A while ago I was reading about Mazda’s plans for the future of its model lines in the face of a changing economy and rising fuel costs. I’ve been watching Mazda’s plans to produce a hybrid car sometime in the next few years, and possibly partnering with Toyota, though I never thought it would actually work out.
But it’s happened!
Mazda and Toyota announced a deal in which Toyota will supply its hybrid technology to Mazda. “Hybrids are spreading fast in Japan, and launching a model in the domestic market has become an urgent task.” Mazda Executive Vice President Masaharu Yamaki told a joint news conference in Tokyo.
Mazda aims to begin selling a vehicle with Toyota’s hybrid system along with its own next-generation gas engine in Japan in 2013.
Partnering with another company that has already produced the technology is a very cost effective way to get into the market. Toyota says the deal with Mazda could indirectly help lower the costs for other companies to get hybrids to market. With Mazda’s goal of raising their fleet’s fuel economy by 30% by 2015, they can’t just improve their combustion engines, they’re going to need a hybrid system to get to there.
Having driven many Toyota hybrid vehicles, I’m not sure how much ZOOM ZOOM fun could be had. I guess we will just have to wait and see what they come up with, and when we will see one here in the USA.
Due to the overwhelming popularity of our current intake lineup and several customer requests, I have been diligently working on releasing our color-configurable intake kits for more models. I am proud to announce the release or pending release of 3 new short ram intake kits.
CorkSport Short Ram Intakes are now available or very soon to be released for the following of Mazdas:
Utilizing a newly redesigned silicone coupler, these intakes make peak torque gains of roughly +6 ft-lbs and +8 rwhp. We can obtain these numbers by increasing airflow efficiency, which also maintains fuel economy and drivability. All 3 intakes come with detailed installation instructions and our impeccable customer service. Additionally, I have not come across a check engine light, and have done several diagnostic tests on all 3 models to ensure that the possibility of a check engine light coming on is minimized.
I have many more projects currently in the works, so you will be hearing from me shortly.
It is interesting how quickly you forget how smooth the rotary engine is if you haven’t driven one recently. I had a chance to drive our Project RX-8 to a rotary meet in Seattle, which is roughly a 2 hour drive each way. After getting into the car and heading up the freeway the engine is completely invisible while cruising at freeway speeds. The only sign you have of the engine being there is the sound from the intake and exhaust. The rest of the time you just feel the pull of the car while going around the people driving slow in the left lane. All of this without the vibration of a reciprocating engine.
The car I normally drive to events is the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3. The power from the DISI engine in the Mazdaspeed 3 is more like someone whacking you into the seat due to the torque hit when the boost comes on at 3000rpm. The fun is short lived though because you have to shift earlier (about 3000 rpm earlier) than the rotary. The RX-8 is happy to scream all the way to 9000rpm when the buzzer sounds, signaling the fun is about to come to an end at the rev limiter and it is time to change gears. Oh the sound the engine makes at higher RPM with the CorkSport exhaust. It is an intoxicating sound that you don’t want to come to an end. This is as close as you can get to a formula car high RPM sound without going to the racetrack.
If you haven’t driven a rotary powered car I recommend you give it a shot. Just make sure you get a chance to do it with some wide open roads and some corners to enjoy what the rest of us rotary nuts love.
Picking up where we left off last time, the chassis and drivetrain for the FC RX-7 has plenty of potential with minimal modifications. Chassis bracing is a good place to start.
CorkSport offers strut braces for the front and rear strut/shock towers. Some people have questioned the effectiveness of the tower braces in the FC. Speaking from first hand experience, they work very well, and they make a big difference. I have e seen the aftermath of a car hitting a guard rail at highway speeds sideways and what saved the car from crushing itself sideways was the front strut brace. The front is a simple bolt in, and while the rear requires some extra work and includes trimming some metal, it is well worth it.
For underneath the car CorkSport sells the AutoExe Member Brace Set. Think of this is an over the top strut tower brace set for the under side of your RX-7. The chassis brace set ties together multiple points of the suspension to make the chassis more rigid, including tying up the rear differential sub frame to the chassis.
AutoExe Member Brace Set
Next up is lowering the car. Lowering the car gives it a lower center of gravity and you should also stiffen the dampening of the suspension to go with the springs. Tokico Illumina shocks combined with Eibach springs are a good combination for street driven vehicles. With the installation of lowering springs you will need to address the camber for the rear suspension. The design of the RX-7 suspension requires a camber adjustment kit which CorkSport offers as well. The rear camber link kit adjusts the rear sub frame correcting the camber on both sides of the car.
Rear Camber Adjuster
If you are seeking maximum performance out of the suspension you can change out the suspension bushings with polyurethane parts. The good part about the bushings is the upgrade to urethane makes the suspension work without extra deflection. The trade off is extra vibration from the stiffer bushings into the chassis. CorkSport offers the Prothane bushing kit for the RX-7.
Drivetrain mounts will also need to be replaced. It is not really a choice anymore, the engine, transmission, and differential mounts will be worn out after ¼ century. CorkSport offers Mazdaspeed replacement mounts for all of the drivetrain. The stiffer rubber used in the engine and transmission mounts limit engine movement to help cope with the extra power and put the power out the drivetrain instead of moving the engine around. The rear differential mounts are needed to deal with the increased torque load of the drive train under hard acceleration. We have seen cars in the past come into the shop with a clunk noise from the rear end of the car only to find the front differential mount broken.
Mazdaspeed Engine Mounts
With the increased power made from the engine modifications in the first blog you will need to upgrade the clutch. For a street driven RX-7 the ACT street clutch kit is hard to beat. The reason for the street version of the clutch is that puck clutches tend to chatter when engaged from a stand still and make driving in stop and go traffic a pain. With the installation of the clutch a lightweight flywheel is a good idea as well. ACT also offers lightweight flywheels in two varieties, Streetlight and Prolight. The reason for a lighter flywheel is engine response. With a lighter flywheel the engine has less mass to spin and because of this engine revs build faster. The difference between the two is the weight. The street version weighs more which helps with keeping the inertia of the motor going. This is helpful with making smooth starts and stops while on hills. I would choose the pro light myself. Having a rev happy rotary engine just makes me smile. When purchasing a lightweight flywheel it is important to get a counterweight. The stock RX-7 flywheel has the counterweight built in but the aftermarket flywheels do not.
The last piece of the drive train puzzle is the shifter. It is something you are constantly using in the RX-7 and CorkSport offers a short throw shifter. The short throw shifter decreases the distance you have to move the handle to change gears resulting in quicker shifts. The CorkSport shifter includes all new bushings and seals which are a must since most RX-7s we have seen need to have all of the parts replaced. If you are wondering what I am talking about there check out the shifter in your RX-7. If you can move the shifter left to right while in gear, and it feels loose and vague when shifting, or it doesn’t return to the center while in neutral you need to replace the bushings and seals at a minimum.
CorkSport Short Shifter
Well, that is it for the chassis and drive train. In the next blog post I will cover the brakes and styling for your RX-7.
It’s released! The downpipe for the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 is on our shelves and ready to ship out. First off lets cover the obvious questions, why install a downpipe? When installing an aftermarket down pipe several things happen. First the turbo charger requires less effort to quickly spin up due to the removal of the catalyst, so boost will happen at a lower RPM. Secondly, with less restriction and back pressure the turbo will be able to quickly expel more exhaust gases, thus raising the boost and increasing power across the vehicles entire power band.
The CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Power Series Downpipe gives you faster turbo spool up which results in a larger power band. Gains in power have been up to 21 wheel horse power when installed on an otherwise stock Mazdaspeed 3.
The downpipes on the 1st Gen MS3 have historically been a bit of a puzzle to work around however our designs are able to avoid throwing a check engine light on first generation DISI equipped vehicles. Other manufacturers of downpipes are hit and miss depending on the manufacturer, with some throwing the occasional random CEL for slow response time and others being more pervasive.
The 2010 models are a bit more elusive and harder to pinpoint the ideal sweet spot for the secondary oxygen sensor that will not throw a check engine light. We are however actively working on resolving the CEL and if successful we hope to offer a retro fit kit for previously purchased downpipes.
If you have any questions about the 2010 MS3 downpipe feel free to shoot us an email or give us a call. We’ve got several more things coming down the pipe so stay tuned.
