new AST 4150 and 4250 series dampers. The clearance price is $200 below the 2011 prices!

The remaining kits mostly include BMW E36, E46, E90; Honda S2000, and Subaru GD.  Some of these are in stock at AST – USA while others are being produced in Holland and will arrive in the next few weeks.

Get in on this deal before they are gone!

Call us or visit one of the AST dealers for more information!

AST Suspension – USA is proud to announce the new AST 4150 Series Damper. The new design builds on the success with the AST 4100 series damper and the recent wins in GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, including new technology developed specifically for GRAND-AM racing teams.

DDP Technology Piston

Our latest digressive piston developed for GRAND-AM gives drivers and race engineers the best of both worlds. Drivers love the low speed damping response and body control, while race engineers love the “blow off” at high shaft velocities. When the rebound adjustment is soft, the damper curve looks similar to an OEM street shock profile. When the rebound adjustment is hard, the damper curve looks like a race shock!

This “Jekyll and Hyde” personality is exactly what AST 4000 Series customers want: soft street ride and race car track performance in ONE shock – all with the turn of a knob!

Lower Drag Seals

High performance seals are a challenge for any damper. They must balance friction and sealing ability while not impacting shock performance and not leaking; a difficult balancing act! While the seal was originally developed for GRAND-AM road racing, AST is taking our knowledge from the track to the street again. Newly redesigned seals decrease hysteresis in the damper and decrease seal drag over 50%.

Discontinuing Steel Shocks

In 2012, most AST 4150s will come with aluminum shock bodies. Strut bodies will continue to be built from steel, but all shocks will switch to aircraft grade aluminum. Economies of scale have allowed us to switch to aluminum without a large increase in cost of manufacture. For some models, this represents a 50% reduction in the weight of the damper (unsprung weight).

Structural Improvements

Several new designs proven in GRAND-AM racing will be added to various products on an “as needed” basis. All strut models will receive a new two piece top guide assembly that separates the dust seal assembly from the oil seal/bearing assembly. This two piece design is stronger in compression loading (bottoming out) and side loading (in the turn). Some models will receive weld-on stabilizer brackets which take the guesswork out of setting the stabilizer height and torque setting of the clamping ring.

Upgradeability

4150s will be upgradeable to 4250s! Using a modular build system, customers can send their shocks to AST at a later date and upgrade from a 1 Way shock to a 2 Way internal reservoir or remote reservoir system. Some models may only upgrade to remote reservoirs. An upgrade matrix will be published in early 2012.

Congrats to Emilio and his team.  He just posted this on our Facebook page!

“Team 949 Racing/SuperMiata wins the Thunderhill 25 hours. The T25 rookie team soldiered through contact, mechanical failures and strong opposition from last years E2 winner to win. We also placed 8th overall, beating the faster E1, E0 and ESR cars.We also took pole position in E2. Thanks to Brian Hanchey and all the crew at AST USA for helping us develop the Xida shocks based on the 5100 platform for our NA and NB Miatas. The systems we ran were standard of the shelf Xidas and performed flawlessly.”

8th overall in an E2 car?  Way to go guys!

Details:

1. Review our rebuild procedure here: http://tinyurl.com/clc83zm
2. Email sales@ast-usa.com or sales@moton-usa.com for an RMA number.
3. Follow the instructions in #1 for shipping.
4. All shocks must be received by December 31, 2011 to be included in the sale.
5. GRAND-AM shocks can be rebuilt as part of the sale, but must follow standard pricing policy (vs. “at race” pricing).
6. 30% discount applies for direct rebuilds or through participating dealers.

Rob and Zsanett are a husband and wife rally duo. Rob drives and Zsanett keeps him from stopping for directions from the passenger seat. Their team name is HAR RACING. HAR is an acronym for Hill Climb and Rally racing. They compete in their 2008 Mitsubishi Evolution X in the All wheel drive (AWD) Open class. This is THE big class with the fastest cars.

Rob and Zsanett rolled up to Mt. Washington in New Hampshire with a grand total of 1 autocross on the car. They would have liked to had more time to shake down the car at a track day or rallycross to test the new engine, pedalbox, brake pads, AST dampers and spring setup, but at least they were at the event with a complete, mechanically sound car.

Day 1 – Friday Practice
On Friday, each of the 75 invitation only teams were able to test their cars on the lower portion of the mountain. HAR RACING finished in 30th place for the day. Rob was happy because the car seemed to run well and handled as expected. It was a confidence building day. In racing, confidence is a MUST before you can start pushing a car on a track…or the side of a winding mountain dirt road.

Day 2 – Saturday Practice
Saturday is usually the day competitors are allowed to practice on the top half of the mountain, but torrential rain kept the course closed. Each time had to count on their 15 mph reconnaissance drive on the course earlier in the week. The teams were allowed to run the lower part of the mountain for a second day. Even in the rain, the added seat time was of great value to Rob and Zsanett. They were able to better their time and move up in the practice results to 2nd in class and 3rd overall!

Day 3 – Sunday Race Day
Sitting at the start line, waiting to start, Rob said he felt really good about how the car was set up and the new confidence and speed they found on Saturday.  The crew also helped by tweaking the suspension setup slightly in preparation for the dry conditions.  REV, REV, REV BOOM!  The EVO launches and tears up the mountain.  Check the video below, you’ll see some nice right 6s, left 5s, right 4s into tight 3s (rally speak for how fast and/or tight the next turn is – also note the 7.21 mark – FOG!). Things were going great on the bottom of the mountain, but as the Evo climbed in elevation, they reached the clouds.  At one point, the fog was so thick, the course notes were rendered useless and they had to drop down to 2nd and 3rd gear speeds and drive by sight.  They finished their first run in 1st place in the AWD Rally-1 class!

Their second run lengthened their lead when they cut approximately 25 seconds off their time to clinch the AWD Rally-1 class WIN!

AST Suspension Setup
The HAR RACING team sported some AST 5300 rally spec dampers.  These coilovers are similar to the road race offering, but offer a more robust construction to handle the abuse of rally.

More information on HAR RACING

AST Suspension – USA closes the book on their first season as a damper supplier for the GRAND AM Continental Tire Challenge Series.  The first season was a huge success, here are the season results, by the numbers.

By the Numbers

27 – of 30 Podium spots won by teams using AST Suspension in the Grand Sport (GS) class

9 – out of 10 races were won by cars on AST Suspension in the Grand Sport class

15 – the number of drivers finishing in the top 20 in the final championship results for the Grand Sport class.

10 – the number of teams running AST Suspension  in the top 15  in the final championship results for the Grand Sport class

96 – the car number of the championship winning Turner Motorsport BMW M3

2 - the final championship finishing position of the Compass360 team  in the Street Tuner class

Overall, the first season of support to the GRAND AM teams has been a great success.  The data and testing alone from working with 16 professional race teams has been extremely valuable.  This real world race knowledge helps AST Suspension continue to lead with innovation for street, track and race applications.

To learn more about AST Suspension’s involvement in the 2011 GRAND AM Continental Tire Challenge Series, watch our video produced by GRAND AM.

The final round of the 2011 GRAND AM Continental Tire Challenge ended at Mid Ohio. By the end of the race, a drivers and teams were crowned as champions for the 2011 season in the Grand Sport (GS)and Street Tuner (ST) classes. Teams utilizing AST Suspension swept the top 3 finishing positions in each class.

Teams utilizing AST Suspension once again dominated the Grand Sport class, taking the top 6 positions. The No. 13 Rum Bum Racing M3 won followed by the No. 61 Roush Performance team and the No. 48 Fall-Line Motorsports team rounded out the podium position. Fall-Line Motorsports had two more cars finish in 4th and 5th place and the 2011 Continental Tire Challenge Series Champion, Paul Dalla Lana in the Turner Motorsports BMW M3 finished in 6th. This is Dalla Lana’s 3rd year racing in the GRAND AM Continental Tire Challenge and his first championship.

AST Suspension swept the podium for the first time in the Street Tuner class this season. More teams have migrated to AST suspension in the ST class as the season progressed. The No. 31 i-MOTO Mazda Speed 3 took the checkered flag, followed by the No. 14 Doran Racing BMW 128i and the No. 32 i-MOTO Mazda Speed 3.

At the end of the season, teams running AST Suspension filled 8 of the top 10 final positions in the GS class and the Compass 360 team took second in the ST class. Brian Hanchey, President of AST Suspension – USA said, “we are overwhelmingly pleased to have such instant success on the track throughout the 2011 season. It has been a tremendous learning experience to work with all the teams running on AST this season. I’d like to congratulate Paul and the Turner Motorsports team on their championship and all our teams for running hard. Next year is going to be fun.”

Top GS Season Finishing Positions for 2011 on AST:

1st – No. 96 Turner Motorsports BMW M3
2nd – No. 61 Roush Performance Ford Mustang
3rd – No. 13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3
4th – No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3
5th – No. 48 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3
7th – No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
8th (tied) – No. 45 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3
10th – No. 97 Turner Motorsports BMW M3

Top ST Season Finishing Positions for 2011 on AST:

2nd – No. 75 Compass360 Honda Civic
8th – No. 14 Doran Racing BMW 128i
10th – No. 31 i-MOTO Racing Mazda Speed 3
11th – No. 32 i-MOTO Racing Mazda Speed 3

Once a year, the best autocrossers in North America descend upon the Midwest to compete for the honor to be called a National Champion.  AST Suspension – USA has been supporting many of these champions and this year was another successful year.

In most cases, AST dampers won’t fit with stock location springs.  Instead, AST dampers must be paired with either 2.5″, 2.25″ or 60mm  race style springs (ie-Swift, Eibach ERS, Hyperco, etc.).  This means that you won’t find AST Suspension on many stock class cars.  Off the shelf Koni and Bilstein shocks are mainly run in these classes.  This leaves the street prepared, prepared, modified, street touring and street modified classes for competitors to run AST dampers.

So, who finished at or around the top? (if we missed you, email Brian and we’ll get you listed)

Christy Carlson – 1st in STUL

Mark Madarash – 1st in ESP

Ron Bauer – 2nd in DP

Matthew Braun – 1st in SS

Wayne Atkins – 5th in ST, 0.7s back out of first on AST 4100s

Max Hayter – 5th in STR (highest placing MX-5, 0.16s out of first!)

Todd Farris – 1st in CP

Jeff Stroh – 2nd in CP

Mike Simanyi – 2nd in SM (0.093s out of 1st!)

Chris Robbins – 4th in CSP

For those of you that have been to the Solo Nationals, it is a huge accomplishment to place  in ANY class.

Moton Motorsports Success Story

Matthew Braun had an up and down year until Nationals, losing 4 out of 5 national tour events in Super Stock (SS).  He sent us his shocks in August looking for more rebound.  He overnighted his shocks to us on a Monday, needing them by Thursday.  Due to weather, his shipment didn’t arrive in Plano, TX until noon on Wednesday!  We dynoed the shocks, tried 2-3 valving combinations and got them back out the door by Wednesday afternoon and overnighted the shocks back so he could install them on Thursday and test them on a Friday.  The results speak for themselves.  He took SS by 1.4 seconds

AST 5200 Success Story

Last year, Todd Farris went to Nationals on brand new ASTs with zero minutes of testing.  The car wasn’t great out of the box.  We did several revalves that didn’t seem to help.  So, since we were closeby, we drove down to College Station to test with him in May and decided he needed some adjustments to the installation.  AST Suspension – USA president, Brian Hanchey drove the car as well and nothing really felt right.  The shocks weren’t doing their job and didn’t seem to respond in the way they should.   Finally, we came to the conclusion that the front shocks were bottoming out mid corner.  He fixed the mounting points and the car dropped major time.  Todd and his co-driver Jeff Stroh drove to a 1-2 finish in C Prepared.

Congratulations to all the AST and Moton drivers at the 2011 SCCA Solo Nationals.