We all wish we could keep our cars clean and pristine at all times, but sometimes life happens. As much as we may love them kids and dogs are particularly skilled at destroying our cars. While you can’t completely avoid the messes they bring, these five tips will help protect your car against their havoc.
1. Use a designated dog blanket
Drape the blanket over the seat your dog sits in—which should be the back seat to prevent any injury to the dog in the case of airbag deployment. Felt usually works best because it acts as a magnet for dog hair. More hair on the blanket means less hair on your seats.
2. Plastic wrap the windows
Yeah, it may sound strange, but this tip comes straight from racecar drivers. If your dog (or toddler) has a tendency to slobber all over your windows, take a sheet of plastic wrap and push it tight to the window. Then, when you’re done driving, pull the wrap off the window. Boom. Clean windows and no clean up time.
3. Invest in all weather or heavy-duty floor mats
Did the kids jump into the car with muddy boots? Of course they did. If you keep good floor mats in your Mazda, though, it’s nothing a quick spray down can’t fix.
4. Put something between the car seat and your actual seat
Kids = spills. Protect your seats by putting a towel that’s the same color as your seats under the car seat. Now unexpected spills can be cleaned up with just a load of laundry.
5. Lint rollers and wet wipes to the rescue
Even with all the mess-proofing you do, a mistake or two are bound to happen. In this case, keep an emergency stash of lint rollers for the pooch hair and wet wipes for kiddo spills in the glove compartment. And an air freshener never hurt anyone.
These tips will help protect your baby from your babies. What do you do to keep your Mazda safe from little ones and four legged friends?
Cheers,
CorkSport
Dog/Kid Proofing Your Beloved Car April 15th, 2019Derrick Ambrose
What sets the CorkSport FMIC piping apart from its predecessor and the competition? The secret is in the new piping design. Let’s start with the typical “pain points” associated with a FMIC kit. When going from the TMIC to the FMIC, you are adding a considerable amount of piping and volume between the turbo and the throttle body. Most people believe this causes “turbo lag” which is true, but not nearly to the extent that the internet wants you to believe.
There are two components to the charge air that are coming from the turbocharger: pressure and volume. There are also two components to the “turbo lag” everyone curses: pressure and throttle response. Pressure is easy to explain because it’s measurable, but volume and throttle response are a bit more difficult and very much related.
Imagine walking into your local convenience store to grab a big fountain drink and without thinking you grab the biggest straw you can find. You’re not going to use the coffee stir straws right? You would never be able to get enough soda to quench your thirst! Basically, your engine is dealing with the same issue until the pressure from the turbo makes its way through the FMIC piping. This is the importance of volume! So how does this relate to the CorkSport FMIC?
The Madaspeed FMIC piping takes volume to the next level for improved performance and drivability. Looking at Figure 2, you will notice that the last two 90-degree bends, just before the throttle body, are a bit larger in diameter than the rest of the piping. By increasing the diameter of the pipe directly in front of the throttle body, we create a large reservoir of cold air for the engine to suck in as soon as you roll into the throttle. Having this larger volume of air immediately available to the engine greatly improves drivability and throttle response because it fools the engine into thinking it has a larger intake plenum than it really does. The 3.00 inch section provides approximately 51 cubed inches of added volume over 2.50 inch piping, that’s an 18% increase.
Figure 2: CorkSport Cold Pipe with 3.00 Inch Section
On top of the added volume, the larger diameter piping improves the flow through the throttle body because the throttle body has a 2.75-inch inlet. You wouldn’t put a 2.5-inch turbo inlet pipe on a turbo that has a 3-inch inlet, would you? Nope, I didn’t think so. So why do that to your throttle body?
This can be seen in Figures 2 and 3 with the varying colors around and behind the throttle plate. The color graph shown with each image provides the air velocity for the different colors. In Figure 3, you can see there is more red and orange past the throttle plate when compared to Figure 2. The result of higher velocity flow is more turbulence which lowers efficiency through the throttle body.
Figure 3: Comparable CorkSport Cold Pipe with 2.50 Inch Section
So, if volume improves performance, then why isn’t the entire piping system 3 inches? At a certain point, more volume becomes a performance degrade. This falls back to the pressure and volume compromise. The more volume you have, the longer it takes to build pressure. Smaller diameter piping makes up the rest of the kit, so the turbo can pressurize the system quickly while the engine is using the extra volume sitting directly in front of the throttle body. By the time the extra volume is used up, the pressure has made it through the entire system. The combination of these two reduces turbo lag and improves throttle response. It’s safe to say that this is the best of both worlds.
But wait there’s more! Along with new piping, we are offering a large core kit with a crash bar. The crash bar retains all the necessary OEM hookup points for the radiator core support and the OEM tow point.
Figure 4: Assembled Large Core FMIC Kit with Crash Bar
Figure 4: Assembled Large Core FMIC Kit with Crash Bar: Under the Hood
The large core measures in at 23.25 inches wide, 11 inches tall, and 3 inches thick with 10mm runners for high thermal efficiency and a low-pressure drop through the core. Below, Figures 5 and 6 show the temperature and pressure drop of the small core tested with a K04 turbocharger at 15psi target.
Figure 5: Multiple runs testing the small core temperature drop with the K04 turbocharger targeting 15psi.
Figure 6: Single run testing the small core pressure drop with the K04 turbocharger targeting 15psi.
The hot side boost air temperatures can reach upward of 250 degrees Fahrenheit, but the intercooler stays at a cool 110 degrees or less. You can see the average cold side temperature is steadily increasing, but this is typical of any intercooler run after run. Combine that with an average maximum pressure drop of 0.6psi, and you have a very efficient intercooler.
Last week, we asked the CorkSport community what their best adventure with their Mazda was. You posted so many awesome shots and stories of your Mazda adventures we just had to share them. This post is dedicated to you, our loyal CorkSport adventurers. And remember, the proof is in the pics.
Drive on, and don’t forget to show us pictures of your trips with #CorkSport.
Cheers,
CorkSport
Your Mazda Adventures August 6th, 2015Derrick Ambrose
As temperatures rise, your Mazda is going to feel the heat. With all of the road trips and picture perfect drives, you need to keep your baby looking good and driving well. We rounded up the top summer care tips that the CorkSport community submitted to us on Facebook and added in a few of our own.
Search for shade
The sun can damage your car’s paint job and interior materials. Keep your Mazda safe by parking in the shade or using a garage whenever possible. Quang Lam always keeps his Speed in the garage to prevent sun damage, and Brian Pinter recommends never washing your Mazda in the direct sunlight.
Get fresh fluids
Keep your Mazda running smooth during the hot summer months with fresh fluids in your coolant system. It will protect your engine and keep your AC cold as ice.
Check your oil
Oil is your car’s lifeblood. Regular oil changes are the cheapest way to extend the life of your Mazda and keep it performing at its best. Change your oil before your next big road trip or if it’s been longer than three months since your last change.
Give her a proper wash
This is crucial for keeping your Mazda looking good and preserving the paint. Christopher Horton says the number one tip for washing is to never go to a car wash or use the dirty brushes at self-serve car washes. Their brushes are notoriously dirty and poor quality; you’re just asking for scratches. Joey Acosta and Nick Svarens always use a two bucket system for washing. One for soap and one with clean water for rinsing. Timmy Figgatt and Jeremy Shea swear by microfiber towels to prevent scratches, streaks, and water spots.
Keep the interior fresh
Exterior shots are sexy but you spend most of your time inside your Mazda so don’t forget about keeping your interior clean. Matt Buzzell specifically uses vinyl conditioner to keep his interior pure and preserve its matte metallic finish. Kevin Stockman swears diaper wipes actually make a great interior cleaner for dust and dirt.
Maintain a sexy shine
Now that your interior is fresh and the exterior is washed, it’s time to get that sexy shine. Kiefer Westlund, a professional detailer, and John Lukis recommend regular waxing using Meguiar’s Ultimate Liquid Wax. Meguiar’s wax is super affordable per bottle, which will last for many waxes. Kris Pena and Jeremy Brown are loyal to Chemical Guys for all of their Mazda care needs. For more tips on keeping your exterior shine, check out our blog post on how to keep that new Mazda sheen.
Now you’re ready to take on the hottest months of the summer performing well under the hood and looking good.
Cheers,
CorkSport
Summer Mazda Care December 17th, 2018Derrick Ambrose
Who doesn’t love an awesome shot of a Mazdaspeed, rolling through lush green highways? How about a whole stockpile of those shots, new angles and stances every week?
A lot of us drive beautiful Mazdas, but only a few of us have the photographic gift (or photographer friends) to showcase them as they deserve. For the rest of us, we can just enjoy the sights on Instagram, which has tons and tons of Mazda accounts we love.
We showcase owners and their pics every day with a #CorkSport Pic of the Day, so be sure to use that hashtag on your best shots. Sometimes, though, we need to point you toward a whole account, like these 5 Mazda owners you should be following on Instagram.
If you’re ever in the mood for just a glimpse of a Mazda, Nick finds the best angles of his Mazda 3, showcasing just how good every part of the car looks. (Don’t worry: He takes some killer full body pics too.)
