Page 62 - Engineering

The Focus RS is a big hit at the Mishimoto headquarters, and we want to make sure to protect our newest addition. If you missed Kyle Mohan testing out the Focus RS drift mode, check out our Focus RS Drift Video. Luckily one of the first projects up to bat is our direct-fit baffled oil catch can. We know that the necessity of an oil catch can is a hotly debated topic among many car communities, and the Focus RS is no exception. From previous projects and research online, we've learned that blow-by is a real presence in these EcoBoost engines.

Focus RS Oil Catch Can R&D

Interested in Purchasing our BRZ/FR-S Fan Shroud Kit in Black? Our discounted pre-sale begins now!

BRZ/FR-S Black Fan Shroud Pre-Sale

With every revolution of our planet around the sun, things change. Change can be minute or monumental; previously unimaginable trends surface, while established empires fall. Fresh movements are founded, archaic ideas become obsolete - existing products are refreshed, old products are pulled from the shelves (but sometimes *thankfully* added back on - I'm hungry and envisioning a bowl of French Toast Crunch™). Be it little or large, history progresses, and it remains ceaselessly amazing to me to see how much of a difference even a subtle change often makes.

Just about a year ago, Mishimoto released our plug-n-play fan shroud kit for the then-Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ. This fan shroud has been extremely popular

We have begun developing a catch can system for the 2015+ Ford F150 EcoBoost! This project, although small (in components), could have a significant impact on the F150 EcoBoost market. Why? There are not many direct-fit options, and there are a lot of these trucks out there. Oil blow-by can be pretty serious, especially on turbo applications, and this truck is twin turbocharged! Nonetheless, many gearheads tend to question the merits of using a catch can. So before we go any further, let's briefly explain what a catch can actually does and why it's so beneficial!

Port vs. Direct Injection

With port-injected engines, the fuel injectors are inside the intake manifold and produce the fuel stream that mixes with the air. This mixture is shot into the combustion chamber,

If you follow our Engineering Blog you have probably seen the exciting array of vehicles that come in and out of the Mishimoto garage for some R&D. The luckiest and most interesting of the bunch get to stay around as our SVP (Special Vehicle Project) cars. This means that upon arrival at our facility, they are evaluated from head to toe for a complete offering of Mishimoto parts from cooling to power products, we want to cover them all. The 2.0 Camaro was the last to be welcomed to our Engineering headquarters, but it wasn't the new kid on the block for long"

Last time we wrapped up our resonator-delete testing, and with that component good to go, we're on to our next conquest, axleback exhausts. If you have not had a chance to take a look at our resonator deletes check out our blog posts HERE.

Axleback Fabrication

Any living, breathing car enthusiast knows that the exhaust is an important modification for modern muscle. Most owners want to rid themselves of the stock sound and let their pony car be heard right out of the gate. Being s550 owners ourselves, we want to hear the unrestricted growl of the Coyote in our GT, so we set out to design some axlebacks. We intend to design a few options as we want to offer an exhaust for every taste.  We plan to test a straight-pipe option for those who want to hear the GT scream, a small-muffler option for those who want an aggressive note but have neighbors, and a large-muffler option for those who like

Here at Mishimoto, we know the importance of a good catch can as far as preventative maintenance goes. For most vehicles, installing a catch can means protecting your engine from the silent monster that is blow-by. Blow by can consist of excess oil, fuel, moisture, and pure evil. Engines with direct-injection, like our good friend the Titan XD, are prone to blow-by creeping its way back into the engine through the intake, and caking debris on valves which can be very harmful to an engine over time. To read more in depth about blow-by, check out our complete write up on Blow-By 101.

Stock Titan XD engine bay

Not to worry gentle Titan, we are here to

Along with creating an awesome intercooler for the EcoBoost (EB), we also want to improve upon the pathways through which air travels to and from the charge air cooler. This will involve replacing factory components that route from the turbocharger to the intercooler and from the intercooler to the throttle body with engineered aluminum pieces.

Factory Ford F-150 EcoBoost Intercooler Piping

The factory piping setup on the F-150 is essentially a rat's nest of molded plastic and rubber couplers that, evident upon removal, is complemented by an internal coating of oil. No wonder catch cans are so popular for these trucks!

Our engineers felt like teenagers again with all of the oil on their skin as they removed the piping in order to inspect each piece, keeping in mind that they would need to replicate all connection points to ensure that our piping is a bolt-on setup.

Check out the cold-side pipe, below.

In our last post, we took a look at the fabrication of our oil cooler bracket and the prototype heat exchanger. We've settled on the final bracket design, and now we are moving on to the heat exchanger.

Heat Exchanger Fabrication

The lead engineer on this project, Dan, plans to test several designs, including an all new heat exchanger design for this project. Exciting stuff! Before we test, we first need to fabricate our test subjects with the help of our expert welder, Mike. We will be creating a small cross-flow oil cooler, a large cross-flow oil cooler, a small dual-pass oil cooler, and a large dual-pass oil cooler.

We began with the cores of our new oil cooler designs. First up was welding the mounting points to the top edges of our cores. We have a pretty cool mounting design for our oil cooler, and we were pretty excited to see it come together.

We're on a roll with new Titan XD project development! In addition to our plans for improving the factory intake, we have decided to implement an upgrade that is simple and awesome. What we'd like to do here is develop a silicone intake hose that will replace the factory intake tube.

The factory intake tube is a well-designed piece, but it has room for improvement. For instance, we can increase the volume of air that flows through the tube, which will only benefit this 5.0L Cummins turbo diesel. The factory piece will be comparatively restrictive in size when compared with our planned design.