Keeping you up to date with the latest CorkSport Mazdaspeed news!
Category: Research and Development
We are constantly in development of new products for the Mazda 3, Mazdaspeed 3, Mazda 6 and more here at CorkSport. This is the best way to find out what we are up to.
The CorkSport Mazda/Mazdaspeed Protégé Skid Tray will provide solid protection against rocks and road debris and is designed to prevent damage to key components of the 2001-2003 Protégé undercarriage.
Made from 0.090” precision machined aluminum, the CorkSport Skid Plate will provide maximum protection while adding minimal weight to the body of the vehicle. This one-piece precision bent skid plate is angled for a tight fit and structural rigidity and offers a more complete seal to handle harsh conditions and provide smoother airflow under the front side of the car.
“There are a few companies in recent years that have jumped on the bandwagon to develop products for the Mazdaspeed 3 and other newer Mazda vehicles.” said Rich Harris President of CorkSport Performance, “CorkSport is one of the few Mazda Performance Companies that is in the business of supporting the full line-up of Mazda vehicles. We are happy to deliver this top of the line product to add to our catalog for the Protégé and continue to support our Protege customers needs.”
The CorkSport 1999-2003 Mazda/Mazdaspeed Protégé Skid Plate is is available for purchase at CorkSport.com for $249.00 and and comes with a two year warranty, full color installation instructions, all of the needed installation hardware, and knowledgeable telephone installation support.
Turning compresses the inside suspension. The CorkSport sway bar attaches both sides of the rear suspension together and resists weight transfer to the opposite side when your Mazdaspeed 6 turns. This anti-sway bar effectively increases the spring rate on the inside suspension and the effective extra spring rate helps to minimize traction robbing body roll.
The CorkSport Rear Sway Bar offers 70% more stiffness than the stock bar and will noticeably improve the cornering and traction of the vehicle without compromising ride quality. The result is an enhanced driving experience with dramatically improved cornering potential.
The CorkSport Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar is manufactured from CNC bent 25mm 4130 steel with a black powder coated finish for exceptional strength and longevity. The install kit includes polyurethane mounting bushings to replace the stock rubber bushings and comes with a two year warranty, full color installation instructions and all of the needed installation hardware.
The CorkSport Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar is competitively priced at $199 and is available for purchase at www.corksport.com
Product Release! – CorkSport Adds Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar to Product Line-Up October 6th, 2011Derrick Ambrose
We did flow testing on the stock air box, CorkSport Ram Air Box, and CorkSport Short Ram Intake to clarify the differences and benefits of both our Ram Air and SRI kit. In addition, we did flow testing on our CorkSport Turbo Inlet Pipe against a stock turbo inlet pipe so we could give you figures on just how big of a difference that will make as well.
Before going into the data let’s look at the obvious differences between the two kits. The ram air box has the obvious advantage of being able to draw in colder air in using the factory hood scoop. This is especially noticeable at speed as air is being forced into the air box, however the air path into the turbo inlet pipe isn’t as direct as it is with a short ram intake. This is where the short ram excels. It provides the most direct and shortest path for the air to flow from filter to the turbo inlet pipe. As we all know the path of least resistance is usually the best path, but it comes with a caveat. The short ram intake’s drawback is that it is pulling air straight from the engine bay, which in turbo cars can become quite hot. So even before looking at the flow data both of these setups have certain advantages over one another.
Flow Test Results
Test Result Comparisons without Turbo Inlet Pipe
We tested a stock air box, the CorkSport Ram Air Box, and the CorkSport Short Ram Intake, up to the turbo inlet pipe connections to get baseline results which indicated the following:
Coupled with the benefit of optimal placement by the factory hood scoop which results in reduced air temperatures, the ram air box showed a significant improvement in air flow with a result of 28.4% better than the stock air box.
The short ram intake flowed almost 50% better than a stock air box which is a substantial increase in air flow and will definitely make a difference in the power of your Speed3.
Test Result Comparison: Turbo Inlet Pipe Only
We also decided to flow test the stock turbo inlet pipe against the CorkSport Turbo Inlet Pipe. The CorkSport turbo inlet pipe showed a 14% improvement in flow over the stock turbo inlet pipe and the stock turbo inlet pipe proved to have a very turbulent airflow due to the restrictive shape of the pipe. So, not only are you getting more airflow but you are also getting smoother airflow.
Test Results with Turbo Inlet Pipe (the best simulation of real world performance)
For the final test, we hooked up the stock turbo inlet pipe to the stock air box and a CorkSport turbo inlet pipe to both the ram air box and short ram intake.
The CorkSport ram air box and turbo inlet pipe showed a 40% increase over the stock air box and stock turbo inlet pipe. This is a big jump and shows just how restrictive the stock intake assembly can be!
The CorkSport short ram intake and turbo inlet pipe flowed 54% better than the stock air box and stock turbo inlet pipe. This is an incredible performance gain and will definitely make a noticable improvement in your car’s performance.
In conclusion, the SRI will provide better air volume flow, but with higher intake temperatures than the ram air box. No matter which way you decide to go with your Speed3 modification, the CorkSport FMIC kit for SRI or the CorkSport FMIC kit for Ram Air Box, will be a huge improvement over stock and either kit will provide you with more than enough power to give you a grin on your face that will match the front of your 3.
Andrew-
Flow Test Results – Mazdaspeed 3 FMIC for SRI vs Ram Air September 30th, 2011Derrick Ambrose
CorkSport currently develops parts to support 22 Mazda models and at times one of the trickiest parts of designing parts for all of these cars is finding a car to use during the development process.
Occasionally it can be hard to source a car and find someone who is willing to let you start cutting on their brand new car, which is why it is so great to have our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 at the shop to use for product development.
In the past few months I have seen more parts go on and come back off of this car than I ever would have guessed. Hardly a day goes by when something is not being done to it to further development of our Mazdaspeed 3 line. In the past couple weeks alone it has had three different exhaust combinations on it and at one point even had a TMIC on it for a day while the FMIC piping was still installed but disconnected.
One of the great parts of being an engineer for CorkSport is not spending all day sitting at a desk. I’m able to get out and actually work on a car, put it on the lift, prototype parts, test fit samples, and get some actual real world testing on our new parts. This allows us to develop top of the line parts that have been thoroughly tested in real world environments on a shortened development schedule because we don’t have to develop, send parts out to identified R&D cars, wait for feedback, then tweak the design and start the process all over again. Being able to just walk out into the shop to look at something or install a prototype for testing is great. We can get immediate results so we can get the product out to you, the customer sooner.
We recently released our Front Mount Intercooler Kit for Short Ram Intake and some of you with large power aspirations had questions about the fitment of a larger intercooler. The kit we released with the 24x 6x 3.5″ does not require you to remove the crash bar and in order to accommodate a larger intercooler, removal of the crash bar is necessary. Having our shop car not too far from my desk, I was able to go out and fit a larger intercooler onto the speed 3, prototype some brackets, test and then adjust the design to accommodate the larger intercooler core in just over a month. We now have an option for those of you that want to upgrade your turbo and run a CorkSport FMIC for SRI. The new larger intercooler core is 24x 11x 3” and can support up to 700hp.
Having the car here also means we get to drive it and experience how new parts will act in the real world. We can find out how it handles in stop and go traffic, how comfortable it is on the freeway, and how it looks driving down the road. A couple days this week I was able to drive the car to and from work and I can definitely say that even with all of the performance parts installed, the car is still a great daily driver.
I must say having a car like the CorkSport 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 available to use as a development tool really helps us create the best possible product for CorkSport customers.
Andrew-
Current List of Performance and Accessory Parts on the CorkSport 2010 Mazdaspeed 3
CorkSport is dedicated to providing top quality, reliable products to our valued customers. To ensure that our products can keep meeting the demands of the market and adopting forward-looking design techniques, CorkSport may periodically announce product changes or cease product on obsolete models.
One such example of this is the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Front Sway Bar that was released in March of this year. The bar had gone through several design iterations and had been tested on the CorkSport 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 to ensure fit, form, and function during the development phase, however once the product was released, one of our customers identified an issue, and with his help, we took steps to update the design.
Long time CorkSport customer and autocross enthusiast Steve Kritzberg was one of the first to purchase the sway bar. Upon initial installation of the bar, Steve immediately noticed the difference in handling over OEM bar, “The bar was a big improvement over the OEM bar in handling,” Steve recalled, “It kept the car flatter in the turns, as well as quicker turn in.” Unfortunately the stress that Kritzberg’s sway bar was under during autocrossing and his daily commute to and from work on the pothole and crevasse strewn roads of NYC, caused the bar to fail.
Steve immediately got in touch with CorkSport, “I got on the phone with Derrick and dropped him an email with photos.” CorkSport’s customer service manager, Kelly, then kicked into action and sent a stock bar to Steve to put in while engineering worked with him to identify the issue.
“The original design was pretty unorthodox,” said Steve, “The welds and finishes were nice, but during the CorkSport redesign process, I recommended they go with a more conventional design.”
As part of CorkSport’s design procedures, any major change that may impact form, dimension, quality, function, endurance or reliability, will be directly communicated to customers affected, so while CorkSport worked with Steve to improve the design of the bar, our customer service department reached out to each of the other purchasers to make them aware of the potential problem and CorkSport put out a public statement regarding the product issue.
“As soon as the problem was identified, CorkSport posted on the Mazdaspeed Forums and put the issue on the table,” Steve stated, “That is just good business!”
The redesign took approximately six weeks to complete. “I was contacted by Kelly and Derrick several times during the process to ensure the problem was being taken care of to my satisfaction,” said Steve, “The service was awesome. Not only did CorkSport send out a thank you gift in consideration for helping them with the redesign process, but also contacted me once the new design was completed to ask if I would be willing to test the bar.”
When asked how the new product is performing for Steve, he had this to say, “I really like it! I especially like the combo of the bar and the CorkSport Lowering Spring Set. The new bar is definitely stiffer than the first bar and the car feels more balanced.”
When asked if Steve had it to over again, would he still purchase from CorkSport, he responded with a resounding, YES. “Without a doubt! Great product and great service!”
Every product that is developed by CorkSport is handled with personal accountability and though we develop, design, and test our products thoroughly prior to release, from time-to-time, it is our dedicated customers that help us to refine and perfect our products to the uncompromising standards people have come to expect in CorkSport products.
A special thanks to Steven Kritzberg for working with us to develop a top performing Mazdaspeed 3 Front Sway Bar and for taking time out of his busy schedule to co-author this post!
Gwynne-
Quality Improvement through Product Redesign September 13th, 2018Derrick Ambrose
