Attention all 3rd Gen Mazda 3 owners! Have you been looking for a brake upgrade that will provide a night and day difference in braking performance and feel?
We are excited to tell you about the new CorkSport 13” Big Brake Kit for 2014-2018 Mazda 3’s! The CS 13” BBK substantially improves braking performance by utilizing much larger rotors and 4-piston calipers that are combined with stainless steel braided brake lines and the necessary brackets and hardware for a complete package.
We all know accelerating is only half of the story when it comes to going fast on track so keep scrolling for more details about the advantages of the CS 13” BBK below.
First let’s begin with the 13”(330mm) rotors. Compared to the factory at either 11.02” (280mm) or 11.61” (295mm) for the S trim level the CS rotors are 1.39”-1.98” (35-50mm) bigger in diameter. This large change in diameter allows for more torque to be generated by the brakes from the same amount of braking force.
The CS 13” rotors are also bigger in width at 1.10” (28mm) when compared to the factory rotors that come in at 0.98” (25mm). This width increase helps the rotors dissipate more heat than the OEM counterparts to help keep your brakes from overheating during hard-breaking conditions.
The CS rotors also offer a few more advantages over the OEM rotors. The first is the rotor design and how it is made up of two separate components. The component that is in contact with the brake pads is called an outer “ring” and is connected to the hub using a center “hat”. This center hat utilizes aluminum to save weight to help with heat dissipation while the rotor ring uses iron for durability under high temperatures.
The rotor ring also features “vanes” in between the inner and outer faces to cool the friction surfaces that the pads are in contact with. These vanes are directional and help draw in air through the rotor ring when rotating. The rotor rings are also directionally slotted on the outer faces to remove brake dust and gases that can affect your braking performance.
Another benefit of the two-piece rotor design is that the rotor ring can be replaced separately from the hat which saves money when they need to be replaced down the road.
Now onto the calipers that are included in the CorkSport BBK. They are 4-piston calipers forged out of aluminum. The increase to four pistons over the large single piston that is in the factory caliper increases the piston surface area that contacts the back of the brake pad. This change leads to greater braking force being applied to the pad while using the same braking pressure. The extra braking pressure along with the greater torque from the larger rotors results in a major improvement to the braking performance and feel over the OEM setup.
The CS calipers also come equipped with brake pads that offer more performance than a regular street pad while not being a full trackpad. On the street, the pads have low noise when compared to a trackpad and also offer less brake dust than most trackpads.
These pads are great for spirited backroad driving and provide confidence when cold and even more after some heat is in them. If you want to do mostly track events, we still recommend moving up to a full trackpad to get the best performance out of the CS BBK. Since the CS calipers use a common brake pad design, you have plenty of options from big-name brake manufacturers to see what works best for you.
Another main component of each CorkSport BBK is the brackets and hardware that are included in the kit. The caliper brackets are made out of a billet to offer rigidity and strength to keep the calipers securely in place. Braided stainless steel brake lines are also included to eliminate the compliance seen in the factory lines and to further increase brake pedal feel and consistency. With all that said the CorkSport BBK ends up just a hair lighter weight than the OEM brakes (approximately 0.25lbs lighter on each side).
All those benefits are great but to fit the CorkSport Big Brake Kit on your car it is recommended that you use 17” or larger aftermarket wheels since they usually offer better brake clearance than the OEM wheels. To make sure that your wheels will fit though we have a template available that you can cut out and check wheel clearance. Click here for the wheel fitment template!
Thanks for checking out the new CorkSport BBK for the 3rd-Gen Mazda 3! Be sure to head over to the site and check out the page so you can experience the CS BBK firsthand.
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