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1 Month and 1000 Miles

Recently I took a several hundred mile road trip in the 2. With a full load of people I was able to test out the car under a maximum capacity scenario. The car had 4 passengers and several bags in the trunk. Initially I wasn’t sure how well everything would fit into such a small car. After loading up the hatch, everything ended up fitting in just fine. If it were an overnight trip it would have been a bit cramped with the extra baggage we would have had in the hatch.

The trip we took was down the beautiful Columbia gorge to Parkdale Oregon. The trip had plenty of hills, twisty roads, and elevation to really put the Mazda 2 to the test. The twisty roads and the hills were great fun even with the loaded up car. The 2 handled great even through the large sweepers with the extra weight. The car has plenty of power still to overtake cars in the passing lanes with a down shift to 4th gear. The only time I had any moments were I wished for more power was climbing the hill outside of Hood River to Parkdale. When the altitude starts really climbing the fully loaded car could use about 10-20 more horsepower.

The 2 averaged 33 miles per gallon on the drive. This was mostly at highway speeds of 55-60 mph with the hill climbs. I consider this really good mileage considering the driving conditions. The drive from Hood River to Parkdale was in 4th gear climbing the elevation for about 20-25 minutes. I also had plenty of spots where I was gunning it coming out of corners too. I had thought the drive would have made a bigger dent in the fuel economy.

The 6 speaker stereo in the 2 sounds great and is easy to use. The Aux input jack for the factory stereo made it handy to hook up an MP3 player and keep the driving tunes going without having to load CDs. I found myself adjusting the volume knob on the stereo and not the steering wheel though. I think it is just from habit from my old car and once I get used to using it more it will be natural.

After we returned I asked the other passengers their thoughts about our 3 hour adventure in the Mazda 2. There were no complaints and there were plenty of praises for how comfortable the seats are. One other complement for the 2 was about the drink holders. Counting the spaces in the front doors you have spots for 5 bottles of water. As the driver I did not have any problems finding a comfortable driving position.

Having driven the new Mazda 2 for a month and putting 1000 miles on it I can say that the fun driving factor has not worn off. I look forward to driving the car each chance I get. I give the Mazda 2 an A+ for a road trip vehicle.

– Derrick

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The Elusive MazdaSpeed 3 Cold Air Box Has Arrived!

People have been hitting us up via every contact point possible: phone calls, emailing, Facebook posting, Forum chatting, and contacting us via our webpage to find out when the CorkSport Cold Air Box for the 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 Short Ram Intake will be available. I am proud to say that it is finally here.

Way back all the way to the beginning of February, we had a blog post outlining the details of the depth we go into when designing a Cold Air Box. After finalizing the design and getting a production part installed in our project car, I went out and did some extensive testing. Using a laptop, data-logging software, and lots of thermocouples, I was able to log temperature changes over time.

The delta temperature in the graph below is the temperature difference inside the CAB (right at the filter) versus the temperature directly outside the box (inside the engine bay). The red line shows the difference over time using the box right off the shelf. The blue line shows the CAB with fully taped and insulated connections (the SRI to CAB mating area) attempting to reduce heat soak even further. The green line shows the difference over time with the CAB fully insulated and a direct pipe running from the fog light opening to the CAB (simulating a CAI).

Each reading was taking in the same atmospheric temperature (+/- 2 degrees) driving the same route at the same time each day. The route consisted of highway driving (both at highway speeds, and stop and go traffic) as well as city driving.

As you can see from the graph, all 3 designs yielded roughly the same result of about a 35-40 degree decrease in intake temperature once the vehicle has reached operating temperature.

As a conclusion to this experiment, I can confidently say that our CAB for the 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 paired with our SRI can bring your intake temperatures down to the same temperature as you would see with a cold air intake, without the drop in pressure or any worry about driving in the rain.

As always, if you have any questions about the product, or if you want to know more about how the data was obtained or evaluated, shoot me an email.

– Jake

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CorkSport’s 2010 MS3 Gets Chill

Our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 project car is always a work in progress. It rarely gets put all the way back together, and when it finally does, another project gets set to take it apart again. This time, it was to get some cooler air flowing to the lungs of the MS3.

We recently installed our prototype front mount intercooler kit on our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3. After dealing with a new bumper, hood scoop, and other changes from the 1st gen MS3 to the current body style, we finally have a working kit. As it is currently installed, this is a bolt-on kit with no drilling or cutting required. The factory undertray and bumper also mount back on with room to spare.

We are currently in the testing phase and hope to have a final design set soon. If you have any input on what you would like to see (ie, silicone colors, piping powdercoat colors, etc) send me an email.

– Jake

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The Mazda 2 Arrives!

Its Here!

On Wednesday around noon I picked up my liquid silver Mazda 2 at the port in Tacoma, Washington. 10 miles is what the Mazda 2 had on it from the trip out of the factory, on to a ship, off the same ship, and around a really big parking lot. After an inspection of the 2 and peeling off a bunch of white protective stickers I was on my way to the gas station. Mazda doesn’t put much fuel in the cars at the factory.

The first things that jumped out at me: I love the clutch and the shifter. The clutch engagement is precise and you know when it is engaging. The shifter really reminds me of a Miata. It is precise in motion and the feedback from gear engagement is very clear.

After filling up with fuel I headed to I-5 and spent the next two hours driving south to CorkSport. With the light curb weight of the Mazda 2 the 100hp engine makes getting on the freeway was really effortless. I shifted at 4000 rpm going through the gears to get to 5th gear @ 60 MPH. The 1.5 liter engine has some pretty decent torque making freeway driving a breeze. I did not have to downshift at any point on the 136 mile drive back.

The Mazda 2 is really quiet in the cab on the freeway. Road noise is minimal and I have a feeling that most of the noise was from the tires. We will test out the noise down the road later when we upgrade the Mazda 2 with different wheels and tires.

The Mazda 2 really feels like a small Mazda 3. All of the interior, switch gear, gauges, everything feels really solid. The radio sounds good and is easy to use. The preset buttons are a little weird being on the right side of the face but it is easy enough to work around once your presets are in.

My verdict on the Mazda 2 is that this car is well worth the wait. When I arrived at CorkSport after the two hour drive I had a big smile on my face. This is a great car which has tons of potential.

Check out the Mazda 2 Project on our CorkSport webpage for updates on the car. We already have started development on parts and we will be updating the progress of the Mazda 2 as often as we can.

– Derrick

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Travis Goes Racing

After over-sleeping for the second event I decided to make a run to Packwood, WA for event #3. Chris had out of town plans so I convinced a friend/local Mazda geek to come with me the night before. Thanks Kyle. The drive was relaxing at about 2 hours and I could scarcely have gotten lost if I tried, take I-5 north to Highway 12 East and continue on to Packwood. I forget the name of the place we ate breakfast at (1 of 2 places in town I believe) but the portions where huge nap inducing offerings and the view was magnificent.

Weather was perfect on that Sunday and the course size was significantly larger than PIR events allow for. Indoor parking was a huge plus but the birds coming through caused me some concern. Sure enough a bird marked the top of my car during its wait for what I hoped would not be a laughable assault on innocent cones. Kyle and I walked the course several times but there was no map available so I kept a good eye out trying to keep the course in my head. Also, I got a ride-a-long in an FC with a V8 swap during the morning session to help get a feel for things, fun!

The 3 is equipped with MS coil-overs set on full dampening and rebound in front with full dampening and 2 clicks short of full rebound in the rear. I set tire pressure, marked the side walls, applied numbers and class magnets, loaded my lower boost MAP into the ECU then proceeded to my work assignment. After working first group my farmers tan was complete and it was time to run. I used an instructor, the same guy that set the course, to help me get through the problem areas I was fighting with. Smooth runs, looking ahead and course knowledge paid off……….. after the first three “official” runs, which sucked as I managed a 55 second run to demolish my previous 1 minute plus runs while coming out of 2nd gear twice. The car comes out of 2nd gear in the same areas on every run I made, which is the same thing that happened at PIR during the first event. I am looking at competition style engine mounts for the weekends to see if they will help. Most of the guys out there use R compound or competition tires and wheels, me, I am sticking with the street tires. After comparing my last lap time to others I found the MS3 to be more than capable of competing in this venue despite my lack of traction and experience. At the end of the day I was glad I came out and I am anxiously looking forward to the next Packwood event. I’ll be working on a little more throttle control and left foot braking in the mean time.

Somewhat surprising to me is the number of families that come out to these events, some times as support for a driver yet often enough couples or parents and kids (18+) are driving the car. Two drivers per car is a regular thing.

– Travis