Tag: Mazda Aftermarket Products

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CorkSport 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 – The Tireless Worker

CorkSport currently develops parts to support 22 Mazda models and at times one of the trickiest parts of designing parts for all of these cars is finding a car to use during the development process.

Occasionally it can be hard to source a car and find someone who is willing to let you start cutting on their brand new car, which is why it is so great to have our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 at the shop to use for product development.

Many of you have seen pictures of the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 and say how great it looks, but little do you know that it’s a true workhorse.

In the past few months I have seen more parts go on and come back off of this car than I ever would have guessed. Hardly a day goes by when something is not being done to it to further development of our Mazdaspeed 3 line. In the past couple weeks alone it has had three different exhaust combinations on it and at one point even had a TMIC on it for a day while the FMIC piping was still installed but disconnected.

One of the great parts of being an engineer for CorkSport is not spending all day sitting at a desk. I’m able to get out and actually work on a car, put it on the lift, prototype parts, test fit samples, and get some actual real world testing on our new parts. This allows us to develop top of the line parts that have been thoroughly tested in real world environments on a shortened development schedule because we don’t have to develop, send parts out to identified R&D cars, wait for feedback, then tweak the design and start the process all over again. Being able to just walk out into the shop to look at something or install a prototype for testing is great. We can get immediate results so we can get the product out to you, the customer sooner.

We recently released our Front Mount Intercooler Kit for Short Ram Intake and some of you with large power aspirations had questions about the fitment of a larger intercooler. The kit we released with the 24x 6x 3.5″ does not require you to remove the crash bar and in order to accommodate a larger intercooler, removal of the crash bar is necessary. Having our shop car not too far from my desk, I was able to go out and fit a larger intercooler onto the speed 3, prototype some brackets, test and then adjust the design to accommodate the larger intercooler core in just over a month. We now have an option for those of you that want to upgrade your turbo and run a CorkSport FMIC for SRI. The new larger intercooler core is 24x 11x 3” and can support up to 700hp.

Having the car here also means we get to drive it and experience how new parts will act in the real world. We can find out how it handles in stop and go traffic, how comfortable it is on the freeway, and how it looks driving down the road. A couple days this week I was able to drive the car to and from work and I can definitely say that even with all of the performance parts installed, the car is still a great daily driver.

I must say having a car like the CorkSport 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 available to use as a development tool really helps us create the best possible product for CorkSport customers.

Andrew-

Current List of Performance and Accessory Parts on the CorkSport 2010 Mazdaspeed 3

Engine and Drivetrain
CorkSport Short Ram Intake
CorkSport FMIC for SRI Kit
CorkSport Cat Back Exhaust
CorkSport Racepipe
Corksport Motor Mount Inserts
CorkSport Lightweight Crankshaft Pulley
CorkSport Silicone Radiator Hose Set
CorkSport Aluminum Skidplate

Suspension and Wheels
CorkSport Adjustable Rear Swaybar
CorkSport Front Swaybar
CorkSport Lowering Springs
CorkSport Trunk brace set

Interior/Exterior Styling
CorkSport LED Light Kit
CorkSport Stub Antenna
CorkSport License Plate Frame
CorkSport Mud Flaps
J-Spec LED Tail Lights
AutoExe Front Bumper
Advan RZ 19×8.5 wheels
Yokohama S-drive 235/35/19 tires

In Prototype
CorkSport Shifter Base Bushings
CorkSport Front Adjustable End Links
CorkSport Oil Catch Can
CorkSport Camber Plates

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Product Release! – CorkSport Lightweight Extended Lug Nuts

CorkSport Performance would like to announce the addition of the 20 piece Extended Lightweight Lug Nut Set to its line of high performance Mazda accessories.

Crafted from 7075T6 aluminum, aerospace quality alloy that boasts an impressive ultimate tensile strength of 74,000 – 78,000 psi and minimum yield strength of 63,000 – 69,000 psi., the CorkSport Extended Lightweight Lug Nuts are guaranteed to hold up even under the most demanding driving conditions and weigh-in at a mere .8 ounces each, 29% lighter than the Mazda OEM lug nuts, making this an easy way to enhance the look of your car while losing unsprung weight.

Each lug nut is meticulously crafted from an extruded aluminum billet and CorkSport utilizes CNC machinery to ensure the highest grade of precision quality during production. The CorkSport Extended Lug Nuts come in black with CS laser etched logo for a long lasting, durable finish.

“Many of CorkSport’s customers spend good money on their wheels and want a good looking lug nut to compliment them”, said Rich Harris, President of CorkSport, “The CorkSport lug nuts are not only lighter-weight than traditional lug nuts but help to enhance the overall look of the vehicle, making this a styling upgrade that possesses performance benefits as well.”

The CorkSport Extended Lug Nuts have been developed specifically for Mazda and Mazdaspeed vehicles with 12mm x 1.5 pitch thread for exacting fitment and require a standard 19mm socket for installation. They are available for purchase at https://www.corksport.com/corksport-lightweight-lug-nut-set.html for $99.00.

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Customer Collaboration Designs Excellence

We say it a lot here at CorkSport, but it’s true, we really enjoy getting our customers involved with the development process and as an engineer at CorkSport, I get to interact with customers on new product ideas and collaborate on their development regularly.

Many of our new product ideas actually come from customer submissions which have been collected and reviewed during our development meetings. Once we have established whether the idea submission has merits and we feel it is a project worth pursuing, it gets added to our project plan and we begin the process of product development.

It’s important for us to keep our customers close to the development process to make sure we don’t lose sight of the original intention of the product or miss an important feature during development that was desired, so once an idea is approved, we reach out to the customers that submitted the idea and determine their interest level in helping CorkSport test the product and discuss getting involved in the development process by providing additional ideas or expressing concerns about the design.

We stay connected with the customer advocate and make sure things are progressing how they feel is best for the product. Once we have a prototype we will find customers who want to help with the testing and validation process to determine if anything needs to be adjusted prior to proceeding to production.

We also make sure to share our new products with the Mazda community through forum interaction. This gives us exposure to a larger audience of customers who may be interested in the product, and because forums can sometimes be brutally honest it really helps us see what may be lacking or needing change.

A good example of this would be our newly redesigned mud flaps for the Mazdaspeed6. We had originally released these using the same mud flaps that we developed for the Mazdaspeed3 but some customers felt they were too hard to install. We then went back and completely redesigned the front mud flaps specifically for the Mazdaspeed6.

I posted pictures of our prototypes on the Mazdaspeed Forum and Mazda6 Club to see if anything needed to be changed before we got ready to release them. During the discussion thread, some comments were made on the length of the front mud flaps and fitment issues that may occur depending in your ride height, so we incorporated a template into the installation instructions that allows customers to trim the mud flaps to their desired length.

Customer collaboration does not end once the part is released either. We like to follow up with customers who purchased our new product releases and get their feedback and have an active knowledgebase that customers can go to for questions and can contribute to with comments and feedback.

It is important for us to make sure that customers are happy with the product and that the installation instructions are clear, concise and easy to follow. If a step is identified that requires additional clarification or could use additional product pictures, we incorporate that feedback into the new version of the instruction sets that go out. This collaboration helps us improve our products and makes us aware of things that may need to be addressed on other projects.

We welcome questions and comments from our customers at any time. If are installing a CorkSport product and have any questions we encourage you to contact us so we can help and if you ever have any suggestions on ways we can improve any of our products please let us know. It is important to us to remain close to the Mazda enthusiasts that have made our company the success it is today.

Andrew-