There’s always some exciting things going on around our office here in Orlando, but today it was mother nature providing the excitement. Brett was working on our Scion chassis cars and noticed a big of smoke from behind the building. After further investigation our neighboring building had a nice fire going that no one seemed to noticed. We made a call to 9-1-1, and Orange County Fire Rescue was quick to the scene to extinguish the blaze out before it got a chance to spread to the neighboring buildings.

The Titan Drag team will be heading to Bradenton Motorsports park this weekend for the US Street Nationals. Our 2JZ Powered Scion piloted by Gary White will be running in the Pro Street category. We’ll be using this weekend to gather additional data for the upcoming ADRL season and will be running 10.5s in a class designed for much larger tires.

Friday
Pit gate open & tech: 8am
Spectator gate open: 9am
Test session: 10am to 2pm
Qualifying #1: 3pm

Saturday
Pit gate open & tech: 8am
Spectator gate open: 8am
Qualifying #2: 11am
Qualifying #3: 3pm

Sunday
Pit gate open: 8am
Spectator gate open: 8am
Eliminations: 10am

Tickets are available at the Gate, unfortunately we do not have any free ticket allocations for this race.

When you’re pushing over 1,500hp on gasoline and 1,900hp on methanol with a inline 6 engine, you need to make sure every part of the rotating assembly is up to par for the course. In the past few years we’ve seen 2JZ development go to a level beyond what many would have imagined when many of the parts we use where originally developed. Through years of racing and pushing our engines to their limits we have found what once was considered “indestructible” now needs to be improved to hold up to the rigors of racing. We are fortunate to have great sponsors and technology partners who help us in our quest to create the best 2JZ engines available. One such partner is Sean Crawford and the gang at JE Pistons, whom I had the pleasure of visiting a few months ago on a trip to California for the Red Bull Drifting Championship. After a few discussions with Sean over dinner about advances in technology initially found through their partnership with many Nextel cup teams, we began talking about improvements to our current 2JZ pistons. We’ve made small improvements for the application along the way, but Sean felt it might be best to go back to the drawing board and see what we could come up with using the latest CNC and forging technology available at JE.

We’ve spent the past few weeks working closely with JE’s engineering department to create a pistons that is both strong, reliable and lightweight. The new JE Pistons are being custom engineered and manufactured specifically for our Titan 2JZ engine program, and include the following features and improvements :

• Custom Design: After receiving several years feedback and data from our drag engines, JE has been able to custom tailor our pistons designs to perform flawlessly in high horsepower 2JZ engines. Small changes such as top ring location, skirt shape, bottom band design, crown thickness and more have been adjusted to improve performance and durability. The wrist pin has also be moved up to be compatible with the longer stroke crankshaft.
• Lateral Gas Ports: These are the small holes that are drilled into the top of the top ring groove. Lateral gas ports allow combustion pressure to get behind the top ring and push it outward. This helps the top ring seal during the compression and power stroke, while does not significantly increasing drag during the intake and exhaust stroke.
• 3D Undercrown milling: Our new pistons feature a 3D CNC milling on the undercrown of the piston to remove any extra weight and make the piston crown a consistent thickness.
• Accumulator groove: When combustion pressure passes by the top ring, it can build pressure between the top and second ring. If this pressure gets too high, it can cause the top ring to loose seal. To help prevent this problem, our new pistons feature a accumulator groove below the top ring to provide more volume between the top and second rings.
• Scalloped valve reliefs: When the valve reliefs intersect the outside of the pistons, a thin spot can be created on the piston crown. JE removed these thin spots to prevent pre-ignition.
• Premium Wrist Pin: Our new pistons feature a .210″ thick wrist pin manufactured from premium 9310 steel. The extra thickness will reduce bending,flexing, and cracking in our high boost engine

After extensive testing with computer models, we received our first set of prototype pistons incorporating these improvements today. With weight being a key factor in the modifications we were very pleased to end up with a piston that is 79 grams lighter than our current 2Jz piston, and 41 grams lighter than the lightest 2JZ piston we’ve tested. Initial product testing will be completed in a test engine during the quest for new records. We also have other engines slated to receive these pistons in the near future for further testing. Like all of our developmental products if they prove to be as successful on the track as they are on paper, they will find their way into our Titan built to order engine programs that our customers can purchase to be the king of their street. This is just the first of many improvements being made using computer modeling, cell testing of every component within our already potent engine.   As we prove these components as we have in the past, our customers can expect the absolute best when it comes to parts from the 2JZ.   Keep an eye on the blog for more information on the latest releases and product development.

After months of development and testing in race and street applications, we are proud to release the much anticipated Titan Camshafts. Gone are the days of being stuck to choose from 1-2 durations of standard lift camshafts and having to base your tune and setup around it. The 1S and 2S camshafts represent our first release of high lift offerings. These camshafts are typically suited for engines with turbo combinations 70mm or larger. We expect the first shipment of these to arrive January 28th, you can pre-order at the links below to get them as soon as they are released.

http://www.titanmotorsports.com/titan-motorsports-2jz-cams.html
Titan 1S Cam Intake – 272 Duration / 9.60mm lift
Titan 1S Cam Exhaust – 272 Duration / 9.60mm lift

http://www.titanmotorsports.com/titan-motorsports-camshaft-2jz-2s.html
Titan 2S Cam Intake – 280 Duration / 9.90mm lift
Titan 2S Cam Exhaust – 280 Duration / 9.90mm lift

Thes camshafts come complete with a 30-day money back guarantee. If you test these cams and are not happy with the results after tuning, return them within 30 days of you original shipment and we will refund 100% of the price of the camshafts (shipping not included).

Please note these cams are a high lift camshaft and require a valve spring upgrade. If you are running stock valve springs we have other options in development that will work for these applications. We will be releasing a few more grinds in the coming months, keep your eyes peeled to our blog and our website for future releases.

We’re not just about making power, using that power wisely is equally important. Even with a fairly small office and staff, we use our fair share of supplies to keep track of orders while making sure they are processed quickly and efficiently. That means paper-work, and lots of it! With the price of basic office supplies like paper and ink growing, anything you can do to help stretch those supplies farther is key to saving money. Recently there have been a few new offerings to help business save money on printing. One of them is “ecoFont” from Spranq, a Dutch agency that helps its clients realize their advertising and creative projects from start to finish. Spranq created the “ecoFont” to help increase environmental awareness while also helping save on ink and toner costs.

How does it work? Tiny holes take up space normaly used by ink inside each letter, these blank spots reduce the amount of ink required for printing. Even though the amount saved per-letter is small, Spranq claims you can save up to 20% on printing. The “ecoFont” went thru several variations while trying to find the perfect ratio of hole-to-letter. The end result is that you have clear and easy to read text that not only helps the bottom-line, but also helps the environment. We have already adopted the font for all of our regular printing here at Titan and encourage others to do the same.

Along with using the FREE ecoFont, Spranq has some other tips to help cut costs and reduce your “carbon-footprint” :

• Only print when necessary and use a modern, energy-efficent printer
• Use unbleached paper
• Use modern color separation techniques when printing graphics and logo’s to help avoid wasting ink
• Try to batch your printing together to save energy wasted by “warming up” the printer
• If your printer doesn’t have a “sleep” mode, turn it off when not in use

You can learn more about how ecoFont can save you some green, and download a free copy at

http://www.ecofont.eu/english.html

Wednesday we had the pleasure of checking out Orlandos newest racetrack, the Central Florida Road Course. Matt and Reg Tarleton who are overseeing this project invited us out to check out their progress and let us take a few laps in our camouflage 996tt. This freshly developed course was constructed using a large paved plot just minutes from the airport and our new office location. Using bus stops in addition to the acres of paved area on the infield, they where able to create a 1 mile circuit track with various track configuration possible. The road course width is a 30’ minimum throughout and is fenced and walled with tire barriers in impact prone areas.

Overall I was very impressed with the track layout and the facility itself. The overall pavement sections where in good shape and the newly paved sections where very smooth as well. Safety barriers were still being constructed when we visited, however much of the problem areas should be well protected by concrete and tire barriers when the facility goes live in the coming weeks. There is plenty of parking outside the gates, and the interior portions of the track are well lit allowing for night driving sessions in the blazing hot summer months we get here in Florida.

Do to insurance regulations, the course is limited to licensed professional drivers, or drivers who complete the introductory driving course offered at the track. The first such class is January 11th, and we will be attending. Future membership programs and general open days are currently being scheduled, and there is talk of many clubs renting the track out for future events. Overall the track has great potential, it’s definitely not Sebring but this track was not intended to be a comparison to larger tracks. If you’re looking to test vehicle dynamics, keep your driving fresh, or want to learn road racing techniques without traveling, this facility offers a great location to do so. The fees may sound a bit expensive, however as clubs embrace this track and sponsors come on board, you can expect private rentals and open days to become much more frequent and affordable. When you factor in traveling time, hotel costs, etc for your average track weekend, the current price doesn’t seem so bad after all. Future expansion will allow for a longer track and addition facility upgrades, so support local business and check it out.

More information can be found at the tracks website http://cfroadcourse.com/

We are always looking for fun new ways to keep our customers,fans and friends up to date on what’s happening at Titan. I’ve been reading tons online about twitter and decided to give it a shot. Twitter is a free social networking tool that posts and tracks short one liners on what ur doing or thinking.

http://twitter.com/titanmotorsport

I should also note this is my first post using my phone. If all goes well both twitter and the blog will be up to date from anywhere we go, the beauty of technology.

Standard Issue Diverter Valves where designed with the Porsche 997TT in mind, using a side vacuum pipe to allow for easy routing inside an already crammed engine bay. These units are a direct bolt-on to the factory VTG turbochargers allowing for easy installation. These valves dump charge-air back into the air intake system and keeps external noise to a minimum. Featuring a piston design which is superior to the factory rubber diaphragm, this DV allows for quicker throttle response, higher clamping load, and more reliable control of boost pressure.

The units are machined from billet aluminum and come in your choice of stealth black anodized or machined silver finish. As with all Standard Issue products we pride ourselves in function over form, with products guaranteed to perform.

Purchase them online at Titan Motorsports :

SI 997TT Diverter Valves

This month’s issue of Drag Illustrated features an all access interview of Nero and Bottle by Wes Buck.Subscribe online http://www.dragillustrated.com to read this and many other well written articles on the drag racing scene.