We're going to start a new thing here at Touge Tuning by featuring some of the products we carry as a way to provide our customers with information on products they may not be aware of.

We decided to start off with the Turn in Concepts Transmission Crossmember Bushings. There are a few different brands of this product but the TiC version is unique in that it fits together like puzzle pieces for installation which means you don't have to cut off anything from the bushings from installation and they fit right into place. These bushings replace some extremely soft rubber bushings in the transmission crossmember and offer a significant reduction in drivetrain "slop". By reducing the amount of "slop" you will have a more direct feel with the drivetrain and there will be less movement under acceleration and deceleration. You may notice a slight increase in NVH but it is very minor and the benefits of these bushings far outweight the small con. The set contains 4 bushings (2 pairs) and now also includes a 5th bushing as newer 2008+ Impreza/WRX/STi's and 2005-2009 Legacy's have 1 bushing stock which is slightly thicker than the other. The bushings are made of a fairly stiff polyurethane in a bright cherry blossom red colour. These are highly recommended to do in combination with the Group N transmission Mount and while you're down there it is very easy to throw in the shifter bushings we also offer.

Click Here to Order this Product

Many of you know we do alot of stuff in terms of suspension, drivetrain and brake components. We do however offer an extensive list of performance upgrade parts for just about everything you could imagine. This is an aspect of Touge Tuning that we will be expanding upon as things progress. If anyone else would like to come in and talk about putting together a plan for there car feel free to send a pm or email and we can work with you to meet your needs and goals. If your a previous customer and have a log, journal or story that you'd like to share we would love to put it up on our site and share with others around the world.

Chris Richardson - Sales@tougetuning.com

We recently had a customer with a 2006 STi come to us wanting to finally begin modding the car further than it's current setup which was basically stock besides the Cobb AccessPORT and Cobb Turboback. The first step was taken awhile back with a great suspension, drivetrain and small brake upgrade. The car is daily driven and as such certain parts were chosen over others.

For the suspension we started the setup with the BSF36XZ 24mm adjustable front swaybar and the BSR37XZ 24mm adjustable rear swaybar from Whiteline. To compliment these we added in a set of Kartboy STi front and rear endlinks as we know the stock pieces aren't exactly the greatest. After a few back and forths with the client we decided on the KCA359 Anti-Lift Kit Sport, KCA313 Roll Center Adjusters, W52837 Control Arm Bushings and finished off with a set of Swift Spec-R Springs. This entire setup really works amazingly well together and the owner simply put it as "This is how the car should have come from the factory!"

The the suspension in good order we moved onto tightening up the drivetrain/driveline. The stock bushings are known to wear and fatigue over time, replacing them with stiffer pieces makes a huge difference not only in how the car reacts from driver input but also gives the pilot more confidence in knowing the car is going to react a certain way. The package consisted of KSR206 Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings, Kartboy Pitch Stop Mount, Kartboy Subframe Lock Bolts, TiC Klunk Killer Comfort and TiC Transmission Crossmember Bushings. All of these pieces have a very low cost but a make a big difference. There are a few things we will look at down the road including the Group N engine and transmission mounts.

The brakes were fairly tame as the above really took a large chunk out of the budget at the time. We added in a set of Hawk HPS pads front and rear, these on the STi are similar to the OE pads in terms of stopping power but are more consistent and dust about 1000% less. A set of Techna-Fit Braided Brake Lines and ATE Typ200 fluid were used. Future upgrades will be determined based on the use of the vehicle but the brake system obviously has lots of room for improvement.

So this brings us up to date and now the goal is MOAR POWER!!

We're very pleased to introduce a new line of products from the guys at Turn in Concepts. It is there Heat Transfer Shield (HTS) line of parts that follows along the path of innovative solutions to common problems.

In this case the common problem is heat. In some cases you want it, in others you do not. For the places you do not shielding becomes an issue. An issue they've started to address.

All of TiC's HTS products are made from Grade 5 Titanium offering some of the lowest possible thermal transfer.

HTS: Titanium Brake Shims
First up is the HTS: Pad Shims, Titanium shims for your brake pads is really nothing new, and it's been done for years.

How they work is really simple - the block heat from transferring from from the pad into the caliper pistons, and thus into your brake fluid. Anybody who has or regularly cooks their brake fluid will understand that keeping it cool is actually a really nice thing.

Current fitments available: STi, Evo, Hydundai Gen Coupe Track, 350Z track, and Subaru 4-pot, and Z32 Turbo 300ZX

HTS: Titanium Hub Shields
Next up is the truly innovative part from TiC, the HTS: Hub Shields. Here's there thoughts on it. Subarus have always had trouble with the front wheel bearings. Afterall, you ask them to take the loads for braking, acceleration, and hard turning. A good bit of the time they see rather sticky tires for that as well.

They figured out long ago that things were just getting too hot, and you were basically over cooking everything inside the bearing. Not good, BUT with some heat management you can help get them to last longer.

So, what they did is take a look at how some of this heat gets in there. A good bit actually transfers from the rotor hat, and into the hub. Thus, HTS: Hub Shields.

Simply put it gives you an insulation layer between the rotor hat and the hub face. This keeps heat from transferring from the rotor to the hub keeping things cool.

IN FACT! They've done some testing to show this. To check out the results of our testing by clicking here!

Current fitments available: 5x114.3 and 5x100 Subaru's

So checkout our webstore and start combating heat in your braking system.