Subaru

It's been nearly two years since our first 2015 WRX development vehicle rolled into the shop. We've had a lot of fun with the car, and our team has developed a multitude of awesome components to aid in cooling, elevate power, and improve styling. Our product line is essentially complete, meaning we are done wrenching on our WRX. This is bitter sweet, as we will be picking up another vehicle to start the process once again. Before shipping out the WRX, we had one more project up our sleeves to extract a touch more power.

With our existing modifications, including our downpipe, intake, and cat-back exhaust system, most customers are making in the neighborhood of 290 whp and 310 wtq. Not bad for some simple bolt-on modifications and ECU tuning. We've been eyeing TGV modifications and have seen the impressive effects on Subarus from previous model years. We decided to open up the intake system on our 2015 to see if we could design a delete system that would deliver a few extra ponies.

Exciting things are happening in the induction world here at Mishimoto. We have a 2014 Subaru Forester XT in for intake R&D. This AWD turbo Subaru comes with a 2.0L power-plant, giving an output of 253 hp from factory. It shares the same FA20 heart with its 2015+ WRX counterpart, so there are some similarities between the two.

Subaru forester parts under analysis

Stock System Review

The stock Forester XT intake system is somewhat similar to the stock WRX intake system, yet featured some differences in shape and size. With both systems, the airbox is tucked away in the engine bay. To an untrained eye, it can be easy to miss upon first glance.

The airbox mounting points on the vehicle are also quite different

It has been a while since we have updated this project, but we now have something for our WRX community!

The brief data report below shows our gains with this race intake project and our baseline was a fully stock 2015 WRX with no upgrade or aftermarket tune. The numbers are quite high due to the upgrades already installed on the WRX during testing. These upgrades included our Mishimoto:

• Downpipe
• Cat-Back Exhaust
• Front-Mount Intercooler
• Custom Engine tune

WRX intake dyno testing

We've given the 2015 WRX quite a bit of love, mostly due to the introduction of the FA20DIT within the new chassis. Our team developed a ton of awesome components: a downpipe, an intake system, a couple different intercooler options, and various other neat parts. With our WRX projects mostly wrapped up, it's time to turn our attention towards the STi. It still has an EJ engine under the hood, but it is mated to a new chassis that many are taking advantage of in various forms of competitive racing.

So far we have developed an intake and a cat-back exhaust for the STI. Our next target is a bolt-on front-mount intercooler (FMIC) kit for the 2015 STI. The EJ25 is a well-respected engine that can make great power from basic bolt-ons and tuning. In addition, the sky is the limit in terms of power output once engine internals are upgraded and a large snail is bolted up. Greater power means more heat, resulting in the need for a more efficient heat exchanger for the charge-air system. Thus,

Interested in picking up our 2008-2014 WRX/STi overflow tank? Check out our discounted pre-sale linked below.

2008-2014 Subaru WRX aluminum overflow tank pre-sale!

If you haven't noticed, the folks here at Mishimoto are not fans of plastic use for cooling system components. A large number of our products provide a more durable material, aluminum, to replace the failure-prone plastic parts, and now we are focusing on another line of products, our aluminum coolant expansion tanks. We offer two different options for the WRX/STI and one for the new Mustang EcoBoost. This article is focused around our newest addition, an aluminum overflow tank for the 2008+ WRX and STI.

Product Design

We won't be making any significant changes to the design of this tank compared to the stock unit, except for the construction material. Enlarging the tank's capacity will

Team Mishi likes to look out for our Subaru community. If you have been following our engineering blog, then you'll notice that we have been rolling out a slew of high quality 2015+ parts WRX. One of the biggest products we launched was our bolt-on intake system. Not only did we provide easy power gains, but our system greatly improved sound, and created a large group of very pleased customers. The gains we produced were a result of reduced restrictions compared to the factory system. A great product that supports stock and mildly modified examples. We are now turning our attention to an even less restrictive iteration that will be designed to support vehicles necessitating maximum airflow.

Our race-inspired design for this WRX intake will take the more aggressive route of obtaining the maximum power potential an intake can deliver to this FA series motor. Keep in mind, this secondary "Race" design will require tuning for safe operation.

It is important to understand that this

Interested in purchasing our BRZ/FR-S Fan Shroud Kit? Check out more details at the link below!

Mishimoto Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S / Toyota GT86 Plug-N-Play Aluminum Fan Shroud Kit!

We're back for some more fan shroud fabrication! The last portion of this series highlighted the beginning stages of initial shroud design. The BRZ/FR-S uses a fairly unique overflow tank that mounts directly to the factory fan shroud. This is our first target for part two of product design.

Overflow Tank Mount Fabrication

This tank has two upper mounting points which use a bolt which passes through the tank material and into threads on the shroud. We utilized round stock aluminum which was cut to the proper length, drilled, and tapped for the appropriate factory bolt. These were then welded to the shroud in a position that would place the tank in the

Interested in purchasing our BRZ/FR-S Fan Shroud Kit? Check out more details at the link below!

Mishimoto Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S / Toyota GT86 Plug-N-Play Aluminum Fan Shroud Kit!

Taking a look at our lineup of products for the BRZ/FR-S reveals a solid offering in both cooling performance and power-adding upgrades. Our engineering team has evaluated numerous vehicle systems and provided upgrade components where solutions were needed. Our intake components provide improved induction noise and nice increases in power. Our oil cooler system provides a solution for high oil temperatures on the track. And, our performance aluminum radiator is ideal for track vehicle owners looking for some additional peace of mind during long-duration lapping. These are just a few of the components we currently offer, and we've managed to find yet another opportunity to provide an awesome

Interested in picking up this awesome aluminum expansion tank? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Aluminum Coolant Expansion Tank

Last year we released an aluminum expansion tank for the 2004-2014 STI and 2002-2007 WRX. We received a ton of awesome feedback from customers and enthusiasts regarding this component, as well as recommendations to produce such a tank for 2008-2014 WRX owners.

While we normally highlight our development process in multiple installments, for this Expansion Tank we wanted to give you everything in one quick shot.

Stock Expansion Tank

Although we don't see quite as many failures with the 2008-2014 expansion tank, we can assume it will incur some wear over time. This tank sits relatively close to a very hot turbocharger/exhaust and handles coolant with temperatures

Interested in purchasing our new BRZ/FR-S intake system? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S Performance Air Intake

After solidifying our product design we needed to capture data to verify the design and determine if any changes were necessary. We strapped our test vehicle to the dyno and began making pulls! Check out a compilation video from the dyno testing. The audible difference in intake tone and volume is quite noticeable when comparing the stock setup with the Mishimoto prototype.

Testing Results

On to the important part, results from our tests. Intake upgrades generally