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Monthly Archives: March 2017

  1. Ultimate Cooling - 2012-2016 BMW F2X/F3X Intercooler R&D Part 1 - Stock Review

    Ultimate Cooling - 2012-2016 BMW F2X/F3X Intercooler R&D Part 1 - Stock Review

    Mishimoto prides itself on the ability to improve the cooling systems on just about any vehicle that rolls through the garage door. Intercoolers have become our bread and butter at this point. That being said, BMW's are notoriously over-engineered, so improving on the meticulous German design isn't going to be an easy task.

    It seems that the engineers at BMW wanted to make sure they provided the best equipment on their "Ultimate Driving Machine," which means tight spacing. Peeling the front bumper cover from our loaner 2014 335i M Sport reveals a space no bigger than a toaster oven. A tricky intercooler project lies ahead, but that's OK, because we're up to the challenge.

    The front fascia is secured on tight, but our engineer Steve, left, and project manager, Rob, make</body> " width="600" height="459">
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  2. Quick Release! - Ford 7.3L Powerstroke Transmission Cooler Kit

    Quick Release! - Ford 7.3L Powerstroke Transmission Cooler Kit

    Sometimes there are products we can't wait to get on the market. The sense of urgency follows positive feedback after a release or hinting at a recently started project. There's pride in giving people what they want, what they need. When our 2003-2007 6.0L Powerstroke Transmission Cooler Kit was released, the question that kept coming was if it would fit the 7.3L. What followed was a "no, sorry." That didn't sit well with us. The efforts grew exponentially as more questions surfaced about fitment, and as the number of requests to make a direct fit kit increased.

    In retrospect, it would have been best to provide all you 7.3L owners with upgraded cooling when the transmission cooler first launched. The reason why our 6.0L kit wasn't on option then was due to the hose routing. The lines are different. The 6.0L already has hoses that can adapt to our cooler without the necessity of lines from us. The inlets and outlets are in different spots here, so we needed to carefully design hoses that

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  3. Improved Induction - Silicone Induction Hose R&D, Part 1: Stock Review

    Improved Induction - Silicone Induction Hose R&D, Part 1: Stock Review

    Many would question the motives behind someone who purchases a four-cylinder turbo of what has come to be a staple of the American muscle culture. Personally, I get it. I'm one for combining performance without having to sacrifice fuel economy or aggressive styling. On top of that, turbo engines open a whole new world for modification, and one of the first steps for most is to increase the airflow to the turbo. The engineers at Chevy had to make a trade-off, however, when it came to designing the stock induction hose for the 2.0T Camaro. I'm sure they would prefer designing each aspect of the Camaro to milk every single drop of horsepower out of this newer, and smaller engine, but they also have the noise, harshness, and vibration tests to contend with, which induction sounds fall under. So, in short, they had to trade performance for cost, and comfort, when designing the stock induction hose.

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  4. Stranger Danger - Baffled Oil Catch Can R&D, Part 1 - Design Plans

    Stranger Danger - Baffled Oil Catch Can R&D, Part 1 - Design Plans

    Our engineers at Mishimoto are no strangers to the dangers of oil blow by. We have well-documented evidence that this is still a common threat to most modern direct injected vehicles. For those of you that don't know, blow-by is a byproduct of compression and combustion. Blow-by is created when oil and fuel vapors push past the piston rings and into the crankcase during compression. To keep the crankcase depressurized from this oil and fuel, there needs to be some sort of venting. This is accomplished by routing this blow-by through the intake tract and right back into the cylinder to be burned during combustion.

    Even though this particular engine uses port injection, which sprays fuel directly onto the valves, the problem still lies within the venting process. By rerouting blow-by through the intake tract, there is a potential for accumulating carbon deposits on your valves in addition to a nice thin coating of oil along the inside walls of your intake (and turbo if applicable). The

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  5. 2016 in Photos, Team Mishi's Top 10

    2016 in Photos, Team Mishi's Top 10

    Photography has become essential to Mishimoto's initiative in developing an interactive R&D process with the many interested and enthused motorheads who "like us" want to push the limits. It's not enough to tell you what stage of development an intercooler is in, or what changes to the design have been made on an intake after an initial examination of the stock system and how those changes will affect the output of an engine. We want to show you. To open the public up to what goes on at our facility matters. It provides an opportunity for us to illustrate what we see, and how we see it. During the coverage of daily activity over the course of 260 work days, the automotive journalists at Mishimoto have been able to capture, with a skillful eye for the ideal, brilliant views of our shop vehicles. It seemed appropriate to gather up the best of those and provide a little insight as to how they came to be. Some from the following list will inevitably look familiar, but that's only because

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  6. Makin' Our Camaro Purr - Catback R&D, Part 2: Turning Heads

    Makin' Our Camaro Purr - Catback R&D, Part 2: Turning Heads

    Our recently released catch can for this 2016+ Chevy Camaro 2.0T needed a part two to our "The Making Of" (TMO) video series for the project, and I was tasked with directing it. I wanted to take our Camaro home (Washington D.C.) for the weekend to put some miles on it so our kit would catch real world content inside of the catch can to show in the video. It just so happens that we had a full cat-back exhaust prototype on the car for me to enjoy. Let me tell

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  7. A COLD HEART FOR THE CAMARO - OIL COOLER R&D - PART 2: Prototype & Testing

    A COLD HEART FOR THE CAMARO - OIL COOLER R&D - PART 2: Prototype & Testing

    The pre-sale for this oil cooler kit is now live! You can purchase the 2010-15 Camaro SS Oil Cooler Kit here!

    There's nothing quite like the feeling of powering down the long straight, your right foot trying to turn the throttle into dust, hurtling towards the first turn. As the engine RPM climbs into the red you tell yourself not to lift, keep that foot down until the last second. You've put your heart and soul into your Camaro's engine, and you've placed your trust in your Mishimoto oil cooler. All you need to do now is keep your foot down and let them both do their jobs.

    Combating high oil temperature is something that almost every 5th Gen Camaro SS owner has experienced. The factory liquid-to-liquid oil cooler that we examined in the last post

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  8. Hot and Cold - Intercooler Pipes R&D, Part 2: Almost There

    Hot and Cold - Intercooler Pipes R&D, Part 2: Almost There

    We have a lot of advanced equipment at our disposal that would make a design for an upgraded intercooler pipe kit for this 2016+ Chevy Camaro 2.0T superior over stock in many ways. We aren't only aiming for these pipes to have spot-on fitment. It's crucial to think about every design detail and consider how you can keep these pipes with you throughout your quest for more power without having to do anything to them. This means incorporating design features that can support even more modifications - whether you plan to use them or not. I'll take you through how we accomplished this.

    Prototype intercooler pipes up for testing
    Prototype intercooler pipes up for testing

    Our engineer was able to get his hands on detailed 3D model data files of the Camaro's

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  9. Getting Into The Thick of It - Intercooler R&D, Part 2: The Core Concept

    Getting Into The Thick of It - Intercooler R&D, Part 2: The Core Concept

    I've always wondered if it's a coincidence that the start of tax-return season is timed so conveniently with the startup of the race season for us gearheads. How is it that our hard-earned money withheld from our wages the previous year is graciously beset upon our bank accounts, but then immediately drawn right back out to fund the rest of the car parts we all want? It's something I succumb to almost every year, with 2017 not excluded, and I know I won't be alone. There are just some things we all need for our cars to reach that next level. Our intercooler core for this 2016+ Camaro 2.0T will certainly fall into that category.

    Prototype Mishimoto 2016 Camaro 2.0T intercooler core
    Prototype Mishimoto 2016 Camaro 2.0T intercooler core

    There were

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