focus

When you're hurtling towards a concrete-walled turn at over 90 MPH, you'd better know that every nut and bolt in your car is torqued to spec.

Photo: Nick Thomas

We've all had to prepare for something before"a date, an interview, a test. It's always a stressful experience. Now imagine you were about to go on a date with somebody you were pretty sure is trying to kill you. Or, imagine that your desk would be pushed off a 100ft cliff if you failed that test. Preparing for a track day is a lot like that.

About a week before our Focus RS was set to tear up Raceway Park's road course, Dan and Eric were neck deep in tasks. We would be pushing the RS to its limits to test our rear differential cooler; every box had to be checked and every part ready. A week isn't a lot of time to install diagnostic equipment, maximize the car's performance, finalize prototypes, and safety check the entire vehicle, but it all had to be done before 6:00 AM on Tuesday.

Before they could start prepping the mechanical,

Our intercooler pipes are on the tail end of our journey to extract some elevated performance out of our 2016 Ford Focus RS. Along with our intercooler project making great strides in development, we have some updates to share with you regarding our intercooler piping. In usual fashion, we plan to make each pipe individually available, as well as having the option to purchase the entire kit (piping and core) as one. We aren't quite there yet, but easy does it. Let's start with the cold side intercooler piping for this RS.

Cold side intercooler tube

The cold side here is a standard design, connecting the turbo to the cold side of the intercooler. The unique part, though, is the material we plan on making this product out of. The entire prototype, which is more of a finished production sample at this point, will be constructed from durable, steel reinforced, five-ply silicone. Worried about boost pressure? You won't have to with this one-piece tube. The steel reinforcement makes it highly

George R.R. Martin isn't the only author who can write some gripping stuff about the cold. That's right, brace yourselves, winter is coming; and we are jumping into the frigid waters which we know well - improved intercooler performance. The patient going underneath our scalpel for R&D is the 2013+ Ford Focus ST, but per our usual process, let's first take a brief second to examine the stock system.

Our Ford Focus ST intercooler getting inspected

Ford decided to use tube-and-fin construction for this intercooler instead of bar and plate. The difference between the two is pretty simple. Tube-and-fin intercoolers are more commonplace amongst stock applications. They are lighter and promote greater airflow through the core exterior. The trade-offs to these qualities are less heat transfer and more susceptibility to road damage.

Bar-and-plate intercoolers, however, have increased cooling efficiency over a tube-and-fin design. They are physically a stronger intercooler, meaning they can withstand

High oil temperatures can shut down a track day faster than you can scream your favorite four-letter word. Unfortunately, high oil temps are already sidelining RS owners at the track. Not to worry, Team Mishi is on it!  In our last post, we took a look at the stock cooler and our plans to create a larger one. Now it's time to construct and test our prototype.

Prototype Focus RS oil cooler bracket

Prototype Focus RS oil cooler bracket

We began with constructing our prototype bracket for fitment testing. After cutting the bracket on our waterjet, we tack-welded it together and bolted up our cooler to take a better look at fitment. We will be using one of our larger bar-and-plate coolers designed for our Mustang GT oil cooler project for the RS oil cooler kit.

Prototype Focus RS oil cooler bracket

Prototype Focus RS oil cooler bracket

Prototype Focus RS oil cooler bracket

You may have noticed the scoop on our prototype above, or in our render from our previous post. When designing the bracket,

While we plan to create an entire line of cooling products for the RS, some require more immediate attention than others. The oil cooler is shaping up to be one of these items. With a stock cooler that's less than adequate, and oil temps on track days that could make Chuck Norris sweat, we have a problem brewing.

Stock System

The stock oil cooler is a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger and therefore relies on the radiator to cool the oil, as well as the coolant. This style of oil cooler also acts as an oil warmer, bringing the oil to operating temperature, which is beneficial for colder climates. I know with the heat wave that is currently engulfing a large portion of the country, not many of us are concerned with the oil reaching temperature; but in the dead of winter, it can certainly be helpful.

Stock Focus RS oil cooler

As you can see below, coolant is supplied via the two lines connected to the right side of the cooler. Of course with every liquid-to-liquid cooler pro, there is a con.

This hot hatch is heating up our headquarters! We have several projects in the works, so if you have not had a chance to check them out, you can do so on the Focus RS section of our engineering blog.

Stock Focus RS intercooler piping

Often, one of the first modifications to turbocharged vehicles is the intercooler. However, this time we wanted to give the spotlight to its lesser known siblings, the intercooler piping. If you have not yet had a chance to take a look under the hood of your Focus RS, we'll save you the trouble; it's tight in there. Not the best news for those of us who aim to squeeze every bit of power out of our RS. Increasing the flow to the turbo via the piping has power potential, after all.

Stock Focus RS intercooler piping

The stock piping is complex in shape and constructed of plastic and rubber couplers. Overall there are eight connection points in this set of piping. The cold-side piping is fairly short, but the hot-side piping is nearly triple the length, extending