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We want YOU to help us design the next CorkSport Branded Ride!

As if it wasn’t obvious, we have a plethora of vehicles to work with around here. True to fashion of course, we at CorkSport have gone and done it again: We went and filled some of the last remaining shop space with ANOTHER CAR.

Not just any car. Say “Hello” to our newest addition: 2018 Mazda 3 Hatchback, touring 2.5L SKYACTIVE-G. Equipped with an automatic transmission and some of the nicer creature comforts.

We love the sparkle of the Eternal Blue Mica and of course her 18” gunmetal dancing shoes. However, as with all things good and standard in the world, we couldn’t help but think that the potential for upgrading is endless.

Do we strip it and go full race car? Perhaps something crazy and AWD swap of sorts? Or maybe we take it way out of left field and go rally-style with it?

With the opportunities being endless, it was starting to make our heads hurt, so we decided to take a step back and start with the basics. We asked ourselves:

“How would our average customer who just picked this car up dream of modifying it?”

And that is exactly what we are doing.

If you guys are anything like us, then you have several hobbies that extend beyond just cars. Some of our team’s personal favorite other hobbies include hiking, camping, traveling, water sports, chilling at the beach, and has recently included obstacle course racing. With all these interests taking up different aspects of our time, we would need a ride that can accommodate our lifestyle. While it would be awesome to have a 6-second drag car, we’d probably have to lose some creature comforts or find a pot of gold to cover the cost, and that’s just not what the average Mazda enthusiast is about.

This project, like we said, is for YOU. And if it’s for you, then we need your help in putting it together.

PIC: NWAPA – Vinnie Nguyen

This car, or as we are designating it: “Project CBR” (CorkSport branded ride), will be built by the people for the people.

We are going to take you with us on the full journey of this car; from the basic mods to the full on weekend task. From the daily driver to the long road hauler. From the car wash to the full service details. We are going to show you everything and anything on this car.

And through the whole process, everything is going to be built with your help.

Over the next several months as we put some miles on our test mule, we will want your guys’ feedback.

  • Do we put springs and shocks on it or full coilovers?
  • What type of wheels should we get?
  • Tint the windows, wrap it, get rid of the chrome?
  • The list goes on!

Every couple of weeks, we will keep you updated on where the car stands and what you think we should do next.

We will create a section on the CorkSport site so you can follow along, ask questions, provide suggestions, and fully immerse yourself into the car. Ever so often, we will also host a poll and you guys will vote on what happens next!

Think reverse sponsored: Instead of CorkSport’s name being the only one on this ride, we will be giving Sponsorship Cred to the Mazda Enthusiasts who give us the ideas for our mods. (first come, first credits).

We’ll put YOUR NAME on the CorkSport Branded Ride.

If you have a Dream Mod, and We pull it off on the CBR, you’ll get the credits… Remember: The CBR is By the People, For the People!

Stay Tuned, we’ll need your feedback soon!

CorkSport

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Welcoming Our New Partners of The CorkSport Shop Program!

What is CorkSport Up to?!

We know you’ve been seeing the social media posts calling for US Performance Installation Shops to contact us. So, as a customer, you have likely been reaching out to your local shop and telling them to call in or head to our link in order to get more info!

First off: A big THANK YOU to those who recommended their favorite shops, and to those Shops who have understood what we are about and got started in an awesome community partnership with CorkSport!

We’re excited to experience the support that has been passed along to the community, as well as to other small businesses through these partnerships.

We’re continuing to work with the Mazda Community to build, expand, and grow the number of enthusiasts out there. In doing this, the partnerships we are building will help the ‘newest generation’ of Mazda enthusiasts to get started somewhere. With the help of a local shop, they can learn what they need to know, have a trusted place to take their car, and find themselves inspired by the work they do.

PIC: Mazdas247.com

CorkSport’s Community Partnerships will allow for Mazda Enthusiasts to have a place to go for installation help, questions, concerns, and inspiration on what their car is capable of.

If you know of a Performance Installation Shop near you, or are one yourself; get in contact with CorkSport to see what we’re capable of accomplishing together!

Contact Us by clicking HERE

 

Shout out to the following companies for being the earliest adopters of CorkSport’s Shop Program!

You’ll see below some of these Performance Shops are run by well-known Mazda enthusiasts, which is why we’ve chosen them as trusted community partners!

This is not an exhaustive list of our partners. We are building that list and you will soon be able to see which Shops we are partnered with on our website. This resource will provide you with a quick guide to where to go for installation help in the future!

We are looking forward to what we can build together in our expanded CorkSport family!

CorkSport Community Partnerships: building the Mazda Community, one enthusiast at a time.

Cheers,

Kim Russell,

Corksport Performance

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4 inch Intake and a Clean Engine Bay? The CorkSport 51R Battery Box & ECU Relocation is NO Compromise

Mazdaspeed 3 Engine Bay with battery reolocation kit and 4inch Short Ram Intake.

CorkSport is proud to announce the new ECU Mazdaseed Relocation Battery Box designed for the 51R battery and 4” short ram intake systems.

Mazdaspeed 3 Relocation Battery Box 51r

We love the clean and simple look of the CorkSport full-size battery box and we know you do also. Our goal was to bring that same level of awesomeness to all the big power guys and gals running 4” intakes and 51R batteries in your Mazdaspeed.

We knew we couldn’t compromise on the fit and finish you’ve grown to love, and this new battery box doesn’t disappoint.

The greatest challenge came in the form of locating the ECU inside the box; as that is the whole point of the CorkSport battery boxes. With a bit of massaging and adjusting, we innovated a sleek solution for the ECU placement without compromising the style and fitment of the battery box.

In the original CorkSport Mazdaspeed battery box, the ECU was located on the front panel. This packaged well with the full-size battery and made access easy, but in order to increase the clearance for a 4” intake system in your Mazadaspeed, we had to reduce the width of the battery box as much as possible. This required us to rethink the location of the ECU and the overall design of the battery box to accommodate it. Check out the computer-drafted model below.

Design of the ECU Mazdaspeed Relocation Battery Box

Moving the ECU to the side provided ample clearance for a 4” intake system and retained the standard battery location. The front of the battery box had to be extended out a bit, but this also gave us a chance to keep the wiring harness inside the box to maintain the high-level fit and finish. To finish off the installation, the battery is retained with M6 studs fastened into the battery box and a 0.120” anodized aluminum bracket.

Overall the new Mazdaspeed 51R ECU Relocation Battery Box hit all the marks for fit, finish, and performance.

Stay Up-to-date with CorkSport   

Installed Mazdaspeed ECU Battery Box Relocation Kit.

If you’re looking to downsize your battery, upsize your intake system, or are just plain tired of looking at all those unsightly wires then let the CorkSport 51R ECU Relocation Battery Box be the answer to your goal.

Click HERE to View Product & Purchase

-Barett @ CS

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RX-9 Rotary Engine Puzzle: Confirmed?

Mazda hasn’t done anything to squash the rotary engine rumors flying around the possible new RX-9. In fact,  as of a few days ago,  an executive from Mazda confirmed in more or less words: Yes we are working on it, and it is moving along to a more advanced stage.

Let’s review what we have seen so far.

Hybrid Drive Train Patent dated September 2016

Mazda basically penned out a drivetrain setup for the next generation of Rotary vehicle. There was also a rotary specific i-stop type patent entered as well. The only problem is we have seen something contrary to this in the next topic which makes this puzzle interesting.

Rotary Turbo Patent dated August 2015

This patent got everyone (including myself) really excited. Top exhaust ports, a turbo mounted to the top, rear wheel drive, and it is screaming for a huge upgraded turbo to be sticking out of the hood….

One can dream right? I digress with that path but looking at this patent Mazda was working on a different variant of the engine and thought it was important enough to file a patent on it. It should be noted once again this patent was from 2014.

Dorr Support Structure January 2017

The last patent popped up recently and it suggests a lower slung sports car as it moves the door up at a 15% angle and uses a torsion rod to hold it open. The only use a car would have for this is if it is low and you don’t want to hit your doors on curbs when you open them.

Looking back further we can see other patents from Mazda which point towards the continued research of the next rotary with laser ignition, different configurations of the engine, the 16x, etc.

Recently at the Mazda tech forum in Germany, Mitsuo Hitomi from Mazda confirmed that the development is in the advanced stage.

It looks like Mazda is willing to say they are still working on it, but not willing to say, “Yes you will have an Rx-whatever on this specific date.”

Adding to the fire, several Japanese magazines have been saying the Tokyo Auto Show will have the next car at it as well.

With more and more pieces to the puzzle being revealed, perhaps this will be the year we get to see the next RX. My money is on the strategy that it will be teased much like the RX-Evolve and the RX-Vision were, and we will get a real car and one heck of a surprise at the Tokyo Auto Show.

A guy can dream right?!

-Derrick

 

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Why CorkSport Loves Our Family Of Customers

Hey all!

Although normally we have a ton of technical information for you, this time around, we wanted to take an opportunity to share with you an awesome customer story we had happen a couple weeks back.

CorkSport is all about growing our family base, and constantly trying to connect with our community. Let’s be honest, we are here because of our family of customers, and we will continue to be here as long as our family is as well.

As most of you know, our company runs on internet-based sales, but we are also present Monday through Friday in the office to field any walk-in customers we may have. Anyone is welcome to come visit us at our HQ, and also to pick up parts we have in store. Most people wouldn’t guess that we have a showroom, but as you walk in you can see an exhaust hanging from the ceiling, and a handful of parts we display on the shelf, so people get an idea of what we do in-person.

We would love to see more people come through our front doors, and we welcome anyone from anywhere to come visit us.

A couple of weeks ago, we were paid a special visit from a customer named Rick and his wife, who came all the way from South Carolina on some business, and wanted to stop by CorkSport while they were in town.

Rick and I had a conversation about adding some Drag Bags to the rear of his MS3 in order to keep it from rubbing. He later called and told me it worked perfectly and thanked me for my recommendation. Rick has a first generation Mazdaspeed 3, and he was wondering what type of modifications he would need in order to make a certain whp. After chatting with him for a bit, and giving him a list of parts he would need to reach his goals, we decided it would be a good idea to snap a couple pictures to make sure we saved the memory!

After Rick and his wife had left, I realized that those are the types of experiences and interactions that our team at CorkSport loves.

It was very refreshing to talk with a customer multiple times, and then be able to put a face to the voice on the other end of the phone. This is what CorkSport is all about. We are here for YOU. We want to see you succeed.

CorkSport takes a lot of pride in making sure our customers come first. It’s also our highest priority that if you as the customer ever feel like you are not being valued like you’re “Number One”, we will do what we need to in order for you to feel that way.

CorkSport wants to make sure the entire community is part of our family. We would love nothing more than to hear our customers feeling like they can come to us for anything, just like Rick did, because well… that’s what family is all about.

Cheers,

Luke