KSport USA | Blog

Ksport Blog has relocated!

2010-02-15T10:44:00.001-07:00

We've moved our blog over to http://ksportusa.com/blog/. You should be redirected shortly. If not, click the link.

Thanks.

Tage at Super Lap Battle 09 - UPDATE!

2009-12-01T10:35:00.003-07:00

We've finally gotten our hands on the final 1080p HD version of Tage Evansons footage from the Super Lap Battle. This was filmed with one of our GoPro Motorsports Hero cameras.

Tage ran a best lap time of 1:53.002, which put him at number eleven of 51 total drivers. Evanson runs in the Unlimited FF class, and his 1:53.002 time makes him the 2nd fastest car in his class. Christian Rado of WORLD Racing managed to hold a 3.299 lead over the HASport/Ksport Civic hatchback.

Ksport is working with HASport Performance and Tage Evanson to produce an even faster combination for next year. In addition to Evansons EG hatchback, Ksport will be campaigning a new car for next season. We won't tell you just what it is quite yet, but it's unique.

2009-11-30T14:57:00.002-07:00

Local rally driver, Mark Jennings-Bates will be sitting next to a new face in the co-drivers
seat at the Big White Winter Rally and Snow Cross presented by Valley Mitsubishi on
December 5th and 6th. That is because his regular co-driver, Jennifer Daly is the
organiser of this event, a first for Kelowna and Big White.
Partnering Jennings-Bates at this event will be John Hall, a very experienced co-driver
and Edmonton native. “John has a wealth of experience that should stand us in good
stead. Unusually, it will be a very level playing field for all competitors because these
stages have never been run before. Being a snow rally, it is likely to be very fast but
also technical, a small mistake can lead to an expensive repair bill” commented
Jennings-Bates.
Daly has spent the past several months working with local authorities and Big White
who have been very welcoming hosts to put together an event in the Western Canada
Rally Association calendar that will be the only true snow rally of the year.
While Jennings-Bates and his fellow competitors are competing on closed forest stage
roads which will have some access for spectator viewing, the general public can also
enter the annual Big White Snow Cross event which is a timed event on an open course
marked by cones and needs very little safety gear to compete in. “This type of an event
is a great feeder for the rally series” stated Jennings-Bates, adding “the public can really
see what it feels like to drive technical road conditions in their daily driver without fear of
harm to themselves or their car.”
Information about the event can be found at http://okanaganrally.wordpress.com/ where
spectators and potential competitors can access all of the necessary information.
Joining Jennings-Bates’s Prescribed Burn Rally Team again will be the Valley Mitsubishi
sponsored vehicle of Craig Ross a local competitor who will be entering this as his
second event after a strong finish in Merritt in October at Pacific Forest Rally. Fans can
see the action up close and personal at the Happy Valley parking area on the Saturday
and Sunday or in the forest stages on the Saturday.
On Sunday, Jennings-Bates will be displaying his car in the Village at Big White and
signing autographs and talking about his upcoming fund raising program and entry into
the 2011 Dakar Rally with Team Bowller Offroad and Rally4Life.

The Prescribed Burn Rally team is based in British Columbia's Okanagan valley. Driver
Mark Jennings-Bates and co-driver Jennifer Daly compete in an open class Subaru
WRX STi, supported by service chief Dave Hood and a team of local volunteers. For
2009 the Prescribed Burn Team will be running the entire Western Canadian Rally
series, as well as select Canadian National and Rally America events.

Overall Recap for NASA Time Trial Nationals 2009

2009-11-20T10:03:00.003-07:00

Just to clarify for everyone, here's what happened at the NASA Nationals event at Miller Motorsports Park on September 16th, 2009...

Ksport had drivers from 3 Classes in 2 Groups representing us and our products at the event, and all 3 did very well. In the TTC Class, Brady Dohrmann in his BMW M3 from Mesa, Arizona put down a 2:11.348 Lap, securing 2nd Place for the weekend. Dohrmann was about 7/10ths of a second faster than a Lotus Elise, and almost 3.5 seconds faster than Scion tC. Ian Stewart, in his Mini Cooper S managed to outdo Brady by a slim half-second. Another Arizona driver, Tage Evanson, managed to work his 1995 Honda Civic around Miller in a scant 2:03.031, beating out a slew of Rear-wheel and All-wheel driven vehicles. Evos, STis, 2 Corvettes, an RX7, BMW, and a Porsche all fell prey to Casper, the white EG Honda Civic. As the only Front Wheel Drive vehicle in sight, Evanson managed to impress every driver in his class, including the 2 Corvettes that managed to escape his wrath. Kenneth Smith and Geffrey Sawtelle ran their 'vettes around Miller .038 and .533 faster than Tage, respectively. Oh, and by the way- Tage is VERY close to beating Chris Rados FWD Lap Record at Buttonwillow. If he does it, he'll be the fastest Front Wheel Drive to ever hit that track. Very impressive for a guy who only does this part-time, without huge corporate sponsorships.

The star of the show however was Joe Ippolito of Cummings, Georgia. Joe has been rocking the Southeast Region in NASA and other events with his 2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R for the past few years now, and this year was an awesome one for Joe and his team. Of the 7 tracks in the Southeast Region, Joe holds 3 track records for his class. Now, to some, that in itself may not be that impressive. Take into account the fact that Joe is still running a Normally Aspirated 4 Cylinder QR25DE engine in a sedan with basic bolt-ons and street suspension, and things start to come hurtling into perspective rather quickly. Almost as quickly as his Miller Motorsports Park lap time, which for the record was 2:17.990. That's 2.22 seconds faster than his nearest opponent! That's the biggest gap between a 1st and 2nd place in ALL of Group G for the 2009 Nationals!

Ok, so I mentioned that Joe is still on street suspension, right? He and Tage are both running Ksport Kontrol Pro coilovers with custom spring rates. Anybody could order the EXACT same setup. No custom valving, no high-end inverted shocks or remote reservoirs. Keep that in mind when you think about the track on your Kontrol Pros!

If you're interested in custom spring rates for your Ksport Damper System, please call us at 480 829 8100, or email info@ksportusa.com to find out more!

Bugatti Veyron into a lake

2009-11-16T10:38:00.002-07:00

I'm sure by now, everyone's seen or at least heard of that guy in Texas who drove his Bugatti Veyron into a salt marsh. Well, here's a video that some guys got off the actual crash. What're the odds of that?

I laughed at the "I'm pretty sure that's a Lambo" comment, especially since the dude had JUST said "That'll be mine some day." Looks like he's looking to spend an exhorbinant amount of cash on an unknown car.

Video!

Jason Jiovani update

2009-11-13T13:24:00.002-07:00

We've just received a couple of videos from one of our sponsored drivers, Jason Jiovani.

Here's a montage of Jason and some other drivers, at various events.

Nexen Tires - Bliss Frenzy from Jason Jiovani on Vimeo.

And, here's a shorter video of Jason in Aruba for his first international competition. I'm diggin' the 360's in this one!

Drifting Aruba with Jason Jiovani from Jason Jiovani on Vimeo.

Home Depot Lip?

2009-11-12T15:06:00.002-07:00

Have you guys seen that crazy trend, the "Home Depot Lip?" For those who haven't, it's literally a piece of plastic from the gardening section at your local hardware store, and some self-tapping screws. It's that plastic you see separating gravel/wood chips/sand/etc from the grass...

Well, now all the people who love it have even more reason to. It's been used on the "Natty Dread" Porsche 993 built by Nakai-san of Rauh Welt. Rauh Welt is a Japanese body shop located in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo Japan.

Personally, the fact that this DIY lip is now going to be touted as the newest JDM mod kind of sickens me.

Oh well.

Joe Ippolito and his SE-R

2009-11-12T09:21:00.005-07:00

One of the many great drivers we're proud to work with, Joe Ippolito, has done it again!

This time it's more than just track records, it's even bigger than a class record. Joe has gone home with the NASA National Championship Title! Ippolito and the SE-R made it around the Miller Outer Course in a mere 2:17.990, to grab the win at Nationals. Not only was Joe the fastest in TTE, but he was also faster than any car from the TTB, C, D, and TTF classes! When asked about how the weekend went, Joe had the following to say: "We beat out some much faster cars than ours and overcame a lot of protesting by the officials but we were always in spec. We even put down 179whp @ 5000ft. 5hp below our max for our car (hp v weight ratio). 2nd place was 2 seconds behind us, with our track record of 2.17.9. " Sounds like Joe had a good season!

Joe runs his 2002 Nissan Sentra Spec V in the NASA TTE Class. Starting with our basic Kontrol Pro kit, Joe and his mechanic Justin have swapped springs for a custom spring rate that allows them to keep the car planted. The man behind setup and tuing, Justin, is certain that Joe can keep him on his toes, "Joe pushes the car past the limits as it sits, he can probably push the limits of whatever I throw into the mix, and that just pushes the whole project forward." Joe and Justin definitely did a great job this season, setting track records at 3 of the 6 tracks in the Southeast Division of NASA Time Trials. By putting down scorching lap times (as fast as 1:26.98 at Carolina Motorsports Classic Full Course) and attending every possible event, Ippolito has secured himself the #1 Spot in his region, with a nearly 500 point lead over the 2nd place driver. We're working with Joe to get him some big brakes and RR Dampers for next season so keep your eyes on Joe, Justin, and the silver Spec V!

ILLTech Auto Salon Shop Profile in Performance Biz Mag

2009-11-11T12:14:00.002-07:00

We just received the December issue of Performance Business and it looks like they've done a Shop Profile on our friends over at ILLTech Auto Salon. Check it out at Performance Business Magazine

Volkswagen Becomes #1 Car Maker; Toyota may be struggling

2009-11-11T09:02:00.003-07:00

Just read over at the Autoblog that Volkswagen is now officially the Worlds Largest Car Manufacturer. VW and Porsche are one entity, so I guess we should say VW/Porsche is the largest car maker. VW/Porsche have sold a combined 4.4 Million Vehicles worldwide, where Toyota has only hit the 4 Million mark. Still not too shabby. Either way, looks like Toyota's struggling. First they cut production last year, then shut down their factories in February. A week ago today they completely pulled out of Formula 1. Now they've been passed up by VW for the #1 spot. Throw in the fact that they're having issues with their throttle-by-wire systems, and this isn't looking great for Toyota.

Creative Commons-esque Desert Romper!

2009-11-06T11:30:00.002-07:00

Check out Jalopnik for the their full article on the new Rally Fighter, a desert truck designed and built by the Local Motors Community.

This is really cool. You even get to go help build your new ride after you purchase it!
The majority of parts are sourced through the big-name automakers. Honda Civic taillights, BMW powertrain, Miata door handles... It all comes together to make this bad little buggy type truck.

And for $50k, if it performs well off-road this could become a contender for the big desert rallies, like Baja and Dakar.

http://jalopnik.com/5398864/local-motors-rally-fighter-the-first+ever-creative-commons-car

http://local-motors.com/

Arizona Honda Tuners Annual Sedona Run 2009

2009-10-30T09:24:00.017-07:00

A few of us from KSport USA decided to join the members of azht.net for their annual cruise to Sedona, AZ. Sedona is a beautiful little city located about 2 hours north of Phoenix, surrounded by red rocks and green trees.
On our way up the mountains, the KSport Camera Car (KSport Shipping Manager Jose Barrazas daily driver Altima) was busy snapping pictures of everyone as we passed them, or were passed by them. With over 700 images captured, I'm sure there's at least one good shot on my memory cards. Somewhere between Phoenix and Sedona, we passed a pristine 1965 Rolls Royce. Of course I got a few shots of the Rolls with some Hondas!

Every year, AZHT members meet in N. Phoenix, and caravan to Sedona. Previous years were strictly Honda/Acura only, but this year the invitation was extended to any and all car enthusiasts. Everything from Civic Wagovans, to Evos, and even a few VIP-Styled Lexus' showed up. Once in Sedona, everyone meets at the same park to show their cars, BBQ, and play a little soccer. This year was no different, until the Sedona Police Department showed up. Apparently, what we were all celebrating, they weren't too happy about. 2009 was the biggest Sedona Run ever for AZHT, totaling over 250 cars. Most cars had 2, some cars had 3 people so you can imagine the sheer volume of people that had descended upon this small community. The Department of Parks and Recreation, in fear of a lawsuit, decided that we were too large of a group for ANY park in Sedona, and we were asked to leave. One of the officers did us a favor, though, by calling a neighboring city and asking their police department if they would allow us. Sure enough, the City of Cottonwood was willing to risk having droves of Import car enthusiasts roaming their streets. So, off we went to Cottonwood.

Most people left before the new meeting spot was announced, or decided to just head home, which made the Cottonwood meet much smaller. We went from over 250 cars, to under 40. This was okay though, because it made for a much smaller, more organized group of people. The Cottonwood meet took place in a parking lot adjacent to a community skate park, and as soon as all the cars showed up kids came over to check things out. One of the kids asked me if I knew "why everybody came here all of a sudden?", to which I replied it's a car club and we drove up here from Phoenix. He couldn't have been older than 12 0r 13, and clearly didn't understand why we would do such a boring, lame, thing because he then asked the ultimate question... "Why?" I tried explaining it again, but ultimately I told him "because we had nothing better to do today." which he was quite pleased to hear. I could see that he and his friends wanted to go look, but weren't sure if they were allowed. Everyone assured them it was ok, and shortly after we had kids ranging from 10 to 16 rolling around on skateboards and bicycles within our group. An AZHT member actually grabbed a skateboard out of the back of an EF hatch and hit the bowls and boxes with the kids.
After about an hour, the ice cream man came through to work the skater kids out of their allowance. I'm sure when that white van with the generator hangin' off the back rounded the corner, it was like winning the lottery. Before they knew it, there was a large group of adults and children waiting for ice cream. I personally got hustled by a child from the skate park, who claimed to have gone to 3rd Grade with me. He was probably still in 3rd grade, which I kindly pointed out, but that didn't stop him. He also claimed that we were best friends. I met him half-way by asking him to do a kickflip for some ice cream. These kids gotta learn how to work for their money!

After enjoying our ice cream, and being attacked by a ravenous swarm of bees, we headed out of Cottonwood towards Jerome. (Ok, so it was one bee.... but still, it's scary.) Shortly after leaving the skate park, a Nissan GTR joined our group out of nowhere, gave us a little fly-by, played with a turbo CRX, and then ran away when the Supra wanted a turn. Jerome is an awesome little place, full of history and probably a few ghosts. Once a mining town, Jerome is now a tourist destination comprised mainly of original Wild West Era buildings, a few bars, and lots of art. It also happens to be in a canyon, which means some of the most exciting roads in Arizona. Our caravan consisted of a Honda S2000 (Owned and driven by Jeremy, of UMS Tuning), an NSX (Owned and driven by Nick, of KSport USA), the Almighty Altima, a Toyota Celica All-Trac, 3 EG Honda Civics (All set-up for NASA Road Racing), and a 700+ WHP Supra.

As you could guess, the Supra couldn't keep up in the twisties, the NSX stayed up front, and surprisingly the Altima didn't do too bad. I couldn't help but get giddy each time I heard the All-Tracs Blow Off Valve. Not sure what his setup is, but it was one of the best sounding BOV's I've heard on a 4 cylinder. Of course, once we hit the level ground of the Arizona desert, the Supra had to stretch its legs and spool up that big turbo a little bit. The ride back into Phoenix was a relaxing way to end an action-packed day, and allowed me plenty of time to remind Jose to either swap his spring rates back to the recommended springs, or turn his damping down.

All the pictures are available via our jAlbum

Jason Jiovani Tests Slide Kontrols

2009-10-28T12:32:00.002-07:00

One of the many professional and amateur drivers sponsored by KSport USA, Jason Jiovani has proven himself to be a rising star in the drift scene. Hailing from Largo, Florida, USA and currently holding a Florida Drift Championship License, and a D1 Provisional License, Jason will be attempting to acquire his Formula D License this year.

Jason Jiovani has been involved in competitive drifting since 2006, as a participant and as on official.

KSport USA recently sent Jason a set of our SlideKontrol Dampers as well as our Universal Hydraulic Handbrake, which he was just able to test this past weekend. Jason had several nice things to say of the Slide Kontrols based on his limited testing. "The car drove amazing! It felt very predictable and was really able to hang it out really nicely" said Jason, after his first night on the new KSport Slide Kontrol Damper System. Jason added that "The small track proved quite a challenge to connect, but with the control I felt on the K Sports, after 3 runs I was dominating the course." Because of the confidence granted by the Slide Kontrols, Jason decided to let a newer join him on the small course for a tandem run, which can be seen below, via YouTube.

We look forward to seeing what sort of insanity Jason can brew up on a bigger track!

KSport "Test & Tune" at Buttonwillow becomes another success story!

2009-10-14T16:42:00.006-07:00

KSport "Test & Tune" at Buttonwillow becomes another success story!

On Oct 10th & 11th, team KSport headed out for a low key "test & tune" event with the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) So Cal region this past weekend and they definitely got the job done. It just so happened that the NASA So Cal event was running the same configuration that is used for the Super Lap Battle (SLB) Finals. The goal of the event was simply to shake down the car after some minor changes in preparation of the big event but the team ended up with much more success than initially planned.

KSport's weapon of choice for the SLB this year will be a 95 Honda Civic piloted by the up and coming and very capable Time Attack driver Tage Evanson. Three out of the four sessions on Saturday were filled with car issues, but once resolved, the Civic managed a 1:56.4 on the low boost tune which actually ended up beating the previous NASA So Cal track record! This caused quite a stir in the paddock as the class (TTS) had well over half a dozen drivers in the class and they were all amazed and in disbelief at what the car was capable of. Come to find out the car was down on power and had corded front tires when that lap was set!

The next day, the Civic had a different set of used tires mounted up and the ECU was programmed with the higher power tune which is good for approximately 300WHP. The KSport Civic ripped off a 1:53.2 second time on the first lap and in traffic! Satisfied with the setup of the car, KSport was ready to head back home to Phoenix. However, they quickly learned that the NASA track record for the class (TTU) was good enough for that track record as well. The team decided to stay for the second session and see if they could muster a faster time yet. Track conditions were not as optimal (dusty, air temp too hot, etc.) as the morning session, but the Civic still managed a 1:52.8 on it's 2nd lap. This beat the previous track record by nearly 2.5 seconds!!!

NOTE: The car is still legal for TTU @ 460WHP. Imagine what kind of times the KSport Civic could have done with an additional 160 WHP???

In 2006 and with an unlimited budget, the GM Performance Division set the fastest FF time ever recorded with their 1,300 lbs all carbon fiber 400+WHP Chevy Cobalt. It is believed to be the fastest FF car on the planet with a time of 1:51.3 at Buttonwillow's CW #13 configuration. When the KSport Civic returns to Buttonwillow next month, it will have fresh tires, cooler weather and even more power. Will it be enough to make up an additional 1.5 seconds? Could the KSport Civic end up becoming the fastest FF car on the planet? Stay tuned to find out!

Most importantly, let's not forget that this little Honda Civic is currently using an off the shelf KSport Kontrol Pro damper kit! Many companies will "claim" in their advertisements about how their coilover kits are the best. Apparently, KSport doesn't need to...

KSport and Jason Jiovani

2009-10-08T10:30:00.002-07:00

KSport USA would like to announce a new partnership with a rising talent in the drift scene, Jason Jiovani. Jason has been making a name for himself in the National Sport Compact Racing Association, as well as NOPI, and other Drift circuits. Here's what he had to say on his blog, Jiovani on The Job:

"I'd like to give a BIG thank you to K Sport for joining the team and helping me in my young career. I look forward to driving on these Slide Kontrol coilovers and that first pull on the new handbrake!"

Keep your eyes on Jason and his S13 Nissan 240SX, as I'm sure his trophy collection will be growing.

KSport Persona for Firefox

2009-09-28T10:27:00.010-07:00

I recently heard about these things called Personas for Firefox. In case you don't know about Firefox, it's a great alternative to Internet Explorer. I won't get into all the technical reasons in this post but here's the basics. Firefox is safer, faster, and open-source. In addition to that, Firefox has tons of cool add-ons and plug-ins created by both Mozilla Labs and a huge community of users.
One of these cool add-ons is called Personas, and it's from Mozilla Labs. Personas allows you to create and apply different themes for your Firefox browser, and makes it almost too simple. You can do change your theme as often as you want, with just a few mouse clicks.
The cool thing about Personas is that you can create your own, so long as you have the legal right to any images you use. I went ahead and created a few for KSport. Actually, I'm not gonna lie, I created one for KSport. But I did do a few different colors ( :

Anyway, the blue KSport USA persona is available as I type this, with the others being reviewed by Mozilla Labs right now.

Here's the link to install the Personas add-on.
and here's the Persona

Price sheets, new building, and Need For Speed

2009-09-22T10:53:00.003-07:00

Today's another fine day in Arizona. Finer than usual, in fact. Nice breeze, low temperatures.

I just installed the Need For Speed SHIFT demo, and can't wait to build my KSport car!
Yes, boys and girls, KSport is featured in the new Need For Speed game.

Got some new painters here, scoping out the door frames. Apparently you can't use latex paint on metal doors/frames. Who knew?

I want out of this cubicle and into my office!

While I'm trapped in the cubicle, I've been consistently adding new applications to our price sheets and the website. Keep your eyes peeled for a slew of new Air Suspension systems, as well as ProComp Big Brake Kits.

Team KSport kills NASA Nationals

2009-09-18T14:39:00.009-07:00

Team Ksport kills NASA
Written by Tage Evanson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 18 2009

If you missed the last press release (Find it here) it basically proved that the most basic KSport Kontrol Pro coilover kit for the Honda Civic is not only a class winning combination, but it appears to be far more competitive than most would tend to believe possible.

Fast forward to the premier event of the year and the pinnacle of amature road racing, the NASA Nationals at Miller Motorsports Park. Top amature and even professional drivers from around the country gather for four days of the most intense circuit competition around. Only the baddest, most extreme machinery on the planet dare come to the NASA Nationals. If you're driving a car with anything less than what the limit of the class rules allow, you might as well simply stay at home because you're going to embarass yourself. Looking at the class lineup in TTS there were 12 cars. A full race AMS sponsored Evo MR, Subaru STi, Race Technik sponsored Porsche GT3, BMW M3, a slew of C5 Corvette Z06's (including a $100K+ World Challenge race car!) a C6 Corvette and one wicked Mustang to round out the field. Oh and let's not forget about the silly little Honda Civic sitting on an off the shelf KSport Kontrol Pro coilover kit. The same kit that thousands of street and strip enthusiastic have already purchased and are running on their cars! ;-)

Prior to the competition, the TTS drivers were checking out each others cars in the paddock and team KSport caught several competitors snickering why the little Honda would bother coming out to play with the big boys. That snickering quickly came to a stop when the first competition round was completed and the results were posted. The KSport Civic posted the 3rd quickest time. Driver Tage Evanson had never driven on the very fast Miller Motorsports Park 3.0 mile circuit so there was definitely room for improvement as he became more familiar with the track and found the quick line around the track. As expected, with every successive session the KSport Civic closed the gap more and more from the leader. On day three (out of four) of the competition, Tage Evanson set the fastest NASA TTS time ever posted at MMP's 3.0 mile configuration posting a 2:03.031 which was half a second quicker than anyone else, ever! On the last session on Saturday, Tage was still in the lead as no competitors could touch that time.

NOTE: For the past 3 years, the NASA Time Trial Nationals have only been a 3 day competition. 2009 was the 1st year that Time Trial was extended to a 4 day competition allowing competitors 2 additional sessions to post their fastest times. Under last years rules, the KSport Civic would have won.
Unfortunately, Sunday morning the weather did not cooperate for team KSport. There was a strong headwind and the majority of Time Trial competitors (across all clases) were all posting an average of 2 second slower lap times. Team KSport drove as hard as they could and the coilovers performed flawlessly and allowed some beautiful easily controlable 4 wheel drifts (in a FWD car to boot!) but the effort was still not enough to improve over Saturday's time.

You don't need to have a Ph.D in aerodynamics to realize that the C5 Chevy Corvette Z06 has less drag and is more aerodynamic than a Honda Civic so they were less impacted by the headwind, not to mention they have a ton more power to blast their way through the wind. NASA Officials later confirmed that the two previous top Corvette drivers were "sweating bullets" on Sunday morning but somehow managed to find just enough time to squeak past and take the win. While 3rd place isn't bad, it's actually REALLY impressive when you consider the following:

#1 - The Kontrol Pro Damper System on this Civic is the most entry level basic kit you can buy. Certainly the RR kit with stiffer springs would have likely crushed the competition.

#2 - 1st place ended up with a margin of victory of .533 seconds ahead which is extremely close on a 3.0 mile track! Then 2nd place was missed by a scant .038 seconds! Talk about a photo finish!

#3 - While the KSport Civic is pretty extreme as far as Civic's go, it's still got a lot of development remaining before it's fully optimized for the NASA TTS class. Clearly the KSport Civic was the underdog for the class and the best part about the results was that by the end of the competition, drivers across all classes were checking out the car and offering handshakes with genuine respect and still in disbelief that a Civic could even get remotely close to winning.

The KSport Civic will return looking for revenge in 2010, but for the time being, it's time to get to work on the car preparing it for the 2009 Super Lap Battle. The Civic will be competiting in the FWD Unlimited class going up against the likely overdog, Chris Rado and his wicked Scion TC. They will also be seeing if they can make history by beating the GM Cobalt's record breaking time set back in 2006 and has since remain uncontested.
Can Tage Evanson and the KSport Civic do it with just a Kontrol Pro kit? Stay tuned to find out! :-)

Editors Note: As promised, here's a teaser of the images that Steven Cabana captured at the track. More to come!

Click for larger image

I love this shot, showing Tage in the foreground with the 'Vette bringin' up the rear. Good driving from Mr. Evanson, and great pictures from Steven Cabana.
Check him out at Head-On Photos -Matt

KSport USA announces Nissan Cube Damper Systems

2009-09-18T12:59:00.012-07:00

KSport Introduces Nissan Cube Damper Systems

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 18 2009

KSport USA is pleased to announce the release of their 2010-Model Kontrol Pro and GT Pro Damper Systems for the Nissan Cube. The Nissan Cube is a Mini-MPV which is currently being produced for the North American and Japanese Domestic Markets, and is planned for release across Europe.

The 2010 Kontrol Pro and GT Pro Damper Systems for the Nissan Cube include all of the features one would expect of KSport coilovers, including quality and flexible performance. The recently improved Electro-plated shock body, Pillowball Upper Mounts in the front, rear Aluminum Top Mounts, as well as the increased strut body diameter and a color change all come together to complete the performance and aesthetics people have become accustomed to when using KSport Damper Systems. The recently improved shock electro-plating means the KSport Damper Systems last through the elements. Whether road grime, water, mud, or sand and dirt, KSport Damper Systems are engineered to overcome the abuse seen by both track and street cars. The aluminum rear mounts allow for a lightweight, yet durable and solid strut mounting point. KSports patented Pillow Ball Upper Mounts, which are found on the front struts for the Nissan Cube Damper Systems allow for increased adjustability, and are more durable than stock shock mounts. KSport has also changed the color of their shock bodies from the previous silver finish to a more subtle gloss black.

Since many Cube owners will likely be seeking an extremely low ride height, many end users will be taking advantage of KSports adjustable lower mount in order to achieve an aggressive stance for their vehicle. By using an adjustable lower shock mount, KSport Dampers allow independent adjustment of both ride height and spring pre-load. This has multiple advantages, including increased shock longevity as well as improved tuning of suspension systems. By allowing independent adjustment of both spring pre-load as well as ride height, the shock is able to retain full travel while the vehicle can be raised or lowered to the vehicle owners’ specifications. In addition to a wide range of ride height adjustability, KSport Damper Systems feature 36 levels of damping adjustment. With these three easy to make adjustments, KSport Damper Systems have nearly unlimited configuration possibilities.

Click for larger images.

Nissan Cube on KSport Kontrol Pros

KSport USA to Move Headquarters

2009-09-08T14:39:00.003-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ksport to Move Headquarters

9/8/08

Autoline Industries and Ksport USA are proud to announce the relocation of their world headquarters to a new, larger facility in Gilbert, Arizona. The relocation of Ksport’s headquarters comes after a record-breaking year in sales, product introductions, racing success and increased employee headcount, thus demanding the extra needed space. The new facility will bring Ksport USA’s total footprint up to 25,000 square feet – a much needed increase in space to accommodate the extraordinary workflow, inventory movement and product development.
Previous to now, Ksport USA has performed much of the product development overseas and in California, in addition to the current headquarters in Phoenix, AZ. “We’re trying to develop our domestic (USA) products in the actual market, or within the United States. That extra local development requires additional space for shock dynamometers, test vehicles, race cars, tools, jigs and so forth. Having more space to expand our engineering and test operations will make Ksport’s development process more efficient, provide higher quality and allow us to deliver new applications much sooner”, according to Nick Jackson, CEO of Ksport USA. Added to the development space, Ksport claims the newer facility will accommodate their assembly line style format for shipping and receiving, therefore helping with demanding delivery schedules both domestically and internationally.
With the initial phase of the move and building updates already in the works, Ksport USA plans to be fully acclimated to the new facility by September 21st, 2009. “We had to implement a very structured and very strict schedule for moving our employees, inventory and accessories in an effort to keep the workflow and day to day business operations going well. No business transactions will be affected during the process due to a lot of advanced planning”, said Jackson. Ksport plans to have an elaborate opening celebration once the move is finished, complete with several guests, demo vehicles and even a visit from the FedEX NASCAR team. Stay tuned for more details and contact info@ksportusa.com with any questions or comments.
Our new address, as of September 14 2009, will be as follows:

Autoline Industries
115 N. Sunway Dr
Gilbert AZ 85233

Industry Track Day

2009-08-31T09:54:00.001-07:00

So, this weekend KSport headed out of the dry Arizona desert towards California, for the Industry Track Day at Streets of Willow.

Less than 10 minutes after the crews first tweet, catastrophe struck. Oh, but it gets better! With the turbocharged Right-hand drive Honda Integra Type-R stranded in the Sonora Desert, things weren't looking great.

Of course, you can't keep the KSport guys down and by 8 am, Streets of Willow was about to meet its match. By the end of the day, KSport had sealed their spot as the fastest car on the track. Not bad considering it was a brand new track for us!

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported us, as well as our competitors.
Oh, and apparently, the UMS guys are a bit of exhibitionists.

Oscars BMW M3

2009-08-25T13:48:00.002-07:00

Oscars E46 BMW M3 on KSport Kontrol Pros and KSport Big Brakes at the track. Enjoy.

KSport Rally Dampers Rule

2009-08-21T14:41:00.005-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zueOmPu7_o

We got this video the other day from one of the many rally race teams that run the KSport Rally Spec dampers. This video was taken during filming of a Rally4Life and FeViva World Missions production. Looks like fun!

Good Movie Night

2009-08-19T10:04:00.003-07:00

Has anyone else seen that new flick, District 9? We went and saw it last night over at Tempe Marketplace.

After being accosted by a young man who sold me tickets at half price, we found some seats (Cine Capri ftw) and settled in to enjoy this epically-long movie (1 hr 50 mins). I don't want to ruin it, but it was pretty good. Totally NOT the story I was expecting. I actually noticed a lot of similarities between the story and what's happened to cultures in the past. About halfway through the movie, I started trying to figure out why a kid who seemed really sketchy had sold me some tickets that were already torn, and had mentioned he saw it already. that's when it dawned on me. He bought tickets for the 7:00 showing, saw an earlier one with said tickets and then sold them to me for half-price. Not a bad deal for either of us.

Oh, and if MNU had been using anything other than AK's, Christopher totally woulda died. Silly Kalashnikovs and their inaccuracies. That's the second revelation I had during the movie.

Bad Movie Night

2009-08-13T09:53:00.006-07:00

Ok, I had to try really hard not to say something about this, but a quick Google search this morning really put me over the edge. First of all, Nick Cage (that's what I call him) is a bad enough actor as it is; the premise of the movie Knowing, while promising at first, gets ruined when the space ship appears at the end and takes the kids away to a safer place, where they literally run through a golden field of flowers tall weeds as the movie fades into the credits. The picture (posted) sums up just how shitty this movie is. Almost as bad as The Rock.

I got a call from Hollywood Video a few weeks ago saying that since it was my birthday, I got a free movie rental. I went into the movie store on my way home from work and had a rather cordial conversation with the female working behind the register. Her boss (some munchkin lookin' dude) kept eying over her shoulder--as in, watching her rent out my DVD, not trying to see down her shirt like I was--and you could tell she was really tired of it. I have nothing against that line of work, for the record.. that is, working at a video store. But for a second, just fathom, or imagine the idea that someone does think it's a crappy job. I'm assuming she did, and having her dorky-looking, personality-less boss scoping her out every five seconds seemed to rub in the fact that she was working at Hollywood Video for a small wage, rather than say, heading up some Fortune 500 company, being a teacher, or playing for the Phoenix Mercury (professions that I'm not afraid to admit, are probably more notable than working at Hollywood Video.. except maybe the basketball gig. I'd rather rent DVDs all day than play for the Mercury, if I was a female that is). Our delightful encounter at the video store really started, and ended, with me the customer, reassuring her that her life wasn't miserable--her boss was just an idiot and some people get off on micromanaging their employees... it's not the end of the world.

I finally got around to watching "Knowing" last night (a month or so later), after it has accumulated a solid $15-20 in late fees and have received a few nasty phone calls from the video store, probably from that possessive store manager. For the record, make no mistake.. I love Hollywood Video. I just think that guy needs to lighten up a bit. Anyways, the movie itself is pretty bad. It has the obligatory "working hard all through the night" scene, which EVERY shitty movie has. You know what I mean, right? I'm talking about the scene where the music starts, or shows someone working hard, leaping over obstacles or pushing through a time of pain, only to come out stronger on the other side. The Karate Kid has about five of these scenes. This time is was Nick Cage, discovering what a series of numbers meant (decoding it), then he stayed up all through the night, researching hard, hitting the whiskey, the music was dramatic... Scenes like that make everyone want to have a "working hard" time, whether it's a night, or a month. It never seems that exciting and dramatic in real life, however. To end this horrible rant, the appearance of Rose Byrne saved the movie and made it bearable till the end.