A dirt-track late model, an off-road dune buggy, a World Rally Championship car, an Indy car and the world’s finest super cars very likely have something in common with the custom pickup cruising the neighborhood.
It’s likely all of them have a component produced by Eibach, a world leader in suspension pieces such as springs, shock absorbers and stabilizers.
In a nutshell, the same name stamped on the springs of a late model stock car can also be found on a component of the most expensive cars in the world, because Eibach is an official equipment manufacturer for Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and others.
Eibach is a private company that is an interesting combination of German precision and American ingenuity.
And at the heart of it all is quality and longevity.
Mark Krumme, head of marketing at Eibach North America in Corona, Calif., told a story that illustrates this point.
“I hadn’t been with the company long when I went to my first Indy car race, which was the Long Beach Grand Prix,” he said. “We were in the pits and the garage area and we went around to many different transporters and talked to the crew chiefs. Unsolicited, every crew chief I spoke with told me they’d been using Eibach springs for decades, and they choose us because our springs are the most consistent, most durable springs they’ve ever used. Every crew chief said he knows that with Eibach springs, when he orders a certain rate it will be that rate and it will stay that way.
“Sometimes through material and design, lesser-quality springs will lose height or rate over time,” he continued. “But it’s very important the quality is consistent and the springs don’t change. A few of the crew chiefs said they’ve been using the same exact spring for years because they don’t have to switch them out. Quality and consistently precise products are what Eibach brings to the table.”
Heinrich Eibach founded the company in Germany in 1951. He began in a modest building where he manufactured industrial springs for things like gondolas, household appliances, garage doors and small machines. The company’s headquarters are still in Finnentrop, Germany.
Upon his death in 1967, Eibach’s son, Wilfried, took over. During the early 1970s, he made some suspension springs for an automotive manufacturer that was producing a low-production, quality vehicle. It was Eibach’s first foray into the automotive industry.
“In the late 70s and early 80s, Wilfred saw a need for a universal coil-over spring,” Krumme explained. “He developed metric coil-over springs and saw an opportunity to sell them in the United States and started the North American division of Eibach. From that point, we started manufacturing race springs here.”
The company’s first North American base was in Irvine, Calif., but it moved to its current 155,000-square-foot building in Corona, Calif. when it outgrew that space.
“Wilfred saw an opportunity for OE-style springs that would improve the performance and center the gravity of a car in both German and American cars,” Krumme added. “He realized we needed to have our own research-and-development department, and so we brought R&D in house in both Germany and the United States simultaneously to manufacture performance springs.
“Founded on our involvement with automotive manufacturing, we already were accustomed to working within specific parameters and tolerances,” he continued. “Those efforts pushed the quality far beyond what anyone else in the market was producing. We were producing products for Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BWM, Ferrari, Bugatti and similar auto manufacturers. We had ISO certification and quality products that manufacturers wanted to use on their vehicles. All of that knowledge trickled down to the performance market, and we grew. That started Eibach as all the enthusiasts know it.”
Conversely, things learned in the performance market also translated back to the auto manufacturing side of the business. According to the Eibach website, “The Will To Win,” is a good way to describe its product philosophy.
“The main aspect of Eibach suspension components is a noticeable improvement of the driving characteristics — the basis for being a winner — brought to you directly from motorsports,” the website states.
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