Page 2 - Monthly Archives: May 2015

Interested in picking up our Focus ST oil cooler kit? Check out our product page for more details.

Mishimoto Ford Focus ST Oil Cooler Kit

After knocking out some projects for Japanese turbocharged vehicles and European sports cars, we finally freed up some garage space and engineering time to begin much needed development on one of the hottest hatchbacks on the market.

As general gearheads, we have been keeping a close eye on the Focus in terms of aftermarket product support as well as how the enthusiast world accepted this new vehicle. We found numerous gaps in product support for cooling, yet a very active and enthusiastic community of Focus addicts.

We have a ton of awesome plans for the ST, the first of which is a direct-fit oil cooler solution. Throughout the past few years we have had numerous requests for this component. It seems that extensive track use puts serious stress on the stock cooler setup, necessitating a solution for those pushing their ST hard. Sticky tires, engine power

Interested in purchasing our Mustang EcoBoost Downpipe? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Ford Mustang EcoBoost Downpipe!

Mishimoto downpipe 3D model

It has been awhile since our last update on the Mishimoto downpipe, however I assure you it was worth the wait. We have had our engineers tackling a ton of awesome new products for the EB, this exhaust system included. We left off with an evaluation of the stock downpipe. Once that was complete we set out to design our own system.

3D Printing

Is Mishimoto going to print out an entire downpipe? Not entirely, but we do intend to flex the muscles of our new 3D printer on this particular project. If we have the technology, why not use it. After creating a model of our design in Solidworks, we began to print components that would require additional time to fabricate. This includes bungs, flanges, and bends within the system.

Check out a shot of our printer pumping out one of the bends on our design.

3D printing

Interested in purchasing our new Civic Si intake system? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Honda Civic Si Performance Air Intake

Stock Si engine bay

With a K-series power plant, 6-speed manual transmission, and a limited slip differential, the Si is a great choice as a fun commuter that can double as an autocross machine on the weekends. As with any performance vehicle, more power is always on the minds of enthusiasts. Mishimoto has been working to develop brand-new intake systems for a variety of vehicles, and the 8th generation was next on our list for some R&D.

Getting Started

We started with a blank slate on this project. We researched the type of intake we wanted to design as well as where we would place the filter. A true cold-air system would have the filter in the driver-side fender well. Our team investigated the details of installing a true cold-air setup (filter within the fender well) and found the process to be quite extensive. While some DIY

Interested in picking up our Mustang EcoBoost Intercooler Pipe Kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Ford Mustang EcoBoost Intercooler Pipe Kit

3D Pipe Models

As with all our projects, we would be using 3D modeling software (Solidworks) to put our final design into both 3D and drawing forms. Not only does this put our design into a viewable format, but it also allows for digital tweaks as well as confirmation of fitment and precision with the overall product design.

Check out the rendering below showing our projected cold-side pipe design.

Mishimoto cold-side intercooler pipe 3D model

Ford made this one fairly easy for us. This pipe features a pretty smooth shape and routes from the intercooler to the throttle body. An aluminum counterpart is going to be a huge improvement over the stock rubber hose referenced in the last post. Each connection point will be secured with a Mishimoto silicone coupler and our T-bolt clamps for a solid connection. Note the

Interested in picking up our Mercedes CLA45 intake system? Check out our product page for more details.

Mishimoto Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG Performance Air Intake

Inlet Tube Test Component Fabrication

Time for the fun part, dyno testing! Before putting the AMG on our dyno, we needed to make a quick adjustment for our tests. As mentioned in our previous posts, we created the inlet tube with our 3D printer for this intake, but with the close proximity of this component to the exhaust and turbocharger, we were a bit concerned with it melting or deforming during our dyno runs. We decided to fabricate an aluminum prototype to better handle the heat.

We started with some aluminum pipe and our template 3D-printed design.

Inlet tube fabrication

Inlet tube fabrication

This project has created an interesting challenge for our engineers in terms of metal fabrication.

Inlet tube fabrication

Inlet tube fabrication

Our fully tacked aluminum inlet tube!

Inlet tube fabrication

Once we verified all the dimensions,

Interested in picking up our E46 intake system? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW E46 Performance Air Intake

After completing our initial prototype it was time to strap this E46 to the dyno and make a few pulls. We would be evaluating power output, monitoring vital engine sensors such as AFR, and collecting sound clips for comparison against the stock intake system.

Dyno Testing

E46 on dyno for intake testing

E46 on dyno for intake testing

E46 on dyno for intake testing

Time to make some pulls! Check out the dyno video below.

Initial Impressions

The video shows the changes our setup made in  intake noise. This is likely a result of our open-element filter residing within the engine bay. Although closing the hood seals off the airbox portion of the intake, it is still more audible than the stock unit. The stock airbox is designed in a way to reduce noise and create a more drivable experience for non-enthusiasts. That said, this creates a numbness among car