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  1. Diff's Hot, Take it Easy - Rear Differential Cooler R&D, Part 5: A Tale of Two Track Days Part 2

    Diff's Hot, Take it Easy - Rear Differential Cooler R&D, Part 5: A Tale of Two Track Days Part 2

    At first, admittedly, it didn't look like we were flexing as hard as we could with the Focus RS. With our full PTU/RDU cooling kit installed, we extended the time on the track with all four wheels producing power by about three minutes. However, after some reassessment, Dan transplanted the PTU temperature sensor from the gear oil into the coolant stream, producing great prospects for a fully functioning AWD Ford Focus. Since it would be a while until we could take our RS to the track, we decided to reach out to a third-party tester known for thrashing their cars in the name of motorsport.

    Three's a Party

    Motorsport is all about the challenge, and pushing your vehicle of choice to the limits. In the realm of racing, there are a myriad of different genres to challenge any car, but one especially stood out for the perfect test of Ford's sophisticated AWD system"rally stages. Keen to increase the performance of their brand-new rally-prepped Focus RS, Team O'Neil

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  2. Diff's Hot, Take it Easy - Rear Differential Cooler R&D, Part 3: Track Prep

    Diff's Hot, Take it Easy - Rear Differential Cooler R&D, Part 3: Track Prep

    When you're hurtling towards a concrete-walled turn at over 90 MPH, you'd better know that every nut and bolt in your car is torqued to spec.


    Photo: Nick Thomas

    We've all had to prepare for something before"a date, an interview, a test. It's always a stressful experience. Now imagine you were about to go on a date with somebody you were pretty sure is trying to kill you. Or, imagine that your desk would be pushed off a 100ft cliff if you failed that test. Preparing for a track day is a lot like that.

    _MG_4004

    About a week before our Focus RS was

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  3. Mission In-Pipe-Sible - Intercooler Piping R&D, Part 2: The Cold Side

    Mission In-Pipe-Sible - Intercooler Piping R&D, Part 2: The Cold Side

    Our intercooler pipes are on the tail end of our journey to extract some elevated performance out of our 2016 Ford Focus RS. Along with our intercooler project making great strides in development, we have some updates to share with you regarding our intercooler piping. In usual fashion, we plan to make each pipe individually available, as well as having the option to purchase the entire kit (piping and core) as one. We aren't quite there yet, but easy does it. Let's start with the cold side intercooler piping for this RS.

    Cold side intercooler tube
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  4. What's Cooler Than Bein' Cool? Intercooler R&D, Part 2: Prototypin'

    What's Cooler Than Bein' Cool? Intercooler R&D, Part 2: Prototypin'

    Some time has passed since the last update for this 2016 Ford Focus RS intercooler project, but that doesn't mean we've forgotten about it! It's all-hands-on-deck to get this project back in the swing of R&D as we are getting close to testing and beginning a huge data push. Let's see what it looks like and quickly go through some of the design specs.

    May I present to you, our prototype intercooler for the Focus RS!
    May I present to you, our prototype intercooler for the Focus RS!

    At

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  5. ReSpiration Focal Point - Performance Intake R&D, Part 5: C'est Fini

    ReSpiration Focal Point - Performance Intake R&D, Part 5: C'est Fini

    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.

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  6. Cooler Than Winterfell - Intercooler R&D, Part 1: Stock System Review

    Cooler Than Winterfell - Intercooler R&D, Part 1: Stock System Review

    George R.R. Martin isn't the only author who can write some gripping stuff about the cold. That's right, brace yourselves, winter is coming; and we are jumping into the frigid waters which we know well - improved intercooler performance. The patient going underneath our scalpel for R&D is the 2013+ Ford Focus ST, but per our usual process, let's first take a brief second to examine the stock system.

    Our Ford Focus ST intercooler on our surgical table
    Our Ford Focus ST intercooler getting inspected

    Ford decided to use tube-and-fin construction for this intercooler instead of bar and plate. The difference between the two is pretty simple. Tube-and-fin intercoolers are more commonplace amongst stock applications. They are lighter and promote greater

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  7. ReSpiration Focal Point - Performance Intake R&D, Part 4: Let's Hear It!

    ReSpiration Focal Point - Performance Intake R&D, Part 4: Let's Hear It!

    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.

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    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

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  8. Cool Operator - Oil Cooler R&D, Part 2: Prototype Testing

    Cool Operator - Oil Cooler R&D, Part 2: Prototype Testing

    High oil temperatures can shut down a track day faster than you can scream your favorite four-letter word. Unfortunately, high oil temps are already sidelining RS owners at the track. Not to worry, Team Mishi is on it!  In our last post, we took a look at the stock cooler and our plans to create a larger one. Now it's time to construct and test our prototype.

    Prototype Focus RS oil cooler bracket
    Prototype Focus RS oil cooler bracket

    Prototype Focus RS oil cooler bracket
    Prototype Focus RS oil cooler bracket

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  9. Cool Operator - Oil Cooler R&D, Part 1: Stock Review

    Cool Operator - Oil Cooler R&D, Part 1: Stock Review

    While we plan to create an entire line of cooling products for the RS, some require more immediate attention than others. The oil cooler is shaping up to be one of these items. With a stock cooler that's less than adequate, and oil temps on track days that could make Chuck Norris sweat, we have a problem brewing.

    Stock System

    The stock oil cooler is a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger and therefore relies on the radiator to cool the oil, as well as the coolant. This style of oil cooler also acts as an oil warmer, bringing the oil to operating temperature, which is beneficial for colder climates. I know with the heat wave that is currently engulfing a large portion of the country, not many of us are concerned with the oil reaching temperature; but in the dead of winter, it can certainly be helpful.

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  10. Mission In-pipe-sible - Intercooler Piping R&D, Part 1: Stock Review

    Mission In-pipe-sible - Intercooler Piping R&D, Part 1: Stock Review

    This hot hatch is heating up our headquarters! We have several projects in the works, so if you have not had a chance to check them out, you can do so on the Focus RS section of our engineering blog.

    Stock Focus RS intercooler piping
    Stock Focus RS intercooler piping

    Often, one of the first modifications to turbocharged vehicles is the intercooler. However, this time we wanted to give the spotlight to its lesser known siblings, the intercooler piping. If you have not yet had a chance to take a look under the hood of your Focus RS, we'll save you the trouble; it's tight in there. Not the best news for those of us who aim to squeeze every bit of power out of our RS. Increasing the flow to the turbo via the piping has power potential, after all.

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