CorkSport BIG Turbo for the Mazdaspeed & CX-7

Good day boosted enthusiast!

We wanted to take some time to give you all a quick update on one of the many projects we have brewing up here at CorkSport Headquarters.

The project I’m referencing, in general, is our 2nd turbocharger upgrade for the Mazdaspeed 3, Mazdaspeed 6, and CX-7. This unit is a substantial upgrade over our current 18G turbocharger. This Turbo will cater to those looking to take their performance and power goals to a higher level.

Not only will it be capable of putting you well into the 465whp range but this CorkSport Turbo upgrade will be able to do it without giving up on reliability and throttle response.  

It will be very beneficial to those who have mildly-built blocks and a supporting fuel system that will allow them to get higher in the HP range.

So, let’s talk about some of the features you can expect on the upgrade and why we decided to utilize them.

Let’s start at the heart of the Turbocharger.

The new CorkSport Mazdaspeed turbo will take full use of a GTX3076R center housing and rotating assembly (CHRA). The unit is equipped with a fully sealed ball-bearing cartridge, which is a nice upgrade when compared to a standard journal-bearing unit. We chose to go with a ball-bearing unit for a few reasons.

  1. The enclosed design of a ball bearing system allows us to eliminate the need for a thrust bearing, which can account for about 40% of the bearing system drag on the turbo rotor assembly.
  2. Ball bearings reduce the viscous drag, which allows a ball-bearing unit the ability to spool up about 15% faster than its journal-bearing equivalent.

The next thing you will notice on the new Mazdaspeed Turbocharger upgrade is the holes that are drilled into the compressor cover. These little holes are known as anti-surge ports and are intended to expand the turbochargers compressor map. The ports function to move the surge line further left on the compressor map which gives the Mazdaspeed turbo some more headroom before it falls out of its efficiency island. Anti-surge ports are becoming increasingly popular in modern performance turbochargers and with great reason. They offer some unique benefits as mentioned and will be fully integrated into our unit.

Last but not least, as with our CorkSport Turbo, this bigger Mazdaspeed Turbo will once-again be a true drop-in unit; minus the 4” compressor inlet.

There will be no cutting, modifying, sourcing oil and coolant lines, running to the store to buy couplers, etc. This unit will come with everything you need to have a trouble-free install. As with the current CorkSport 18G turbocharger, the new Garrett-based design will come with all studs, gaskets, washers, and knowledge that you need to have a nice weekend install.

So keep your eyes peeled as we get closer to delivering more performance for the Mazda community!

– The CorkSport Team

SOURCES: Miller, Jay K. Turbo: Real World High-Performance Turbocharger Systems. CarTech, 2008.

12 Replies to “CorkSport BIG Turbo for the Mazdaspeed & CX-7”

  1. Is this the gen 2 gtx3076 chra? You guys mention 475whp, will this be comparable to the 500+ we expect to see out of the new 3076? The current cs turbo has seen 420whp in few applications, as I’m looking to hit 550ish, are you guys shooting for that kinda power range?

  2. When is this coming out?? I was originally going to buy your 18G turbo but now I gotta have this one. And will it be safe to run on a stock block?

  3. The design utilizes a gen1 GTX3076r CHRA with ceramic ball bearings. So far we have proven the dynograph you see in the blog with a methanol equipped vehicle for auxiliary fuel. We are continuing to test the design to see what more we can get out of it.

  4. Could i expect this turbo to push me to 550ish whp on my built block with full bolt ons, st mani, meth aux fuel etc?

  5. At this time we have not pushed this far in our testing, however, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities of where this can take your ride.
    We will keep posting standings and updates with where this Turbo hits on our test cars and beta testers.

  6. I’m personally feeling the S5 over this for the simple reason that it out-performs a GTX3076r and is good for 550whp. The one thing I like about the CS is the BB over JB design. Having said this, my S3 is JB and has been fantastic in every way, including responsiveness. Also, the S5 will hit 20psi just over 3k rpms with proper supporting mods, like the CS IM (or Damond FoST one) and an EM.

  7. So, where is this little gem?
    I’ve been scouring the CorkSport site for months and can’t even find a link that describes this setup(YouTube is not enough) other than this 7 month old post; meaning, have a dedicated web page(link) that describes everything and lists where the testing phase is, that way, those of us who are loyal to CS can eagerly keep chomping at the bit with updates(beta testing, trials) and possible release dates. With that kind of data, maybe some of us(I know I will) won’t go off and buy a S3, S5, and etc setup.
    Those are just my thoughts, take it, or leave it.

  8. I’m confused: here it says 465whp flow capacity. In your 600whp build blog post, however, the car is making 620whp and you say it isn’t even maxing out the turbo. Additionally, it’s stated it’s the same turbo shown here. So which is it: a 465whp or a 600+whp turbo? It’d be nice if you start releasing more info on these to address these inconsistencies and help us to start getting reasonable expectations of its capacity.

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