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Interested in purchasing our Subaru WRX or STi intercooler kit? Check out more details on our product pages linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX/STi Front-Mount Intercooler, 2001-2007

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Front-Mount Intercooler, 2008-2014

Mishimoto Subaru STi Front-Mount Intercooler, 2008-2014

Time to weld up some pipes! This would be the more time-consuming portion of this project, as most of these vehicles would require a specific pipe kit. We would not be able to utilize one set of pipes across the model board, as we did with the intercooler. Going in order, we started with our Bugeye. One of our test vehicles featured a reasonably stock engine bay, as shown below.

Stock Bugeye engine bay

After ripping the stock cooler off of both our wagon and sedan test vehicles, we began to fabricate piping. Check out a few shots of what our engineers came up with for routing!

Mishimoto fabricated intercooler pipes on Bugeye

Mishimoto fabricated intercooler pipes on Bugeye

Mishimoto fabricated intercooler

Interested in purchasing our Subaru WRX or STi intercooler kit? Check out more details on our product pages linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX/STi Front-Mount Intercooler, 2001-2007

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Front-Mount Intercooler, 2008-2014

Mishimoto Subaru STi Front-Mount Intercooler, 2008-2014

Time to take a quick look at our cooler and see how it fits with our test vehicles. First, a quick overview of the cooler itself. Check out our first prototype!

Mishimoto prototype intercooler

Mishimoto prototype intercooler

Alright, so here we have our raw prototype. Do note that this unit is a raw component, meaning it has no paint or powder-coat finish. The size of this cooler is extremely impressive, and our goal was to design a core length that would span as much of the front grille area as possible. The more airflow we have moving through the fins, the greater the heat transfer capability. Here are a few basic features of the prototype.

Cast End Tanks

As you can see, we have selected to manufacture

Interested in purchasing our Subaru WRX or STi intercooler kit? Check out more details on our product pages linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX/STi Front-Mount Intercooler, 2001-2007

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Front-Mount Intercooler, 2008-2014

Mishimoto Subaru STi Front-Mount Intercooler, 2008-2014

Time to start designing the basic dimensions of our intercooler! As mentioned in the previous post, this cooler would need to fit with all chassis if possible. Luckily we had a few of these vehicles as shop cars. First up, we pulled our 03 Bugeye Wagon into the shop and began taking a look at the space we had available in order to throw a huge core behind the bumper. Up on the lift she went and the bumper came off to reveal what we were working with.

Bugeye wagon intercooler prototyping and data collection

Bugeye wagon intercooler prototyping and data collection

Bugeye wagon intercooler prototyping

As you can see we have a lot going on in these first few images. The first image shows our Romer arm.

Interested in purchasing our Subaru WRX or STi intercooler kit? Check out more details on our product pages linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX/STi Front-Mount Intercooler, 2001-2007

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Front-Mount Intercooler, 2008-2014

Mishimoto Subaru STi Front-Mount Intercooler, 2008-2014

Modifying your Subaru can be quite a slippery slope, especially when this wonderful pastime turns from a hobby to an obsession. Luckily, the enthusiast community is huge and always ready to provide support (or laughter), even when your fully built engine decides it wants nothing to do with a cylinder 3 connecting-rod bearing. As you may be aware, we are huge fans of both Subaru vehicles, and the communities that thrive around them. Our continually growing Subaru product line is about to get much bigger, and our team decided to tackle the development of a new front-mount intercooler for the 2002+ WRX and STi.

I know exactly what you are thinking. Why now? The car is ancient and the market is swamped