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Finally! The 2010 MazdaSpeed3 Downpipe Released!

It’s released! The downpipe for the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 is on our shelves and ready to ship out. First off lets cover the obvious questions, why install a downpipe? When installing an aftermarket down pipe several things happen. First the turbo charger requires less effort to quickly spin up due to the removal of the catalyst, so boost will happen at a lower RPM. Secondly, with less restriction and back pressure the turbo will be able to quickly expel more exhaust gases, thus raising the boost and increasing power across the vehicles entire power band.

Check out our technical write up about performance exhaust downpipes here.

The CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Power Series Downpipe gives you faster turbo spool up which results in a larger power band. Gains in power have been up to 21 wheel horse power when installed on an otherwise stock Mazdaspeed 3.

The downpipes on the 1st Gen MS3 have historically been a bit of a puzzle to work around however our designs are able to avoid throwing a check engine light on first generation DISI equipped vehicles. Other manufacturers of downpipes are hit and miss depending on the manufacturer, with some throwing the occasional random CEL for slow response time and others being more pervasive.

The 2010 models are a bit more elusive and harder to pinpoint the ideal sweet spot for the secondary oxygen sensor that will not throw a check engine light. We are however actively working on resolving the CEL and if successful we hope to offer a retro fit kit for previously purchased downpipes.

If you have any questions about the 2010 MS3 downpipe feel free to shoot us an email or give us a call. We’ve got several more things coming down the pipe so stay tuned.

– Troy

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Meet Troy!

Hello, my name is Troy Rutherford and I am a new product development engineer here at CorkSport. I have a life long obsession with making sparks fly in the shop. I grew up watching my dad design, fabricate and fix equipment on the family farm. It all started when I got my first car at the age of 14, it has been all downhill since then. I got a mechanical engineering degree in 2002 and have been designing aftermarket products for the past 8 years.

In my spare time I spend countless hours in my personal shop every week, bending, welding, and fabrication parts primarily used for the off road industry. I know my way around a shop and have designed and fabricated several long travel 4 link suspensions, interior and exterior roll cage, axle modifications, gear installs, and have burned through several miles of welding wire in the past couple years.

I have a unique skill set in finding innovative solutions to solve common everyday problems that we all face, along with a keen eye for detail, ascetics, and clean lines. Solidworks is my CAD package of choice and along the way I have designed some pretty intricately detailed parts that are used throughout the world by military and law enforcement.

So what floats my boat? I love coming up with a bigger and better mouse trap. Pushing the envelope with new designs that will expand upon the existing products offered at CorkSport. With my expertise in the off road industry, fabrication skills, and experience in machining I hope to carry my ability across motorsport lines to Mazdas.

I look forward to increasing my knowledge of Mazdas along with gaining knowledge and insight into the world of aftermarket Mazda performance modification. After all, I want to find out what makes you tick.
If there is a product that you think would make a great addition to our ever expanding product line let me know! If you ever run into me at a show be sure and say hello!

– Troy

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Meet Chris!

I am the “New, Old” guy that answers the phone here at CorkSport along with Derrick.

I used to work here a few years ago, left to explore other job options and go back to school, and now I’ve come back home to CorkSport. There are lots of changes but some things are still the same.

If you send a email in from the web page I’m the guy that gets it. One of the questions I get frequently is “How much is shipping.” So I thought I would share with you a easy way to get a quote right from our web page.

To Estimating Shipping Costs:

Add the part to your cart

Click on the view cart tab

Click on estimate shipping cost

Then enter your information on the right

This will give you a good estimate of what shipping is going to cost you. You still may want to check with us for shipping costs on large products like body kits and stuff like that.

If you have any questions please email us anytime.

– Chris

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Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner

I was reading an article about GM’s so called recovery and the author made the quote in regards to Mazda. “Mazda makes interesting, fun-to-drive cars, including the Miata roadster and the sporty Mazda 3 compact. But the company lacks marketing clout and a strong dealer network, so its U.S. market share has been stuck between 2% and 3% forever”

Some of the quote is true; Mazda has not been able to increase their market share beyond the 2-3% in North America. However, I disagree with the marketing clout statement though being the factor. BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, and Subaru, and Volkswagen all have lower market shares than Mazda. All of these car companies spend as much, if not more than Mazda on marketing. Mazda has been treading a different path compared to other brands, and lets the strength of their model lineup do the selling for them instead of wasting millions of dollars on overblown marketing campaigns. Don’t get me wrong, Mazda’s goal is to sell cars and make money like any other business, but Mazda makes fun to drive vehicles and thus markets themselves differently. Mazda speaks in their advertising to being sporty, fun to drive, and economical, which targets a younger demographic.

Look at the Mazda 3 for example, it is a great car, fun to drive, (arguably) great styling. The average age of a Mazda customer is 42 years old, which might not seem young, but is significant in terms of people purchasing new cars. Mazda’s marketing to younger demographics takes them in different directions from other brands like GM. Mazda is very active with their marketing on Facebook and more recently YouTube. If you want to see a good example showing the difference between Mazda and General Motors marketing look on each of their Facebook pages.

So Mazda doesn’t pump millions of dollars into television advertising like other auto manufacturers. Mazda chooses to sponsor enthusiast events like Hot Import Nights and supports weekend racers with their Mazdaspeed Motorsports program. There are television adds but they are nowhere as numerous as other manufacturers.

Is it bad to be different? Not at all in my opinion, Mazda chooses to market themselves differently from the other manufacturers. I am sure the other 2-3% of the market who has purchased a Mazda agrees with me. Mazda has marketing clout, just not where the author of the quote looks.

– Derrick

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Meet Jake!

You can read a little about me in the “Meet The Bloggers” section, but I’ll go in to a little more detail here. My name is Jake Fahlsing and I am one of the new product development engineers here at Corksport. I was born and raised in Minnesota, but have lived in Colorado, Kansas and the UP of Michigan (where I obtained my degrees at Michigan Tech). At 25 I am one of the youngest guys here, but with that comes a fresh mind from a different generation (not saying that anyone here is old).

I was involved in the Formula SAE team at Michigan Tech. For those that don’t know what that is: It is a school sponsored team of students that put their engineering and business skills into a real world application. The FSAE team must design and build a new car for every competition (held in mid May, usually at Michigan International Raceway). Using a Honda CBR F4i engine as our starting point, we designed, tested, manufactured and installed everything from the space frame tube chassis, to the rear diff housing. I was the controls team leader and competition driver of the vehicle. I was in charge of the brakes, throttle, shifting, impact attenuator, and dash along with the people working on those parts. I have personally designed and built several components for the car, but my latest project was a set of lightweight paddle shifters and shift linkage. Once at competition, we competed in several events including 1,000ft acceleration time, brake test, skid pad, an autocross course, and a 22km endurance race (which is also judged on fuel economy, not just time). Also, we were judged by senior level engineers from several Fortune 500 companies on design and sales presentations. With a budget usually around $12,000, it makes for several late nights in the shop and many team members calling around for donated materials and parts. The picture is of the 2008-2009 school year vehicle.

After finishing school (BSME & MBA), Corksport seemed like the perfect fit for me. The innovative design, quality, and attention to detail are what drew me here. As a product development engineer for Corksport, I hope to bring in some new ideas that you will see released in the not too distant future.

I love designing new products and seeing them through to the end. Nothing is more rewarding than having a customer say they loved a product that was something I designed, created, and tested. I have found in previous design projects, that a combination of new age technology (Computer Aided Drafting, Finite Element Analysis, and Computational Fluid Dynamics) combined with old fashion hands on engineering, fabrication, and testing is what makes a product successful.

The best product ideas come from the customer, and without you, we would not be in business. So if you have a good idea for a new product, be sure to go to our main page and click on the product ideas link.

Being new to the area comes with all sorts of little things that I am constantly learning. For example, you can’t pump your own gas in Oregon (I found that out for myself)? And it’s pronounced “Organ” not Oregon? Also, people love their speed bumps. Finally, I will never again leave my sunroof open while going in to a store if even for 5 minutes. The weather here can change from blue skies and sunny, to dark and rainy in seconds. I’m sure I could create an entire post on this, but I’ll leave it at that.

– Jake