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The progress on our intake system is coming along nicely for this Forester XT. We have created a pipe that will fit well with our airbox design and filter selection. Remember, our pipe is within the acceptable pipe diameter to run this system with a stock tune.

The Fabricated Prototype

Below are some shots of the system we plan to put on an FXT for testing. The routing for this tube will follow a more direct path from filter to turbo. This is especially helpful for when the car is sitting at idle with ambient air around the box. With a shorter pipe distance, it will take less time for fresher, cooler air to get to the engine upon acceleration over stock. Check out images of the initial design below!

Prototype Subaru Forester parts

We're back with another quick update on our TGV delete project for the 2015+ WRX. After designing our initial models and then 3D-printing a prototype for test fitting, we worked up a couple functional prototypes for on-car testing.

First Prototype Images

Check out a few images of our functional prototype deletes!

Mishimoto's 2015 WRX TGV delete prototypes

Mishimoto's 2015 WRX TGV delete

3D-Printed Prototypes

To confirm the dimensions and design of our prototype, we decided to utilize some of our rapid prototyping tools. We fired up our 3D printer and loaded the model. Check out a couple images showing the progress of the print.

3D-printing 2015 WRX parts

3D-printing 2015 WRX parts

Once the printing process was complete, we cleaned up the prototypes and installed them on our 2015 WRX to verify fitment.

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

Interested in purchasing our 2015 WRX top-mount intercooler kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Performance Top-Mount Intercooler and Charge-Pipe System

As noted in our previous post, we decided to design a shroud that would channel airflow more efficiently through the core of our intercooler. Because our cooler features a larger footprint, the stock air shroud directs flow to only a portion of the core. Opening up this airflow to the entire core should result in even greater temperature reductions than we saw during our first round of testing.

Stock Intercooler Shroud

First, let's take a look at the stock shroud as Steve removes it from our test vehicle. Here is what you will see under the hood of your WRX.

Interested in picking up our 2015 WRX FMIC kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Front-Mount Intercooler Kit

Time for the fun part of development, product testing! Since this is an intercooler, we would certainly need to put the WRX on the dyno for some pulls and data collection. It would be interesting to see how the installation of a front-mount system has an impact on turbo spool, intake temperatures, and perhaps even power output.

Testing Preparation

The first step toward data collection is to prepare our sensor bungs and install our pressure and temperature sensors. We installed our bungs within the inlet and outlet intercooler couplers.