Author: CorkSport

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Is My Intake Legal?

I recently received an email from a customer who asked me “I have heard the intake you sell is illegal, is this true?” That is a valid question to ask of any part manufacturer who offers aftermarket performance products.

On a federal level the EPA regulates the auto manufacturers which sell new vehicles in the United States. The EPA doesn’t look at which intake you have installed into your vehicle and thus there really isn’t any guideline to look at or follow.

On a local level, states, counties, or cities can regulate automobiles their own way, and their rules can vary. At a state level it can really vary. In the state of Washington our vehicle inspections for emissions consist of plugging in the vehicle for 1996-newer models to see if there are any check engine light present or pending. If the cars ECU gives a green light to no problems and the system readiness check has been passed you are given a pass. With our intakes being engineered and tested to meet the requirements of the factory ECU they will pass a plug in emissions test.

Some states do a visual check of emissions components and a tailpipe check in addition to checking the factory ECU to see if the computer has any check engine codes. With visual inspections it really comes down to the rules set by your state. Some states are fine with bolt on modifications like intakes and cat back exhausts. Some are not which means you need to check with your local emissions testing facility.

The tailpipe test consists of an exhaust gas analyzer checking the exhaust output of your vehicle and making sure the hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides are within EPA specifications. There is a small range of particles which are allowed. If the numbers are higher that what is allowed you will not pass the test. Intakes can also affect the tailpipe emissions if they are engineered improperly, and can cause the engine to run outside is original parameters. CorkSport intakes, because of all the testing we have put into them should cause no problems with the tailpipe test.

Now for the tough guys: California. California has its own emissions guidelines which is called CARB or California Air Resources Board. CARB has guidelines which are very strict for any modifications which can affect engine performance. To be a legal product for California the part must have an executive order number. Currently CorkSport intakes do not have an EO number. We are working on CARB certification for our intakes, so don’t worry California customers, we’re thinking of you!

If you have any questions about whether or not your intake is legal check with your local state emissions station to see what they have to say.

– Derrick

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Mazdaspeed 3 & Mazda 3 Rear Swaybar

When designing an aftermarket rear swaybar, there are two main concerns, the weight of the bar, and the stiffness of the bar. The design chosen for the bar needs to be strong enough to resist chassis roll, while being light enough to keep weight down.

To battle the weight issue, we used a hollow tube for the main shaft of the bar. Hollow tubes are able to provide a greater torque resistance than a solid tube of equal weight. In addition, the two arms that connect the bar to the end links were optimized for weight by using finite element analysis. This allows me to design a bar that is structurally rigid, while removing material from areas of low stress. The image below simulates a load coming from the end link of the vehicle and the stresses that it puts on the arm. The deflection is exaggerated to give an idea of how the bar flexes during cornering.

The increased stiffness of the bar comes from increasing the diameter of the tube. To allow this, we utilized a set of larger diameter urethane bushings with greasable fittings. This allows for a more rigid mount, while giving you the option of greasing the bar without having to remove the bushings. The whole system is topped off by having 3 adjustable mount points of varying stiffness from 20% to 80% stiffer, while offering roughly 3 pounds of weight savings. The bar is powdercoated to protect it from the elements and keep it looking nice.

– Jake

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The Method to Our Madness

Everyone wants the biggest number possible in terms of Horsepower/Money ratio. Therefore, when researching a new Intake system for your Mazda, you want to find out from the source, how those numbers were obtained. I have had several people ask me if our dyno numbers are accurate and how we get them, so I decided to pull back the curtain and show you what we do to get these numbers.

The image below shows two dyno runs with a 2010 Mazda 3 (2.0L). The lesser of the two is stock, while the higher of the two is with our Corksport Short Ram Intake installed. The gain shows 121.3 – 115.3 = +6 hp gain. These are real numbers that we have obtained from our personal testing.

Now you may be thinking “Well, you just took the highest run with the SRI on and the lowest run with a stock car and got a 6 hp gain.” This is not how we do things. That would be easy and good from a marketing standpoint, but also deceptive, which is not how we operate. We take several runs, keeping as many variables as possible constant, for each scenario to ensure that they are accurate numbers. The image below shows how we obtained the stock vehicle data using 3 separate runs of 115.3, 114.9, and 114. In this case, we used the highest stock number of 115.3, but all of them are very similar.

For the SRI runs, we obtained numbers of 121.3 and 121.8. In this case, we took the lowest number, but both are very similar.

In conclusion, we try and offer the customer unbiased numbers to help them decide for themselves what product suits them best. Obviously, more runs = more development costs = higher product costs, so we try and strike a good balance between obtaining accurate data, and maintaining a competitive cost.

– Jake

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The Elusive Mazda 2

In early April I placed an order for a green, Touring package, 5 speed Mazda 2 the first day you could order one. I made it clear that I wanted to get one of the first shipment vehicles with the dealership. Several weeks later I received a call that I could not get a green Mazda 2 touring model with a 5 speed transmission before the end of July at best. The reason being is the first several productions of the Mazda 2 there were no green touring 5 speed models built. There were green models built just none that matched my criteria. They did have the crystal pearl white model in the 5 speed touring available in the vehicles coming to the US. So I chose the white Mazda 2 and after thinking about it for a while and seeing pictures of it grew on me.

Early this week I received a telephone call. The dealership was confirming the model I wanted and the sales staff there found a problem. The white car on order for me was a white sport model with an automatic transmission. I am happy they realized the car was not what I wanted except for the color. The bad news is my choice of colors was down at two now. I could get a black or silver Mazda 2 if I want one in July. If I want any of the other colors like white or green I would be looking at August at the best. I gave it some thought and I have chosen to get a silver car. Not my first or second choice but it should do the trick. It will make my Mt Dew style graphics job a bit more difficult but I think we can manage to make a show stopper.

– Derrick

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Old vs. New

I drive a 92 Ford Escort that has had many different changes in its life, including a transformation from the gutless Ford 1.9L to a sub 12 sec. weekend racer. I drive this car daily with a “stock” 1.8L Mazda 323 GTX turbo engine with the boost cranked up, putting to the ground something around 250hp. The car has no power options, no I take that back, it does have power mirrors! It is 18 years old and sure it’s got some rattles here and there, but it’s a blast to drive. The turbo on the GTX engine is a bit on the small side so it doesn’t make tons of power but it spools up amazingly fast for almost instant peak boost. With an open differential in the transmission, it makes putting the power down really tricky but fun.

Over the weekend I took our 2010 MazdaSpeed3 to a car show. It’s been a while since I had driven a new car, and I discovered that I like all the options on the car. Rolling down the windows with a switch! Who does that? Cool air while you drive on hot days? What! All of these options are nice. They make me want to rush out and buy a car with some options, not to mention that the MazdaSpeed3 is a bit more refined than my car; to say the least. This car is making as much if not more than my car in the HP area but driving it I did not get that feeling. I could definitely feel the computer robbing power in first and second gear whereas my Escort is ready to tear the tires off in 1st-3rd gear any chance it gets.

Being less refined, my car feels like it has more raw HP than the Speed3 does. The Speed3 eases you into the power and tries hard to keep you going in roughly a straight line, whereas almost anything over half throttle in the Escort is like I’m entering a burnout contest.

Overall I would definitely take the 3 over my car, duh! It’s updated in every way and still fun to drive. I’m really beginning to appreciate new, comfortable cars.

– Chris