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focus rs

  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. What's Cooler Than Bein' Cool? Intercooler R&D, Part 3: The Big Crunch

    What's Cooler Than Bein' Cool? Intercooler R&D, Part 3: The Big Crunch

    The movement on the 2016 Ford Focus RS intercooler project may seem slow, but it couldn't be more alive. Our lead engineer for the project, at my request, has completed a plethora of testing configurations to get the most detailed amount of data possible. For the past three months, we have been rocking out on testing, testing, and more testing for the RS, the primary objectives being movement on the upcoming diff cooler and this front-mount intercooler. We know that the RS crowd loves their data, so we want to overload you with what's finally available.

    I won't sugarcoat anything here. The update is going to be very data-intensive. I don't have any entertaining anecdotes, interesting fun-facts, or puns about staying focused to fluff this piece with. Today's discussion will be about our Nitrous Blue hatchback and the focus on data.

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  4. Diff's Hot, Take it Easy - Rear Differential Cooler R&D, Part 2: The Master Plan

    Diff's Hot, Take it Easy - Rear Differential Cooler R&D, Part 2: The Master Plan

    The mood for the past few days here at the Mishimoto office has been a little giddy.  Scrawled on our calendar in one of our project manager's less than impeccable handwriting are the words "Focus RS track testing".  There's a lot of hard work being done, but underneath it all lies a childlike wonder for what's going to happen in the next week.

    Top10_06_resized

    We've spent countless hours street testing over the past several weeks, trying to learn more about the relationship between the PTU, ECU, and RDU.  We've learned a lot from this testing, but we're finding that we can't push the car hard enough on the street to match what you all are seeing at the track, without getting arrested anyway.  So, we're gearing up for another track day to push the RS and its PTU and RDU to their limits.

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  5. Tank Love - Expansion Tank R&D, Part 2: Final Reveal

    Tank Love - Expansion Tank R&D, Part 2: Final Reveal

    I told you this project was going to move fast. In the last update, we laid down our design plans for how we will give this RS coolant expansion tank some sprucing up. Not only did we make the tank more pleasing to look at, we also increased the capacity and added a neat sight tube so you can check your levels with ease. You guys have been asking for it, so let's get up close and personal.

    The stock unit pales in comparison to the size of the Mishimoto tank.
    The stock unit pales in comparison to the size of the Mishimoto tank.

    One of the first things you'll notice with this tank is the capacity increase over the stock unit. We are making this tank to fit both the Focus RS and ST, but that doesn't mean we have to stay within the size parameters

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  6. Tank Love - Coolant Expansion Tank R&D, Part 1: Design Plans

    Tank Love - Coolant Expansion Tank R&D, Part 1: Design Plans

    Anyone with a car older than 15 years or so likely has a coolant expansion tank with the structural integrity of wet toilet paper. These tanks rarely get aesthetic love in the factory vehicle design. They are usually plastic, look weird and can start cracking given enough time. After 20 years, the expansion tank in my 1995 Nissan 240SX project car will literally begin crumbling around your finger if any sort of pressure is applied. We don't want that happening to your RS/ST a decade or two from now, so we decided to design a sweet looking expansion tank that will outlast the car and be a nice addition to your engine bay.

    The stock cap is has a pressure limit of 21psi
    The stock cap on the RS has a pressure limit of 21psi

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  7. 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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  8. ReSpiration Focal Point - SPECIAL ENTRY!

    ReSpiration Focal Point - SPECIAL ENTRY!

    Boy do we have treat for you.

    Our RS made it to our R&D facility early in the summer last year. We did our research on the car. We knew what color RS we were going to get, what parts we were going to make and just how much fun we were going to have with this little blue hatch. Every now and again, a wild idea is brought to the table that challenges the very fabric of our normal business operations - you are about to witness what happens when Mishimoto decides to take a walk on the wild side.

    If you have been following our updates, you all know and love the intake we have made for this 2016 RS, but we have one more trick up our sleeves. Some of you have been lucky enough to have already seen it. Some of you may have even put yourself down for a presale order. Without further ado, say hello to our first ever, limited color option for our 2016 Ford Focus RS Performance Intake kit - Wrinkle  Nitrous Blue.

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  9. 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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  10. ReSpiration Focal Point - Performance Intake R&D, Part 3: Data Time!

    ReSpiration Focal Point - Performance Intake R&D, Part 3: Data Time!

    Our product development for this 2016 Ford Focus RS has been getting a good amount of attention. Even a fellow Focus RS owner and writer, Kelly G over at "ArtofGears" has taken notice with this awesome piece he penned a couple weeks ago. But I digress. How about we stick to the project at hand?

    The engineers, who pretty much call our brand new R&D facility their second home, have been busy working on both current projects and projects you guys don't even know about just yet. Of course, what we are going to shine a light on in today's piece is the performance intake development that has garnered quite the following. Why keep you guys clamoring for more information? Well, I wanted to be sure that you could really sink your teeth into the next update. Good things come to those who wait!

    First, we dove head first into testing,

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