Page 39 - Engineering

Since its inception in 1976, the Honda Accord hasn't exactly screamed performance. In fact, for the longest time it has carried the stigma as the typical family sedan. That image has started to fade in recent years as the Accord developed somewhat of an attitude with the 8^th and 9^th generation, especially when it comes to the Sport trim V6 models. In fact, Road and Track made the bold claim that the 9^th generation was the last true American muscle car. While the Accord is improving on its bad boy image, there is still work to be done toward injecting some more attitude into the 2.0T powered grocery-getter.

The V6 Accord might be a piece of Honda's history,

Intercooler design is a delicate balance of pressure and flow. Too much flow means that the charge air does not stay in the core long enough to transfer heat. Too little flow, and too much pressure, means all the work your turbo or supercharger has been doing is wasted on forcing the air through the cooler instead of into the cylinders. Heat transfer happens rapidly inside an intercooler, so it's difficult to make an intercooler core that has good flow. That doesn't mean we could use just any core in our 2011-2017 6.7L Powerstroke intercooler. Like all our products, this intercooler needed to be extensively tested before it finds its way into our customers' trucks.

In our last post, we looked at our prototype with its 3D-printed end tanks and aluminum bar core. In this post, we'll test real cores with production end tanks to get the most accurate results.

This 2003-2009 Dodge Ram 5.9L/6.7L Cummins Transmission Cooler is now available! Click here to check it out!

After all the time spent designing, welding, prototyping, and fitting, we were more than anxious to test the cooler and see if all our work would pay off.

Testing wouldn't be easy though. The weather outside was growing colder every day, and cold is the enemy when you're trying to push the limits of a heat exchanger. Nevertheless, on-road testing would yield the most relevant results for our customers, so we had to try. We hitched a trailer to our 5.9L Cummins volunteer truck, loaded our 6.7L Powerstroke, and hit the road. Temperature sensors in the inlet and outlet of the transmission cooler would let us know when we had maxed out the cooling potential of the stock cooler. Once the inlet and outlet temperatures leveled out, we could record the final temperature and swap in our cooler to repeat the test. But the temps never leveled out.

This 2014+ Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra 1500 V8 Radiator is now on pre-sale! Click here to check it out!

Up until now, our 2014+ K2 Silverado radiator has been nothing more than a simple set of goals: create a direct-fit radiator that's larger, and stronger, than the stock radiator. After measuring the radiator and its home in the engine bay, we began working on our replacement.

Like many of our products, this radiator started life on a computer monitor. Jason took his measurements from the stock radiator and created a 3D model that would serve as the template for our prototype. Once the model was complete, we could transfer it to our 3D printer to begin the rapid prototyping process.

As

This 1994-2002 Dodge Ram Cummins Transmission Cooler is now on sale! Click here to check it out!

Variables and constants - the two most important aspects of any scientific venture. For any test result to be accurate, a set of constants must be tested against one variable. The key in that equation being that there is only one variable. This concept becomes increasingly elusive as you begin adding more and more systems to the equation. Controlling our variables is a task we've become quite skilled in here at Mishimoto. After all, our everyday work involves testing extremely complex vehicle systems. But, we do sometimes meet challenges along the way.

When we last saw our 1994-2002 Dodge Ram Cummins transmission cooler, it was installed on our volunteer truck and patiently awaiting testing. However, we had some decisions to make before we could put the cooler through its paces. No matter how good we are at controlling variables in our testing, one variable we can't

This 2011-2014 Ford F-150 3.5L EcoBoost Catch Can Kit is now on Pre-Sale! Click here to check it out!

Gasoline direct injection (GDI) has existed for over 100 years. Since its introduction into the automotive industry in the early 1950's, GDI has had an off-and-on relationship with cars and trucks. Today, it looks like GDI is here to stay. With more and more manufacturers including GDI across their entire fleet of vehicles, we've seen massive strides in vehicle performance and efficiency. Combine those improvements in GDI with the increasing popularity of turbocharging and we're living in a time where small four- and six-cylinder engines are making more power than their eight-cylinder ancestors, all while using less fuel than some of the smallest engines of the past 50 years.

No technology is without its downfalls, however. GDI has come a long way in 50 years, with most of that innovation coming in the last 20 years. Like all technology, the exponential