After spending two full days walking the SEMA show floor one trend in styling is really clear: matte colors. The cars that had the matte paint jobs were mostly exotics with a few imports mixed, in including the Lexus IS-F prototype:
There was a time when you would see cars in a matte color because they were in primer sort of an “Under Construction” phase. The owners of the cars were the “Do-it-yourself” types of guys who did their car build at home. This usually meant the suspension and engine were done but the body wasn’t, which made for a really fast car with no flash. It appears this has carried over into show cars.
Here’s a bunch of the cars we saw at the 2009 SEMA show done in the matte color scheme:
There was one car which didn’t stick with the black color, a Bentley with a matte grey color. There nothing better than a several hundred thousand dollar car looking like it missed its body shop appointment.
Love it or hate it, this style looks to be one we will see for the for at least the next several years. I am still undecided if I like it or not. One side of me thinks you would have to be insane to paint your Bentley to look like it was sprayed in your garage, but the other side thinks that the subtle presence of the cars paint gives off a vibe that means business, and gives it the cool factor, which I do like.
Our first day at the SEMA show went really well – the show hasn’t officially opened yet, but there was a full day of seminars covering a bevy of product development related topics. Most of the show cars are all in place and we ran across a few Mazdas in the bunch, and had some time to chat with their owners.
Most of the seminars were related to marketing and other customer facing activities and we took a lot away from these. We also had some time to chat with the SEMA Tech Transfer team that provides a variety of Computer Aided Design (CAD) data connections between OEM manufacturers and automotive aftermarket specialists. With connections of programs like this and other efforts, we could cut our time to market substantially and also prototype a lot of new systems without a major up front fabrication investment. Modifications that rely on surface data (dashboard, fender and headlight geometry) can be designed entirely in the computer and rapid prototyped for short run evaluation and product qualification without investing in any hard tooling.
One of the Mazdas we saw today stood out among the others- a 1st Gen Mazda3 Sedan owned by Jeremiah of International All Stars featured a two tone finished Cosworth Focus Short Ram Intake Manifold and an F2 Turbo Kit. As with a lot of cars that show up to SEMA, adding finishing touches at the last minute is almost expected – and when we left tonight, Jeremiah was modifying the front grille to show off the front mount intercooler and was working with the guys at Cosworth to get some further visibility of their product on his car. We’ll try to put a video up of Jeremiah’s car tomorrow – gotta find our USBa to USBmini cable.
Beyond that we’re certainly having a good amount of fun here in Vegas. Chris Tran, has come out of his retirement as our former shipping guy and narrowly avoided getting beat up by a group of high school girls last night.
In the last few months, we’ve invested a good amount of time into working on making our intake systems more modular. The benefit to our customers is that we’re dialing in the building blocks to roll out a number of new intakes that will backfill our inventory for vehicles that we haven’t supported with induction systems. At the same time, having modular systems allow us to get better material pricing, and invest less in mill and lathe setup times by using like parts across multiple make and model product lines. We have also sourced custom filters from one of the top domestic performance air filter manufacturers and we’re very excited about cultivating that relationship.
As our intake product line becomes more modular, we become more able to tailor our intakes to our customer’s interests and styles as well. With our new anodized MAF housings and custom CorkSport synthetic media air filters, we have new opportunities for configuring color options. No matter how much of a function-over-form kind of person you are, a product that looks cool while it does a top-notch job is always better than one that looks like it was made out of scraps from the appliance aisle at Home Depot. We know you want your car to not only look good, but to make your car your own, and utilizing like parts and manufacturing techniques across multiple model product lines will allow us to give you higher levels of customization. Bottom line – tell us what you want your parts to look like. Have an idea for how to make something more customized or unique to the person who is buying the parts? Use our product submission form and let us know what you want.
Cutting Edge R&D
On the R&D front, we’re utilizing some cutting-edge techniques in computational flow dynamics and test equipment so that we can gather data from our existing intake systems and build complex computer models that will allow us to rapidly prototype and develop new intake systems as well as other induction systems to improve the performance of your Mazda. As we move into mastering some of these techniques, we’ll become more and more able to intuit ways to improve the flow of gasses through your engines. In this respect, intakes are unbelievably simple, but a number of factors can cause pressure drops across the length of the intake and effectively act as the same thing as a restriction in the system. We’ll talk more about that in the next few installations of my intake system-related blog posts.
The most important goal for us at CorkSport is to meet your needs for quality performance parts that match the style and aesthetic appeal you’re seeking when you modify your cars. While I aspire to have a decent capability to design trick parts, my input alone on what our systems should look like most certainly isn’t enough – we need your input. Just have a small comment about a color or variation you’d like to see?
Also, if you’ve got a 1999 or later Mazda in need of an intake and live in the Portland, Oregon area, let us know – we’re always looking for cars to use during our prototype and development process. We’re specifically looking for Mazda 6’s, 2007-2009 Mazdaspeed 3 & 2010-2013 Mazdaspeed3 in 4 and 6 cylinder versions. I’m also looking for a 2.0 liter 2004-2009 Mazda3 and a 1999-2000 1.6 liter Mazda Protégé.
On and off in the next few months, I’ll be discussing more about intake design: Differences between long tube cold air intakes and short ram intakes, filter selection and misconceptions, factory warranty concerns, effects of water in the combustion process, our testing and validation process and the tools we use to get the job done right. Hell, I might even go into some details of some of the modular intake manifold designs and concepts I’ve been toying around with for my own cars that might show up in our product line come next summer.
One common question I hear from customers is, “What should I do with my car?” My reply is normally, “What are you going to do with your car? What are your plans, and what do you want it to do?” Having some idea of the end plan for your car can really help you out when deciding what to purchase. Let’s take a look at the suspension first.
Lowering Springs & Coilovers
Suspension is something that has a wide range of options available for most Mazdas. One of the questions I ask customers “Are you just going to drive this on the street, or will you also take it to the track?” This really gives me a good idea of what to suggest for modifications. The difference between the street and track suspension normally comes down to how stiff the suspension is. Most track suspensions do not work very well on the street because the bumps in the road cause the car to ride really rough because of the higher spring and dampening rates of the shocks and springs. A good street suspension will have a stiffer ride compared to stock but still be reasonably comfortable when driving on public roads.
A good track/race suspension will set you back $1500+ depending the on the shocks/springs or coilover options. A good street suspension will run about $1000 or less for springs and shocks. The advantage of coilover suspension is the ability to change ride height, shock dampening, and spring rates. The ride height adjustment is good for lowering the center of gravity on your car. Being able to change the shock dampening allows you to fine-tune the ride of your car. The ability to change the spring rate allows you to make larger changes to how the car performs under cornering. Street strut and spring suspensions are comprised of a lowering spring that matches the original dimensions of the stock spring but with a different compression rate. Most lowering springs sold lower Mazdas from 1-1.5 inches. Upgraded struts also fit the original dimensions but have different valving to change the rebound and compression. This makes the strut either move slower or faster than stock, depending on the application. There are street coilover suspensions available as well from some manufactures like AutoExe.
AutoExe 2010+ Mazda 3 Street Coilovers shown above.
Bushings
Upgraded suspension arm bushings can give you better feedback with less deflection or give, but the trade-off is more vibration into your Mazda due to the increased stiffness. A commonly upgraded bushing is the front control arms. The advantage of the front control arm bushings is less deflection in the bushings making the steering response faster since the bushings have less give. The upgraded bushings also help in launching the car from a standstill by decreasing or eliminating wheel hop. I recommend looking at our tech article on urethane bushings to get more information.
Sway Bars
Sway bars are another option to upgrade in your suspension. The sway bar keeps your car body flatter under cornering but it can also affect the balance of the car. Installation of a larger rear sway bar can create oversteer, which, to simplify things, make the back of the car slide first under hard cornering. This is great for autocross and rally cross where you need very tight rotation of your vehicle to get around cones. On a street car this can be handy but it can also catch you out if you are not experienced enough to know how to counter the change in surprise situations. The last thing you want to do is call a tow truck to pull you out of a ditch when the back end of your car becomes the front end when it slides out.
H&R Swaybars above
Braces
The last item to bring up is suspension bracing. What the braces do is supplement the vehicle chassis to make it stiffer. You really start to notice the improvements for braces on uneven surface roads or under hard cornering. In open top cars like the Miata/Mx-5 and open trunk hatchbacks like the Protege 5/Mazda 3 the addition of the braces can be noticed in day to day driving due to the additional stiffness in the chassis Check out our tech article on strut tower braces for more specific details
For most street driven cars I recommend a good set of lowering springs and upgraded shocks/struts and move forward from there with braces and swaybars. If you have any questions on suspension feel free to email me at Derrick@corksport.com or give me a call and I can give you specific information for your model of Mazda.
I will cover engine modifications and brake upgrades in future blog posts.
My history as a wrench wielding mechanic in a goon suit is almost exclusively as an enthusiast, and over the years I have spent a lot of time making mistakes using the wrong tool for the job, as well as sourcing reliable tools at the best prices so that I could make otherwise difficult jobs substantially easier.
Because of this, I most certainly do not own a $10,000 6′ tall rollaway SnapOn toolbox. Most of my tools are Craftsman, and a handful of my tools came from the dreaded Harbor Fright. Typo intentional. I figured this week I would take some of what I have learned and pass it on, as well as recommend a few tools that I have found indispensable.
Feel free to discount anything I say or condemn me for being a cheap bastard, but I have managed to get by with a lot of cheap tools and a number of really high end ones where they were necessary.
Where to Buy?
A few things to think about when it comes to purchasing your tools are the level of customer service you can expect when the quality of the tool fails to exceed it’s mission in life; the amount you’re spending for that extra assurance and the risks associated with using a tool for the application in question that is substandard. These questions make my buying decisions simple. If I use a Harbor Freight air saw on a piece of plastic radiator core support and it fails, I do a local warranty return or throw it away, no harm no foul. But if I have to choose a torque wrench or a hand tool that I’m going to be using regularly , I’d be better off going high end based on the job I’m going to expect it to do and the frequency I use it. In the case of the DeWalt pictured below, I know all of the replacement parts are reasonably priced and available online. And, I can talk directly to a DeWalt wholesaler locally to remedy Warranty claims, so Overstock.com might be a perfectly fine place to source that item to save an extra $20-60.
Battery Powered 1/4 or 3/8 Drive Impact Wrench
There are two options here for a small versatile impact system: the 1/4 Hex Drive (like an Allen Wrench but has square drive bits) and the 3/8″ Square Drive (Like a Ratchet). The Square Drive is going to deliver more torque and generally runs off an 18v or higher battery, where as the 1/4″ Hex variety runs 18v maximum for the most part. The benefit of the hex drive is that it runs screwdriver bits and some hex drive drill bits and is a little more versatile…but you pay for that in lack of torque. The Rigid hex drive we use around here will break loose most chassis brace bolts and almost everything in the engine compartment aside from head bolts, turbo bolts, etc. It won’t always break loose exhaust nuts/bolts, so it requires breaking those loose by hand. But that DeWalt pictured above, it cracks out 110ft lb of torque with a Max RPM of 2700. It’s not cheap by any means, kitted up at a retail (read: you can get it cheaper) of ~$350, it’s a big pill to swallow, but when it cuts your time drastically on projects and replaces half of the tools in your box before you even buy them, that’s a heck of a deal.
Either way, these are cordless, airless, versatile, have the potential (depending on brand, drive style, and voltage) for being extremely high torque (some even available in 1/2″ Drive with 36v A123 Li-Po Batteries that punch over 300ft lb of torque).
Universal Impact Sockets
These are awesome and get into some harder to reach spots, even if you use them on the end of a ratchet/extension combo or with a breaker bar. Generally, they have a less aggressive universal joint so they work well at getting into a tight space, but don’t promote rounding off of the heads of nuts and bolts due to that aggressive angle. Don’t have a wobbly socket and want your standard universal to stay put better? Use some electrical tape and wrap the universal section to keep it from turning 90 degrees away from the work while you’re lining things up. On these sockets, I almost always go Harbor Freight Pittsburgh Brand or some other Taiwanese Made manufacturer. Why? Because I’ve never had an overseas impact break or round off a nut/bolt. Perhaps I’m just lucky so far, but I’m not spending more than I need to on a tool like this.
Long Extensions.
I don’t know why I never owned a two foot long 3/8″ Drive Extension until recently, it is by far one of the handiest tools in the box – allowing me to get into places I couldn’t in the past. This combined with a universal or a wobbly impact socket gets my hands out of the engine compartment where I’m guaranteed to bloody my knuckles, and into a place where I can add lots of torque with a breaker bar or a larger ratchet to get the fasteners loose.
Silicone Spray & Pentrant Spray
(Both of these are always in close reach when I’m working on cars)
The silicone spray is excellent to help lubricate tight parts like exhaust hanger bushings, polyurethane suspension bushings and silicone hoses. Also works well on rubber parts that have become brittle. Keep it OFF of your paint, it has a tendency to soak in and prevent adhesion of future paint jobs. If you must use it to clean black rubber/plastic trim on your vehicle, don’t spray it on, spray it on a cloth and wipe it on. WD-40 is often used in place of silicone spray, but true silicone spray is substantially different than WD-40….which is a bit of a cross between penetrant and silicone spray. If you’re bored – check out 2000+ uses for WD-40.
The penetrant spray is a must-have on the workbench. In half of the bolts or studs I have seen broken off due to a seized nut on the other end, I can confidently say most of those would have cooperated had they been thoroughly soaked with PB Blaster or Aerokroil. Both are top of the line penetrating sprays, although I prefer Blaster, because the ‘kroil is freakishly expensive out here (although from my experience with it I am very impressed). Tapping on fasteners that have been soaked does help the penetrating action and if the nut starts to back off and re-catches, spray it again, tighten it a turn or so and then back it off again.
Ratcheting End Wrenches (especially the pivoting ones)
I tend to work on nothing but metric fasteners in cars and because of that I cut my tool budget in half. Which allows me to splurge every once in a while with things like these pivoting head ratcheting end wrenches. They come from a number of different companies: GearWrench, Craftsman, Snap-On, Husky, etc.
There are a few things to look at when you evaluate a ratcheting end wrench set: toggle, internal strength, overall thickness and other features. Toggle is whether or not you can change directions without flipping the wrench over. In my opinion this is useless – especially if you have a set of ratchet wrenches which lack the canted angle of the box end that you find in standard non-ratcheting box end wrenches. The next option is internal strength – this usually goes hand in hand with quality but also with the number of detents in the ratchet mechanism – so ask around to your tool counterman as to which they have seen returned broken the most often. Thickness is also important. A strong ratchet wrench that is nearly as thick as a standard ratchet isn’t going to be helpful in 90% of the places where you need the functionality of a ratcheting end wrench. Finally there are a number of different features in ratcheting wrenches: Some have interchangeable heads so you can get the effect of a ratchet with a through-hole in it. Others have pivoting heads (as shown in the photo) which pivot up to 90 degrees to get into a variety of areas for tough jobs. That set in the photos evidently can actually lock the pivot angle.
Want to read some more about cool tools for your shop and which tools are the best for the job? Check out some of these forums where people regularly discuss tooling and shop layout and practices:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/
Got some other forums that you like to browse when choosing tools or choosing plans for your shop? Make a comment here to share with others.
