Prepping Your Mazda for Winter Weather

Oh, winter and the holidays. It’s an amazing and stressful time of year when we hope all the time spent shopping for that perfect gift for our lady means we get the karmic payoff of loads of CorkSport parts in our stocking — or, even better, when they’re rad mods too big to fit in a stocking! (If you didn’t get that special CorkSport part this year, or you’re still shopping for the Mazda fanatic in your life, check out the last-minute holiday gift guide).

 

Now that we’re past focusing on holiday madness, it’s time to get back to thinking about your Mazda. ‘Tis also the season of winter weather and slick, sludge-covered roads. At CorkSport, we’re here to help with that. We don’t want you to fret about snow damaging your ride or how a trip to the mountain for snowboarding might fill your car with salt-filled snowmelt, so take a look at these Mazdaspeed 3 mods you’ll want this winter.

Mud flaps

CorkSport Mazda Mud Flap

Branded with a stylish CorkSport laser-etched logo, these 80A durometer 1/8” thick urethane flaps protect your baby from the abuse of road debris and snow buildup. They’re heavy-duty enough to keep your vehicle in great shape, but durable and flexible enough to hold up to wear and tear — they won’t peel, fade, rust, or break. Fear no road with these bad boys installed, which only takes about an hour!

Floor mats

CorkSport Mazda Floor Mats

If you know the snow’s about to hit, it’s easy to grab a trash bag to lay down and protect your car from the snow that’ll drip off your shoes. But who wants to pick someone up for a ride with garbage bag-lined floors? And nothing ruins a good entrance like stepping out of your ride with a trash bag accidentally stuck to your shoe. Our floor mats are the accessory you need to protect your vehicle from the winter weather and look good doing it. With OEM fitment that delivers show car quality, these mats feature a fully sewn and sealed edge along the high-quality carpeting to deliver a long lasting, durable floor protector.

Car cover

Don’t make the mistake of simply trying to protect your Mazda while it’s on the road. Keeping your car covered during the winter weather is crucial. With a five-layer composite structure to protect against all forms of water — even falling icicles that can cause scratches — this cover also keeps your ride safe against the additional UV rays that bright white snow banks can bombard your car with in winter. Even better, this cover comes with a tie-down and adjustable buckle so it won’t blow off during winter storms.

Aluminum skidplate

CorkSport Mazda Aluminum Skidplate

Winterizing isn’t just about protecting your car’s good looks. You want to protect that undercarriage as well. Don’t put in all that hard work just to let a snowy, salty, gravelly road mess it up! Made of a single piece of 0.090” precision machined aluminum to deliver maximum coverage with minimum effect on your vehicle’s weight, the skidplate also features an opening that makes oil changes a breeze. You can hit those winter roads with peace of mind that your hard work isn’t going to get dinged up along the way, no matter what the weather.
These winterizing tips should help you start preparing your Mazda for the months ahead. If you have tips and thoughts of your own based on cold weather experience, we’d love to hear them in the comments below. And, if you apply any CorkSport mods to prepare for the snow, make sure to share them with us using the hashtag #CorkSport on Twitter and Instagram!

CorkSport’s Performance Race Industry Show Recap

CorkSport at PRI

In the car game, there are two big shows each year where all the action happens: the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) and Performance Race Industry (aka PRI). At these events, automotive parts companies flaunt their accomplishments, showing off their latest and greatest mods and parts, while everyone gets a chance to network, catch up, and just generally ogle and chat about gorgeous vehicles. We here at CorkSport love to keep up on what’s hot and new in the automotive industry, so this year we headed to Indianapolis for PRI to see what auto trends are being developed.

First Impressions

CorkSport at PRI

As we first entered the convention center, the stage was set. The picture above features the main PRI banner, which prominently displays some dirt mod cars. That can only mean one thing: PRI would be showcasing a lot of American muscle and, probably, not a lot of imports. Regardless, we braved the show.

The Cars, The Parts, The Highlights

Wandering the aisles of the show, our suspicions were confirmed. PRI had more American muscle than the lineup of cars Vin Diesel will drive in the next “Fast & Furious” movie. But, as we navigated the aisles, we were greeted by a sight for sore eyes — an import you can never go wrong with — a Le Mans-winning P1 car.

Corksport at PRI Mazda

When it comes to performance cars, it doesn’t matter if the car is an import or a domestic, one good thing about them is turbos. Good news from the show is that it looks like Garrett doesn’t have any plans slow down on their production of turbos anytime soon, for themselves or for the Mazdaspeed 3. They had some great tech on display, which is never a bad thing. Feast your eyes on these beauties.

CorkSport at PRI - NP01

Next, we came across a nice surprise in the NASA booth — a paint scheme that any Mazda enthusiast should know. The NP01 is more than just rad-looking, it’s powered by the 2.0 MZR motor and a large selection of other drivetrain parts making it very affordable when it comes to cost to own and cost to race. If you’re in the market for a race vehicle and cannot afford one of the Lola/Multimatic-built Mazda Prototypes that Speedsource is selling, the NP01 is a great alternative.

CorkSport at PRI

Finally, there was one big wow part we have to tell you about. Check out this crazy, billet Duramax Chevy motor.

Corksport at PRI DX600 Billet Duramax

The DX600 Billet Duramax is a supercharged compound turbo setup. Looking for a billet aluminum block for your Chevy truck? We know you Mazda fanatics probably aren’t, but this is really freakin’ sweet piece of hardware regardless. Now, if only we could get someone to make a billet engine for the Mazdaspeed 3. Then life would be really sweet.

Hope you all enjoyed this PRI update as much as we enjoyed checking out cars and parts at the show. As always, at CorkSport we strive to keep you all apprised of the new and interesting car news you crave. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for our latest news.

CorkSport Joins Christmas Toy Drive 2016

A couple of weeks ago, CorkSport was contacted about a toy drive put together by a local car group called Tuner Coalition. They had heard about a group of kids at a local hospital that had hardly ever experienced a true Christmas. CorkSport loves to give back to the community, so we wanted to make some kids super happy this holiday season.

We all know that Christmas is about giving, so that’s what we did. I learned there is no better feeling than knowing your contribution will make a world of difference in someone’s life. That is our main goal here at CorkSport. We strive everyday to help our customers meet their goals and enjoy their modifications. It’s all about bringing happiness to others. And just look at how happy these kids will be.


This was not only a toy drive, but also a car meet. I brought my Mazdaspeed, and there was a first generation Mazda 3 that had some cool exterior upgrades. I also had the pleasure of meeting some really cool people. Even though we drove different cars, we were there for the same reason and shared the same passion for cars.

I had the pleasure of talking to a guy that owned an Ecoboost Mustang. He had a lethal performance turbo kit installed on the cusp of making 500whp. Needless to say, his engine bay was really clean; it had been meticulously hydro-dipped by a friend of his. I always liked the Ecoboost Mustang for its indirect relationship with Mazdaspeeds. The car definitely looked cool, and drew a lot of attention. He was a very humble guy and only had nice things to say about the my Mazdaspeed. He saw the front mount intercooler on my car and instantly had to know what was under the hood.

CorkSport loves to be a part of these types of events, and we encourage anyone to participate as well. We are here to help our community in any way possible. We would love to hear about some of your holiday car meets, and any kind of fundraisers you may have attended this holiday season! Get in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter to share your mods and stories.

Cheers,

Luke

New Product: Mazdaspeed High Pressure Fuel Line

Mazdaspeed High Pressure Fuel Line

If you are on the forums or Facebook groups, you have probably seen the “I smell gas under the hood of my speed” post by that person trying to troubleshoot their car. Then, 10 minutes later, they post again announcing the stock hardline from the pump to the rail has cracked on their speed. And now they have to visit the dealer to get a new one, which will likely fail in the same manner.

We grew tired of seeing the same thing come up, so we are happy to announce a solution the CorkSport Braided High Pressure Fuel Line.  The line provides a durable and reliable solution to the crack-prone OEM hard line that loves to leave you stranded.

Mazdaspeed High Pressure Fuel Line

We made our line out of 314L stainless steel fittings with a SAE100R14 Stainless Steel Braided PTFE for excellent pressure, corrosion, and temperature limits. The Polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) and Stainless Steel have excellent properties that make our line compatible with gasoline (petrol to our UK friends), ethanol (for all you E85 junkies), methanol, and beer (we do not recommend running your car on beer, but if you need a straw in a pinch…).

High Pressure Fuel Line installed

Our lines were yield tested to 7100psi before a failure occurred in the form of a small leak, which is a safety factor of 3.2 for an OEM fuel system at its limits.

This is one of those parts that is a must buy, not just a nice-to-have. Fuel fires are nothing to mess with.

Derrick Ambrose, CorkSport, Mazda

Mazda 3 Carnage

Last year we embarked on a new race car project: the Mazda 3. Our goal was to develop the car into a frontrunner in the T4 SCCA class and have a shot at the national title at the SCCA runoffs in 2016. Along the way, we’ve been making changes to the car and working on improving the setup, along with testing out products. One of the products we developed and built along the way was our Big Brake Kit (BBK). We never really explained why that kit was so important. So let me explain.

CorkSport Mazda 3 Carnage

Continue reading “Mazda 3 Carnage”