Category: History

Want to find out about Mazda or CorkSport’s past, then you are in the correct category. We talk about older designs, Mazda models, and ideas which have gone by with time.

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Old vs. New

I drive a 92 Ford Escort that has had many different changes in its life, including a transformation from the gutless Ford 1.9L to a sub 12 sec. weekend racer. I drive this car daily with a “stock” 1.8L Mazda 323 GTX turbo engine with the boost cranked up, putting to the ground something around 250hp. The car has no power options, no I take that back, it does have power mirrors! It is 18 years old and sure it’s got some rattles here and there, but it’s a blast to drive. The turbo on the GTX engine is a bit on the small side so it doesn’t make tons of power but it spools up amazingly fast for almost instant peak boost. With an open differential in the transmission, it makes putting the power down really tricky but fun.

Over the weekend I took our 2010 MazdaSpeed3 to a car show. It’s been a while since I had driven a new car, and I discovered that I like all the options on the car. Rolling down the windows with a switch! Who does that? Cool air while you drive on hot days? What! All of these options are nice. They make me want to rush out and buy a car with some options, not to mention that the MazdaSpeed3 is a bit more refined than my car; to say the least. This car is making as much if not more than my car in the HP area but driving it I did not get that feeling. I could definitely feel the computer robbing power in first and second gear whereas my Escort is ready to tear the tires off in 1st-3rd gear any chance it gets.

Being less refined, my car feels like it has more raw HP than the Speed3 does. The Speed3 eases you into the power and tries hard to keep you going in roughly a straight line, whereas almost anything over half throttle in the Escort is like I’m entering a burnout contest.

Overall I would definitely take the 3 over my car, duh! It’s updated in every way and still fun to drive. I’m really beginning to appreciate new, comfortable cars.

– Chris

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OMG A GIRL WORKING ON A CAR!

Today we have a blog written by guest blogger, and resident shop-mother to all us man-children here at CorkSport, Kelly:

For years I have taken grief for being in the “industry” and having almost zero time under the hood. I have never needed to get dirty; there has always been a willing boy to do the work for me. All I have ever had to do is purchase the part, bat my eyelashes, and bring some beer, or occasionally hand my keys over for a test fitment of prototype parts. That’s all about to change; I have decided its time take charge and install a part. I mean, really how hard can it be? I’ve watched from the sidelines for years, I know how an engine works and it major components. I have a better than basic understanding of cars and how performance parts work. This should be a piece of cake… right?

My first undertaking is the installation of the CorkSport Front Strut Bar for my Mazda 3. Per our website it should take me 15 minutes and will tighten up the front end a bit. I choose this part for obvious reasons, one it’s quick to install and two it looks easy enough, which should boost my confidence for future projects.

Cross your fingers…

Day of the project:

After putting the project off for several months, I was secretly hoping that someone would take pity on me and just take care of it while they were in there doing other stuff; or just get so annoyed while I searched for tools that they would take over and do it for me. No such luck, I’m on my own with limited supervision.

I had assembled all my needed parts including my helper/supervisor, Chris, read the instructions, and I’m ready to install. Step one: Open the hood and figure out where the damn thing goes. Step two: Attempt to bust lose top bolts and realize that this is a little harder than I had anticipated. Those suckers are on there tight. Step three: Earn the mechanic’s badge of honor; I cut my hand and found out everyone else in the building has the same injury, plus a few more. Step four: Put the bar in, easy enough, it just dropped right into place. Step five: Put top bolts back in, FYI 14-20 ft. lb. of torque still really has no meaning to me beyond tighten the bolts down super tight. Step six: Test drive! Easy part, just don’t forget to close the hood first! Step seven: Check work and done. Then take grief from the boys for taking 30 minutes to install the part that should have only taken 15 minutes. Whatever, I was being careful.

One more important thing, ladies, that is not mentioned in the install instructions. Men put their tools away, believe it or not. They may not be able to hit the toilet or the laundry bin, but they get a little saucy if their tools do not return to the toolbox clean and in the exact same spot that you took them from. They can leave their tools all over the shop, but you can’t, apparently.

Overall it wasn’t the hardest thing I have ever done, I did get my hands dirty, and wounded, but I’ll live. Next time I’ll wear gloves. I have no doubt in my mind that I will be able to install the CorkSport Motor Mounts.

How hard can it be to pull five bolts and put a urethane bushing in?

– Kelly

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Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner

I was reading an article about GM’s so called recovery and the author made the quote in regards to Mazda. “Mazda makes interesting, fun-to-drive cars, including the Miata roadster and the sporty Mazda 3 compact. But the company lacks marketing clout and a strong dealer network, so its U.S. market share has been stuck between 2% and 3% forever”

Some of the quote is true; Mazda has not been able to increase their market share beyond the 2-3% in North America. However, I disagree with the marketing clout statement though being the factor. BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, and Subaru, and Volkswagen all have lower market shares than Mazda. All of these car companies spend as much, if not more than Mazda on marketing. Mazda has been treading a different path compared to other brands, and lets the strength of their model lineup do the selling for them instead of wasting millions of dollars on overblown marketing campaigns. Don’t get me wrong, Mazda’s goal is to sell cars and make money like any other business, but Mazda makes fun to drive vehicles and thus markets themselves differently. Mazda speaks in their advertising to being sporty, fun to drive, and economical, which targets a younger demographic.

Look at the Mazda 3 for example, it is a great car, fun to drive, (arguably) great styling. The average age of a Mazda customer is 42 years old, which might not seem young, but is significant in terms of people purchasing new cars. Mazda’s marketing to younger demographics takes them in different directions from other brands like GM. Mazda is very active with their marketing on Facebook and more recently YouTube. If you want to see a good example showing the difference between Mazda and General Motors marketing look on each of their Facebook pages.

So Mazda doesn’t pump millions of dollars into television advertising like other auto manufacturers. Mazda chooses to sponsor enthusiast events like Hot Import Nights and supports weekend racers with their Mazdaspeed Motorsports program. There are television adds but they are nowhere as numerous as other manufacturers.

Is it bad to be different? Not at all in my opinion, Mazda chooses to market themselves differently from the other manufacturers. I am sure the other 2-3% of the market who has purchased a Mazda agrees with me. Mazda has marketing clout, just not where the author of the quote looks.

– Derrick

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90 Years Young

90 years is quite a time span in human lives. The average life span is 67 years in the world today. Mazda (Toyo Kogyo) will be celebrating 90 years in 2010. We can thank Jujiro Matsuda for getting the company going in 1920 which led to the manufacturer of the cars we all love to drive. So for the 90 anniversary what is Mazda up to? I myself was hoping for something crazy to show up but it looks like there is just going to be a few special edition models available in Japan.

There will be a special “Gunmetal Blue Mica” version of the Mazda 3 (Axela in Japan) equipped with the 2.0 DI engine and I-Stop is available.

So far there are no plans for the 90th Anniversary Mazda 3 to make it to North America but that could change if we protest enough.

Mazda also has plans for a 90th Anniversary version of the Biante. A Biante is a compact minivan in the Japanese market. It will be available with the same 2.0 DI engine and I-Stop as well. I have not been a fan of the Biante styling myself but for its size you can haul 6 people comfortably and some cargo. Think of it as a different looking Mazda 3.

Who knows maybe Mazda will surprise us this year with a new rotary powered machine for the 90th anniversary. So far it has been quiet from my contacts in Japan but you never know. Mazda could be keeping a surprise on the down low.

– Derrick

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Goodbye 323 GTX

Goodbye 323 GTX. Goodbye Cusco, GT Spec, Pedders, Autometer, Injen, Knightsports, KVR, RE-Amemiya, Mazdaspeed, and about 50 other product lines.

You may have noticed a recent news post announcing we are phasing out Mazda 323 GTX Parts. The 1988-89 GTX (in USA) was a great car for its time. Many owners have maintained and upgraded their cars to the point they are more powerful and better handling than some of the newest cars. A remarkable testament to the car considering it is over 20 years old!

Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough of them left on the road to justify further development and support. Sales have steadily declined for this car for many years. Ultimately, I think the recession was the last straw for us. Very limited inventory remains and we plan to remove this car from our catalog by the end of the year. To answer the most common question we’ve received since the official announcement last week: “Yes, a few parts will likely end up in our clearance sale”. To reflect on the most common comment we’ve received so far, “You Suck”; it is regrettable, truly. We don’t like it either, but it was ultimately our customers that made the decision for us.

We are also phasing out many product lines, as I mentioned earlier. Border, RE-Amemiya, Mazdaspeed, Knightsports, and FEED are venerable Japanese brands. They have always been slow movers for us, have long lead times for our customers, and sales volumes don’t support keeping parts in inventory. Japanese quality is exceptional, truly, and if you have the taste (and wallet) for these parts we are confident you’ll find a way to get them.

Brands like Injen, Centerforce, KVR, NGK, Unichip, Koyo, and Greddy have many products that are redundant to our own catalog. We are committed to making CorkSport parts the best value on the market but we don’t make everything. We’ve selected a few partners to fill out our product line. The remainders are being dropped from our catalog.

We’ll be launching a new approach to business early next year that builds upon our reputation for high quality parts at an excellent value and supported by the best customer service in the industry. This plan requires a commitment we cannot maintain while serving sales of other brand names. When you think “CS” will you think ‘customer service’ (pardon the lame humor)? We hope so.

There are no gimmicks here. We don’t trademark some odd spelling of a performance sounding words to trick you into believing your getting technology that is different from everything else out there. You are smart enough to recognize that sort of marketing. We could try gimmicks like free shipping but that means we inflate our prices to cover the cost (and thus it is not free to you) or we erode profits and have less opportunity to use them to serve you better. Better to know what you are paying for in my opinion.

Our goal is value. Price, quality, support before/during/after the sale, shipping, packaging, and warranty all go into the value equation. We are focusing our product line in order to offer better value to our customers through improved customer service and support.

Please send us your feedback. We promise to read and consider all of it.

– Rich