Earlier this week we made the trip out to the beautiful Ocala Gran Prix Race Way (OGP) to link up with Grassroots Magazine to do a little before and after testing of our E92 M3, now equipped with the Stoptech Trophy Sport big brake system.

The Bimmer wasn’t the only thing going around the track that afternoon however. GRM was set to do a new vs. old comparison, as they brought a brand new Honda CR-Z out to see how it would compare to Honda’s original sport compact, the CR-X.

A little cart action while we waited to get on the track…

The battle begins, as the M3 looks on with anticipation.

Here come the CR-Hondas out of the final turn and up the strait.

GRM photographer J.G. Pasterjak gets some up-close action of the dual.

Just about to roll out…

Here the M3 rounds the final corner, while the GRM staff try and push the Stoptech Trophy Sports to the limit.

This concluded our day of brake testing. Be on the lookout in upcoming issues of Grassroots Magazine for both the CR-V vs. CR-X test, as well as our Titan M3 Stoptech comparison.

Check out the deals on Auto Meter wideband gauges. There are a ton of available models eligible for the sale, just check out Auto Meter’s official website for details, or to download the rebate form.

Check out Auto Meter’s wideband in action in their latest video:

Need a few other gauges to complete your build? With many Auto Meter gauges in stock, Titan is sure to have what you are looking for.

The last of my stops on my trip to beautiful California was to Stoptech brakes. Stoptech has a beautiful 75,000+ Sq/ft facility devoted to producing some of the best brake upgrades on the planet. I’ve had Stoptech on a number of my personal vehicles, so this particular stop was one that was marked on my map very earlier on. This particular location houses the sales center, engineering department, manufacturing, and warehouse for Stoptech and their sister brand Powerslot rotors. The facilities were top notch and I left impressed knowing that the majority of their products were produced right here in the US, not designed in one place, manufactured overseas, re boxed somewhere else and sold by a third party. The team takes pride in making cars stop faster, a principle many overlook when building a proper performance machine.

Stoptech has not one, but 2 of these massive brake dynos at their facility. The engineering department mans the controls from their office which is under lock and key. These machines allow Stoptech to safely test the limits of stock and aftermarket brake systems in a controlled environment. During my visit they were testing a stock GTR brake system to make sure they could improve on the factory system, fortunately they can so be on the lookout for GTR brake upgrades in the near future.

The entire production side of their warehouse was filled with CNC upon CNC, producing everything from caliper brackets, to rotor hats, to the calipers themselves. Stoptech produces the vast majority of their kits in house to make sure that lead times are reduced, and quality is kept to an absolute premium.

In this picture you can see the raw caliper castings as they come from the forgery. The trophy sport kits get further CNC work to reduce weight up to 15% for those looking for the absolute best track and street braking.

Rotor hats are machined in house and paired with matched rotor blanks. These hats and blanks are inventoried to make sure replacements are readily available for track junkies needing to replace the friction surfaces.

Stoptech produces all of their brake lines in house, both for stock replacement line kits, as well as their own big brake kits.

Every line gets put through the paces on a series of test benches to ensure they meet and exceed all specifications before being sent out to the customer.

The calipers also get put through their paces on a separate set of test benches designed to make sure the caliper conforms to all standards. These aren’t batch tested, but rather every single caliper and line produced at their facility gets tested before being put in a box and shipped to the end user. This type of attention to detail is something I love to see, especially from a component as important as a brake system part.

Even though everything Stoptech produces is done in house, they make sure to keep a large amount of parts inventory in stock so that lead times are kept to a minimum. Most kits can be assembled and shipped in 24 hours or less to ensure replacement parts and upgrades arrive to the customer when they need them. This picture shows the rows of calipers ready to get matched to their appropriate parts to produce big brake kits for just about every performance vehicle on the road today.

Here you can see a kit on the shelf ready to be shipped to a customer ready to put their car through the paces, this particular kit was one of their more popular applications, the E46 M3 (you may have seen a similar kit on Turner Motorsports winning M3 race car).

Stoptech and Powerslot have everything one needs to help their performance car get stopped quicker. From replacement rotors / pads / lines for your daily driver, to full out race big brake upgrades for both street cars and full track cars. The vast majority of the Stoptechs components are produced in house in California, so you can rest assured you’re dealing with only the highest quality products. Your braking system is the absolute last system you want to skimp out on and use low quality foreign replacements. These are upgrade kits designed to perform and you can rest assure any upgrade has been tested on the track, on test benches, and on the Brake dyno before it ever gets shipped out the door. Titan Motorsports carries the complete line of Stoptech and Powerslot products, we’ve spent years building the quickest imports in the world, and when it comes to slowing those cars down, Stoptech is a brand you can trust.

With the past few ADRL events being double-headers, it is hard to believe that all this action is being packed into one weekend… again. It’s almost getting difficult to keep up with what races are what, who has qualified, and which races are raced which days. So, here is the rundown for Titan’s August 6-7th ADRL weekend.

Friday was the make-up day for the Independence Drags held in Topeka last month. The Scion qualified #1 for this race, with a 3.986 at 185.61mph, so the crew was eager to finish it off strong. Round one of eliminations was a bye run so we’ll pick things up in the second. In round two, Gary lines up with Judd Coffman. Coffman ended up rolling the beam, Gary ended up super loose, but at the end, it was the Scion that moved on. In round 3 it was Dustin Miller’s turn to dance, but it was Gary White and the Titan Scion that was to set the tune. Miller got a big starting line advantage, but ran into problems down the track. The Scion blasted down the track with a 4.047 at 184.02, posting the fastest time of the day. In the finals, Titan was set to face-off with Jeff Naiser. Gary blasted out of the gate first and never looked back. Naiser ran into some trouble half way down the track and had to shut it off. The Scion posted another fast time of the day with a 4.003 at 185.79. Although these wins may not have been in the most glorious fashion, it does attest to the hard work of the Titan crew, keeping the car consistent and virtually trouble free, earning another #1 qualifier and podium finish.

The second race of the weekend was the Hardees Gateway Drags. After four rounds of qualifying, it was Spiro Pappas that claimed the top qualifier, with Titan in the #2 spot. Round one was once again a matchup of White and Coffman. White left strong and finished strong with a 4.047 at 184.04mph. Coffman was up in smoke as soon as he let the clutch out. Round two pitted Gary against Dan Millen. Millen had the starting line advantage but Gary and the Scion made up the difference quick, posting a 4.110 to Dan’s 4.292. In the third round vs. Chuck Ulsch, Gary threw down a quick 4.012 to Chuck’s 4.029, but it was all in vain, as the Scion tripped the red light as it left a fraction of a second too early.

Despite the disappointing ending, it was still a good weekend for the Titan Crew. The car was fast, and performed consistently. In the end, you win some, and you lose some. That’s racing. Look for the Titan Crew to be on the “win some” side of things as the Scion returns to Rockingham Dragway for the ADRL Simpson Dragstock VII in Rockingham NC. We’ll see you at the races!

A few weeks ago we posted that Titan was to be featured on the cover of Drag Illustrated. Well the magazine has hit newstands, but if you dont have the time or the cash to go pick one up, you can check out the online version for free. Enjoy.

 

Need a little spark in your life? MSD and Titan have you covered. As an Authorized MSD Dealer, Titan can supply the parts, while MSD helps make it a little easier on your wallet. MSD is now offering a $30 Rebate for purchases over $300, and a $20 Rebate for purchases over $200. Give Titan a call for all your MSD Ignition needs. Check out the official MSD website for more info and to download the Rebate Form.

This Saturday HIN/NOPI is hosting the Miami event indoors. Thats a relief since Florida summer time weather is either brutally hot, really wet, or a combination of the two. Be on the lookout, for the Titan crew, as they will be at the event handing out goodie bags and what not.

Photo by: Chris Fiore

Check out the pictures form Titan’s Dyno Day/Sale. The day was dedicated to getting our customers some baseline pulls on their cars at discounted rates. We also had tons of sales on popular items as well as excess inventory/clearance items. We were fortunate enough to have Chris Fiore at the event who took some great pictures of all the action. Check out Chris Fiore Photography for all the pics! Be on the lookout for more upcoming Dyno Days and Titan Sales.

If you’re a sports car racing fan then chances are you’ve heard of GMG Racing and their ALMS Porsche Cup cars. In addition to their racing efforts, they also produce a great deal of parts for street cars looking to take the track. We’ve had great luck with their Roll bars and suspension components in our test car in the past, so when I was in the area I decided to stop by their shop and see it with my own eyes. I was greeted by Fabryce, the man in charge of this world class shop and he was nice enough to take a few moments to show me around. The second you walk into the shop you are overwhelmed. Porsche Cup cars, stacked 2 high in some areas, along with street Porsches, Audis, and Ferrari or two, you name it and it’s under one roof. They have all the equipment you’ll need to setup the ultimate street or race car from their 4WD dyno cell (which may look familiar if you’ve seen the LFA commercial on TV), A dialed alignment rack, fabrication center, and even a 3D printer for quick prototyping.

The main entry, interestingly enough GMG Racing just happens to be across the street from Porsche Motorsports NA headquarters, that’s one neighbor I wouldn’t mind having!

Team GMG’s GT3 Cup car, built and campaigned in the American LeMans series. Want a cup car of your own? You’re in luck, this one is for sale. Inquire within.

This gem was sitting in the back corner of the shop, most would have walked past it as just another cup car….however GT3Cups normally don’t have intercoolers. GMG is building something most have only dreamed of, a GT2 turbo engine powered GT3 Cup car. I’m anxious to see this complete and must admit that I don’t think many cars will be able to compete with this monster in the time attack and time trials it’s being designed and built for.

GMG produced a great Roll bar / harness bar kit for the 996/997, we’ve got one in our Camo car and must admit it was a super easy install that looked and performed better than even the factory Porsche Techquipment bar. Definately a must if you’re got a 996tt / 997tt / GT3 or GT3RS that your interested in taking to the track, and fortunately these are available in a variety of colors for sale and install through Titan.

GMG has also started working with Japanese cars through one of their sister companies, and this GTR turbo kit is one of their first offerings. This cast inconel manifold features v-band turbochargers available in various sizes designed for specific purposes. It will be offered as a complete kit in the near future once testing is complete, and we look forward to installing quite a few of these for Florida GTR owners looking to increase the power of their own Godzillas.

GMG recently released their own forged lightweight wheels for track and street. New GT3 owners need not worry, they also introduced a single-nut version for those of you who are fortunately enough to have this option from the factory. Titan Motorsports can also get these fine wheels for you and can match them with your choice of tires for track or street.

I want to thank Fabryce for taking the time to show me around, GMG is truly one of the shops in this country that others can use as a benchmark. We’re proud to have them as a technology and resource partner and look forward to growing this relationship in the future. If you’re in the west be sure to check out the Global Tuner Grand Prix at Laguna Seca they’re putting together October 22-24, this is one of the rare track days at Laguna with no sound restrictions. Details can be found at the GTGP website http://www.globaltunergp.com/

Most consumers haven’t heard of Mackin Industries, however they have heard of Project Mu / Volk Racing / Advan and MXP, just a few of the many companies Mackin is the US importer for.

The TE37 is one of the most timeless wheels in history in my opinion, having seeing them on every car under the sun for over 10 years, it still turns my head to see a proper fitment of this wheel today. This singelock racing version of TE37 Mag is king of the hill when it comes to the TE, and in my opinion would be a great offering for newer GT3 and GT3RS’s which now come from the factory with single nut hubs.

Anyone whose ever ordered a set of Volk wheels knows that if they’re not in stock you’re in for a long wait, Mackin has tried to alleviate this by stocking row upon row of Volk here in the states to help cut lead times.

Rays Engineering has a history of building quality race wheels, not many wheel companies, even those considered the best in the industry can say they produce formula 1 wheels. This project is a testament to the quality and pursuit of perfection Volk / Rays puts into their product, I’m just surprised someone hasn’t tried to get a set of these and go HellaFlush on their Civic with them!

Project Mu is looking to make a big push here in the states and become a household name, as a result Mackin has brought in a ton of new inventory to make sure brakes are there when a customer needs them (as we all know brakes unlike wheels aren’t an item you can wait for, when you need them you need them).

Recently Mackin introduced their own Exhaust line, MXP Exhaust. This high quality line is available for a variety of vehicles and produced using only the highest quality of materials, with weight, sound, and aesthetics all taken into consideration with every exhaust produced.

Mackin offers a custom finishing service for those looking to be extra original, these finishing are done in California by Mackin, not Volk, but offer a great alternative to waiting for those wanting to be a little different.

I want to thank the guys at Mackin for the tour, if you’re in the market for any of the products they offer please don’t hesitate to call or email one of our sales people. Mackin does not sell to the public, however fortunately we do, and we will be more than happy to make sure you get the TE37s or any other product you’ve been dreaming of as quickly as humanly possible.