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Interested in purchasing our 2015 WRX top-mount intercooler kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Performance Top-Mount Intercooler and Charge-Pipe System

As noted in our previous post, we decided to design a shroud that would channel airflow more efficiently through the core of our intercooler. Because our cooler features a larger footprint, the stock air shroud directs flow to only a portion of the core. Opening up this airflow to the entire core should result in even greater temperature reductions than we saw during our first round of testing.

Stock Intercooler Shroud

First, let's take a look at the stock shroud as Steve removes it from our test vehicle. Here is what you will see under the hood of your WRX.

Interested in purchasing our E46 aluminum radiator? Check out our product page linked below!

Mishimoto BMW E46 Non-M Performance Aluminum Radiator!

3D Modeling

After some serious 3D modeling work in Solidworks, our first prototype unit is complete. Let's check out a few of the renders!

Mishimoto E46 3-series aluminum radiator 3D model

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Interested in picking up our 2015 WRX FMIC kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Front-Mount Intercooler Kit

Time for the fun part of development, product testing! Since this is an intercooler, we would certainly need to put the WRX on the dyno for some pulls and data collection. It would be interesting to see how the installation of a front-mount system has an impact on turbo spool, intake temperatures, and perhaps even power output.

Testing Preparation

The first step toward data collection is to prepare our sensor bungs and install our pressure and temperature sensors. We installed our bungs within the inlet and outlet intercooler couplers.

Enthusiast groups' feedback plays a massive role in our product development process. Not only is it a great way to bounce ideas off our potential customers, but it also allows us to see exactly what our customers want and need for their vehicles. This project is no different. Due to a substantial amount of demand via forums and social media, we decided it was time to get the ball rolling on this coolant expansion project.

Stock Expansion Tank

In typical BMW fashion, this tank was quite unique and featured some very interesting components, both internally and externally. First, a look at the exterior of the tank. Many of you are very familiar with this, based on the rate of failure reported for this plastic tank.

Interested in picking up this aluminum E36 expansion tank? Check out our product page linked below!

BMW E36 Aluminum Coolant Expansion Tank!

Historically, BMW vehicles have been plagued with rather frequent cooling system failures. A majority of these failures are a result of the use of plastic components in a high-temperature application. Although failure isn't immediate, over time the frequent heat cycling of these plastic components results in increased fragility, fatigue, and eventual failure.

A few components we see failing on E36 models include the radiator end tanks, radiator expansion tank, and the mechanical fan. We already offer two aluminum radiator options, and we have an electric-fan conversion kit in the works. An expansion tank is our last stop for product development on the E36 (for now). We have had numerous requests

Interested in purchasing our WRX or STi catch can system? Check out more details on our product pages linked below!

Subaru WRX Baffled Oil Catch Can System

Subaru STi Baffled Oil Catch Can System

After completing the fabrication of our brackets for this kit and assembling the STI-specific lines, it was time to tackle the WRX. As you may be aware, the stock CCV lines are slightly different on the WRX, which necessitates a separate set of WRX-specific catch can lines.

The Test Subject

After reaching out to local contacts, we found a willing vehicle donor just one state away. We have borrowed this particular vehicle on several occasions for a variety of test fittings. A big "thank you" to the owner for lending his vehicle and his time for the sake of awesome new product development!

Interested in picking up our 2015 WRX FMIC kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Front-Mount Intercooler Kit

Front-mount intercooler installed

In the last portion of this series we completed the fabrication of our prototype intercooler core and tanks, as well as our new bumper beam. We now had everything in place to construct a piping kit that would route air from the turbocharger to the intercooler and back to the engine.

Hot-Side Piping

We started our piping with the hot-side of the intercooler system. The stock compressor