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Out With the Old, In With the New!

We are clearing off the shelves to make room for some exciting new products that we have in store for this year so CorkSport will be discontinuing certain less popular parts.

Brand Reductions or Eliminations:

AutoExe: The significant increase in the exchange rate with the yen has made many of the AutoExe parts exorbitantly expensive for our customers and slowed sales of their products considerably. We have made the decision to drop the roughly 400 parts of theirs we had listed from our website. We very much appreciate the partnership we’ve had with AutoExe for many years. They are an excellent company and we still recommend their products to anyone that can afford their premium price.

J-Spec: We source Mazda Genuine parts from the Japanese market. Again, the exchange rate with the yen slowed sales of these parts so we have decided to drop the slow sellers from our catalog.

CorkSport FRP Styling: Fiberglass (FRP) has fallen out of favor over the past 5 years. As new (younger) customers have come to the market who are not familiar with FRP and superior materials have become available, FRP doesn’t make as much sense anymore.

We are clearing out all FRP bumpers, side skirts, and rear spoilers from our catalog. This represents roughly 50 CorkSport brand parts most of which are for 86-91 Rx7 and 90-94 Protege. We will still be selling the more popular front lips and other small styling parts built from FRP.

As CorkSport develops new styling components for Mazdas, we will be transitioning to other types of durable plastics in place of FRP.

Here is a link to clearance parts that will be available for a limited time if you are interested in purchasing any of these parts before they become unavailable. We’ve also denoted the affected parts in the model specific catalogs with a ‘Clearance’ notation in the product title.

Do not worry if you purchased any parts on the discontinued list. We will we will still honor any warranty or customer service related items on these parts, we are just discontinuing them from the site.

If you have questions or concerns about the pending changes to our inventory, please feel free to send us your feedback at qu*******@*******rt.com

Gwynne –

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Product Release! CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Front Camber Kit

I’m proud to announce the release of the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Front Camber Kit, our deepest customer collaboration effort to date!

It all began over a year ago with a product submission from Todd Friar, a well-respected member of the Mazdaspeed3 community that you can often find contributing on the forums as Todd98se.

Based on his submission we began exploring manufacturability when we received a second product idea submission from Eric Poyer on 5/03/2011 that helped to confirm the viability of this product. With a second customer willing to participate in the development process we felt confident we could design a part that would be a sales success.

We collected their input on important features and target price and after a few weeks, we presented drawings to Eric and Todd for their consideration.

With their feedback in hand, we developed sample sets for test fitment.

We confirmed successful installation in our shop then got a sample sent out to Todd for further feedback. He even wrote up a fantastic installation process post on the Mazdaspeed forums.

Our initial design required cutting the strut tower, something we were well used to seeing having been in this business for so long. Eric however, was resistant to the idea of cutting his strut tower, something we then realized may be an issue for other customers as well, and a detail we may have missed had it not been for his involvement in the development process.

We knew we had to go back to the drawing board to remove the requirement to cut the strut tower and we also knew we needed to reassure people that cutting the strut tower would not compromise the integrity of the vehicle.

Using Solidworks, we did some force analysis testing that backed up what we already knew from experience and provided the data needed to show that it is possible to safely remove some material from the strut towers.

We also redesigned the camber plates to allow for installation without cutting the strut tower by recessing the bolts.

Other features we incorporated into the production version from Todd’s feedback are larger M10 studs which reduce camber variation during removal and reinstallation and longer studs to allow for improved fitment with strut tower bars.

The final product is a front camber kit that provides up to -3 degrees of negative camber with aftermarket coilovers and can be installed without any permanent modifications. Proper cutting of the strut tower allows for easy access camber tuning to dial in performance handling on and off the track.

Solid pillow ball bearings and housing reduce unwanted upper strut mount deflection and improve handling during racing and high performance driving.

Our camber kit can be used with aftermarket lowering springs and OEM springs for reduced upper strut mount deflection, however, negative camber is limited to 1.5 degrees due to spring interference. We will be revising the CorkSport lowering springs to allow for a wider range of camber adjustment and expect them to be out later in 2012.

Our knowledgebase is a repository for all sorts of information. For the camber plate development process, the interested reader can view each article we wrote during the development process for more details.

Article 1: Article 2: Article 3: Article 4:

Todd and Eric were fantastic during the development process. This was one of the most work intensive products we have released to-date and we could not have done it without them! The CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Front Camber Kit is available for purchase from CorkSport.com for $359.00

Rich-

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CorkSport Product Sneak Peek and Look Back 2011-2012

As we jump into the New Year I would like to share with you a rundown of the products we launched in 2011 and give you a first look at what you will be seeing to start off 2012.

2011 proved to be a busy year for CorkSport with 28 new products coming to market. In order of release, we added the following to our list of offerings:

Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3 Rear Chassis Brace Set
2010+ Mazdaspeed 3 Front Strut Bar
Mazda 2 Lightweight Crankshaft Pulley
Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3 Polyurethane Mud Flaps
Mazdaspeed 3 Lightweight Crankshaft Pulley
Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3 License Plate Relocation Kit
2010+ Mazdaspeed 3 Front Sway Bar
Mazda 2 Power Series Exhaust
2010+ Mazda 3 Power Series Air Box
RX-7 and RX-8 Banjo Bolt
Mazda 2 Quick Release Chassis Brace
Mazda 2 Front Strut Bar
Mazdaspeed 3/Mazdaspeed 6/CX-7 Turbo Top Mount Intercooler
Stubby Antenna
Mazdaspeed 3 Lowering Springs
Mazda Radiator Caps
Mazdaspeed 3 FMIC kit for SRI
Mazdaspeed 6 Mud Flaps
Extended Lightweight Lug Nuts
Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar
2001-2003 Mazda/Mazdaspeed Protégé Skid Tray
Mazda 2 Front Sway Bar
Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3 Front End Links
Mazdaspeed 3 Short Shift Plate
Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3 Shifter Bushings
Mazdaspeed 3 Catted Downpipe
LED Underhood Lighting

So what can you expect from CorkSport to start off 2012?

Early next week we will be launching the CorkSport Front Camber Kit for Mazdaspeed 3. This kit is designed to provide camber adjustability and dial in performance on the Mazdaspeed 3 with up to -3 degrees of camber adjustability.

Next we will be rolling out a new and improved turbo inlet pipe for those who are running a stock or non-CorkSport intake system. The newest version of our turbo inlet pipe has been redesigned to provide seamless fitment with OEM or other aftermarket intake systems by replicating the fitment of the factory TIP to the intake while maintaining all of the characteristics that have made our turbo inlet pipe a top selling product.

We will also be introducing our staged intake systems with the addition of a stage one CorkSport short ram intake without turbo inlet pipe for those that want to upgrade to a basic package. The stage two intake system will be our number one selling CorkSport short ram intake with turbo inlet pipe and the stage three intake system will be the new CorkSport Cold Air Intake which has been designed to push the filter away from the engine and will have the unique feature of being interchangeable with our short ram intake system for customers wanting to run a cold air intake in the summer and short ram in the winter!

We will also be launching the highly anticipated CorkSport Oil Catch Can early this year. This has gone through several iterations to find the ideal design that would provide functionality and be simple to install. The end result is an aluminum, bolt-on oil catch can that will help keep your intake clean by filtering out the junk that would otherwise end up in your intake manifold and possibly on your valves. You can see a full string on the development of this product on the Mazdaspeedforum.

Also to come early this year is the new addition to our CorkSport LED lighting product line with the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Bumper Lights.

Let’s also not forget our Mazdaspeed Protégé drivers out there, we have something for you as well with Mazdaspeed Protégé Silicone Intercooler Hoses expected to be out soon!

This represents just some of the great products you can expect to see from CorkSport in the coming year!

Gwynne-

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More Turbos from Mazda

CorkSport likes to be in the know on what Mazda is up to so I spend a good deal of time keeping in touch with my contacts at Mazda headquarters and searching the internet for clues on what Mazda is developing. I recently ran across a fascinating bit of information looking up patent applications with the US patent and trademark office that gives us a very interesting clue as to what Mazda may have in store for us in the future.

Mazda had a patent approved on January 12, 2010 for a forced induction engine with two sources of boost. The patent refers to an electric driven compressor (electric supercharger) which disengages when the engine reaches a pre-determined mid-range RPM point at which point the engine switches over to an exhaust driven compressor (a turbo charger).

This could be really handy for a small displacement engine when you want to get a large amount of power. The electric supercharger gives the engine the necessary boost to get the mid-range where the engine can then develop enough exhaust flow to spin the turbocharger.

This is the same theory used for a twin turbo charged engine but with instant boost from the electric supercharger. It can give a small displacement engine a decent torque improvement and the turbocharger will add the benefit of top-end power.

The whole idea gets even better with a variable vane turbine that would adjust to the engine speed. The faster the engine speed the more exhaust volume, allowing you to get the most out of the turbocharger efficiency.

This whole patent has the fingerprints of 2015 Mazdaspeed 3 written all over it if you ask me. You would still be getting the smaller, eco-friendly, SkyActiv engine but when you put your foot on it there is a big turbocharger lurking to give you gobs of torque just like the current Mazdaspeed 3.

I will give a word of warning though, not all things which have patents ever see the light of day, but the fact that Mazda spent the time and effort to patent this idea with the US patent office, gives me hope we will see a version of this patent in the next 3-4 years.

-Derrick

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Photos and Recap: Car Shows Across The NW 2011

CorkSport Sponsored, CJ Ramos, Recaps 2011’s Events and Car Shows Across the Northwest:

Car shows are amazing events where people show off their creativity, ingenuity, and the hard work they put into their rides. Seeing what others do to their cars is what keeps me going to these events and helps to inspire me to try to make my ride even better.

This year I went to 10 events. Some were new to the region (like Driven to Perform and Xtreme Drift Competition) and some were recurring favorites of the Pacific Northwest (like Nos Forum Fest and Import Faceoff). It all started with a car show premiere of Fast Five and then culminated at MazdasNW’s Summer Bash at Corksport HQ in Vancouver, WA.

Here are some highlights from just a few of the events I went to…

Fast Five Premiere Party and Car Show – Tukwila, WA – April 29, 2011
NW Motiv and NOS teamed together to throw a release party for the premier of the movie Fast Five. Situated on the top floor of one of the parking garages at Southcenter Mall, spectators and car enthusiasts were treated to giveaways throughout the day including free tickets for a private showing later that night.




Nos Forum Fest – Kent, WA – June 25, 2011
One of the most memorable events of the year. Forum Fest had something for everybody, a car show, drag racing, and drifting. Once again, MazdasNW won and defended its title of Best Forum with its members grabbing five out of the six available belts for the Mazda categories of Best five door and Best two, three, and four door.









Driven to Perform – Vancouver, BC, Canada – July 16, 2011
DTP is the biggest car show series in Canada. The show was plagued with constant rain showers but that didn’t scare the diehard car enthusiasts from entering their cars and enjoying what the show had to offer.




Xtreme Drift Circuit and Remix Car Show – Kent, WA – August 13, 2011
A drifting competition that featured local and national, amateur and professional drifters.




My Fiance and baby boy came out and visited me at the show. He amazed everybody as he slept through the loud revving and squealing of tires of the drifting competition. He was only 3 month at the time.


It was a fun and memorable year. I didn’t win as many shows as I did last year but I didn’t mind. I was happy to see more Mazdas competing and participating like Rob McChord in his wild protege, Martin Chen in his blacked out Mazdaspeed 3, Brendan Hughes in his green accented Mazda 3, and even the 40+ members that entered the Forum Fest car show.

Being voted by my peers for Car of the Year on mazda3forums.com and featured on Mazdas Meet the Tuners and NWmotiv.com were great honors and happily made up for those times I went home empty handed.

2011 Accomplishments
Mazda3Forums.com 2011 Member Car of the Year
CorkSport Featured Car of the Month – July 2011
Nos Forum Fest Best Mazda 5 Door
Featured on Mazda’s US Site’s Meet the Tuners Section
NWMotiv’s Editor’s Choice Award at MazdasNW Summerbash, which led to a nwmotiv.com web feature.
CorkSport 2012 Calendar Cover

-CJ