Page 21 - Engineering

The prototyping step of product development is often one of the most exciting and nerve-racking steps of R&D. It's a lot like the day your car parts are delivered. You're excited about new parts, but there's also some trepidation. Will they fit like the manufacturer said they would? Do you have the right tools? Will it actually make my car better? We often have the same feelings about our prototypes, with one predominant question: Will it fit?

Before we can answer that question about our 2019+ Ford Ranger performance intercooler, we need to build a prototype. To do that, we enlisted the help of our 3D printers, waterjet, and fabricator. The first step in the prototype process is to take our digital model and bring it to life with 3D prints and welded aluminum.

Anything deemed "for the masses" doesn't happen on a whim. Just think of all of the items that took the world by storm, like the Beetle, the iPod, or even this Accord. Plenty of careful thought and consideration went into the design, production, and distribution to ensure that every individual unit rolling off the production line would live up to the sensation created around it. While our intake kit for the 1.5T powered Accord won't reach the same tier as the iPod, we still want to ensure that we put equal consideration into the development, starting with the plan.

To start, we need to know precisely how well the stock intake performs in terms of flow. For that, as part of our previous "intakectamy," our engineer, Ye, strapped the factory kit on to our flow bench for preliminary testing. Ye then

This Aluminum Primary Degas Tank for the 2011-2019 Ford 6.7L Powerstroke is Available Now! Click here to Check it Out!

Cooling is one of the basic needs of any engine, and for a workhorse like the 2011-2019 Ford 6.7L Powerstroke, any failure in the cooling system can be disastrous.

The 6.7L Powerstroke's cooling system is divided into two parts. The primary cooling system cools the engine, engine oil, transmission, and EGR. It also supplies heat to the cabin via the heater core. The secondary cooling system focuses on performance, cooling the air-to-water intercooler and the fuel. Both systems have a common weak point, however: their respective degas tanks.

Like almost every manufacturer,

PERFORMANCE ALUMINUM RADIATOR KIT, FITS TOYOTA GR SUPRA 3.0L, 2020+

Endurance is all about the long term. Building endurance in the automotive industry might mean keeping the car on the track for a few more minutes or stretching the same performance over a few extra years. Since the 2020+ Supra finds itself taking up both track and daily driving duties, we wanted to make sure our new radiators cover all the bases in improving the Supra's endurance.

The demand for quality has sharply increased over the years. In the past, overheating sometimes was a part of owning a performance vehicle. The technology behind cooling has improved by leaps and bounds over the past decade, leaving a small margin for increasing performance. That's especially true when a BMW

TRANSMISSION COOLER, FITS TOYOTA GR SUPRA 3.0L, 2020+

It's old news now that the Supra has returned. Back in late 2018, it didn't seem like there could be anything hotter in automotive news media. The Supra returned. What else, mattered? Plenty more mattered, as it turns out, as the heat has since blown over on this subject, and the Supra's are quite literally generating their own heat out on the roads and tracks. As we covered in the first post, heat in your automatic transmission is fine, but too much heat is not good. Luckily, we've already devised a solution to keep the Supra shifting at the right temperature.

We already gave you a preview of our design,

2007-2014 Toyota FJ Cruiser Performance Radiator

When we last talked about our 2007-2014 Toyota FJ Cruiser performance radiator, we had just removed the stock radiator. Our engineer, Ye, used our 3D scanner to make a digital model of it. In this post, we'll turn that digital model into a prototype, and if all goes to plan, we'll turn that prototype into a full production sample.

The first step in the process was to make a prototype radiator, test fit it on the vehicle, and ensure our design would fit. But before we could begin the prototype phase, we found something interesting that emphasized just how significant this upgrade could be. In the last post, we mentioned that Ye owns this FJ and that she off-roads often. Well, when we pulled out the stock

Heritage isn't something that pops up overnight. It's a long, arduous process that can take decades to develop fully. Specifically speaking, it takes time to be proven in the automotive world and compile a pedigree as lengthy as the Corvette. Since the 1950s, Chevy has put in the work and continues to push the 'Vette's limits, pushing it into near supercar territory. All that hard work, however, could be snubbed by some carbon crusted intake valves. So, while the Corvette works on proving itself in the mid-engine realm, we'll continue to prove ourselves by protecting its engine with a catch can. We started with a prototype.

The first step in the process is determining the catch can placement and which systems we plan to tap. As we alluded to in the last post, we're opting for a dual can setup, running our cans in line with both the PCV and CCV systems to ensure that we're covering all angles. With that settled, the next step is the mounting location. Typically, this ends up being the

PERFORMANCE INTAKE, FITS TOYOTA GR SUPRA 3.0L 2020+

While it may have seemed like millions of years since this project began, in only a few short months, our Supra intake's evolution is nearing completion. We've watched it dig its way out of the ocean on to dry land and sprout legs, but now is the time to see if it can breathe out of the water.

Testing intake kits is a multistep process here at Mishimoto. There's more to an intake kit than just a dyno run and pulling the best result from a series of power pulls. For starters, the Supra's ECU is going to adjust to compensate for a difference in air pressure, so a 20hp gain might only happen once, but we'll dig into that further down. What we want to cover first is the importance of flow and reducing restriction in the intake system.

It's true what they say, failing to plan is planning to fail, especially when it comes to pushing your vehicle to the limits. As we covered in the first post, the MX-5 Miata is designed for being pushed to the ragged edge, and driving so close to a vehicle's limit requires some preparation. Surely, Mazda put some extensive engineering behind the Miata's cooling system, but even still, it can have some trouble keeping up once you put the hammer down. When it comes to our radiator design, we plan to improve the NC's endurance.

Our plan is straightforward and parallels the sports car formula's simplicity that makes the Miata so successful. We start by ditching the plastic end tanks. This means

2007-2014 Toyota FJ Cruiser Performance Radiator

The Toyota FJ Cruiser has become something of a cult icon in the off-roading community. Chances are, if you find somebody in your area who owns an FJ, they know three other FJ owners, and they all hit the trails together on the weekend.

Though their owners will likely never admit it, the FJ Cruiser shares much of its lineage with the equally iconic Jeep Wrangler. Like the Wrangler, the FJ evolved from a rugged military utility vehicle designed to withstand the rigors of war. But in true Toyota fashion, the FJ Cruiser, and its predecessors, were built to outlive a war and a nuclear apocalypse. Like its Hilux cousin, the 2007-2014 FJ Cruiser is nearly indestructible; but even Toyota had to make concessions