SkyActiv | CorkSport Mazda Performance Blog

June 11, 2020November 15, 2022

Skyactiv 2.5T Intake Heat Shield

OEM Look and solid performance power gains for the Mazda 6 Turbo

We’re back with another product for SkyActiv 2.5T owners that a lot of you have requested after getting your CorkSport SRI. Introducing the CorkSport Heat Shield for 2018+ Mazda 6 Turbo, 2019+ Mazda CX-5 Turbo, and 2016+ Mazda CX-9! Cool down your intake air temps in two ways: by blocking heat from the engine bay and by using the OEM ducting to draw in fresh air. This allows your turbo system to breathe just a bit easier, especially during hot days or if you’re stuck sitting in traffic. Plus, it makes the CS SRI look like a factory option performance part!

Read on for full details and be sure to give us a call if you have any questions!

Isolates heat from the Mazda 6 turbo SRI

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We really focused on keeping cool air around the filter with the CorkSport SkyActiv 2.5T heat shield. The shield was carefully designed to seal the intake off from as much engine bay heat as possible. This meant a complicated 2 piece design that is riveted together. We also designed the shield to work with the OEM air ducting. This directs cool outside air to the filter, further reducing intake air temps. The shield is also left open to the area in front of the tire, underneath the headlight. We found that this area gets some fresh air during driving as well, further keeping air temps down.

Cx9 Turbo cold air intake heat shield — CorkSport Heatshield

Now what benefits does cooler air offer? The basic generalization is that since cooler air is denser than warmer air, your engine can ingest more air per cycle, and make more power. When a car is turbocharged though, this gets a little more complicated as you have a turbo that compresses and heats up your intake air and then an intercooler that cools down the boosted air before even getting to the engine. What that means is that the “colder air will make more power” generalization may not hold true, especially with how advanced modern turbocharged vehicles have become. What colder intake air does offer you is a less stress on your turbo system. Colder air means your turbo does not have to work as hard to flow the same amount of air at the same boost pressure. In addition, colder intake air can translate to slightly cooler air exiting your turbo and heading to your intercooler, taking some stress off the intercooler as well.

Cx5 Skyactiv 2.5T Performance airbox — See the video

Enough theory, let’s talk results! In both daily driving testing and in torture testing on the dyno, we found decreased intake air temps with the CorkSport Heat Shield installed. When cruising or when it’s cold outside, we were actually surprised at the low intake temps of the CS SRI alone—there’s actually a surprising amount of fresh air that gets into the engine bay. Where the heat shield really comes into its own is when sitting stationary or driving on a very hot day. That’s when we saw our biggest improvements in intake air temp.

While we did not see any notable changes to horsepower, our torture testing on the dyno really shows what a worst case scenario would look like for intake temps. Check out the graph below that compares the CS SRI alone vs. the CS SRI and heat shield combo. This is a little exaggerated due to decreased airflow on the dyno but is similar to what your engine could see when sitting in traffic on a hot day, then accelerating back up to speed.

Performance Skyactiv 2.5T air temp data — CorkSport

The CorkSport Heat Shield is made from laser cut and precision formed carbon steel. We chose carbon steel for great strength and lower heat transfer than aluminum. For corrosion resistance, the heat shield is finished off with wrinkle black powdercoating. This coating also gives the heatshield a great look that helps it blend in with the rest of the engine bay and make the intake system look like a factory performance part! The two sections of the shield are attached together using stainless steel rivets for a great look and long lasting strength. Lastly we include rubber edge seal to keep as much heat out as possible, and to prevent any vibration or unwanted noise.

Mazda Cx5 Turbo Short Ram Intake OEM Look — CS Heatshield

If you’re looking for the next mod your Sky 2.5T or have been holding off on the CS SRI until there was some heat protection, check out the new CorkSport Heat Shield. We are even offering a package deal! If you purchase the heatshield and SRI together you will save $20.

For early adopters of the CS SRI, we have not forgotten about you! We are also offering the same $20 discount on the heatshield for a short time. When placing your order, enter coupon code heatshield20, and in the customer notes, enter your original SRI order number. BAM – $20 Savings!

Finally, we’ve got some new silicone colors coming for the CS SRI! They aren’t quite here yet but if you’re looking to add a splash of color in your engine bay, wait just a bit longer! That’s all for now, be sure to check out the product listing for more images of the heat shield and give us a call if you have questions!

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June 4, 2020August 8, 2023

4th Gen Mazda 3 Sport Springs

The 2019+ 4^th generation Mazda 3 is a car that certainly divided opinions when it came out. From its divisive looks to the new torsion beam suspension, even we weren’t quite sure what to make of it at first. However, we have since fallen in love with our shop 4^th GEN, a big part of it is what we are releasing today: the CorkSport Performance Lowering Springs for 2019+ Mazda 3 (Sedan & Hatchback for both AWD & FWD). Give your new Mazda 3 an aggressive look that is sure to turn heads while improving the handling for those twisty backroads!

2019-2021 Mazda 3 lowering springs — Gen 4 Lowering Springs

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Let’s start off with the elephant in the room: ride height. When we developed these springs, it was somewhat difficult as we had to account for different body styles, transmission options, and now even driveline options. With all things taken into account, we found the right range of ride height that looks great on the lightest, heaviest, and all options in between.

The perfect balance of lowering for the 2020 Mazda 3 — Why Lowering Springs?

On the lightest GEN4: hatchback, front-wheel drive, manual trans, the CS Mazdsa 3 lowering springs offer 1.5” front and 1.8” rear ride height drop. On the heaviest GEN4: sedan, all-wheel drive, auto trans, the CS lowering springs offer 1.6” front and 2.2” rear ride height drop. Depending on your vehicle’s options, you will end up at or between these extremes. Don’t worry though, your ride ends up sitting level no matter what combination of options you have. The images below show the lightest (upper) and heaviest (lower) Mazda 3.

AWD Mazda 3 low down springs — CorkSport

We also focused heavily on improving the handling with the CS GEN4 MZ3 lowering springs. A lower ride height means a lower center of gravity which when combined with a stiffer spring rate, means less body roll. This improves handling feel and driver confidence when attacking a backroad. We even increased the rear spring rate more than the front to reduce understeer and help with turn-in.

The CorkSport 2019+ Mazdaa3 springs went through a few different iterations of spring rate and ride height before we found the best balance of ride quality, handling, and appearance. The final spring rates are 3.4K front and 5.9K rear. Compared to the OEM rates of 2.23K front, 4.20K rear, we made a decent jump in rate; however, the new springs are well within the OEM damping rates. The ride is obviously stiffer than OEM yet is not bouncy and you can still comfortably daily drive on the springs.

The perfect lowered stance for your 4th Gen Mazda3 — CorkSport

During development, we even tested for the natural frequency changes in the suspension from installing lowering springs. Essentially, the natural frequency is a good way to compare how “stiff” one car feels compared to another, even if their suspensions are different (for more background info on natural frequency, check out this blog). We went from an OEM of ~1.6Hz front and rear to 1.75Hz front and 1.8Hz rear on the CS lowering springs. This increase is enough to feel “sporty” but not enough that it will ruin your drive to work.

FWD or AWD the springs work on all 2020 MZ3 — Gen 4 Springs

As with all CS lowering springs, they are a direct fit install that can completely change your car in only a few hours. The only permanent modifications are trimming the OEM bump stops to account for the lower ride height. To ensure they will last as long as your car, each spring is made out of high tensile strength spring steel, which is then powder-coated blue for corrosion resistance and a great look. The rear springs even include spring silencers to prevent any added noise from the lowering springs.

Back of Mazda 3 hatchback lowering springs installed

Front Mazda 3 Lowering Springs installed

The CorkSport GEN4 Mazda 3 Lowering Springs have really changed our opinion on the new body style. With the right set of wheels, our CS shop car turns heads all day long and would fit right in at any car show. If you’re ready to upgrade your 3’s handling and give it an aggressive look, we are happy to help! Give us a call if you have any questions, and be sure to check out the product video on the web listing!

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May 28, 2020May 22, 2023

Performance Parts for the SkyActiv-G Turbo 2.5L

About a year and a half ago we launched our first performance part for the highly anticipated turbocharger 2.5L SkyActiv-G; the Short Ram Intake. This is the first factory turbocharged engine in a Mazda since the long-missed Mazdaspeed 3 in 2013. We were eager to start developing new and exciting products for the Turbo SkyActiv…and trust me that passion has not slowed down.

Today we are going to give you a sneak peek of what’s to come for the Sky Turbo 2.5L through 2020.

Mazda 6 Turbo Car — 2018+ Mazda 6 Turbo 2.5L – Sport Lowering Springs

First up is not necessarily a new product for your Mazda 6, but is an iteration in response to the feedback we’ve received. The current CorkSport Sport Lowering Springs for the 2018+ Mazda 6 (shown above) are sporty, and comfortable, and provide a balanced drop of 1.0” Front and 0.75” Rear. While many have praised the springs in their current iteration, some have asked for a more aggressive feel and stance.

We’ve heard you and we are taking action. We are currently developing more aggressive sport springs that will drop the ride height further and bump up the spring rates a bit; we are calling these the “LowLow” springs. Since we are still in development we have not finalized the ride heights and spring rates, but we have a target drop of approximately 1.5” Front and 1.65” Rear.

Mazda 6 Short Ram Intake — 2018+ Mazda 6 Turbo 2.5L Short Ram Intake

Performance Short Ram Intake

Next up is a new product and one that many of you are asking for. While the Short Ram Intake does increase performance and looks great riding solo in the engine bay, we’ve decided to develop a heat shield kit to further compliment the SRI. We are in the final testing and validation stages, seeing great results with cooler intake air temperatures.

We will be launching the heat shield kit as a solo option so you can upgrade your current SRI system and in a bundle deal if you are looking for a complete kit for your Turbocharged Mazda 6, CX-5 or CX-9.

Performance Turbo Inlet Pipe

Next up is a completely new option for the SkyActiv turbo platform…high-performance turbo inlet pipe. This is the first turbo inlet pipe option and is designed to install with the OEM battery, but why is this important or exciting? Just like the Short Ram Intake, improvements in airflow both in and out of the engine increase efficiency and thus overall power potential.

Turbo inlet pipes are a common upgrade for the Mazdaspeed platform as performance requirements increase. While most of those turbo inlet pipes are manufactured from aluminum pipe or silicone, the SkyActiv-G Turbo Inlet Pipe will be manufactured from cast aluminum. This allowed us to maximize space with a unique shape and still maintain OEM like fitment. Stay tuned for more info on this project.

Did you notice that there is a blue and red silicone coupler on the intake system? In the very near future, we will be providing silicone color options for the Short Ram Intake: Black, Red, Blue so you can choose a style that fits your car best.

Mazda Performance Downpipe

Lastly is the other side of the engine. To complement the CorkSport 80mm Cat-Back Exhaust, we are developing a High-Performance Downpipe in two setups. Race Only Non-Catted and Street Catted setups.

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A first for CorkSport, we are designing the downpipe in a “modular” design that will drastically reduce the difficulty in installation and improve durability. The upper section directly bolted to the turbocharger is a cast 304 stainless steel with included heat shield and the lower section is thick-walled 80mm stainless steel piping. They connect via a v-band clamp for a simple install process vs wrestling the entire downpipe into the car and onto the turbo.

Wow, that was a lot, and trust me there is more we are investigating, but we can’t let ALL the secrets out yet. We would love to know what products you would like CorkSport to develop for the 2018+ Mazda 6 SkyActiv Turbo platform, you can do so right here by Submitting a Product Idea.

Thanks for tuning in with CorkSport. We hope you are as excited about the 4th Gen SkyActiv Turbo platform as we are!

-Barett @ CS

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May 21, 2020November 15, 2022

2019 Mazda 3 – What’s new with the suspension?

With the introduction of the 4th generation Mazda 3 there are many questions around the new chassis, engine, interior, and many other components. Here we are going to start investigating the suspension as we move through the process of developing sport lowering springs for the 4th Gen Mazda 3.

If you didn’t know already, we recently purchased a 2019 Mazda 3 Premium with the 6 manual transmission and Snowflake white paint. Right out of the box the 2019 has impressed us with its intuitive driver feedback through the steering wheel, pedals, and gear shifter. The interior is phenomenal and the exterior is…growing on us.

BUT enough of the chatter lets throw the car on the lift and take a look at the suspension.

At the front of the car, we have a pretty typical McPherson strut assembly with a lower control arm. This type of suspension is very common in modern passenger cars because it is simple, durable, and cost-effective. There are tons of aftermarket support for this type of suspension because it is so common, but from a purely performance standpoint, it does leave something to be desired.

Comparing the 2019 to our inhouse 2018 3rd Gen you can see one major difference. The connection from the steering knuckle to the strut body is now a simple clamp collar vs the two-bolt connection on the 3rd gens. We imagine this was purely a cost-cutting design change. For you, the result is just a slightly more difficult installation.

At the rear of the car, things are drastically different. Instead of the more standard multi-link trailing arm suspension, we have a torsion beam style suspension. Mazda says this was “to reduce unwanted movement in the suspension and increase driver comfort”, but sadly we believe this is straight-up cost cutting at the sacrifice of performance.

We could go into a bunch of nerdy details here, but in a nutshell, going from multi-link trailing arm to torsion beam takes away our ability to adjust and control camber, toe, and rear roll stiffness because all of these major suspension dynamics are integrated (or discarded) with the torsion beam design. Never fear, the Team at CorkSport Mazda Performance is working on solutions to this, but it will be a challenge.

Now specifically looking at the rear springs, you can see that the spring is very short. This caused some difficulty in design, but we have successfully overcome this hurdle.

View all of our current lowering springs

We’ve tested the OEM springs rates and WOW are they soft. We developed prototypes to validate our target springs rates and have been driving on those for about a few months now. Happily, from this testing, we’ve found that the OE struts/dampers damping rate is more than sufficient for proper sport lowering springs. With that complete, we’ve designed multiple sets of lowering springs with various ride height targets and our tested springs rates.

Lastly, we tested various final prototypes to get our final ride height just right. Ladies and Gentlemen, these will be LOW and will work with Sedan, Hatch, AWD, and FWD!

We are excited to release final production units to the public in #twoweeks. It is important to note, CorkSport 7th Gear Members will have an opportunity to purchase these springs a week before the general release and they will receive free shipping (in the lower 48 states), as part of their membership benefits!

If you have not seen what the future holds for your 4th Gen Mazda 3, see our product pipeline blog here. If you have ideas or feedback, please let us know. We are listening, we want to hear from you!

-Barett @ CS

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May 14, 2020September 27, 2023

Performance Parts for the 4th Gen Mazda 3

Today we are going to lay it all out; we are going to tell you about what we are working on for your Mazda 3 and WE ARE EXCITED! Who are we? If you don’t know already, we are CorkSport Mazda Performance based out of Vancouver, Washington. We are the number one Performance Aftermarket Mazda Parts Company and we have set our sights on the 4^th Generation Mazda 3.

Below are the first projects we are developing for the 4^th Gen Mazda 3 and CX30. Engine performance, suspension performance, and styling are all covered here and we are closer to launch than you may realize. Sit back and enjoy, there’s a lot here and we want you to see it all.

White 4th Gen Mazda 3 — CorkSport – Lowered on CS Springs

One of the most sought-after and anticipated performance items for the 2019+ Mazda 3 are the CorkSport Lowering Springs. The CS springs provide the most aggressive drop on the market today while providing a sporty and comfortable ride for daily driver use. With that, we have confirmed fitment on FWD manual transmission hatch and AWD automatic transmission sedan. We found that the Auto AWD Sedan rides just slightly lower, but is still within proper ride height for suspension function.

Blue CorkSport Mazda 3 lowering springs — See all of our Lowering Springs

We design our springs with more than just looks in mind (but they do look great). Spring rates and suspension frequency are critical to performance and comfort. With that being said we increased the front spring rate 52% and rear rate 40% based on the OEM 2019 FWD Hatch MT springs.

Mazda 3 Hatch Back stance with lowering springs — White Mazda 3 Rear Stance with Springs and Axle Back Exhaust

Now if you’re looking at the images and thinking “Damn those wheels look good” then you are correct and we agree; they look amazing and fit the car and CorkSport springs perfectly.

Here are the specs: Advan RS 19×8.5 +38 with 235/35 Kumhos. We have just the slightest rub on the inner fender on large bumps. Besides that they are perfect and you can have this setup too!

Best 2019+ Mazda 3 Axle Back Exhaust — See all of our Axle-Backs

Next up is the CorkSport Axle-Back Exhaust. Off the showroom floor, the Mazda 3 is ghostly quiet which is pretty disappointing. Our goal with the Performance Axle-Back Exhaust is a noticeable but mellow tone that you can enjoy every single day; gents this is Wife/Girlfriend approved.

Red Mazda 3 Sedan — CorkSport – Using OEM Springs

We are proud to announce that will we be supporting multiple models on launch. We have confirmed the Sedan, Hatch, Hatch w/Aero Package, and the CX-30. Along with that we have confirmed fitment for both FWD and AWD models for all cars listed.

Look closely, there are a couple new products in this engine bay…long in development is the Short Ram Intake System which replaces the OEM airbox with a high flow dry element filter, billet aluminum MAF housing, 4-ply silicone coupler, and stainless steel T-bolt clamps.

Upon launch we will be offering various color combinations between Black, Red, and Blue. You can see them below.

Mazda 3 Short Ram Intake System — See all of our Intakes

In our testing we have seen repeatable 5whp gains at peak with a nice increase across the RPM range. Street driving our butt dyno agrees with crisp throttle response and a lovely intake induction noise. The combination of induction noises, exhaust note, and sporty feedback from the sport springs really turns the Mazda 3 from an A-to-B car to a great enthusiast hot hatch.

Mazda 3 with CorkSport products installed in engine bay — Mazda with CorkSport Products

The other project sitting in the engine bay is the CorkSport Front Strut Brace. Bracing the strut towers to each other improves chassis stiffness and reduces suspension complicity. This results in increased driver feedback and thus a better driving experience. The powder coated steel brackets and polished aluminum cross bar add a nice loot to the engine bay.

Rear sway bars designed for the 2019 Mazda 3 — Click to See all of our Swaybars

Lastly, and still in development, are the rear sway bars for the FWD and AWD 4^th Gen Mazda 3. This project has been interesting because of the new torsion beam rear suspension found on the 4^th Gen Mazda 3. It’s interesting because there is no factory equipped sway bar. Instead of just developing a larger rear sway bar, we are developing a sway bar from scratch along with the attachment methods.

You also notice that there are two different bars in the image. This is because the AWD and FWD torsion beams are different due to the AWD drivetrain. Long story short, we are developing a RSB for each drivetrain specifically because that’s the correct way to do it.

Wow, that was a lot, and trust me there is more we are investigating, but we can’t let ALL the secrets out yet. We would love to know what products you would like CorkSport to develop for the 2019+ Mazda 3 platform, you can do so right here by Submitting a Product Idea.

Also, we love sharing with the community directly and have been doing so in these groups. If you don’t know about them then check them out and join for more info.

White Mazda 3 stance with lowering springs

Thanks for tuning in with CorkSport. We hope you are as excited about the 4^th Gen Mazda platform as we are!

-Barett @ CS

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Stay up-to-date on the latest news and product updates from CorkSport.

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Stay up-to-date on the latest news and product updates from CorkSport.

Performance Turbo Inlet Pipe

Mazda Performance Downpipe

Stay Up-to-date with CorkSport

Stay up-to-date on the latest news and product updates from CorkSport.

Stay Up-to-date with CorkSport

Stay up-to-date on the latest news and product updates from CorkSport.

Stay up-to-date on the latest news and product updates from CorkSport.