Autoparts

You may have noticed that we have developed a technical section to the APSW site... and as you may have guessed, this will house articles written on parts or  techniques in the motor trade. We feel that the current hot topics are sensors and so we have started with the throttle potentiometer amongst others.

Throttle potentiometers monitor the throttle opening for the ECU to adjust fuel flow.

KYB - the UK aftermarket division of the world's largest supplier of original equipment automotive shock absorbers - celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

Established in January 1997, the UK company started with just three customers who had previously imported KYB products directly from Japan.

Since then, KYB UK has seen considerable growth, developing its customer base to more than 300 and becoming the UK market leader with around 32% of the UK aftermarket.

Sales increased by an impressive 556% between 1998 and 2006, and the UK branch now employees 26 people at its 20,000 sq ft warehouse and office facility in Warrington. In recent years the company has expanded with an additional 5,000 sq ft overflow warehouse to cope with the rapid growth in business, most recently from coil springs.

KYB UK has several long standing employees including, Sue Clough, customer service manager who has been with the company since February 1997, and operations manager Julian Rose who joined in 1998.

Supported by KYB, Team Ukyo has successfully completed the Dakar Rally, one of the world's most grueling races.

The team completed the challenging 9,000 kilometre course on 21 January in 78 hours and 54 minutes, and finished 16th in its category.

Driving a Toyota Landcruiser, Ukyo Katayama (driver) and Naoya Saiki (navigator) made their contribution to protecting the environment by using a special fuel made from used tempra oil. This bio-fuel helped power the team from the start in Portugal on 6 January, through Morocco, Mauritania, and Mali to the chequered flag in Senegal 15 days later.

Team Ukyo used KYB shock absorbers to ensure they had the robust and durable suspension system needed to protect the vehicle from being shaken apart in the arduous desert conditions. A total of 515 cars, trucks and motorbikes started the rally, and Team Ukyo came 68th out of the 109 cars that finished.

With one in four new cars fitted with its shock absorbers, KYB is the largest supplier of original equipment (OE) shocks in the world, and continues to consolidate its position as a global manufacturer.