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The term "track day" around here is always surrounded with a certain level of enthusiasm. We're all aware of the extra labor that goes into a trip to Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ, but everyone involved is more than willing to pitch in for the chance to see our RS thrashed around the track. Think of it like one of those field trips you would take in middle school. Sure, there would be a test on everything seen that day, but that was a small price to pay for a day out of the classroom. After spending almost a week preparing it was time to take the class on their field trip.

Hot Oil and Broken Eggs

Our other product coordinator Steve Bryson took the journey up to the track as the perfect opportunity to snap some roller shots.

Like any of the previous trips to the test track, we started at sunrise, meeting at HQ in New Castle, DE before shipping up the NJ turnpike. Even though our team spent over a week preparing for the day in Englishtown, there was still plenty to do once we arrived before

I've said it before and I'll say it again: paying attention to details is a crucial part of life. Leading professionals are gurus at doing so in their respective fields. A good chef can wade through the already heavy seasoning in something like a gumbo and tell if there is too much or too little garlic by doing a simple taste test. A good fabricator can easily tell a MIG from a TIG weld by simply watching the arc on the metal (with the proper eyewear of course). And a good tuner can tell if something as elusive as timing is off, even in the slightest, on an engine they regularly tune just by listening to it.

If you want to be the best in your field, pay close attention to little details. It's what will set you apart from the rest of the pack. Our engineering department has honed their skills in noticing the details. In the case of our 2016 Ford Focus RS hot-side intercooler pipe, we paid close attention to airflow and noticed a problematic aspect - not with the pipe itself, but with the

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.

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.

The PTU and the RDU are a tight pair, we knew that already.  What we needed to learn was at exactly what temperature the RDU is placed in thermal protection mode and how the PTU and ECU determine the RDU oil temperature

I told you this project was going to move fast. In the last update, we laid down our design plans for how we will give this RS coolant expansion tank some sprucing up. Not only did we make the tank more pleasing to look at, we also increased the capacity and added a neat sight tube so you can check your levels with ease. You guys have been asking for it, so let's get up close and personal.

The stock unit pales in comparison to the size of the Mishimoto tank.

One of the first things you'll notice with this tank is the capacity increase over the stock unit. We are making this tank to fit both the Focus RS and ST, but that doesn't mean we have to stay within the size parameters of the stock unit. The stock expansion tank holds a maximum of 1.56 liters of fluid. Our design more than doubles that, with a maximum fluid capacity of 3.58 liters. With the increase in capacity comes an increased chance of fluid sloshing inside the tank during hard driving. To combat the extra fluid's movement, we

Anyone with a car older than 15 years or so likely has a coolant expansion tank with the structural integrity of wet toilet paper. These tanks rarely get aesthetic love in the factory vehicle design. They are usually plastic, look weird and can start cracking given enough time. After 20 years, the expansion tank in my 1995 Nissan 240SX project car will literally begin crumbling around your finger if any sort of pressure is applied. We don't want that happening to your RS/ST a decade or two from now, so we decided to design a sweet looking expansion tank that will outlast the car and be a nice addition to your engine bay.

The stock cap on the RS has a pressure limit of 21psi

Factory expansion tank for the ST

There is a lot of focus (I haven't made that pun in a while, give me a break) devoted strictly to improving how this EcoBoost hot-hatch platform performs since it's introduction. This is important, our engineers have that as a clear goal in their minds. For our RS, we've released an

Our intercooler pipes are on the tail end of our journey to extract some elevated performance out of our 2016 Ford Focus RS. Along with our intercooler project making great strides in development, we have some updates to share with you regarding our intercooler piping. In usual fashion, we plan to make each pipe individually available, as well as having the option to purchase the entire kit (piping and core) as one. We aren't quite there yet, but easy does it. Let's start with the cold side intercooler piping for this RS.

Cold side intercooler tube

The cold side here is a standard design, connecting the turbo to the cold side of the intercooler. The unique part, though, is the material we plan on making this product out of. The entire prototype, which is more of a finished production sample at this point, will be constructed from durable, steel reinforced, five-ply silicone. Worried about boost pressure? You won't have to with this one-piece tube. The steel reinforcement makes it highly

Boy do we have treat for you.

Our RS made it to our R&D facility early in the summer last year. We did our research on the car. We knew what color RS we were going to get, what parts we were going to make and just how much fun we were going to have with this little blue hatch. Every now and again, a wild idea is brought to the table that challenges the very fabric of our normal business operations - you are about to witness what happens when Mishimoto decides to take a walk on the wild side.

If you have been following our updates, you all know and love the intake we have made for this 2016 RS, but we have one more trick up our sleeves. Some of you have been lucky enough to have already seen it. Some of you may have even put yourself down for a presale order. Without further ado, say hello to our first ever, limited color option for our 2016 Ford Focus RS Performance Intake kit - Wrinkle  Nitrous Blue.

Get your Wrinkle Blue Performance Intake Kit today!

The Smurfs would be proud

The final