Review: Whiteline Performance Suspension

Since I'm a big supporter of Aussie made automotive products, I've decided to write a couple of short reviews on a few of them for the benefit of the Malaysian motoring public. Besides Whiteline, theres Haltech for your electronic engine management needs, Disc Brakes Australia (DBA) for rotors and Turbosmart for wastegates. The Aussies make pretty decent stuff and I'm using all those brands in my cars.

As some of you might have noticed, I am currently using Whiteline Performance Suspension bushes and sway bars on my GT-R.

I actually started using Whiteline on my cars since my student / working days in Melbourne, Australia. Great people to deal with over the phone and easy pick up at your friendly neighbourhood Pedders Suspension shop (they have a tie up with Whiteline). Pedders is a chain of suspension tuning shops which can be found in many Australian towns and major cities.

Anyway for everyone's knowledge, Whiteline suspension suspension products are actually manufactured in South Korea but design and testing is done at their facility in Somersby, New South Wales (near Sydney). Whiteline recently had their swaybars TÜV SÜD certified, so that they could be sold in the EU. They are pretty much up there in terms of quality seeing as European standards are quite stringent when it comes to automotive parts.

As with most automotive parts, a company's product is as good as how well it does in motorsport events. Whiteline parts are used in major events such as the recent World Time Attack Challenge (WTAC) that was held in Australia. A Whiteline equipped R35 GT-R took the number one spot in the Open Class category and several cars in the Pro Class (like Mercury Motorsports' R35) used Whiteline swaybars. Whiteline parts have also found their way into the rallying scene. WORKS Motorsport's Mitsubishi RalliArt SST participates regularly in Rally America, The Oregon Trail. Whiteline has been supporting the WORKS car with adjustable sway bars, alignment products, polyurethane bushings and aluminium bushings.

I'll leave with you some pictures of Whiteline's NSW facility. If you're looking to improve the handling of your car or wanting to refresh tired suspension parts, check Whiteline out as they cater to a wide range of makes and models, from Subarus to Volkswagens.

http://www.whiteline.com.au/ 

Heres one of their sway bar stress testing machines:

Sway Bar Blanks being fashioned on site for testing purposes:

This is their stockpile of swaybars at Whiteline warehouse / HQ in NSW:

New Project: Time Attack Car

With the R33 GT-R rebuild nearing completion, its time to to start a new project. It has always been my intention to purchase, rebuild and track a car. Basically, I'm looking for a road legal track car to carry out time attack runs in Sepang International Circuit (SIC). Now the next question is, what car to get?

Unlike in Australia, the UK or the States, we Malaysians are shafted when it comes to used cars. In Australia for example, you could purchase a decent road legal Nissan S13 or S14 for as little as RM10,000 - RM15,000 ringgit. Due to the high Malaysian import tax on cars (300% import duties on all foreign cars), used car prices are similarly affected. What this means is that a used S13 or S14 will probably cost three times as much in Malaysia a compared to a similar car in Australia. This makes it a challenge for the average person to pursue his or her motoring dream, to build a drift machine or to own a dedicated track car.

We now move on to the question of what make and model would be suitable for a time attack car. I've narrowed it down to a few budget (and not so budget) vehicles, seeing as this should be cost saving exercise. After all, a time attack car would require a further outlay of money in order to make it track ready.

And here are the contenders with their pros and cons:

 

  Nissan S13 Silvia Coupe

Pros

• Good RWD base to build up from
• Easy to get power out of the Nissan SR20 engine
• Option to retro-fit parts from other Nissan models
• Massive amount of aftermarket parts
• Huge supply of halfcuts and spare parts that are already in Malaysia

Cons

• Can be expensive to purchase
• Difficult to find one in good condition and tastefully modified
 

Honda Integra DC2

Pros

• Light weight
• Rigid chassis
• Loads of aftermarket parts available
• Plenty of halfcuts and spare parts that already in Malaysia

Cons

• Its a FWD, meaning the front wheels have to not only steer the car but also slow it down
• A bit expensive to produce big power being an N/A car
• Parts can be expensive

 Mazda MX-5 (First Gen / NA)

Pros

• Extremely capable chassis
• Engine responds well to mods, especially when turbocharged

Cons

• Manual units are rare in Malaysia
• Turbo kit has to be sourced from abroad (costly)
• Not as many halfcuts and spare parts compared to the other cars on this list
• Cars in good condition still command high prices
• Standard 1.6 N/A engine is gutless and seriously lacking in torque

Subaru WRX GC8

Pros

• Great AWD race car platform
• Capable car even in stock form
• Option to retro-fit parts from STI models

Cons

• Expensive to purchase
• Finding one in good condition is difficult
• Parts aren't cheap
• Stock GC8 WRX gearbox is crap
• Full STI conversion costs a lot of money
• Can be expensive to get big power out of the Subaru EJ engine

 Mitsubishi Evo II to VIII

Pros

• Amazing AWD race car platform
• Very capable even in stock form
• Some models are 'race ready' (i.e. Evo VI Tommi Makinen Edition)

Cons

• Very expensive to purchase
• Difficult to find genuine Evos in good condition
• Will be expensive to produce big power after a certain point

So which car to get? Find out in the next blog posting!

Some Japanese eye candy

Some personal favorites...