While examining our existing intercooler, our engineers felt that yet another improvement was necessary. The current core composition was working well for our tests but would likely run out of efficiency with a higher-boost/higher-temperature vehicle. To adjust for this we added more boost tubes, changed our fin type, and increased the density of the fins. Our original cooler featured straight fins; for this test we switched to an offset fin style. The offset fins provide a huge improvement in … Continue Reading ››
As mentioned last time, our team decided to make an improvement to our intercooler design. Because of the cast end tanks, we were left with a rather thick inlet. The wall diameter was significantly greater than what we would prefer, and opening up this diameter would only increase flow. The inlet was removed from the intercooler and an aluminum pipe was then welded on. This thin-walled pipe would provide significant benefits in overall airflow.
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Finally in the comfort of our own garage, we could begin further testing and data collection with our intercooler design. Below is a first look at the Mishimoto intercooler fully installed!
Mishimoto intercooler in 2003 WRXMishimoto intercooler in 2003 WRX
I may be biased but in my … Continue Reading ››
Armed with a 3D printed prototype and a full day of test fitting, we were able to produce some very insightful renderings of how this intercooler was going to look. Initial flow testing and calculations showed that performance would be ideal for our target power range. After spending some time with Solidworks, Kevin produced the fantastic rendering you see below.
Mishimoto intercooler rendering
[caption id="attachment_184" align="alignnone" … Continue Reading ››
Before we attempted the initial design, we first took a good look at the stock Y-pipe design. Although the spaced ports provide dispersion of air throughout the stock core, we saw immediately that this portion of the design needed improvement.
Kevin, our lead engineer for this project, began by taking measurements of the stock engine bay and intercooler. He used these measurements to begin developing a Solidworks model that would emulate the direction we wanted to go with the overall … Continue Reading ››
An inside look at the engineering of Mishimoto products.
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