The Steering and Suspension Gurus

Research and Deploy

We often hear the term Research and Development (R&D) thrown around when companies are extolling the virtues of their goods, what exactly does Research and Development involve and why is it so important? To gather some insight on how one of Japans’ leading suspension companies goes about this task I was invited to Fulcrum Suspensions in Brisbane, Queensland where they are the official distributor of TEIN Suspension in Australia. TEIN R&D Manager Mr. Ippei Sugano was on hand to show me exactly what the company must go through to launch their product for our Australian local market.

The main difference between the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) and the Australian Specification product will be the spring, damper and rebound rates. According to Ippei the roads in Japan are very well made and very smooth therefore the JDM TEIN suspension can be set up to be much firmer without any detrimental effect to the ride of the vehicle and the comfort of its occupants. Australian drivers have to contend with poorly made roads, inconsistent surfaces, potholes, hot patched bitumen and numerous other abnormalities that make up our local Highways and By-Ways (however Ippei does assure me that Southern Californian roads in the U.S.A., where he is based are much worse).

Being one of Japans earlier High Performance street and touring cars the engineers designed it with great handling in mind and the ride height is not an embarrassingly Four Wheel Drive height like some standard cars are. The TEIN installation aims to lower the car by about twenty millimeters to keep it inside the law yet give the best balance of handling and comfort.

The ‘after’ photos show a slight drop of about 20mm in the ride height. This should be enough to improve looks and lower the centre of gravity of the vehicle for improved handling.

As a passenger during the ride evaluation test I can notice the difference. It feels tighter and firmer yet much more comfortable. The TEIN Super Streets have sixteen point Damper adjustments. Number one being the hardest, and sixteen being softest. Every evaluation begins on the number twelve setting as this is considered most ideal for day to day driving. Ippei winds the dial back to number one, the ride becomes extremely firm and each one of those bumps is now communicating with the cars occupants. Ipeii suggests that this setting is best on a smoother race track because of it’s no compromise attitude. The trade off however is much sharper steering and almost zero body roll. On the drive back we adjust the setting to the number sixteen as a comparison and the difference between settings sixteen and one is chalk and cheese. The car now has a more luxurious ride however the steering does feel slower and there is considerably more body roll in the corners, making this setting best for lazy cruising.

Once Ipeii and the team at Fulcrum are satisfied that the set-up is satisfactory for Aussie consumers, the data collected is then sent via E-mail to TEIN Headquarters in Yokohama, Japan to commence production. The final product is assembled by hand completely in-house by the TEIN factory and shipped to Fulcrum in Australia ready for distribution to Aussie performance enthusiasts.

Among the first steps in the Research and Development (R&D) process is to test the original product. Ippei takes the ever popular R32 GTR for a drive on Fulcrum’s local test track, which is of course a local road that is made up of all the imperfections known to every Australian driver. This is called The Ride Evaluation Test. Testing the vehicles ride before any changes are made gives you an idea how and where it can be improved. The test is generally conducted by two experienced drivers who deliberately aim for every cat’s-eye, pot hole, corrugation and bump in sight. The car has been photographed before the upgrade to show the difference in ride height.

Following the Ride Evaluation Test the R&D team measures the ride height of the standard vehicle. One of the aims of this kit is to be manufactured so when you take it out of the box and install it is set up at the correct ride height that will give you the best handling and still be legal. Sure as with any ride height adjustable coil-over suspension you can raise or lower your car to suit yourself but engineers like Ipeii here have spent countless hours getting things just right means you don’t have to.

Perhaps the easiest step in the process of coil-over replacement is hoisting the car and removing the wheels and if you are attempting to do your own coil-over installation you’d be wise to borrow a mates hoist as it makes the job so much easier, quicker and safer.

Ippei prepares to strip down the standard Nissan Skyline GTR shock absorber to measure all components. The best way to do this is by using a compressed air rattle gun to remove the nut on top to give access to the springs.

After the standard shocks have been removed from the vehicle Ippei measures all aspects to ensure the data TEIN have collected over their years of R&D correlates with this particular example. You may think that a big company such as TEIN would have all the measurements of an R32 GTR on record and you would be right but as Ippei is developing the product for a new country he needs to be extremely thorough. He needs to know that the shocks he took out of the GTR where in fact standard and if they’re not, how they differ to the OEM (Original Manufacturer Engineered) units.

The standard shocks are placed back in the car minus the springs. Ippei measures the maximum drop. The measurement is taken from centre wheel to guard.

It only makes sense that since you measure the maximum drop you must also measure how much travel the shocks have. Ippei does this with and without the wheel on, to check for guard clearance and to garner information as to the length of travel on the standard unit.

Ippei repeats this process with the TEIN installed minus the spring on the front wheel but realizes that it is set too low. Using the TEIN coil-over spanner that is supplied with the Super Street kit he makes the necessary adjustment. One thing you need to remember that Japan’s minimum ground clearance is 90mm and Australia’s sits at 100mm. The kits Fulcrum and TEIN are developing are designed to comply with Australian legal requirements. This also demonstrates how simple it is to adjust the ride height using the TEIN Coil-over C Spanner that is included with the kit.

It is important to measure both front and back shocks for maximum travel. The reason it is done without the spring is that absolute maximum travel needs to be tested and that would be impossible to do with the spring in place using a hoist and a trolley jack to lift the hub. The difference in travel between the standard units and the TEIN Super Street coil-over is about an extra 15mm in most cases including the GTR. The more travel you have, the more comfortable the ride will be.

The TEIN suspension is removed, the springs are placed in position and it is re-installed into the car both front and back.

The Fulcrum suspension specialist places the wheels back onto the GTR after Ippei measures the ride height and is satisfied that the lowest part of the vehicle is above the mandatory 100mm level.

For more information on a Fulcrum Suspensions upgrade for your car, Contact Us