catch can

Hyundai may have never been a brand synonymous with producing the driver's car. Their models are often used as some sort of punchline to illustrate what we gearheads don't want in our cars. There have been some contenders throughout the years to ward off the bad jokes, but the quirky, asymmetrical Veloster that followed the Genesis earns the most credit for injecting new energy into Hyundai's image. Its release had us all thinking that the real spirited driving experience finally made its way to the well-known manufacturer.

While the Genesis Coupe might be a piece of Hyundai History now, the Veloster still delivers the sporty flair to the car maker's lineup.

The twin-scroll turbo and edgy styling put this strange hatchback in a category of its own.

Hyundai upped the game with their unique take on the hatchback by making a hot, twin-scroll turbocharged version that could compete with the likes of the hot-hatch godfather, the GTI, or Honda's souped-up Civic. And now, as 2019 rapidly approaches,

Tradition is something that spills over into just about everything. For the most part, we as a species like to settle into a groove. We keep things the way they are because that's just how they've always been done. While change is sometimes a good thing, it's often nice to have that hint of familiarity in the air. Not to mention, putting your foot down and standing by your principles holds a certain kind of respect.

The muscle car scene is deeply rooted in tradition, especially when it comes to Mopars. While the new Chargers and Challengers might be trending towards a sleeker and sexier outward appearance, what's under the hood is reminiscent of another time. Calling out the size by cubic inches rather than liters, and even just the different editions bring plenty back to the heyday of the muscle car.

We made sure to arrange visits from just about every iteration of the modern Mopar.

Once you get behind the wheel of a Mopar, it's clear to see why we want it to stay the same. With the baby

It's often an overlooked fact in the automotive world that every engine out there is affected by the by-product of its own combustion process, but it's true. It doesn't matter the size or the type of induction. Combustion gasses will still sneak past the piston rings, and those contaminated gasses will infiltrate the intake tract. The naturally aspirated V6 is an endangered species these days, and given the age of some of these VQ37 engines, the future for these power plants is starting to look bleak.

If you revisit the early stages of our project, however, you'll see that we've already been hard at work to save the VQs from themselves. Pushing that high of a compression for so long can put a strain on the piston rings, resulting in more blow-by over time. In our first installment, we rigged up a preliminary design to mount our catch cans where they can start intercepting the harmful crankcase gasses. Before we get into just how much we caught, let's check out what our production kit will

In this day and age, if you're an enthusiast in search of a naturally aspirated, performance-oriented 6-cylinder, you're almost out of luck. The last 8 years have been the age of forced induction with the 4-cylinder turbo layout edging the V6 closer toward extinction. Unless you have the money to spend on a Porsche, there just aren't many options out there anymore for the fun 6-cylinder.

There is one manufacturer, though, who can deliver the "Fizz" (as James May would put it) without the fuss of a turbo or supercharger. That would be Nissan. I'm sure that most people would have visions of the dime-a-dozen Rogue or Sentra that dominates the roads these days. Anyone who knows anything about their Nissan and Infiniti is quite aware of the company's heritage. From the long-nosed Datsun coupes to the drifter's dream that was the 240SX"and let's not forget the 10+ generations of the Skyline/GT-R"Nissan has proved it's been around the block a few times.

Nissan has carried on that long-standing

The Europeans have dominated the hot-hatchback market for decades. In fact, the term "hot hatchback" was coined to describe Volkswagen's Mk1 Golf GTI, which was responsible for the leadup to the hot-hatch fever throughout Europe and Asia. Just about every manufacturer began producing hatchbacks with stiff suspensions and a few extra horses under the hood. Even our very own Ford produced cars like the Escort Cosworth, and previous generations of the Focus ST and RS, but then left us here in the States, out to dry, when it came to having fun in a sub-compact. That was up until Mazda had their say.

The combination of comfort, practicality, and speed help the popularity of Mazda's newest fast hatch.

Mazda was more known for their sport coupes, rotary engines, and budget convertibles, rather than their sporty hatchbacks. However, the 2.3L MZR turbo they equipped in the Mazdaspeed 3 put them on the map, and helped to spread the fever across the US. Boasting 60 more horsepower over the MK5 GTI,

Mishimoto 2017+ Honda Civic Type R Direct Fit Catch Can PreSale

No matter the manufacturer, the term "sports car" seems to have a special relationship with the color red. Something about this vibrant hue has become synonymous with a vehicle's performance characteristics. This is a trend that Honda seems to have taken to heart. If you look back to all the fast Hondas that rolled out of the factory, at the very least they're adorned with Honda's scarlet badge on the front grille. Regardless of what angle you look at the FK8, the accenting splashes of red stand out like a coat of arms. From the pinstripes lining the bumpers to the encapsulating red bucket seats and pop of the Type R's engine bay centerpiece, the cover, there's an indication that the CTR belongs to a certain class of car.

Honda's red and pseudo-carbon fiber engine cover really tie the whole engine bay together.

Rarely do we have the opportunity to work on a car like the CTR, so we couldn't resist doing something a little different

Our engineering department has made some great strides in completing this catch can design as they have reached the final R&D stages. Overall strength and can rigidity were primary design goals for the kit, as we are aware of the rough and tough off-road lives many of these Wranglers live. We want to be sure that once you install this can on your car, it will stay put, no matter what rigorous environment you take your JK Wrangler through.

Bracketry starts with precise design and component fabrication. Our engineers had to be sure that our bracket would effortlessly hold our 2oz catch cans without any damage-inducing stress. In our last update, we left off with some of the cool tech we planned to use. The first tool we used was our FARO Design ScanArm.

Scanning the area where the bracket will go

The scan gets uploaded in real-time!

This arm allows the engineer to literally paint an area with digital lasers into a computer file and any part that comes to mind can be designed within that area

Engine blow-by is something that affects just about every engine on the road. Though plenty of manufacturers have made leaps and bounds in filtering blow-by from the intake, finding clever ways to keep the carbon deposits from building up on intake valves, blow-by remains an issue. This should come as no surprise if you've spent any time on our blog. Just about every type of car and truck that has made its way into our R&D facility, ranging from BMWs to F-150s, and even the 1.5T found in the base Civics, have all produced varying levels of the murky stuff. The K20C1 is likely to be no exception to this trend. That leaves it up to us at Mishimoto to make sure none of the contaminates in the crankcase gasses make it to your valves.

Our Championship White loaner on the Dynojet for baseline testing.

When we last left off, we were too impatient to wait for a CTR of our own, so we got in contact with a local owner to get a jump on some of the items for the Type R, one of which being a catch can.