Author: Derrick Ambrose

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Team Van Herck Mazda 3 Update – Belgian Touring Car Series 2011

In May of this year, Derrick put up a blog post titled, Mazdas Racing Around the World, and gave you a preview of the Van Herck Mazda 3 that is now competing in the 2011 Belgian Touring Car Series. As promised, we are posting updates on their progress, successes, and standings throughout the season.

As a refresher from the May 6th post, Van Herck raced the Mazda RX-7 in previous years, but for the 2011 season, the team chose to build a new car to compete in the Belgian Touring Series. They took over a year to develop a Mazda 3 with advanced technology. They converted it to rear wheel drive, and powered it with a 450whp 20B tri-rotor Wankel engine and a sequential 6 speed gearbox.

On April 10th the Mazda 3 20B competed in round 1 of the Belgian Touring Car Series at Zolder. As the car’s debut event, it encountered a few minor glitches with the fuel system and an overheating exhaust, and finished 26th out of 31 cars entered in the 90 min race, but the Mazda 3 20B captivated spectators with its overwhelming speed and racing rotary sound. The car was watched closely by competitors after receiving the 5th fastest time overall against the lightweight silhouette cars and the second-quickest time in its class.

The Belgian Touring Car series will include three races scheduled for the Spa-Francorchamps, the first of which was held last Sunday, the Spa-Francorchamps 12hour BTCS race. Considered one of the most challenging race tracks in the world, mainly due to its fast, hilly and twisty nature, the Spa is a circuit favorite by many racing drivers and fans. (Take a one lap tour of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps)

During qualifying for the T3 class, pole position went to the Mazda3 of Van Herck Racing. The Mazda took pole in T3 in the second qualifying session from the W Racing Team’s VW Scirocco, which caught fire after the checkered flag was thrown.

Race day brought with it a traditional feature at the Spa, black clouds and rain. The rain had eased up by the afternoon, but the majority of the cars started on wet weather tires, and the forecast was for more rain. So with rain feared in the afternoon session, the majority of the teams set their best times in the first qualifying session.

Runners-up in the championship last year, the Volvo S60 Racing Team won the 12 Hours of Spa after a close battle with the three time champion, Frederic Bouvy’s Renault Megane. Kia Belgium took up the third position. Though the qualifying race put the Van Herck team in good position, the Mazda suffered from some electronic issues during the race.

CorkSport will continue to watch the team’s progress through the season and keep you up to date on the latest news from the Van Herck Racing Team.

Gwynne-

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Shiptastic – Shipping the CorkSport Way

Often times companies will give what appears to be “free shipping” to their customers by absorbing the shipping cost into the price of the product and then passing it off as a value add, when in reality the customer still pays for the shipping in the form of higher priced products. At CorkSport, we wanted to find a better way to give our customers value when it came to shipping, so we created a program that would provide complete transparency on shipping costs and peace of mind that our goal is to make our company profitable from the development and sales of CorkSport products, not on shipping and logistics costs.

Through feedback and focus groups, in February of this year we implemented a new shipping policy that we felt made sense to our customers. As a part of the new program, if it was determined during our shipping audit that your shipping cost and administrative charges amounted to less than what we charged you, we would issue you a refund for the overcharged amount.

Since the inception of this program, we have refunded nearly $2000 to our customers. This is not because we are bad at estimating shipping charges, on the contrary, our logistics department is constantly monitoring and updating our shipping quotes to give you the best possible idea of what your potential cost will be. Rather, this is a symptom of the literally millions of ways parts can be combined into a single purchase, the various freight and shipping methods and frequency, and the unpredictable fuel surcharges that factor into the day-to-day flux of shipping prices.

Cost does matter, and our strategy is to focus on reducing the total cost drivers that add little value to the development of the part so that we can produce a win/win situation by providing the highest quality part for the best possible price.

This unique take on giving our customers the best value in the marketplace is just one such example of the relationship CorkSport wants to continue to support with the Mazda community. Transparency, value, honesty and integrity are staples in our mission statement and we hope that comes through in each interaction that you, our customers, have with CorkSport whether it is on the phone, by email, during your purchase process, on our blog or Facebook page, or at an event.

Have you received a shipping refund from CorkSport or appreciate this policy? Let us know by commenting on this post or on our Facebook page today:

Gwynne-

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Mazda and Audi – A Match Made in Heaven?

There have been rumors abound lately about a possible revival of the RX-7 and other rumors about the possible end of the rotary engine altogether, but the latest word on the street is about a possible collaboration between Mazda and Audi that just may be the savior for the rotary engine.

With the RX-8 soon to be discontinued and mixed signals from Mazda on a possible RX-9 modeled after the RX-7, the fate of the rotary engine is in the minds of many Mazda enthusiasts. The Wankel has been a signature in the Mazda lineup since 1964 when it was first showcased in the Cosmo R100 coupe.

Now there’s talk of Audi teaming up with Mazda for the next chapter of the rotary engine car by developing a rotary for the Audi A1 e-tron, Lexus’s attempt at the nearly all-electric compact with a range extender that currently uses a single-piston rotary engine to charge the batteries as the car is running.

Inside Line recently reported that sources inside Mazda say engineers are already developing new technology for the Wankel by potentially removing the conventional spark plugs and replacing them with a laser ignition. By doing this, the engine will be much more efficient and will produce less hydrocarbon emissions than the older version. The car will produce only 130g/km or carbon dioxide rather than the 299g/kg that is currently produced by the RX-8. Reports on this development are also followed by reports that a launch of the new rotary has not been green-lighted and the Mazda is seeking additional funding.

So Audi provides the influx of cash and Mazda provides the technology to put a Wankel range-extender underneath the trunk floor of the A1 e-tron. It sounds like a win-win on the surface, but talk is cheap and a Mazda-Audi partnership seems like an odd couple in the making.

Gwynne-

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Is Your Car a Pinup?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and CorkSport agrees. That is why we would like to invite our community of Mazda enthusiasts with current CorkSport mods to submit a photo collection for our 2012 CorkSport calendar!

CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3

Show off your ride by submitting your photos for consideration before August 31, 2011 and be sure to include:

• 3 professional style photos of your ride
• A minimum of 300 dpi for good print quality
• A list of modifications
• You must have permission to use the photo and you must grant CorkSport permission to use the photo in print and on the web.
• If possible, please remove the license plates for the photos or avoid shots that include the plate numbers. If it is unavoidable, you can either remove them digitally, or we can attempt to blur them out.
• This calendar will be used to promote the CorkSport brand. If your photo is selected, a complimentary calendar will be mailed to you upon release.

Submissions or questions can be sent to Dustin at the following link

Gwynne-

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More on SKYACTIV Technology with the SKYACTIV-Drive Automatic Transmission

We recently gave you the lowdown on the new SKYACTIV engine, today, let’s discuss transmissions! In a recent post on Mazda Motor Europe, Toshiyuki Kikuchi, Program Manager in the Powertrain Development Division at Mazda provided additional details about the new automatic transmission.

Mazda SkyACTIVE-Drive Transmission

The SKYACTIV-Drive combines the benefits of conventional automatics with those offered by continuously variable (CVTs) and dual clutch transmissions. The transmission has been developed with a six speed torque converter that has a full range lock-up clutch for all six gears called “full range direct drive”. The lock-up clutch ratio has been raised from 64% at the current 5-speed to 89% during vehicle operation.

This feature inhibits the loss of power often experienced during acceleration and delivers a more controlled driving feel. On the flip side, it is said to increase the noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) because there is nothing to absorb the rotational speeds of the engine transmission. Mazda has addressed this issue by adapting a new torque converter and installing a new damper to better absorb the NVH as well as a multi-disk lock-up clutch and its piston to improve clutch durability and control.

Mazda SkyACTIVE-Drive New Technologies

The new design will allow the transmission shifts quickly and smoothly, react dynamically to changes to the engine load right from low speeds, and raises the bar when it comes to fuel economy.

The new SKYACTIV-Drive automatic transmission promises to produce a green range of models within the next two years that will boast lower CO2 emissions and even lower fuel returns, without the need for alternative split/drive systems.

The 2012 Mazda 3 will feature the all-new SKYACTIV-G 2.0-liter engine and a SKYACTIV-MT six-speed manual transmission or optional SKYACTIV-Drive six-speed automatic transmission. Mazda says the new 2.0 liter, direct-injection four-cylinder is good for 155 hp and 148 lb feet of torque, which offers modest increases over the old, non-DI 2.0-liter engine.

2012 Mazda 3

See Toshiyuki Kikuchi’s technical explanation for the SKYACTIV-Drive on YouTube:

Gwynne-