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If you remember from our last post about the Titan XD catch can, we ran into some challenges with the first and second prototypes. Since then we have perfected our design, so without further delay, let's look at our final prototype for testing.

Final Prototype

With the check engine light vanquished, our last update left us with a slightly different hurdle to climb. A buildup of condensation in the system had us a tad worried about possible freezing in the winter. Little did we know that the solution was right in the Titan's engine bay. One of the benefits of working on a larger truck is that there is more room under the hood to work with. We used this to our advantage and decided to relocate the can to another spot in the engine bay - one that would see more heat. The idea is that extra heat introduced to the catch can will burn off a good deal of the moisture and prevent freezing of the can. A fine theory, but let's see it in practice.

Welding a new Titan XD catch can bracket

Before testing,

At Mishimoto we are big fans of our little blue car. Over the past few months you could say we have formed a bond that only burnouts and track days can build. In testing various Focus RS parts (and maybe doing a few donuts, for science) we noticed that it is very easy to make the rear differential in the RS angry, and you won't like it when its angry. The rear diff makes the rules. Overheat it, and you're likely to end up parked for the day. When the rear diff heats up, the ECU in the RS pulls power in an attempt to cool it down. Therein lies the problem: We have a car that begs to be driven to the absolute limits and rear diff that is programmed to shut down when it reaches a certain temperature. Don't get us wrong, the problem doesn't seem to be with the diff itself, but rather with its inability to dissipate heat fast enough to keep up with this blue bat out of hell.

Focus RS rear differential

Focus RS rear differential

Focus RS rear differential

As a peace offering, we decided to

As we approach the holidays, I want to get into the giving spirit by sharing some photos with you of how our final 2015+ F-150 EcoBoost intercooler will look. But first, I'd like to thank you all for your patience. This is a busy time of year, and the R&D for this intercooler has been an iterative one, but quality takes time and we've got a part on our hands that looks fantastic - I'm sure you'll all agree. You can see evidence of this by checking out our 2011-2014 EcoBoost Intercooler!

Last time, we 3D-printed some EcoBoost intercooler end tanks and sized up some foam to represent our intercooler core. For all our projects, this step in the process serves not only to save resources, but also to give us some flexibility in changing our design quickly and experimenting with numerous philosophies. Let's dive into the 2015+ F-150 EcoBoost Intercooler project a little bit to find out why this is important.

Laying the Foundation for LOTS of Testing

With any project, the name of the game during

If you remember from our last post about the Titan XD catch can, we ran into some challenges with the first prototype. Since our existing catch can design did not agree with the Titan, it was back to the drawing board for our lead engineer, Dan.

Updated Design

Our standard catch can when installed on the Titan was generating a code causing the truck to go into limp mode. The cause of the code stemmed from our standard catch can being too restrictive for the Titan's beefy Cummins engine. This is not surprising, given the 50 micron filter and smaller design of the can, which was originally designed for gasoline-powered cars. This catch can design functions beautifully on smaller turbo engines such as the Focus and Fiesta, as well as larger American V8s in the new-generation Camaro SS and Mustang GT. It just might not be suitable for the turbo diesel V8 in our Titan.

With some creativity, we modified our original design and got to work on some interesting design changes to our can.

Updated

Last time, we took an in-depth look at coolant filtration kits and how they can benefit our Titan. We gave you a sneak peek at what the final bracket for the Titan XD coolant filtration kit will look like. If you missed out on that you can check out the whole post on our engineering blog.

Finalizing the brackets

These brightly colored brackets were created with the help of 3D printing. This is just one of our rapid prototyping techniques that helps us create accurate prototypes the first time around. This allows us to bring great-looking AND great-fitting products to you in much less time.

Prototype bracket for the Titan XD coolant filtration kit

Prototype bracket for the Titan XD coolant filtration kit

Since our last post, we have finalized the bracket design and it's looking great. We were going for a stealthy look to complement the Titan XD's already excellent-looking engine bay. Check out some installed photos of the final product, and let us know how we did.

Titan XD coolant filtration

We have been working on the Titan XD for quite some time now. We have gone through a variety of products like the intercooler pipe kit, coolant filtration kit, and exhaust. Now we are down to the bread and butter of our Titan XD parts: the intercooler.

When we begin projects, we like to start by evaluating the stock component and looking for areas where we can make improvements. The stock intercooler in the Titan is fairly sizeable and features cast aluminum end tanks, which we don't normally see on stock intercoolers. Nissan has started off on the right foot with this intercooler. Still, we are confident that we can take it a few steps further with our intercooler design.

Stock Nissan Titan XD intercooler

Stock Nissan Titan XD intercooler end tank

Stock Nissan Titan XD intercooler end tank

After having a look at the stock unit, we began work on our upgrade. The first step was to take some measurement with our CMM (coordinate measuring machine). This would give us data points to use

I think we can all agree that the past couple weeks have been quite eventful here in the United States.

Regardless of which political candidate you supported, it's time to move on and unify now that our election has concluded. Whether or not we're happy about the outcome, we - as a society - need to be working together now. But certain Facebook friends can't seem to figure that out. You all know the one(s). Regardless of their political allegiances, they flood our news feeds with statuses high in pressure and often full of hot air. It's utterly exhausting - if only there were some way to get these people to pipe down.

The Camaro downpipe connects to the back side of the turbo.

Well here's an unpopular opinion for you" let's find a good, level-headed automotive engineer and elect him or her as the next president! Because if our goal is to exhaust the high pressure and hot air out of our system, they've already got that figured out - it's called a downpipe, ladies and gentlemen, and there's

Hello to all my wonderful Camaro 2.0T and Cadillac ATS owners! In our last update, we made the big reveal of our patent-pending blow-by tap. We drilled down into the details of how we plan on mining that nasty vein of oil vapor out of your LTG and transporting it to a catch can, instead of into your intake manifold.

Today, we're going to take it back to basics a little bit and look specifically at that whole "transport" element. To go even further back to basics, check out our technical section to see why blow-by is so bad for your engine over time. You know all about the complex, unique parts of this Camaro catch can project, but what about something as simple and ubiquitous as the hoses?

There are many ways to skin a cat, and there are many ways to route a hose. However, as they say, all you really need to know, you learned in kindergarten. Steve took us back to circle time with a clever new way to route houses in a way that's more visually representative of how the final product will