Greetings!

Get ahead of your competitors and get your shocks freshened up for 2011 early.  While the competition sleeps, you’ll be ready to go for the next season!  Through the end of the year we’ll be providing shock rebuild services for HALF off.  Rebuilds through AST USA are $150/shock.  Get your shocks in by December 15th and pay only $75/shock.  Some shops charge up to $300 per shock!

Consider this.  Race teams often inspect their dampers after every weekend.  Most teams do complete rebuilds after a few races.  One track day weekend can be the equivalent (in time spent on the track) to a 2.5h GRAND-AM endurance race.  If you daily drive your car AND spend multiple weekends a year at the track, think about how long you’re going between inspections!  You should have your shocks inspected once a year to insure they are performing at their best.

Why are we doing this?  For 2011, we will be traveling with the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and other professional series.  While most wait until March to get their car ready, our season with GRAND-AM starts November 30th.  We will be time constrained early next year when most customers get their cars ready for the season.  Take advantage of the opportunity to get your dampers serviced early and save some money in the process.

What does the service include?

• New synthetic oil
• New o-rings throughout
• Shims inspected and replaced if damaged
• A run through our parts washer
• Average two week turn around (sometimes less, sometimes more)
• UPS Ground shipping back to you

What doesn’t it include?

• Replacement of shafts, pistons, or casings if damaged
• Removal of miscellaneous suspension components (do not send springs, camber plates, etc.) – dampers only please
• Dyno plots
• Complete revalving of the damper
• Any service other than UPS Ground shipping

How do I send them in?

1. Your RMA Number will be “LAST NAME-RLBD”
2. Fill out this form online http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dC1zdlZ0YVpkeWFTMy1tUEZ1U2JrdXc6MQ
3. Package your shocks neatly and put your RMA number on the outside of the box
4. Send your shocks to:

AST Suspension – USA

6901 K Avenue, Suite 107

Plano, TX 75074

That’s it!  We hope your 2011 turns out to be a good one!

AST Suspension – USA – Camaro Mustang Challenge Sale!

In celebration of Jeremiah Kellam’s recent NASA CMC2 National Championship, CMC2 Mustang (S197 and SN95) kits and 3rd Gen/4th Gen Camaro rear shocks are on sale!  Take advantage of the opportunity to buy direct from AST USA with this sale.  Once we’re sold out, we’re out for the year.

What’s in stock:

Mustang SN95 4100 Shock only package (sold only as 2 struts and 2 shocks) – $1249 (regular price $1598) (4 sets at this price)
Mustang S197 4100 Shock only package (sold only as 2 struts and 2 shocks) – $1249 (regular price $1598) (4 sets at this price)
Camaro Rear shocks 4100 – $599 for 2 shocks (regular price $799) (one set at this price)

Get a jump on 2011 and take advantage of this one time opportunity!

To order, visit our new Close Out section on our shopping cart.  We are not accepting credit cards online at this time, so choose “Check” during the Checkout process.  We will contact you with a final price and shipping information.

Close Out Link

We are also a master wholesale distributor for Swift and Hypercoil.  Let us know if you need springs with your order.  We will quote pricing at that time.

Thanks!

AST Suspension – USA

We will not be shipping stickers out this week for the program.

Vorshlag Motorsports will be there Saturday with stickers.  Find the big red trailer with “Vorshlag” on the side.

Also, AST’s Stuart Maxcy will be there Wednesday with stickers.  He will be running SS 182 in a green Lotus.  Look for him in the pits.

Thanks,

Brian Hanchey

We’ll be adding our own release shortly, but in the meantime, here’s the meat of it here.

AST was out in force this weekend in Texas.  While Stuart worked the SCCA Solo2 Divisional, Brian worked the NASA Regional race.  Without counting we know we got 1st place in Super Stock (AST’s own Stuart Maxcy), D Street Prepared, C Prepared, E Street Prepared, Street Mod, and Street Touring X.  Way to go guys!

NASA ended with 1st places for AST in American Iron, CMC 2, and CMC while Ken Orgeron broke another TT track record.  AST’s own Brian Hanchey took our new test car out for its maiden voyage and wrapped up the one car field of PTB. 

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.