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heat exchanger

  1. Intercooler Sandwich - 2015+ VW MK7 GTI/Golf R, Audi A/S3 Intercooler R&D Part 1 - Stock Review

    Intercooler Sandwich - 2015+ VW MK7 GTI/Golf R, Audi A/S3 Intercooler R&D Part 1 - Stock Review

    The Golf GTI has been one of the most revered hot hatchbacks since its inception in the mid-1970s. While it was immediately a hit in Europe, and especially the UK, we didn't get the chance to experience Volkswagen's ingenious combination of efficiency and speed until the early 80's with the "Rabbit" GTI. The MK1's screaming 98 horsepower engine boasting Bosch's latest fuel injection technology, combined with crisp and responsive suspension, was enough to draw in a huge following. With that following came an explosion in aftermarket parts for these vehicles, from wheels to lowering kits, and just about any other trick to squeeze every drop of performance from the naturally aspirated motors equipped through the next two generations.

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  2. Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 5: Final Data Review

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 5: Final Data Review

    Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

    Mishimoto E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

    The results are in and they are exactly what we expected! This cooler provided huge gains in cooling efficiency. Let's take a look at the data we compiled. First up is the core volume comparison.

    Core volume comparison
    Core volume comparison

    As you can see, the Mishimoto oil cooler provides a huge increase in total core volume.

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  3. Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 4: Cooler Installation and Data Collection

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 4: Cooler Installation and Data Collection

    Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

    Time to see if this cooler can make a significant impact on fluid temperatures. As before, we borrowed a test fit vehicle from the folks over at Open Road Tuning. Once we had the car on the lift, we removed the factory cooler lines and spliced our temperature sensors into the stock lines so we could collect inlet and outlet fluid temperatures.

    Temperature sensors installed
    Temperature sensors installed

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  4. Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 3: Cooler Comparison and Adapter Installation

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 3: Cooler Comparison and Adapter Installation

    Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

    Welcome to our third installment of the build! We are nearing the completion of this project, with only some final test fitting necessary and data collection to ensure that this product performs to our standards. First, take a look at the Mishimoto oil cooler compared to the stock unit.

    Mishimoto prototype oil cooler (right) and stock oil cooler (left)
    Mishimoto prototype oil cooler (right) and stock oil cooler (left)

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  5. Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 2: Cooler Design and Prototyping

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 2: Cooler Design and Prototyping

    Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

    Our team now had a functioning oil line adapter to convert from the stock oil filter housing to -AN fittings. Now we would be able to move forward with designing the actual heat exchanger for our kit. We reached out to a few of our local friends and sourced this Oxford green example!

    Test vehicle on lift
    Test vehicle on lift

    Our friend Andrew at Open Road Tuning was kind enough to loan his vehicle for a week of development! First we tore off the stock cooler to get a look at what kind of space we had to work with.

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  6. Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 1: Product Introduction and Component Prototyping

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Direct-Fit Oil Cooler Kit, Part 1: Product Introduction and Component Prototyping

    Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

    Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

    The BMW S54 won the "International Engine of the Year" award at its inception in 2001 and was consistently on "Ward's 10 Best Engines" list for four years. It's hard to argue against the E46, an 8,000 rpm, 3.2L straight-6 producing over 330 hp and 260 ft-lb of torque, with a competent chassis, an exhaust note that straightens the neck hair of all within earshot, and a body styling that is unmatched in uniqueness. Although my opinion is slightly skewed, being a fan of most BMW products, many would agree that the E46 was a fantastic vehicle for the street and even better for the track. E46 M3 pricing has trickled downward over the past few years, meaning that even those on a tighter budget can find their way into the cockpit of one of BMW's finest. We are seeing these vehicles at track

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  7. Mishimoto 2015 Subaru WRX Direct-Fit Baffled Oil Catch Can System, Part 3: Final Product Reveal

    Mishimoto 2015 Subaru WRX Direct-Fit Baffled Oil Catch Can System, Part 3: Final Product Reveal

    Interested in purchasing our WRX catch can kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

    Subaru WRX Baffled Oil Catch Can System

    The final kit is ready for installation! After months of development and test fitting, we finally had our completed prototype components ready for fitment verification prior to mass production. Check out all of the components below!

    First, the passenger side catch can bracket for the PCV system.

    Final PCV catch can bracket
    Final PCV catch can bracket

    Next up is the finished version of our dual port catch can!

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  8. Mishimoto 2015 Subaru WRX Direct-Fit Baffled Oil Catch Can System, Part 2: Product Prototyping

    Mishimoto 2015 Subaru WRX Direct-Fit Baffled Oil Catch Can System, Part 2: Product Prototyping

    Interested in purchasing our WRX catch can kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

    Subaru WRX Baffled Oil Catch Can System

    Time to start designing brackets! After a quick recap of the project goals, our creative engineering team began brainstorming. First, they selected a location for the catch can on the PCV valve side. It would need body mounting points for the can bracket, and preferably a short route for the hose so as not to complicate the engine bay. Our goal is a clean installation that appears stock-like, not a medusa of hoses routed about the engine bay.

    The PCV valve on the 2015 WRX is located under the intercooler toward the rear of the engine block. You can see it in the image below, taken during a later stage of development of this kit.

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  9. Mishimoto 2015 Subaru WRX Direct-Fit Baffled Oil Catch Can System, Part 1: Product Introduction

    Mishimoto 2015 Subaru WRX Direct-Fit Baffled Oil Catch Can System, Part 1: Product Introduction

    Interested in purchasing our WRX catch can kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

    Subaru WRX Baffled Oil Catch Can System

    If you follow our engineering blog or are involved with any of our social media outlets, you should be well aware of the new baffled oil catch can we recently released. This new product features a much smaller footprint compared to our existing catch can, allowing for fitment in tighter engine bays.

    While developing this catch can, we wondered about using it in direct-fit kits for popular vehicles. For most drivers, a catch can is a DIY project requiring only the routing of hoses and fabrication of brackets for mounting the can. Installing a DIY setup that appears like it was made for the vehicle can be quite a challenge. This is where we come in, to take the guesswork out of a catch can installation. We are planning to provide mounting brackets, hardware,

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  10. Mishimoto 2015 Subaru WRX CVT Transmission Fluid Cooler, Part 4: Prototype 3 Development and Final Results

    Mishimoto 2015 Subaru WRX CVT Transmission Fluid Cooler, Part 4: Prototype 3 Development and Final Results

    Interested in purchasing our WRX transmission cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

    Mishimoto Subaru WRX CVT Transmission Cooler

    For our third prototype unit for the CVT cooler, we decided to take a more traditional approach. We would place the cooler in a location that would guarantee airflow. The main concern was fitting our large 19-row cooler in a position that would not leave any space for other aftermarket components. First, we mocked-up the cooler and developed some basic brackets that would place the cooler in an angled position behind the upper grille area. Check out a few shots of the mounted cooler!

    Prototype 3 cooler mounted
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