Featured Car of the Month | CorkSport Mazda Performance Blog

January 31, 2012September 13, 2018

Featured Car of the Month January 2012 – Jordan’s RX-8

Jordan has always been a fan of rotary engines. His first Mazda was a 1988 RX7 T2 that he bought and then rebuilt and street ported the engine on, so it is no wonder that when the RX8 came out, Jordan was hooked.

His father always owned Corvettes and Porsches and Jordan has owned several sports cars throughout his driving career and, but nothing gives him the satisfaction quite like his RX-8 does.

Standard, the 2004 RX-8 comes with a 1.3-liter 250 HP rotary engine that is like no other. Jordan then added in a Mazdaspeed Modified Intake and a CorkSport Single Resonated Exhaust to give the car some extra boost and decibel levels 20′ outside the car off the back bumper that are 64dB at idle, 95dB at 4000rpm and 103dB at 5000rpm free rev. Inside the car it posts 72dB at 38mph in 4th gear, 94dB at 30% throttle acceleration in 4th gear and 88dB at cruise 60mph in 6th gear.

He also modified the engine with a Flex Innovations Grounding Kit, CorkSport Oil Cap, a Universal Oil Catch Can and Black Halo Racing Ignition System.

The RX-8 features a double-wishbone suspension at all four corners. The upper and lower arms in both the front and rear are considerably longer and allow for consistent grip regardless of changes in roll and camber for top-notch cornering performance so Jordan hasn’t done much yet to the suspension, but now that he has gotten into autocrossing, he will be looking into getting some suspension mods. He plans to swap out his Tein S-Tech Lowering Springs for a set of coilovers and add a CorkSport Front and Rear Strut Bar Set to further improve his lap times.

To enhance the sporty look on the car, Jordan has added a Mazdaspeed front bumper, Mazda Clear Corner Lenses and 35% window tint in the front and 20% in the rear

“The car is beautiful and gets looks from people everywhere I go,” said Jordan, “It is also a huge amount of fun around the autocross track. And did I mention it has a rotary engine?”

When Jordan isn’t working, he is spending time with his longtime girlfriend and fellow Mazda enthusiast, Domii, who you may recall was profiled in our September feature.

They are both looking forward to the autocross season and we look forward getting updates on how this Mazda match made in heaven do on the track this coming year!

You can also check out his progress on his project car at his blog.

Gwynne-

Full List of Modifications:
Engine
• Flex Innovations Grounding Kit
• Corksport Oil Cap
• Universal Oil Catch Can
• Black Halo Racing Ignition System

Intake/Exhaust
• Mazdaspeed Modified Intake
• Corksport Single Resonated Race Pipe

Transmission/Drivetrain
• Axial Flow Engineering Short Throw Shifter

Suspension
• Tein S-Tech Lowering Springs

Footwork
• Axxis ULT Brake Pads
• Agency Power Stainless Steel Brake Lines
• Toyo R1R 265/35/18 Tires
• Enkei RP03 Racing Wheels 18×9 et35

Exterior
• Mazdaspeed Front Bumper
• Mazda Clear Corner Lenses
• Window Tint 35% Front, 20% Rear

Interior
• Voodoo Piano Black Shift Knob
• RedlineGoods Custom Leather Shift Boot

Electronics
• Escort Passport 9500 Radar Detector
• Pioneer Avic F-700BT Navi
• 10″ Boston Acoustics G10 Subwoofer in Custom Fiberglass Box

December 23, 2011September 13, 2018

Featured Car of the Month December 2011 – Matt Kellogg

Matthew Kellogg almost got sucked into the American muscle car scene when he was 19. Thankfully his older brother owned a 2nd gen RX7and as soon as he got his hands on his brother’s ride, everything changed. He had an immediate love for all things Mazda.

He too was once the proud owner of an RX7 GSL, a 1984 model that he purchased with 189,000 miles on it and a rebuilt Rotary engine. He owned the car for five years before he could finally bring himself to part with it in 2002. He finally traded it in and moved on to a Honda Civic, which until 2007 put him on the fast track to success in the car world as a sponsored driver when he made the decision to join the ARMY in order to give back to his country.

Now that he is back in civilian life, he has moved on to a more sophisticated model with the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3. He describes it as having mesmerizing torque and power, which anyone who has driven one can agree with, and loves the car for its uniqueness, handling and performance.

He has recently gotten back into the show scene and started modding it out. For more power and speed he added a CorkSport Top Mount Intercooler, Short Ram Intake and Cold Air Box, Forge V2 BPV, KMD hpfp internals, test-pipe and cat-back along with a Dynotronics Piasani ECU Street Tune with all the restrictions removed netting him a tuner estimated 345BHP and 295 lbs ft torque.

Styling on the car has also been a focus for Matt. He went with 18×7.5 Drag DR-34’s, matte black wheels with a red edge stripe, and black Gorilla tuner spline drive lugs. He added DDM low beam HID headlight retrofit and red ceramic painted calipers, a CorkSport Stubby Antenna, CorkSport Mud Flap Set, and added blacked out baked headlights and tinted rear tail lights and turn signals, blacked out fog light surround rings and blacked out emblems.

As a commissioned officer in the Texas Army National Guard, Matt has had three and a half years of active duty including a one year stint in Afghanistan and in the meantime got married and had a son, but his goal, as his service in the military winds to a close, is to one day own his own speed shop in Texas.

For now you can find him back in the car show circuit with his first win coming in at the Hooters Car Show in Killeen TX 2010, or on Mazdaspeedforums.org, mazdas247.com or the rx7club.com. He is also working on starting a new Texas club and speed forum.

Gwynne-

November 16, 2011May 10, 2023

Featured Car of the Month – Mackey’s Mazda 3

The CorkSport Sponsored 2010 Mazda 3, driven by Josh Mackey, photographer and marketing specialist by day and Editor and Chief of NWMotiv.com by night, has gotten a lot of attention lately (including a feature in the December issue of Import Tuner Magazine), and for good reason. Mackey started his 2010 Mazda 3i Sedan project in June of last year with the goal of taking the mid-range sport compact car to the next level using a variety of styles and showcasing realistic modifications that anyone could do while maintaining a practical everyday car.

Josh was attracted to the Mazda 3 because of the loyal community and followers, the price point and the suspension that, even from the factory, was sportier and more fun than anything else he had test driven. Even so, he immediately set to work improving the suspension of the 3 by adding a CorkSport Front Strut Bar, CorkSport Lower Rear Sway Bar, and Stance USA GR+ Coilovers. He also replaced the tires and wheels with Konig Lace 18×8” +35 wheels and Hankook V12 215/40/18 Tires.

Mackey went with the 2.0 liter base model Mazda 3 so that he could design the car from the ground up by starting with the most common package that the everyday tuner might select, so when it came time to upgrade the engine and exhaust, Josh knew to get the vehicle to the next level he would need the trifecta of I/H/E (Intake, Header, and Exhaust).

He added the CorkSport Power Series Short Ram Intake and opted for the addition of the CorkSport Performance Power Series Cat Back Exhaust that features dual resonators, a single tailpipe design and a 60mm racepipe. He finished off the engine modifications with a MSDS 4:1 Ceramic Header.

corksport mazda exhaust pipe and cat back exhaust

Once the Mazda 3’s suspension and basic engine modifications were complete, adding the proper equipment to stop it was a no brainer so Josh went to work on some brake modifications with the CorkSport Stainless Brake Lines, EBC 3GD Zinc Coated Slotted Rotors, EBC Red Stuff Brake Pads and Motul Brake Fluid.

Mazda brake lines and suspension products

A fan of clean lines, Josh has also done some tasteful exterior modifications that include a 3M 1080 Carbon Wrapped Roof, V-LED Platinum LED bulbs and V-HID lighting, a CorkSport Front Plate Relocation Kit, Mazda Accessory Side Skirts and a 35% Matching front and rear tint.

Continuing with the same exterior design, Mackey wanted to make a point by taking his interior to a whole new level with a full leather installation provided by Katzkin Leather. Two-tone leather interior combining dark midnight grey leather that is stitched together with dark slate perforated suede is installed in both the front and rear seats and the door cards. Stage 2.0 of the build will focus on finishing the rest of the interior by wrapping the headliner and pillars in the same material. The rest of the interior is accented with 3M carbon wrap installed by Graphix by Tex and soon-to-be-installed SRP Racing two-tone aluminum racing pedals.

This particular Mazda 3 did not come with the aftermarket BOSE system that most Mazda’s get from the factory. Mackey knew that if he wanted to take this project to the next level and maintain a competitive level with other Mazda’s in the industry, a completely new audio system would be needed. Diamond Audio provided a complete setup of front and rear component speakers, amps, and low-profile subwoofer. The entire system was expertly installed by James Anderson, all controlled by an Alpine In-Dash DVD/GPS Head unit.

What’s next for the NWmotiv Project 3? “Lots of tiny little things that need to be finished up, new bumper lenses, new wheels, front lip, maybe a dptune ecu upgrade” said Mackey “The NWMotiv Project3 takes everything that I’ve learned from the years. Clean lines, clean mods, nothing overdone, and everything tasteful.”

If you want to follow Josh Mackey’s progress on his project3, you can check out his regular posts at https://www.nwmotiv.com

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October 14, 2011September 13, 2018

Featured Car of the Month October 2011 – Will Buck

Former Army Sergeant and 25 year old Iraq War Veteran, Will Buck caught our attention a little while ago when he sent along an impressive graph from a dyno of his 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 that logged 314hp and 349 torque with a stock turbo.

This Speed 3 is his first Mazda, but this Buffalo NY native has been modding cars since he started driving. Even his first Honda Civic ended up with a Zex Nitrous Kit on it.

After blowing up a couple motors on his supercharged Scion TC, Will finally decided it was time for something with a little better performance and reliability and his research led him right to the Mazdaspeed 3.

Since purchasing his car some of the modifications he has added include a CorkSport Power Series Short Ram Intake, CorkSport TMIC, CorkSport Downpipe, and CorkSport Racepipe along with 50/50 E85 and 93 Octane, Autotech HPFP Internals, Forge V2 BPV and JBR EGR Blockoff. He also has a self-tuned Cobb Accessport @23 PSI.

He recently won the highest horsepower stock turbo MS3 in Georgia award, but is ready to upgrade the turbo to a GTX3071 as his next project.

“I live just outside of Fort Benning, GA now and there is not much of a tuning following out here so I drive the two hours to Atlanta monthly to stay involved with fellow NATOR Georgia members,” said Will. “I spend my free time split between working on the car, home improvement, the Army Reserves and I spend a fair amount of time being active on mazdaspeedforums.org”

He is also passing along his love for speed to his two year old daughter who loves riding in the Mazdaspeed and is often egging her dad on by saying “go, go, go, go,go!” If Will’s dyno chart has anything to say about it, his speed 3 doesn’t disappoint when she asks him to floor it!

Gwynne –

September 6, 2011September 13, 2018

Featured Car of the Month September 2011 – Domii’s Mazda 2

It’s not often that you come across women that take the modified car scene seriously, but if you’re a female and know your way around your car, from installing a performance exhaust system to spending your weekend’s auto-crossing, there’s a place for you in the performance world too.

Domenique first became interested in Mazda performance when she went to the NEPOC meet in 2009 with her boyfriend Jordan in his RX8. She was immediately attracted to the great cars at the Spring Clean Meet and met some great people that turned her on to a whole new world of modding and performance. By June of 2009 she was hooked and knew that she needed a Mazda of her own to mod.

Initially Domenique wanted a Mazdaspeed 3, but when she saw the 2011 Mazda 2 Sport, she fell in love. “The car was the perfect size. I loved how light and small it was and how well it handled” said Domenique, “This was my first manual, but the Mazda 2 was so easy drive, it was cake to learn.”

Wheels and lowering springs were the first priorities on Domenique’s list when she began her new project car. After talking with one of our CorkSport experts, she settled on the H&R springs and also decided to purchase a CorkSport Rear Torsion Bar to add much needed roll resistance to the rear of the Mazda 2.

“What an improvement in handling!” said Domenique, “The car not only looked much better, but the handling got much tighter and the turn response improved greatly.”

She decided to go with 15’s on the wheels to keep the weight of the car down and went with powder coated Kosei K1’s 15×7 with a +27 offset.

As her first power upgrade, Domenique installed a CorkSport Short Ram Intake which gave the car a noticeable gain in power and a nice grunt to the engine and has since added a Power Pulse Muffler Exhaust.

Future projects include a CorkSport Lightweight Crankshaft Pulley, CorkSport Front Strut Bar, CorkSport Rear Chassis Brace, tint, and a sound system.

Domenique’s new love for car modding has translated into another new love for autocrossing. On August 20th, she took the MZ2 out for the first time Auto-crossing at Renegade Miata and learned just what the car was capable of.

“I never really thought I would have been so interested in customizing a car. I guess I can blame it on my boyfriend, in a good way of course,” says Domenique, when asked about becoming a car enthusiast, “I love to go to shows and now my goal is to get better at Auto-Crossing.”

If you want to keep up with Domenique’s new and upcoming Mazda 2 projects, you can follow her progress on her blog, https://piinkdem.blogspot.com

Gwynne-

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