fa20

The progress on our intake system is coming along nicely for this Forester XT. We have created a pipe that will fit well with our airbox design and filter selection. Remember, our pipe is within the acceptable pipe diameter to run this system with a stock tune.

The Fabricated Prototype

Below are some shots of the system we plan to put on an FXT for testing. The routing for this tube will follow a more direct path from filter to turbo. This is especially helpful for when the car is sitting at idle with ambient air around the box. With a shorter pipe distance, it will take less time for fresher, cooler air to get to the engine upon acceleration over stock. Check out images of the initial design below!

Prototype Subaru Forester parts

Prototype Subaru Forester parts

We adapted the WRX airbox specifically for FXT fitment. The WRX airbox is close in terms of design, but we wanted to make sure FXT brethren wouldn't have to modify a single thing, so we changed things like mounting points and brackets

Exciting things are happening in the induction world here at Mishimoto. We have a 2014 Subaru Forester XT in for intake R&D. This AWD turbo Subaru comes with a 2.0L power-plant, giving an output of 253 hp from factory. It shares the same FA20 heart with its 2015+ WRX counterpart, so there are some similarities between the two.

Subaru forester parts under analysis

Stock System Review

The stock Forester XT intake system is somewhat similar to the stock WRX intake system, yet featured some differences in shape and size. With both systems, the airbox is tucked away in the engine bay. To an untrained eye, it can be easy to miss upon first glance.

The airbox mounting points on the vehicle are also quite different from the WRX, which is an important reason why these systems will not be interchangeable. The routing design is necessary because the turbo is located underneath the motor. Check out some more shots below!

Stock Subaru forester parts under analysis

Stock Subaru forester parts under analysis

It has been a while since we have updated this project, but we now have something for our WRX community!

The brief data report below shows our gains with this race intake project and our baseline was a fully stock 2015 WRX with no upgrade or aftermarket tune. The numbers are quite high due to the upgrades already installed on the WRX during testing. These upgrades included our Mishimoto:

• Downpipe
• Cat-Back Exhaust
• Front-Mount Intercooler
• Custom Engine tune

WRX intake dyno testing

WRX parts - dyno results

The graph above shows that the race intake coupled with the Mishimoto upgrades netted peak gains of about 77hp with 88ft-lb of torque, and max gains of about 86hp and 98ft-lb of torque against a fully stock WRX. Considering the vehicle's bolt-on additions and custom tune, we were expecting big gains. Of course, such large gains are possible only with the installed upgrades, but our intake and a proper tune contributed as well.

Regardless of any bolt-on upgrades, it is important to note that

Team Mishi likes to look out for our Subaru community. If you have been following our engineering blog, then you'll notice that we have been rolling out a slew of high quality 2015+ parts WRX. One of the biggest products we launched was our bolt-on intake system. Not only did we provide easy power gains, but our system greatly improved sound, and created a large group of very pleased customers. The gains we produced were a result of reduced restrictions compared to the factory system. A great product that supports stock and mildly modified examples. We are now turning our attention to an even less restrictive iteration that will be designed to support vehicles necessitating maximum airflow.

Our race-inspired design for this WRX intake will take the more aggressive route of obtaining the maximum power potential an intake can deliver to this FA series motor. Keep in mind, this secondary "Race" design will require tuning for safe operation.

It is important to understand that this will be a

Interested in purchasing our BRZ/FR-S Fan Shroud Kit? Check out more details at the link below!

Mishimoto Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S / Toyota GT86 Plug-N-Play Aluminum Fan Shroud Kit!

We're back for some more fan shroud fabrication! The last portion of this series highlighted the beginning stages of initial shroud design. The BRZ/FR-S uses a fairly unique overflow tank that mounts directly to the factory fan shroud. This is our first target for part two of product design.

Overflow Tank Mount Fabrication

This tank has two upper mounting points which use a bolt which passes through the tank material and into threads on the shroud. We utilized round stock aluminum which was cut to the proper length, drilled, and tapped for the appropriate factory bolt. These were then welded to the shroud in a position that would place the tank in the exact location as when on the stock shroud.

Welding overflow tank mounting points

The lower mounting point for the tank accepts a peg which is located on the base

Interested in purchasing our BRZ/FR-S Fan Shroud Kit? Check out more details at the link below!

Mishimoto Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S / Toyota GT86 Plug-N-Play Aluminum Fan Shroud Kit!

Taking a look at our lineup of products for the BRZ/FR-S reveals a solid offering in both cooling performance and power-adding upgrades. Our engineering team has evaluated numerous vehicle systems and provided upgrade components where solutions were needed. Our intake components provide improved induction noise and nice increases in power. Our oil cooler system provides a solution for high oil temperatures on the track. And, our performance aluminum radiator is ideal for track vehicle owners looking for some additional peace of mind during long-duration lapping. These are just a few of the components we currently offer, and we've managed to find yet another opportunity to provide an awesome component that will enhance your vehicle: a direct-fit fan BRZ/FR-S fan shroud kit.

Our fan shroud kits have become more

Interested in purchasing our new BRZ/FR-S intake system? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S Performance Air Intake

After solidifying our product design we needed to capture data to verify the design and determine if any changes were necessary. We strapped our test vehicle to the dyno and began making pulls! Check out a compilation video from the dyno testing. The audible difference in intake tone and volume is quite noticeable when comparing the stock setup with the Mishimoto prototype.

Testing Results

On to the important part, results from our tests. Intake upgrades generally are subject to a decent amount of speculation, because of the outrageous claims often made by component manufacturers.

Here at Mishimoto, we perform extensive, repeatable testing to ensure that our results are 100% accurate and are not skewed in any way. Below are some of the constraints and details for the testing of this vehicle!

• Testing day ambient temperature: 60°F

Interested in purchasing our new BRZ/FR-S intake system? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S Performance Air Intake

We left off last time with an explanation of our intentions with this intake system and some initial design work to create an induction route to our planned airbox. Now it was time to finish designing this intake system so that testing could be conducted.

Airbox Fabrication

We started developing our airbox with simple metal fabrication. The plan was to put our idea into a physical object and then transfer this to a 3D model. Once in Solidworks, we could solidify the final design and features and use our 3D printer to construct a final prototype for test fitting.

Fabrication begins! A simple box was drawn up and templates printed for our bends and mounting point locations.

Airbox frame template

Bends were made, holes were drilled, and here is what we ended up with.

Airbox fabrication

Airbox fabrication

Airbox fabrication

We then