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  1. The Rise to Power - Downpipe R&D, Part 2: A Working Prototype

    The Rise to Power - Downpipe R&D, Part 2: A Working Prototype

    Downpipes are a choke point in many turbocharged vehicles when it comes to exhaust flow. As opposed to naturally aspirated cars, less serious thought needs to go into the size of the exhaust piping. In most cases the system just needs to be bigger in diameter, maximizing what you can within the alotted design space.

    The downpipe on the Camaro 2.0T's LTG engine is a restrictive point in the exhaust system, a conclusion brought about by our testing. The point of emphasis is the rate at which exhaust gases are expelled out of the turbocharger. That flow is very important to how well the turbocharger can do its job. If you can flow more exhaust gases, the turbine can spin faster, leading to more boost. It is now time to test the prototype and figure out what our downpipe design can do for this LTG power-plant.

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  2. Low Style Heroes Brings Japanese Style Stateside

    Low Style Heroes Brings Japanese Style Stateside

    In the preliminary hours of a drift event, burnt rubber, race fuel, and the chatter among drivers, are all sights, sounds, and smells familiar to a seasoned grassroots drifter. Pair that with the sound of wrenching through their last-minute prep on their low, loud, and heavily-stickered Japanese rides with mountainous terrain and cramped paddocks, you'd think you were at a race track in Japan. However, last week, I was nowhere near Japan. In fact, I was over 6,700 miles away in the mountains of Shenandoah, Virginia. But for many, myself included, it would've been tough to tell the difference.

    The entire team laid out. Courtesy of Stancenation!
    The entire team laid out. Courtesy of Stancenation!

    If

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  3. Mishimoto Lifestyle: Automotive Photography with Your Phone

    Mishimoto Lifestyle: Automotive Photography with Your Phone

    When I was asked to write an article on "how to take photos of your car with your phone," I cringed, a lot.  I've spent the better part of my life taking photographs with cameras that were just that, cameras.  They serve one purpose, to create images, and they are good at it.  Through college my fellow photography students scoffed at the idea that a camera within a phone could come anywhere close to the professional-grade cameras we used to create "art."  Those days weren't that long ago, but it's time to face the facts: cell phone cameras are creeping up on the quality of professional cameras more and more every day.

    What cell phone cameras lack in image quality, they make up in their versatility, portability, and ease of use. While these traits are great for taking quick and easy photos, it takes a bit more than point and shoot to take a great photo with a cell phone, or any camera for that matter.  Where cell phone cameras present the biggest challenges

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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. Improved Induction - Silicone Induction Hose R&D, Part 1: Stock Review

    Improved Induction - Silicone Induction Hose R&D, Part 1: Stock Review

    Many would question the motives behind someone who purchases a four-cylinder turbo of what has come to be a staple of the American muscle culture. Personally, I get it. I'm one for combining performance without having to sacrifice fuel economy or aggressive styling. On top of that, turbo engines open a whole new world for modification, and one of the first steps for most is to increase the airflow to the turbo. The engineers at Chevy had to make a trade-off, however, when it came to designing the stock induction hose for the 2.0T Camaro. I'm sure they would prefer designing each aspect of the Camaro to milk every single drop of horsepower out of this newer, and smaller engine, but they also have the noise, harshness, and vibration tests to contend with, which induction sounds fall under. So, in short, they had to trade performance for cost, and comfort, when designing the stock induction hose.

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  6. 2016 in Photos, Team Mishi's Top 10

    2016 in Photos, Team Mishi's Top 10

    Photography has become essential to Mishimoto's initiative in developing an interactive R&D process with the many interested and enthused motorheads who "like us" want to push the limits. It's not enough to tell you what stage of development an intercooler is in, or what changes to the design have been made on an intake after an initial examination of the stock system and how those changes will affect the output of an engine. We want to show you. To open the public up to what goes on at our facility matters. It provides an opportunity for us to illustrate what we see, and how we see it. During the coverage of daily activity over the course of 260 work days, the automotive journalists at Mishimoto have been able to capture, with a skillful eye for the ideal, brilliant views of our shop vehicles. It seemed appropriate to gather up the best of those and provide a little insight as to how they came to be. Some from the following list will inevitably look familiar, but that's only because

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  7. A COLD HEART FOR THE CAMARO - OIL COOLER R&D - PART 2: Prototype & Testing

    A COLD HEART FOR THE CAMARO - OIL COOLER R&D - PART 2: Prototype & Testing

    The pre-sale for this oil cooler kit is now live! You can purchase the 2010-15 Camaro SS Oil Cooler Kit here!

    There's nothing quite like the feeling of powering down the long straight, your right foot trying to turn the throttle into dust, hurtling towards the first turn. As the engine RPM climbs into the red you tell yourself not to lift, keep that foot down until the last second. You've put your heart and soul into your Camaro's engine, and you've placed your trust in your Mishimoto oil cooler. All you need to do now is keep your foot down and let them both do their jobs.

    Combating high oil temperature is something that almost every 5th Gen Camaro SS owner has experienced. The factory liquid-to-liquid oil cooler that we examined in the last post

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  8. Protecting the N55 - Catch Can R&D, Part 3: Test Results and Final Look

    Protecting the N55 - Catch Can R&D, Part 3: Test Results and Final Look

    The pre-sale for this kit is now live! Click here to buy the Mishimoto N55 Catch Can Kit!

    Nothing ruins a weekend drive through your favorite back roads more than an unexpected check engine light (CEL). That is, nothing except a flashing check engine light.  Having driven my fair share of Volkswagens, Audis, and more recently Subaru's, I've become quite accustomed to the warm, orange glow of a lit check engine light.  A solid CEL is something that no longer worries me; it's something that I, and most people who modify cars, have come to expect every now and then.  What does still haunt my dreams, however, is the flashing CEL. What's the difference? A solid CEL is usually a fault that's not life-threatening to the engine.  Small issues

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  9. We Get Around - Catch Can R&D, Part 6: Cadillac Field Trip

    We Get Around - Catch Can R&D, Part 6: Cadillac Field Trip

    Though the winter continues to perpetuate chilly weather and monotonous gloom here on the east coast, the future is looking bright for our Mishimoto 2013+ Cadillac ATS catch can kit. After a nice visit to the local Porsche dealership (yes, you read that correctly), armed with some anomalous 50◦ January sunshine, several delicious sandwiches, and our final ATS prototype catch can kit, we've determined that our fitment is just about spot on.

    For those of you just catching up with us now (I crack myself up), this ATS kit is largely the same as our Camaro 2.0T catch can kit, which is now on pre-sale"don't worry, the ATS pre-sale is not far behind!

    However, to properly fit the Caddy, we needed to design a bespoke set of ATS-specific brackets and hoses.

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  10. American Workhorse - Part 3: Looks that Kill

    American Workhorse - Part 3: Looks that Kill

    So far, we've examined chassis flex on the 6.4 Super Duty trucks and we've taken a look at our solution in its construction, design, and testing. As our Mishimoto 6.4 Upper Radiator Support Bar pre-sale comes to an imminent close, I've got just a bit more to share!

    upper radiator support bar

    Namely, I think it's time we show you some trucks! As I've mentioned before, we've been working with numerous 6.4 owners to test this bar out, and things have gone great so far. The bars have seen many thousands of miles, and we've had some of our satisfied testers send in some cool shots of their support bars installed on the trucks.

    Check them

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