cold air intake

This 2016+ Ford Focus RS Performance Air Intake is now available! Click here to check it out!

Here it is, the final hoorah. The production sample of our intake kit for the 2016 Ford Focus RS is here at last. In the last update, we took you guys through what this intake sounds like with the help of some dyno runs; it sounds awesome and it made 11hp and 15ft-lbs of torque! I'm happy that you guys have stuck with me through the long development process, but there is a light at the end of this R&D tunnel. I know you guys want to see what the finished product looks like, so let's check it out.

Neat! *Snaps camera*

We have put this intake design through hundreds of miles of testing, accruing too many Excel sheets of data. We even installed a prototype on a daily-driven RS (with no issues) that was graciously provided to us during the dyno testing. Big thanks by our next-door Maryland neighbors ID Motorsports.

Check out that fitment; like a glove!

The fitment of the intake pipe was a top priority.

This project has been strenuous, but "thorough" is our Engineering Department's proverbial middle name, so let's hear it for them (cue applause). The last update, which was relatively recent, consisted of a pretty big pile of data. Though necessary, it was a lot to soak in. Now that that's out of the way, we can get to the fun part - what this intake actually sounds like.

Sneaking a peek of our prototype intake for the RS!

We really have to give it to our engineers. The reason they were so careful with this project was primarily because the software reported slightly increased fuel trims. We suspected that the 2016+ RS just has relatively high fuel trims from factory; but, being the thorough bunch that they are, the engineers wanted to be absolutely sure. We brought in another RS (thanks to our next door neighbors ID Motorsports) to do some stock baseline runs. (That's why the test car is now a Frozen White RS instead of our own Nitrous Blue.) We installed our prototype intake and drove

We have an update for our Focus ST intake project! Our first production sample has finally reached our R&D facility, and we have been able to test fit it onto a 2013 Ford Focus ST. Fitment was spot on, and we were able to get all the components properly snug into the car. We made some minor adjustments from our initial design and we included an awesome new feature that will help accommodate more Focus ST's on the road, so let's check it out!

It's the Little Things

During the time we were updating our design, we discovered small differences between the stock 2013"2015 and the 2016+ Focus ST intakes. The 2013"2015 Focus ST's have a screw type mass airflow (MAF) sensor that goes into the stock pipe. In the 2016+ model, however, the MAF sensor is replaced with an IAT sensor in the same location and it fits into a push-type clip housing. Many aftermarket intakes retain use of the stock accordion style boot that holds the sensor in place, " especially in for the 2016+ model. We were able to accommodate

We have another update ready to share with the Mini world! In the last post, we went through the process of how this shield was constructed using the waterjet. Now that all the components have been completely assembled, it's time to test and evaluate our system. Check out some sound clips below!

Our intake dramatically improves the induction sound. The turbo spool is much more pronounced over stock and the intake tone is more aggressive. We know that this is as important for Mini drivers as performance, so we devoted time to making sure that this intake sounds awesome.

The way this intake is designed fully maxes out airflow potential that the engine sees. It is less restrictive than the stock unit while still making use of the factory air duct. Our team went through a few different variations of this intake design, all of them yielding the same results - power output similar to stock. In situations like this, if the product just isn't going to make pronounced power gains, there is no shame

Our last update on this intake included dyno testing that yielded some interesting numbers. Now that we're moving closer to the release, let's take a look at the finished product!

Let's start with the intake pipes.

New 2015 WRX parts

These intake pipes will be finished in either wrinkle black, wrinkle red or polished, as shown above. The decision is up to you! These production samples came out nicely and look really great in person. Remember we are using full three inch piping with no step downs, which will require a tune on any WRX that has this race intake installed.

Color options for the 2015 WRX Intake

Each pipe will come with a built-in mass airflow (MAF) straightener to help with consistent airflow. Straighteners are very helpful in assisting the MAF sensor to record accurate readings and take turbulent airflow out of the equation. Let's also not forget that the MAF housing adapter is CNC-machined onto the pipe!

Filter for our 2015 WRX Intake

Pictured above is the filter we plan on

As we finally round the end of the long and arduous testing and data collection process, it's time to test the fitment of the final prototype to ensure there are no issues before we kick off full-scale production. A lot of effort has gone into designing and engineering this kit, and it has been rewarding to see this project finally come together.

There were some minor changes and cool feature additions that will make this kit unique. Take a look at some images below.

Prototype Miata intake box

After we pieced together the rest of the box, we cleaned it up with some fresh paint and added a neat feature that will help with cooling. Right underneath the front of the box, you can see an angled plate that has been attached. This plate acts as an air diverter that will help trap extra air rushing against the radiator fins, thus slightly increasing the cooling capacity.

Prototype Miata intake box

The mass airflow (MAF) sensor adapter has been moved to the straight section of the pipe, which alters

We finally have an update for the Miata intake project!

With our prototype now in working order, we were finally able to hook up our ND Miata to our dynamometer and get some pulls underway. At this point in the process, we knew we'd want to play around with some other design ideas while the car was hooked up to the Dynapack. AFRs, power output, and sound clips were all on the agenda for the evaluation of this prototype system.

Results

Miata intake dynamometer results results

We did gain some decent performance in the low end of the power band, but the upper end of the curve follows the path of the stock intake system. This graph displays an average of several pulls to ensure that each setup produced a consistent output and plot.

During our testing with the BRZ performance intake, we found a noticeable improvement in power output when we removed the sound tube. We did runs for the ND both with and without the sound tube and found no difference in performance. The effect of sound tubes on