If you've never heard of Titan Suspensions, you are missing out on
what could turn out to be one of the best suspension manufacturers in Asia.
Titan, established in 2002 is fast becoming the choice of car enthusiasts
looking for either higher performance suspension systems or comfort. But what's
special about Titan is they offer the best of both worlds.
Test Car: 1989 BMW E30 325i
High quality manufacturing expertise
Struts were modified to needs
Titan's line of quality variants
Finished One-off Product
Comparison between stock
High level of precision
Richard How: The Pioneer.
How do they do it?
Through years of suspension building expertise, they have managed to
concoct a blend of modern and exotic suspension designs while employing
their own mixture of components and settings. Many of the components are
manufactured in-house and other important parts are imported overseas.
So what's this exotic design?. The answer, Inverted Monotube.
You see, the best shocks uses the Monotube design.
The working chamber and the oil supply chamber are
located in one single cylinder tube. Oil and gas are separated by a moving
separating piston with O-ring seal. The damping valves for the rebound and
compression stages are located at the piston. When the vehicle suspension
rebounds, the piston valve, which is located at the bottom of the piston,
will apply resistance to the downward flowing oil. The gas chamber pressure
will reduce by the amount of the exchanged piston rod volume. When the
vehicle suspension compresses, the oil will be forced from the bottom
chamber through the piston and against the valve located on top of the
piston. The gas chamber pressure will be increased by the amount of the
submerged piston rod volume. The pressure level absorbs the damping forces
during compression.
Okay, i know what's a monotube, but Inverted Monotubes?
Imagine the entire body of the shock now operating as the shaft to give us
greater rigidity and strength. Not only that, the weight of the shock body it
based on top of the whole inverted monotube shock assembly providing a lot
lesser unsprung weight thus better performing suspension design.
Other advantages of Inverted Monotube design?
Since the shock rod is based inside the outer shell and insulated with dusts
seals, dust and debris stay out. keep the shock rod movement smooth and clean.
Plus, the shock body moves through Teflon linings providing even better
performance.
What else is different or good about Titan Suspensions?
Expertise:They're so good, they even manufacture custom or one-off kits for
various cars. Titan specializes in Coilover kits.
Quality.
They make suspension systems using the best materials like their
raw materials, imported components, seals, oils and etc
Packaging:
Each set produced either custom made ones or mass produced
kits carries the Titan gunmetal theme. shock body protected by a rubber shroud,
and topped off with a neat label.
Service:
Every Titan equipped car demands different characteristics,
Titan tailors to individual needs, damping rates, spring rates and the most
important comfort level demands. Until satisfied, Titan strives to provide the
best possible combination for their customers.
Cut the crap, How do you know they're so good.
Recently, I went for their special test offer. The test car used was a 1989
BMW E30 325i.
The process?
I drove there in the morning. Stanley, Titan's Marketing manager briefed me
about Titan's expertise in custom made suspensions and suspension basics. I was
then forwarded to Richard, the guru behind Titan and pioneer of Titan
Suspensions. We then discussed on how we should go about improving the ride and
increasing the performance of the current characteristics.
Decision:
Naturally, I opted for coilovers for its versatility in tuning, ride height
adjustments and looks. Unfortunately, when the car was hoisted, Richard
discovered that the front struts are too close to the wheels. Coil overs are not
possible. Plan B. Back to the conventionals then. I had to use my Eibach Pro-kit
springs since Titan only has springs made for their coil over kits.
Start:
Richard and his boys started to remove the front struts and rear shocks and
transferred them to their manufacturing facilities for hacking. The spring hats
and mounting mounting brackets were removed from the strut shaft and laid aside.
bigger shafts were employed which are needed to house the monster Titan shocks.
Everything was then re-aligned and professionally welded. Then the new struts
were transffered to "Richard's tech work facility" where he assembles his
monotube shocks, injects the fluids and gas desired determing the damping rate
and shafts the Titan monotube shock, the inverted manner of course, into the
strut body. rods protrude the bottom of the strut and fastened by a nut through
a special process. Now you have a masterpiece. Then the rear shock, which was
telescopic and easier to manufacture. same thing, just without the spring hat
and arm brakets. but the rod was fastened with the mounting brakect itself.
Packaging:
The product then undergoes finishing process where it is painted. labels were
attached and when it all sets, you can then finally admire the work of art. Just
looking at it makes you smile and you begin to appreciate and it surprises you
in a way you're holding something manufactured right in the premises where
you're standing now!.
Fitting:
Everything went back in like normal and they look stunning. Wheels fitted
back on, and you do notice that the stroke of the travel has been significantly
reduced. I don't know if it proves significant improvement but it does look
better The car then was release to rest on the ground.
Feel:
Where it all comes down to. Result. A few presses on the 4 corners confrims
the car has become so much more stiffer. I drove. I just can't believe the
difference. It's so much better than i expected. Bumps, potholes debris, sand,
stones, road patches, are all neutralized by the Titan shocks. I can now
practically skim over them with minimal disturbance in the cabin. Road feel has
increased in a good way and the car will react well and follow the road
contours. Steering response has improved while cornering and sharp turns will
not mess with the Titan's Shock perfomance.
Braking and acceleration feel has also improved dramatically, the car now
never squats on sharp acceleration or dive during hard braking especially
braking into corners. Slalom swerves are very well managed.
High speeds on highways is also where the Titan suspension will prove its
capabilities. The road feel is fantastic on tar and even on concrete roads. Road
feel, road feel, road feel. Great!. little up and down slopes is always a
nightmare and will often shift a car right left, up and down. Not with Titans.
The car is quickly absorbs the change in road contour on upslopes and quickly
pulls the car back on the ground when you go down the slopes. Fantastic. Needs
some getting used to since there is little travel from the shorter stroke and
the car's ability to return back to "shape" so fast.
But i did feel the subtle bounce on the not so flat highways. Again, Titan
was happy to remedy this. Richard suggest reducing the damping rate of the rear
shocks, back to testing and it fixed it right away.
More images:
Related images of installation on test car
The same day, a customer opted for Titans instead of his recently purchased HKS
Hypermax coil overs.
