At CorkSport we value innovation. We’ve got dozens of products that are unique on the market. Our Blow-off valve is being patented. How do you innovate a shift knob? That’s a tough one but we found a way!
Are you ready for one of the first shiftknobs that you can adjust? At its lightest, weighing in at 175 grams, and adjustable up to 320 grams, you will be able to tailor your shift weight to your driving style.
To really feel your shifts, adjust the weight to the lighter side, as low as 175 grams and feel the intricate shift points as you flow through the gears. For those that like heavy knobs, you can max it out to 320 grams, giving you smoother shifts that easily falling into gear as you shift up and down through the gears.
For example the first generation Mazdaspeed 3 (2007-2009) OEM shiftknob weighs in at 260 grams and the 2nd generation Mazdaspeed 3 (2010-2013) weighs in at 280 grams. You can find that sweet spot above or below that OEM weight to customize your driving style.
After you find that ideal and magical weight, installation will take about a minute as you screw on the knob. There are no set screws or adapters, it will screw straight on the OEM shaft as they were designed specifically for your Mazda vehicle. CAD designed and manufactured out of a durable deep blue or sleek black aluminium for a long life and incredible feel.
We have hundreds of people contact us every year to be sponsored. Some want free parts, some want discounts, some want to test parts, some want to simply represent a company they love, and others simply want the satisfaction of saying, “I’m sponsored!”. What should sponsorship look like though? We have only a handful of sponsored drivers because we believe that sponsorship should be a relationship, not just money thrown at someone. At the same time we have thousands of customers who want to support us, and hundreds of customers that ask for sponsorship. So the real question is how do we provide a sponsorship program that is best for everyone? A program where we can sponsor more people, the right people, AKA the people YOU want sponsored.
Why do we sponsor people?
We sponsor people for several reasons.
We like you: We have so many amazing people in the Mazda community and we want to support the growth of the Mazda modification scene.
When you get support, you give support: It’s a proven fact that when someone tells their friend about a great part, product, service, or event that it can be better marketing than Google ads, billboards, TV commercials or any other form of typical advertising. The best advertising that we can have is simply by providing the BEST customer service, BEST parts, and a great experience for all Mazda owners. One way to do this is too sponsor drivers who can tell you exactly what our parts are like!
Testing: We are always working on new parts for your car and the best parts are the ones that get tested, revised, tested, revised, and tested again. Though we have plenty of cars at our disposal in our shop or personal garages, often the best testing comes from YOU. Plus when you can say “I beta tested this, and that shit WORKS” it lets others know that we aren’t just making stuff up.
How does it Benefit you?
It depends on what you are looking for. As a sponsored driver you might get discounts on parts, recognition in the community, or you might even get to work personally with some of our engineers to develop and give feedback on our latest parts in development. As CorkSport rolls out a new Sponsorship program we want to be able to invite everyone into being a part of a team that can benefit you and us, equally. This means that the more you invest in your car and the Mazda community, the more we invest in you.
How does it benefit us?
This one is more difficult to measure. Sponsorship can often appear to be a one-sided endeavor. In many sponsorship relationships you might get paid with free product, or even cash, to say something like “After every race, I drink a refreshing bottle of Sporty Sport Drink“. Now the statistics on how many customers choose to purchase Sporty Sport Drink because of your sponsorship is a tough measurement. In the same way it’s hard to measure how often someone sees your sweet looking Mazdaspeed 3 with a CorkSport decal on the side and decides to find out what CorkSport is and then buy something. Nonetheless it does happen (we hope) but, there is more to sponsorship than just advertising to make more money.
Sponsorship benefits us because it allows us to be a part of the Mazda community. We don’t always get to be at every Mazda event, we don’t get to talk personally with every Mazda customer, and we don’t even get to respond to every Mazda thread, question or email in our great big world. When we sponsor someone we get to make a connection with you, and then you get to be our ambassador for all those people we can’t personally interact with. In other words, we get to be part of the Mazda community, due to our CorkSport Sponsored Ambassador Team.
The Best Part about Sponsorship:
The best part about sponsorship is the fact that it is a community benefit. Sponsored drivers get cheaper parts, or new unreleased parts, or recognition. Mazda drivers that aren’t sponsored get the extra knowledge and help from the sponsored drivers, and get feedback about parts they don’t have. Finally Corkspot gets the benefit of creating a better Mazda community which is why we started the company in the first place! Because we love Mazdas!
Sponsorship is about sharing OUR love of Mazda with YOUR love of Mazda, and spreading that love beyond where we can reach individually.
Have some ideas for when we roll out our new program? Have you been impacted by one of our sponsored drivers, or someone you think should be sponsored? Have a brilliant plan to benefit the Mazda community? Email Spencer@CorkSport.com your feedback and ideas!
What should Sponsorship look Like? September 13th, 2018CorkSport
CorkSport is proud to announce the SkyActiv Aluminum Oil Catch Can. An excellent product to help increase the life of your engine, helping capture the oil and contaminants is now available for the SkyActiv.
Specifically designed to to fit the 2012-2013 Mazda 3 SkyActiv models. Easy installation and a direct OEM fitment.
An oil catch can is designed to “catch” unwanted vapors that are in your crankcase and PCV system and prevent these contaminates from entering your motor. With no catch can installed, you have the potential to get build up in the intake manifold causing dirty valves and poor compression.
For a good understanding of how the Oil Catch can can add years onto the life of your motor check out this past blog write up.
I often find myself wishing that I had grown up in the world of the Fast and the Furious. As cheesy and “riced” as it was you just couldn’t help but think about how much fun that would be. Case in point, who doesn’t want the Fast and Furious shifter:
Sometimes we just run out of gear changes before we want, but not in the Fast and the Furious Universe.
Anyway, I’m sure the Fast and the Furious movies have caused more late night “spirited” driving sessions than we care to admit. I know I’ve had a run or two that was slightly more dangerous than usual after I just couldn’t handle watching the driving anymore, but instead just HAD to be driving. Luckily I never had to hand over my “pink slip“.
With that said, I recently got to check out this epic and super well done RC car animation, that is a Fast and Furious tribute to Paul Walker:
The video was put together by Vax Studios. I’d like to think that they harnessed all the energy from every one of those unneeded shifts into the real world and instead created this video. Who knows?
The Fast and The Furious RC Car Edition September 13th, 2018CorkSport
Oh, the wonders of the East Coast. Potholes, 80mph in a 55 zone, Toll Roads and EZ Pass, humidity and some of the greatest people you will ever meet!
Kim, Brydon and I had the wonderful, nay, EPIC, opportunity this year to attend the EPIC NATOR MEAT put on by a few members from mazdaspeedforums.org . Sadly we had only a day and a half to hang out with hundreds of people, watch some drag racing, and join everyone for a Dyno Day. This is one of the greatest events you can attend and has arguably the most knowledgeable people currently driving Mazdas all in one place. Not only did we get to see 500+ horsepower speeds at the event, but we got to witness some of the cleanest looking, most original, most unique and even the world’s fastest Mazdaspeed 3, all in one place.
Here are some of my Highlights.
Hanging out till 3 am in the parking lot and back patio of the hotel and learning more than I ever thought possible about Mazdaspeed’s, among other things…
Rolling from Philadelphia to the Dyno Day and running into a crew of 6 or so Mazdaspeed’s who had no idea who we were in our weak little Honda rental.
Eating some Killer food at Buca di Beppo and hearing so much passion and love of cars during the conversation.
Finally getting to meet so many people that I’ve had such wonderful conversations with on the phone, through email, through PM, or in threads.
Getting out of the Northwest rain and finally getting some Sunshine!
Some of the Worst Parts
Arriving at 8 am to the Dyno Day after a red-eye flight leaving at 6 pm the night before with a layover in Phoenix. Ugh.
Not having my own 2009 Mazdaspeed 3 that got left back in Washington.
Having to leave around 1:30 on Sunday.
Not bringing shorts, the weather was beautiful.
Accidentally buying bottled water that was far too expensive at one of those incredibly terrible and yet wonderful, quick stops in the middle of the highway. The place was a zoo and WAY to expensive.
Walking into the wrong room at midnight.
Time for Drag Racing
Kim at the Drag Day doing some Social Media Updates
The World’s Fastest MS3 and Crew Getting Prepared for the Drag Day
Mazda’s only for Dinner at Buca di Beppo
Some of the Lovely People at the Dyno Day
Halfway through the Dyno Day, Check out those Numbers!
Flame Shooter
The Unexpected Mazdaspeed Crew we caught Rolling to ENM
Thanks for everything.
-Spencer@CorkSport
Mazdaspeed EPIC NATOR MEAT 2014 – Spencer’s Review and Wrap Up December 17th, 2018CorkSport
