KSport Persona for Firefox

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

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

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

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

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