Mid-Season Racing Recap

A mid-season recap of the SCCA Western Conference races in the CorkSport Mazda 3.

Technically this is not a mid-season recap, it is more of a three-fourths of a season recap as all of the 6 SCCA Western Conference races are over and I won the conference in the CorkSport Mazda 3.

Autoclub Speedway, Fontana, California: This is the first time we had the Mazda 3 out on a roval and wow it was fast. The only car, which won for top speed, was an Acura RSX type S, which was at the event. I picked up a 3rd place in race one and a DNF in race two, as we had a technical problem with the car. It wasn’t critical but it could have torn up the car, so we stopped after five laps, which put me in 12th place.

Willow Springs, Willow, Springs California: I have never been to Willow Springs and struggled with the car to get a good pace. In race one, I played it safe to keep the car in one piece and finished 9th out of the 13 total cars. In race two, I was much quicker and fought my way up to 5th place. There was lots of traded paint in this race, which put a few cars out of the event.

In race one, I played it safe to keep the car in one piece and finished 9th out of the 13 total cars.

Thunder Hill, Willows, California: I like Thunderhill. I had not driven the Mazda 3 there before, but I have driven the B-Spec Mazda 2 I raced in prior years, and one of Mazda’s TD Mazda 6 which were used in the 25 hours of Thunderhill. In race one, I started at the back of the field due to a timing and scoring issue from the SCCA mixing up my car number, so I got no qualifying time. I was able to get to 3rd place in race one, which wasn’t too bad. I knew I was giving up some time on the track in a few spots after reviewing data, which set me up for race two. Race two went better as I got to fight it out with a NC Mx5 driven by a local driver. Twelve laps in, the Mazda 3 decided it didn’t like me using the brakes as the pads and went bye, bye. This meant I got to drive at 10/10s chasing an Mx5 with no brakes, just lots of metal on metal. When the brakes went, I lost 2nd place so I was playing catch up and throwing the car into corners to slow down. I was able to pressure the Mx5 and he went really wide in a flat out corner, which caused some damage to his car. He pulled into the pits and I was able to take it down a notch and finish in 2nd.

For race one, I qualified 4th out 10 cars which put me on the second row.

Button Willow Raceway, Button Willow: I have raced Button Willow a lot given our location in Vancouver, Washington, and Button Willow being 14 hours south of CorkSport. For race one, I qualified 4th out 10 cars which put me on the second row. The race was uneventful and I was able to keep 4th while holding off the same MX5 driver from Thunderhill. In race two, I got a little crazy at the start with the Acura Rsx from Autoclub and pictured above running the Mx5 off the track during the first lap. Check out my video!

Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon: This is my home track as it is all of 10 minutes from CorkSport. This was a pretty quiet race weekend as I qualified second and finished second in both races. I had nothing for the mustang who finished 1st in both races.

The Ridge Motorsport Park, Shelton, WA: I love the ridge, it is a great and challenging track. We had some mixed conditions where it started raining during race one, so I got to practice car control on race slicks. End result was 1st place. The 2nd race was uneventful and I finished off the weekend with another 1st place.

So this leaves us with one more race for all the marbles at the SCCA runoffs at the end of September at Indy Motor Speedway. Yes, I really get to race at Indy and this is a serious bucket list for any road racer out there. We will be posting a link to watch the race live to see how the Mazda 3 and driver does against 40 other Touring 4 racers. Let’s hope this goes better than last year’s runoffs. I would really like to thank the support for racing the Mazda 3. All of the parts we use on the track are supplied from CorkSport, the intake, exhaust, swaybar, camber arms, you name it. We are racing what we sell. Big thank you to BFGoodrich Tires for rubber and making sure we have the best tires to race on. This year, BFGracing came through with support for us with tires for the runoffs. Lastly, thank you to Mazda for the awesome car platform and Mazda Motorsports for the tech support with racing a car no one else in the US is running.

August 7, 2017September 13, 2018

Get the Right Lights and Set the Mood

With our CorkSport LED light kits you no longer have to worry about missed opportunities due to insufficient lighting.

Are you tired of going on dates, leaning in for the kiss, and missing the target because of dull yellow lights? Well search no more, CorkSport family. With our CorkSport LED light kits you no longer have to worry about missed opportunities due to insufficient lighting. CorkSport has been in the Mazda game for quite some time now, and we know that having a ride that shines bright is a must of any Mazda owner. Not only does our LED light kit brighten up your ride, but the lights last longer, and also use less power, just in case you leave one on during the night. Here are the vehicles we offer these kits for:

If you do not know the benefits of the LED light kits, then let me make sure and call that out as well:

Blue-White Color
Retains Interior Dimming
Longer Lifespan
Less Heat
Resists Shock and Vibration
Lower Power Draw

Not only do you get a bright and shiny ride, but you no longer have to worry about missing that first kiss on the most important date.

These are the reasons why everyone needs the CorkSport LED light kits installed in their Mazda’s. Not only do you get a bright and shiny ride, but you no longer have to worry about missing that first kiss on the most important date. For any questions about them, please call us at 360-260-2675. Happy summer, CorkSport Family ☺

Cheers,

Luke

August 2, 2017January 30, 2019

How to Series: Service and Lubricate Your CS Dual VTA BPV

Hey guys! Brett from CorkSport here today, and I’m ready to show you a basic guide to follow on how to service and lubricate your Dual VTA (or any BOV for the most part.) Typically it’s good to do this every couple oil changes or so.

The main things that you will want to inspect is the O-Rings, and look for any contamination. Clean off old grease, dust, or grime.

Fully Clean out the inside of the valve housing as well. Make sure you evenly coat it throughout the housing. Also be sure to lubricate the piston and the O-Rings as shown. We Recommend Lubriplate 105 as your go to grease for this valve!

Reassemble the valve and reinstall. Be sure that you didn’t drop your gasket on the bottom when you serviced it!

If you would like another visual aid, you can also check out this video here: How to Service your Blow off Valve/ Bypass Valve. In this video, the CS preferred grease was not used. However, it will help you to understand what needs to be done.

Don’t have the Mazdaspeed Dual VTA BPV yet?

You can order it HERE.

Any further questions? Email us or call us at sales@corksport.com and 360-260-2675.

Cheers,

Brett @ CS

July 31, 2017January 4, 2020

Shifty Things Getting Shifted

CorkSport has that perfect solution for upgrading the shift knob while maintaining an OEM look.

How is our CorkSport family doing this summer? Good I hope! The CorkSporteer’s are doing very well over here in Vancouver, Washington, constantly on that grind to bring more parts to the market. We always have our customers’ best interest in mind, and will do whatever we can to help our CorkSport family reach their goals. With that being said, I wanted to make sure to remind everyone of a part that is considered to be the most intimate part other than our CorkSport Steering Wheels.

We all know that the stock shift knob in our Mazda’s can get worn down and look like it’s been through some abuse, especially with how hard we bang gears! CorkSport has that perfect solution for upgrading the shift knob while maintaining an OEM look. Using real leather, red stitching, and adding a CorkSport logo, this shift knob is a must for anyone looking to upgrade. Here are a few extra tid bits about the knob:

- Made from high-quality leather

- Weighs 320 grams

- Hand wrapped and stitched

- Perfect design to comfortably sit in your hand

Hot/cold temperatures do not affect this knob as much as OEM or aluminum knobs

The Mazda Leather Shift Knob includes a limited 2-year warranty against manufacture defects.

The CorkSport Leather Shift Knob includes a limited 2-year warranty against manufacturer defects. The thread pitch of the knob is the same as almost all Mazda’s so whether you have a regular Mazda 3, or a Mazdaspeed 3, this knob will fit both of those applications.

So grab a beer, browse our website, and feel free to message myself, Luke McCarvel, if you have any questions. You can also call me at 360-260-2675 to bug us and rack my brain. The more the merrier!

Cheers

July 26, 2017April 10, 2024

Friends Keep You Going When Your Car Hits the Skids

Mazdaspeed 3 ready for mods — A red gen1 ready for street tuning.

To start this story, we have to go back almost two years. Since a few high power builds and a lot of bolt on cars were all being finished up at the same time, the UtahMazdas crew decided that we would fly Will and Ryan from PDTuning out for the weekend to street tune everyone’s cars.

Meeting the Mazda gremlins

We all got ready and awaited the arrival date. As we got closer to the date, I learned that Zach (the previous owner of my red gen1) was going to be unable to attend as he had a scheduling conflict due to a family vacation. So, being the nice guy that I am, I offered to swap our cars and take his car down to meet up with everyone and get the tune done for him. Since I had driven the car before (on the 400 whp setup), it seemed like a good fit.

Long story short, at the meetup, the first thing I noticed about the car is that it would randomly die at idle for some reason. After spending the weekend trying to diagnose all the gremlins with this freshly built car, we ran out of time and were unable to tune it.

I had the car for a few more days, and even though it left my girlfriend and me stranded, I still loved the car. It brought a smile to my face that I couldn’t wipe off.

Time to get to the bottom of the trouble

Fast forward a few weeks, and we’re still having trouble. Finally, Zach stopped by my desk at Mazda. He was frustrated since the car was still riddled with issue after issue and wasn’t getting any better. He said he was probably just going to sell it.

Mazdaspeed engine pulled apart — On the hunt for trouble.

After very little thought and some hasty decisions, we struck a deal. I picked the car up a few days later unsure of what I was getting myself into. The only thing I knew was that there was something about this car that made me happy in a childlike way.

After a lot of work, and some great help from my amazing group of friends, the issue of dying at idle was taken care of along with a whole new Mazdaspeed VVT kit. The car was, at long last, now ready to begin the tuning process. As the car started to make more and more power, it started to show its weaknesses and it just felt like it was never going to work. But I kept pushing on and fixing it along the way.

At last, a breakthrough

Finally, it happened — a day I thought would never come! The pump gas tune was finished just in time for the very first Mazdaspeed takeover in Boise. We met up a few days later and headed to Boise. I drove the car all the way there without issue.

We attended a few different events and the car not only didn’t let me down, but it continued to impress me. After hours of hanging out with everyone at the dyno day, I loaded up the slicks and went to Firebird Raceway for the track night at the takeover. As I didn’t have much seat time in the car at the track, it was not as fast as I would have hoped. But with Barett by my side and with some helpful coaching — all that engineering stuff that makes no sense to me — the car started getting faster and faster.

Then, on the last run, the unimaginable happened. The connecting rod decided that it’d had enough and wanted to see the world. After a whole bunch of noise and smoke, the motor was done and we were sitting in Boise trying to decide what we were going to do. Thanks to some quick thinking from the locals, and my amazing partner in crime Marisa, we got the car on a tow truck and headed back to Keith’s house.

Keith, being the great man that he is, let me store my ride in his garage for a week while we made the drive home and back with a trailer to come and get it.

Back to the drawing board

A week later, we picked her up and took her home. There she sat and waited while I tried to figure out what I was going to do to fix the problem. Once again, my friends — who are really more like family to me — came to the rescue. We all met up one Sunday morning to tear the motor out of the car and find out what was salvageable.

Once we tore down the motor, we realized that very little could be saved, so I contacted FJ Performance to have a new motor built. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, the motor was delivered and, once again, the UtahMazdas crew got together. The only difference? This time we’d graduated from the storage unit to a two-post lift.

We installed the motor and, after a few hiccups, we had it running for the first time in seven months. Safe to say, I was ecstatic.

After many oil changes and a careful break-in procedure, I noticed that the new motor was still having issues, but I kept pushing forward with assurance that it would get better. Sadly, it did not. The motor ate a head gasket a mere 2,000 miles into boost ‘n chill.

Let’s try this again

At this point, I was devastated. I wasn’t sure if I was going to part the car out or just sell it as a roller with no motor.

After thinking it over and talking to everyone that has helped me along the way — oh, and don’t forget Luke McCarvel hitting me up every day demanding that I keep the car — I decided that there was only one thing to do. So, once again, it was time to take my baby back to EP and, this time, the motor would be built by Artem and myself so that there would be no doubt it’d be perfect this time around.

If there is one thing that this whole experience has taught me, it’s that you can always count on your friends to be there when you need a hand. And you can always count on the crew at CorkSport to keep you motivated.