Keeping you up to date with the latest CorkSport Mazdaspeed news!
Category: Lifestyle
Mazda has a lifestyle, it varies from model to model but it is there, the performance aspect of Mazda has made the community what it is today with their support of grassroots racing to the pros and supporting their customers.
Enjoying your 4th GEN Mazda 3 but wanting to change up the look? Introducing the CorkSport Performance Spoiler for 2019+ Mazda 3 Hatchback. We went for an OEM+ design that incorporates the great fitment and lines of the OEM aero kit spoiler but in a much more aggressive package. Taller, longer, and with an upturned rear edge, the CS spoiler add some much needed sportiness to the look of your 3. Available in multiple finishes to suit your budget and build, the CS spoiler is a great next mod for your build! Read on for more details and check out the product listing here to purchase.
We like the OEM spoiler but were disappointed at how insignificant it looks when installed, especially when paired with the fairly aggressive OEM front lip & rest of the aero kit. The CorkSport Spoiler takes design cues from the OEM aero kit spoiler however, the design is unique to CorkSport. We started from scratch and polled the community for design opinions before settling on a final design that is both higher off of the rear hatch than OEM and extends further rearward than OEM. The design is finished off with an upturned rear edge for a great “duckbill” style look which is aggressive without being too much. You’ll be turning heads, especially when paired with CorkSport Lowering Springs and a nice set of wheels!
Fitment was equally important as aesthetics when we designed the CS spoiler. We 3D scanned an OEM aero kit wing to get the exact mounting surfaces and edge profiles so that the CS version fits just as good as OEM. We use the same mounting locations as OEM as well. This means no drilling if you’re switching from OEM aero kit to CorkSport spoiler. If you do not have the OEM spoiler you do have to do some drilling, however, Mazda pre-marks the holes for a relatively easy install! By using the same mounting locations and more adhesive mounting tape than OEM, you can be sure your CorkSport spoiler won’t be going anywhere!
The CorkSport Mazda 3 spoiler is offered in three finishes so you can choose what is best for your build. Each option uses a fiberglass base with different top layers. Regular woven carbon fiber, forged carbon fiber, and basic black fiberglass are each available. The carbon fiber options feature a UV resistant epoxy top coat for great protection from the elements and a mirror like finish. The full fiberglass option comes in a satin black coat with some light scratches and will require some finishing. We recommend some finish sanding and a final layer of paint or wrap. The shape is the same for each unit however the purchase price varies so you can really choose the best option for your build & budget.
Finally, each CorkSport spoiler comes with all the hardware and accessories needed for installation. This includes mounting bolts, washers, mounting tape, and rubber washers for waterproofing. We even include new replacement OEM Mazda clips that almost always break with removing the upper trim panel on the hatch! All of this comes with full color install instructions and great customer service & support!
So if you’re ready to take your GEN4 build to the next level, check out the CorkSport Performance Spoiler for 2019+ Mazda3. We think it’s what the OEM spoiler should’ve been and you will not be disappointed! Don’t be shy to contact us with any questions!
If you’re looking for a quick and easy mod to boost the appearance of your 4th Gen Mazda 3 and CX-30, the new CorkSport License Plate Relocation Kit is a great place to look. The factory front license plate location is front and center which detracts from the aggressive front grill of the 4th Gen Mazda 3. The CS relocation kit moves the front license plate out of the center of the grill and over to the side for an overall better look. A comparison between the factory and CS license plate locations can be seen below. The CS relocation kit is also super simple to install and takes only 15-30 minutes to complete. Read on for a detailed look at the components included in the Mazda 3 License Plate Relocation Kit.
First let’s take a look at the tow hook screw that is used to hold the license plate bracket. The tow hook screw is made out of high strength steel and zinc coated so that it will hold up in all types of environments. The tow hook screw also utilizes the factory mounting location to avoid any permanent modifications to the front end of your Mazda. Now onto the main component of the CS kit which is the license plate bracket. Starting out as an 11 gauge 304 stainless steel sheet the bracket is bent to provide quick access to the main mounting bolt and to also flow better with the lines of your front bumper. The license plate bracket includes a quick detach feature so if you ever need to run through a car wash you can quickly loosen the bolt with the provided low profile 19mm wrench and lift it up and off.
We have also positioned the license plate bracket out of the view of the parking sensors so everything continues to work as it should. Finally, all of the hardware included in the kit is stainless steel and we provide tamper resistant screws to hold on your license plate so it’s more difficult if anyone tried to remove it.
Thanks for checking out the CorkSport License Plate Relocation Kit for the 4th Gen Mazda 3 & CX-30! Be sure to head over to the product page and scoop one of these up if you want an appearance boost for the front of your Mazda.
License Plate Relocation Kit
Get the license plate relocation kit for the 2019+ Mazda 3 & 2020+ CX30
I haven’t written any blogs in a while as there hasn’t honestly been anything from Mazda, which has made me stop and go WOW. Most people who have interactions with me would have thought I would be interested in the Mazda 3 TCR. The TCR car looks great, but when I learned Mazda went with the “Spec” engine for the series, it became a “meh” for me. Having an engine that is based on more or less a VW power plant pulling a Mazda around the track made it a lot less interesting. I do know why Mazda chose to go that path, but that is another story.
Mazda Rotary GT3 Concept Car
What did make me go WOW recently was at the Grand Turismo Championships when Mazda announced the RX-Vision GT3 concept! Mazda loves a sexy race car, and if you look at the past two, they have both come out of the Mazda North American studios. This concept is no exception as Julien Montousse, the design chief for Mazda North America, was present during the announcement of the car.
This is a big deal in my mind, we have just seen a change at Mazda USA with Nelson Cosgrove now appointed as the new director of Mazda Motorsports. Mazda has done everything except come right out and say we are going to build another rotary, and that message looks to be getting stronger. We have seen more patents popping up, calling out more tech and drawings of rotary goodness, including my favorite the top-mounted turbo rotary engine from years back.
Like anything Mazda teases us with, we will have to wait and see what happens. On a personal level, I hope Mazda gets us a 2020 Mazda 3 AWD turbo MT, but that is another one of those “wait and see” dreams from Mazda.
My Name is Symon Powlison and this is my journey of how I got my Mazdaspeed3 and the Mazda community that became my family.
Let’s head back in time a bit, I was a broke high school student and I had just bought a 1997 dodge avenger, while my friends had all dabbled with modifying their cars at the time, I had not, but I knew I wanted to. The avenger came with an exhaust that sounded ok and some wheels and that’s about it.
When I showed my new car to my best friend Barett (yes Corksport Barett) and talked about build aspirations that never happened, we decided that we both wanted new stereo and subs, 2007-2008 was the time for loud music and lots of bass lol, “Darude Sandstorm” anyone?
I had a lot of fun with that car but long story short the car was towed away late in the night for having a flat tire in a parking lot. Now with little to no money and my little avenger was never to be seen again. All is not lost though because those early years with that car started me on a slow trek of building my own “Racecar” later in life it was the catalyst that started it all.
Fast forward to the year 2012, I’m a bit more established now and I’m getting ready to deploy at the first of the year for 10 months, when my Co-Worker decides to buy a BMW 335i, I made the brash decision to follow suit and I purchased a 2004 Audi S4, my wife was needing a new car anyway so I gave her the Kia Optima I had purchased a few months back.
Everybody was happy because I got my car and my wife got a brand new Kia! My Audi came with Tien lower springs, a nice fender roll job, and a Magna-flow exhaust. The roar of the V8 through the exhaust was great, it had quick get up and go and it looked amazing in the brilliant red paint. This was my first experience with a “quick” car and I was hooked, but with Audi’s, I had no idea how to even begin to work on it if it had problems, and neither did anybody close to me. This is when I knew this wouldn’t last but I thoroughly enjoyed it when I had it.
Symon Powlison
During deployment, I would leave my Audi in the hands of Barett, and return to resume driving bliss with the car, until I left again except this time it would be for nearly 3 years. My wife and I left for Korea in the middle of 2014. My car was out of my possession longer than in my possession and thus while my time away I grew apart from my Audi and wanted something new, different, I wanted a hatchback.
I always liked the way hatches look, the bodylines, the mildly flared fenders, the base stance of the hatchback drew me in. I spent countless hours looking at every model of hot hatches, tirelessly and sometimes redundantly, maybe I could afford this or maybe I should buy. I decided to call Barett from Korea and told him I was coming home and I wanted to sell the Audi and get something I truly desired.
He mentioned getting a Mazdaspeed3, I had seen some videos about them but I was rather set on an all-wheel-drive hatch to drive in the snow, but that was dumb because I hate driving in the snow lol. I decided to give the Speed a deep dive look and man I was impressed, not to mention I had an endless resource if I needed any help.
I was sold, the price was right, the whole car package was right, it checked all my boxes, I wanted a turbo 4cyl with good base stats, something reliable to a degree, and something that I could learn to modify and have help if anything breaks.
I arrived home in the spring of 2017, and scoured the interwebz and found the speed of my dreams, a velocity red 2013 tech package mazdaspeed3 with 69k on the dash. With what money I had left in savings, a small income, and an Audi for a deposit. I marched down to the dealership and literally, 6 hours later I walked out of there with my dream car.
Shop all 2010-2013 Mazdaspeed3 Parts
Funny side note here, when I took the MS3 for a test drive I was by myself, I never drove a 6-speed manual car before and didn’t know how to put the car in reverse, so here I am sitting in somebody’s driveway (huge facepalm) trying to figure out how to put the car in reverse when the homeowner comes out and asks if I need help. I tell him the story he laughs and gives me a push to send me on my way back to the dealer.
That test drive officially sold me on the car, I can still remember the first time starting that car and the first time I hit 15psi of boost, it was amazing and probably the coolest feeling ever while driving. I couldn’t wait to show my wife, I ripped the speed all the way home, and it was nothing but smiles per gallon. I couldn’t have been happier. I am honored to have such a loving wife who was just as excited for me to have a car I desired so much. This was my very first and only turbo car I’ve ever owned and every time the car plants my back to the seat I can help but grin from ear to ear.
I kept the car stock for a year on the dot before I started modifying it, if you’re keeping track it’s now April 2018. I purchased all the necessary supporting mods to keep it from going ZZB. I bought an Access port, HPFP Internals, intake, and pro tune and man did that little K04 Turbo come alive, a few other supporting mods like exhaust and rear sway bar brought the Mazdaspeed to a different level.
Shop all 2010-2013 Mazdaspeed 3 Categories
The Speed had no changes for another year or less (early spring 2019), finally, it was time for power mods, big turbo, big FMIC, lots of little bits like injector seals, short shifter, motor mounts, and getting a tune from Purple Drank. The car became a monster, smiles turned to white knuckles gripping the wheel from torque steer, turbo noises for days, and a singing bypass valve that subtly lets you know it’s there on any occasion.
That kept me satisfied for another year till now, this plan is to do both manifolds, cams, and EWG. *Hurray for race car noises*. The transformation of my Speed over the last 3 years has been a rewarding experience, providing me with knowledge and experience and confidence to be able to tackle any problems or situations previously I would have avoided or paid an overpriced shop to fix.
This is the best part of the community I joined when I bought my speed, all the experiences and knowledge that has been shared with me have been nothing short of amazing and I’m truly grateful for the speed community. My wife and I don’t take a lot of vacations, but the two events that come up in the year that you can’t miss are Mazda events.
Shop Gen 1 and Gen 2 Mazdaspeed 3
I didn’t know that I could miss Idaho as much as I would when I have to leave Papa Keith’s Mazda Takeover event in Boise after a 4-day party. The big bear puts on an amazing event yearly and when it wraps up the withdrawals of it kick in. Those pains are subsided though just two months later when we all get to catch up for CorkSport’s Dyno Day’s! The event that the CorkSport crew puts together is a blast, its high tempo 2-day event that brings our Mazda community together in the Pacific Northwest, I have seen people from British Columbia to Utah come all the way to Vancouver, WA for this event.
These two trips are something that flows into my DNA and I can’t imagine my life without experiencing them or the people I’ve met along the way. My wife and I look forward to these weekends as I’m sure anyone who has gone to them at least once will, we love spending time with our extended Mazda family and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
In closing, to say that a car would change my life would be an understatement, but it did and I wouldn’t want it any other way, so if you see the Red Baron Speed of Newberg out and about, come up and say hi and chat for a minute. I hope to see you all at future events, keep hitting that Boost, and stay safe. See you all on the road.
Symon
Red Baron Speed of Newberg May 28th, 2024CorkSport
Ever wonder what it was like to win the lottery. You ever let your mind wander and think what it would be like to actually “Live the dream.” I know I have, well, until I joined CorkSport! My name is Zach Sprague, and I wanted to share with you my experience of joining, what I believe to be, the best well known and respected company in the Mazda Community. Let’s take a look at my journey.
I’ve always been into cars and have had a pretty big obsession with FWD Hatchbacks. My passion for this platform started back in 2014. I sold cars for Toyota in Southwest Washington for about four years. During my tenure, I drove some pretty amazing vehicles, one of them being a 2013 VRM MS3 Tech pack. I knew what a Mazdaspeed was, a Turbo FWD Hatchback, and at that time that was more than enough to pique my interest in the platform. It was temporarily sitting on my lot, and I had to drive it back down to Portland to our sister store.
Before jumping into the seat, I didn’t know any horsepower or torque figures. I didn’t know what kind of emotion it was going to spark when I drove it. I had NO idea that it would become the screen saver on my computer. I slid in and pushed the button. (You know those Cold Starts) This Mazdaspeed’s exhaust made my heart drop and gave me goosebumps. I honestly felt like an 8-year-old on Christmas Morning.
Once on the ramp, I slowly shift into third at about three and a half grand on the tach and just sent it. Torque steer was prevalent as I was gently pushed back into my seat. I slammed 4th, and I hear this intoxicating PSSHHHHHH from the short ram intake. I was done, I was hooked, addicted and didn’t know what to do with myself. I was so intrigued I stopped at every rest stop on the way down so that I could feel this car accelerate back onto the freeway. <insert uncontrolled giggling here>.
Flash forward a couple of years, and a guy I worked with, now one of my best friends, went out and bought a VRM Mazdaspeed6. Everything on that car from top to bottom was stock down to the wheels. I slowly watched his build progress over the year and transform into one of the most inspiring builds I have ever seen. In that time he was kind enough to let me pick his brain about these cars and what they like, what they don’t like.
In 2018 this is when things got interesting! After a few months of looking and 100 YouTube videos later, I was finally ready to pull the trigger on one of my bucket list cars. I snagged a 2013 MazdaSpeed3 in liquid Silver. I drove almost 4 hours and paid an arm and a leg for sales tax, but it was worth it.
Miles of Smiles
I was grinning ear to ear the entire way home; 4th gear dumps on the freeway, testing the grip of the tires out at a few stoplights, full-on shenanigans. I tell you what; I made it home a lot quicker than the drive up.
I had the car for 3 weeks before I added my first mod. I already had a vision for the car, but first things first, I had to take care of those sloppy shifts. My shifter bushings and short shift plate showed up from CorkSport. At that time I knew they made great parts and were one of the very few places that even made parts for this car. What a difference that made! It felt robust and more responsive.
The Opportunity of a Lifetime
I always joked with my friends about working for a company like CorkSport. I just thought it was this elusive dream that I’d be sitting behind a desk helping other people build their dream cars. I never thought in my life that an opportunity like this would come into fruition.
My buddy, who helped me get into Mazdaspeeds, sent me a message on FB, letting me know that CS was hiring. I thought to myself; this is no lie. “There is no way on god’s green earth I’d ever get that lucky.” However, I applied. What’s the worst thing that could happen, right?
CorkSport isn’t a revolving door, and the team is made up of a close-knit group of professionals that also happen to be car nuts. They carefully consider who’s going to be a good fit with their existing team and identify candidates that are going to get the right shit done well. I knew this was a different company, and their standards were high because they didn’t just accept my resume; there was a pre-test.
A funny little story. I got a message from CorkSport saying they wanted to set up a phone interview! I couldn’t believe it! That Friday, I called to set up a meeting for Monday. This is where the humor known as my life kicked in; I BROKE MY PHONE ON SUNDAY! *RED ALERT* My dream job was calling me on Monday, and I didn’t have a phone, so I went out and bought a little prepaid flip phone.
Although I almost missed this opportunity, it went well enough for CorkSport to schedule a second interview over Skype. I must add, this occurred over two weeks. I was losing my mind; I couldn’t believe it was happening. All my buddies knew I had the job, they knew how obsessed I am with cars, especially my Mazdaspeed 3. I still was in shock couldn’t believe I had my second interview.
When CorkSport called me to let me know, I had a final interview with the Company’s President, Corey – Hello nervousness, glad to see you again! I can’t put into words how excited I was; it was pure bliss and absolute disbelief. “IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING!” I screamed at the top of my lungs when I got off the phone. I showed up a half-hour early. It was cool; I got to meet someone I’ve stalked on Instagram for a while and who has been a significant influence on me since I got into the Mazda community – Brett White.
It’s so surreal when you get an interview for a job you’ve always wanted. Above all, I remember from the interview is telling Corey, “Even if I don’t get the job, knowing I made it this far and am sitting here with you having this interview is honestly a dream come true.” It’s unreal to think that one mistake, such as breaking my phone the day before my first interview, could have kept me from writing this blog for a company I’ve looked up to since I’ve been into Mazda’s.
I cannot believe I’ve been here a little over a year already! It’s a fun environment where everyone is looking out for one another. I’ve been able to FLY in the fastest thing I’ve ever been in (Barett’s monster Gen Juan), and had the chance to drive a car I’ve drooled over on social media (Brett’s Baby) for years.
Barett’s monster Gen Juan
Looking back, it wasn’t even four days after joining the company before the guys a CS put lowering springs on my car. It took a little over a week for me to buy an AccessPort and a Dual VTA Bypass Valve, and that was just the start! You don’t want to be an employee driving a stock Speed with a CorkSport Sticker on it.
Stay tuned to see where CorkSport and I go with my car. I’ll catch you on the flipside and, thanks for reading my first blog!
