Monthly Archives: May 2021

The news of the departing Ford hatchbacks left a hole in many enthusiast's hearts. For us here in the States, that means no more compact speed demons, finished with bulging bucket seats and manual gearboxes. The balance of power and practicality bearing the blue oval is gone. Or is it?

Enter the Explorer ST. Ford didn't delete the ST line. They just matured it a bit and crammed the essence of a hot hatchback into a full-sized, family-friendly SUV. It's a combination that shouldn't work, but the 400 hp and surprisingly nimble handling is sure to fill the void left by the hot-hatches departure.

No matter the vehicle segment, however, any and all internal combustion engines suffer from the same nasty side-effect - blow-by, Explorer ST included. To put it simply, blow-by is when oil

The FK8 Civic Type R is bred for the track. Sure, you see these auspiciously styled Civics roaming the streets and highways, but you don't set front-wheel-drive lap records at the Nurburgring being developed for comfort. If the performance brakes and tires, styling, and big shot K20C1 weren't already enough, enthusiasts are still demanding more from their CTRs. A demand that we're here to fulfill.

In our last post, we covered our plans for the new race intake, but no design is complete without a round of prototyping here at Mishimoto. While the 3D modeling process gives us precision designs, we still need to double-check the fitment in the vehicle.

The

BMW's M division is renowned for delivering the utmost pinnacle of automotive performance. That's no secret. For decades, the letter M has become synonymous with the perfect distribution of performance and luxury, with the M3 topping the charts in the compact class. It's the benchmark in terms of enthusiast vehicles. Being a driver's car means, though, means that we enthusiasts can't keep our hands out of the engine bay. We need to fiddle and tweak even the likes of the G8X M3/M4 until it perfectly matches our tastes. That tinkering typically starts with the intake system.

BMW designed the S58's intake system to work independently and in perfect harmony within the engine ecosystem. Simply put, both turbos get their own intake. Before we can make our updates to the system, though, we needed

When it comes to airflow, consistency is key. Whether it's a 1000 horsepower supercar or a nimble hot-hatch, keeping a smooth airflow is vital to every engine's performance. We're already on the case with maintaining flow consistent with the rest of the MK7 Golf GTI/R's intake, but we wanted to keep our improvements flowing after the intake.

Our quest for optimized airflow on the EA888 2.0T continues with the turbo inlet. Before we dive into how we plan to Mishify the MK7's inlet, we first need to look at Volkswagen's design from the factory.

Well, it's plastic, for starters. Plastic is not necessarily a bad thing, though. Volkswagen utilized their plastic injection molding with high-density

In 2012, Subaru became a significant contributor to the automotive trend that would take over the entire market: the crossover. Sure there were some before, but once we Americans laid eyes on the XV Crosstrek, we were smitten. The practicality of an SUV with the efficiency of a hatchback, all wrapped up in a lifted all-wheel-drive hatchback. Subaru designed the Crosstrek to tackle the mundane with the option for adventure. It's not hard to see why the Crosstrek caught on.

Trends come and go, but one that has stuck around since the dawn of internal combustion is the nasty side-effect of blow-by. For those unfamiliar with the concept you can read our full explanation of blow by, but the short answer is that blow-by is a mixture

When you think of a heavy-duty truck, what comes to mind? It's a gigantic land ship that's capable of taking on every hauling or towing task that arises, right? Glad we're all on the same page. If we're honest, there's not really much disparity between that thought and real life. GM designed its 2017-2019 Silverado and Sierra HD Duramax to embody the essence of a workhorse, tackling every job without breaking a sweat. The trouble is, though, sometimes it will break a sweat, which is where we come in.

Before we dive into our design plans, we first need to look at the stock cooling system for the 6.6L L5P Duramax. The engineers at GM went big. Really big. Our initial reaction to this truck radiator was that it's huge. Then again, this isn't much of a surprise given the amount of work these trucks are designed to handle. From the factory, the L5P's radiator measures in at 33" x28" x2.4", making it one of the largest radiators

Honda inadvertently morphed the Accord into an enthusiast car when the turbocharged variants took over. That means drivers are sure to push the 10th generation Accord to the limits in all walks of life. Whether you're picking up groceries, laying down lap times, or setting a new personal best time for your work commute, the turbo mounted to either engine variant adds a practical boost and economical speed to your family-oriented sedan. That is, of course, until the intercooler soaks with heat.

As we covered in our last posts, no matter your driving style, it's never practical for the intercooler to fill with heat. We covered why this happens with the stock cooler, and our plans to combat the issue. Now, those plans have come to life, and we're eager to show them off.