Reports from Mazda are pointing to the fact that the RX-8 will no longer be sold after the 2011 model year. Mazda has stopped sales of the car in Europe, mostly because it is unable to pass their strict emission standards.
Since the last refresh of the RX-8 in 2009 sales have slowed down considerably. This could be due in part to offerings from other Japanese and domestic automakers in the same market segment but it comes as no surprise Mazda is discontinuing the RX-8 when only 128 of them were sold in April.
We should remain hopeful though, because rumor has it that the RX-7 is likely to be revived in some way. If the rumors are true then the new RX will be using Mazda’s latest rotary engine, the 16X, which is rumored to produce 250hp. The price point for the new one is in the mid to upper 20’s.
All I know is that we can’t wait to get our hands on whatever Mazda’s next rotary rocket is.
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
OMG A GIRL WORKING ON A CAR! June 11th, 2010CorkSport
As many of you may or not be aware of, CorkSport recently re-released our downpipe for the 2010 Mazdaspeed3’s. This downpipe will also fit the prior generation of Speed3’s 2007-2009, however the devil is in the details.
I have been relentlessly pursuing the elusive check engine lights that are associated with removal of the stock downpipe on the 2010 Speed3’s. These models are a bit more elusive and harder to pinpoint the sweet spot for the secondary oxygen sensor to eliminate a check engine light. This sweet spot is becoming harder and harder to find due to stricter emission controls.
This past week I have been driving our company car from home to work and back. As much as my boss loves me racking up miles, to the tune of 67 a day, on a brand new car from Vancouver, WA to Oregon City, OR it’s all done in the name of science. In an effort to understand the cars behavior and make slight corrections, documenting as much information as the data logging software will allow. Checking voltage to 02 sensors, Catalytic temperature and Engine RPM and Run time.
While driving down the local highway I am constantly monitoring the cars behavior, hooked up to the OBD-II port, viewing data on the laptop sitting in the passenger seat. Wires dangling over the steering wheel, chords draped across my legs power inverter plugged into the 12V outlet, in a way I feel like a mad scientist who is monitoring the vitals and trying to resurrect a sick patient.
The code I am battling right now is P0421. This trouble code means that the oxygen sensor downstream of the catalytic converter is detecting that the converter is not working as efficiently as it should be (of course, it is not even there!). As I continue to work on this non-life threatening issue, rest assured that the CorkSport Mazda Medical Center is actively perusing an antidote to rectify these symptoms.
Soon to be released will be a kit for the 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 and Mazda 3 which will move your front license plate to the driver’s side of the vehicle. This will allow more air to flow to the engine, radiator, and FMIC, should you have one installed. It does this by using the factory tow hook mount located inside your factory bumper. The kit will include tamper resistant license plate screws as well as the bit to remove them.
We currently have this product installed on our vehicle as you can see in the above picture. We do not have factory license plate holes on our vehicle, but plans are to include bumper plugs in the kit that will fit in your stock holes to cover them up.
The kit will include installation instructions as well as customer support should you have any questions. The projected retail will be right around $89 for the entire kit.
Right now the kit will only be available for the 2010+ MazdaSpeed 3 and Mazda 3 (i & s) hatchback and sedan. If this is something you would be interested in for your Mazda, shoot me an email and I’ll see what I can do.
As always, if there is anything that we don’t make that you think we should, let us know.
I heard a piece of interesting news last week in regards to the replacement for the Mazda CX-7. The most interesting part of the description I heard was that “it will make the CX-7 look dated”. I thought about it for a while and I am taking some liberty with this and saying that the new Mazda that was described to me will look similar to the concept Hakaze shown below.
Hakaze Concept
My reasoning is that after taking look at the Mazda MXCrossport (you can view the concept on Mazda’s webpage) that was shown in 2005, Mazda released the CX-7 late in 2006 as a 2007 model, and it was almost exactly the same.
MXCrossport Concept
2007 CX-7 Production Model
Looking at the pictures above of the concept and the production vehicle you can see there are some minor differences but overall the concept shown was the production vehicle. There were some concept ideas which did not make it to production like the incredible navigation system and the cool wheels. With the Nagare design theme Mazda is bringing out in all of the new models the Hakaze will fit right in. Following the bold styling of the new Mazda 3 there’s no reason that they wouldn’t continue along this path.
For the powertrain I am thinking that Mazda will offer it with the Sky D and Sky G engines, backed up with the next generation of transmissions which should be hitting the market in the 2011. The one question I do have is if Mazda offers a more powerful engine option what will it be? The Ford based V6 engines currently used in the CX-9 and Mazda 6 don’t conform to the Mazda goal of increasing fuel economy and dropping emissions. Maybe Mazda has a surprise for us on this one?
