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
Why CorkSport Loves Our Family Of Customers September 7th, 2017CorkSport
Oh wait, it’s not December. It sure can feel like it sometimes when you are getting more and more parts in the mail. Am I right?
So let’s get down to business here.
This will be the one and only time you hear me say that your side chick needs to be MORE FLAPPY! If you want to protect her skirts, and booty, then making her flappy is a definite must.
CorkSport is proud to announce that we are bringing back our 2010-2013 Mazda 3/MS3 Mud Flaps by popular demand. Ask and you shall receive!
Made from 80 durometer urethane, these 1/8 Inch thick flaps will protect all of your painted surfaces, and result in a cleaner rear hatch.
How does this really affect you? Well, have you ever tried wiping without toilet paper? I can tell you that it can be a tad bit messy. Go ahead and skip the dirty booty by adding these to your Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3. 2010-2013 Mazda 3 & MS3 Mud Flaps (Set of 4)
A few extra tidbits about the mud flaps:
Durable 80A 1/8inch thick polyurethane.
CorkSport logo laser etched into the mud flap.
2-year limited warranty.
These are a must-have if you are trying to increase style while still being functional. I can tell you that these definitely help to keep the rear hatch cleaner makes it easier to keep the entire car cleaner for longer periods of time.
Technically this is not a mid-season recap, it is more of a three-fourths of a season recap as all of the 6 SCCA Western Conference races are over and I won the conference in the CorkSport Mazda 3.
Autoclub Speedway, Fontana, California: This is the first time we had the Mazda 3 out on a roval and wow it was fast. The only car, which won for top speed, was an Acura RSX type S, which was at the event. I picked up a 3rd place in race one and a DNF in race two, as we had a technical problem with the car. It wasn’t critical but it could have torn up the car, so we stopped after five laps, which put me in 12th place.
Willow Springs, Willow, Springs California: I have never been to Willow Springs and struggled with the car to get a good pace. In race one, I played it safe to keep the car in one piece and finished 9th out of the 13 total cars. In race two, I was much quicker and fought my way up to 5th place. There was lots of traded paint in this race, which put a few cars out of the event.
Thunder Hill, Willows, California: I like Thunderhill. I had not driven the Mazda 3 there before, but I have driven the B-Spec Mazda 2 I raced in prior years, and one of Mazda’s TD Mazda 6 which were used in the 25 hours of Thunderhill. In race one, I started at the back of the field due to a timing and scoring issue from the SCCA mixing up my car number, so I got no qualifying time. I was able to get to 3rd place in race one, which wasn’t too bad. I knew I was giving up some time on the track in a few spots after reviewing data, which set me up for race two. Race two went better as I got to fight it out with a NC Mx5 driven by a local driver. Twelve laps in, the Mazda 3 decided it didn’t like me using the brakes as the pads and went bye, bye. This meant I got to drive at 10/10s chasing an Mx5 with no brakes, just lots of metal on metal. When the brakes went, I lost 2nd place so I was playing catch up and throwing the car into corners to slow down. I was able to pressure the Mx5 and he went really wide in a flat out corner, which caused some damage to his car. He pulled into the pits and I was able to take it down a notch and finish in 2nd.
Button Willow Raceway, Button Willow: I have raced Button Willow a lot given our location in Vancouver, Washington, and Button Willow being 14 hours south of CorkSport. For race one, I qualified 4th out 10 cars which put me on the second row. The race was uneventful and I was able to keep 4th while holding off the same MX5 driver from Thunderhill. In race two, I got a little crazy at the start with the Acura Rsx from Autoclub and pictured above running the Mx5 off the track during the first lap. Check out my video!
Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon: This is my home track as it is all of 10 minutes from CorkSport. This was a pretty quiet race weekend as I qualified second and finished second in both races. I had nothing for the mustang who finished 1st in both races.
The Ridge Motorsport Park, Shelton, WA: I love the ridge, it is a great and challenging track. We had some mixed conditions where it started raining during race one, so I got to practice car control on race slicks. End result was 1st place. The 2nd race was uneventful and I finished off the weekend with another 1st place.
So this leaves us with one more race for all the marbles at the SCCA runoffs at the end of September at Indy Motor Speedway. Yes, I really get to race at Indy and this is a serious bucket list for any road racer out there. We will be posting a link to watch the race live to see how the Mazda 3 and driver does against 40 other Touring 4 racers. Let’s hope this goes better than last year’s runoffs. I would really like to thank the support for racing the Mazda 3. All of the parts we use on the track are supplied from CorkSport, the intake, exhaust, swaybar, camber arms, you name it. We are racing what we sell. Big thank you to BFGoodrich Tires for rubber and making sure we have the best tires to race on. This year, BFGracing came through with support for us with tires for the runoffs. Lastly, thank you to Mazda for the awesome car platform and Mazda Motorsports for the tech support with racing a car no one else in the US is running.
I want to know…who is excited for summer to begin!? The Pacific Northwest has given us a roller coaster of winter and just doesn’t seem to want to let go of the rain, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and that light comes in the form of car season.
In preparation for summer (that is welcome to show up any time now) I thought I put out a summer setup guide for all you car enthusiasts to consider. This week I’m going to start with suspension and handling, then move on to power and styling in the coming weeks. Grab a beer, take a seat and let’s get started.
A look inside the CorkSport shop.
For the sake of helping car enthusiasts at any level of modification, let’s pretend I just bought a brand new 3rd Gen Mazda 3; a clean slate to modify and define as my own. I have had the car about a month now and love it. I’ve put it through its paces on the back roads and really appreciate what it can do in stock trim, but I’m ready for more.
Now here comes the first big decision; what do I do first? This could be highly debated and I’m sure there are many paths to success so I’m just going right to how I would proceed, but first some technical backstory.
Going through college and being a major part of the Portland State Formula SAE program, I was taught that suspension that moves is a suspension that works. Long story short, slamming the car to the ground with overly stiff coils is not the path to a compliant suspension that also performs.
There are three major aspects to your vehicle’s suspension: bump, roll stiffness, and damping. Bump (and/or squat) are mainly managed by the spring rates. Stiff springs are great for the track where you have a very smooth and consistent surface, but out on the public streets this is not the case so let’s not go crazy with the spring rates.
Next is the roll stiffness of the vehicle. This is managed by the springs and the swaybars, but ideally mostly by the swaybars. Sway control is important to keep the body roll in check while entering, apexing, and exiting a corner as well as many other vehicular maneuvers. The front and rear roll stiffness also dictates the oversteer and understeer characteristics of the vehicle so this can be a major tuning tool.
Lastly is the damping of the struts and shocks. This is the fine tuning of the springs and sway bars and also the main reason why your car does not continually oscillate up and down like a boat after hitting a bump. These are very important.
Ahhh, dreaming of summer fun!
First Modifications To Make
The first modification I would do is…swaybars! Here’s why. Bumping up the roll stiffness has two major benefits. First, it’s a great way to “tidy up” the body movement without adding much harshness to the ride quality so you’re not giving up much for this modification.
Second, most passenger cars are setup to understeer from the factory. There’s good reason for this as the solution to control understeer is to apply the brakes which is most people’s automatic response in an adverse situation. If you’re more experienced, then getting the car to a more balanced under/oversteer setup will be great. The vehicle will be much more alert and predictable. Side note: to me both of the benefits mentioned above also inspire more confidence while driving which is a huge bonus.
So what do you need for this? A new performance Rear Swaybar would be the first choice and I would set it on the softer setting. This will make the car more balanced while still defaulting to understeer. If you are really serious then step up to the Front Swaybar as well to really get the roll stiffness in check with the rear bar on the stiffer setting.
CorkSport Swaybar installed on a Mazda 3
Springs, Shocks, And Struts
The next modification I would do is a set of performance springs and shocks/struts. (Coilovers now available!) I really suggest doing these at the same time because that is how you are going to get the most out of them. The performance springs are going to add a bit more roll stiffness and bump/squat control while also lowering the car a bit which will help with the center of gravity. You will sacrifice some ride quality, but your car is going to feel like it’s on rails. (Earlier I said don’t go too stiff and that holds true, most performance springs range from 10%-40% stiffer than OE which is usually still softer than a coil over setup).
Now the shocks/struts combo is important because with the higher spring rate you will need more damping to keep it under control and with the rebound adjustability you will be able to fine-tune the damping. It’s a win-win.
CorkSport Adjustable Shocks and Struts for Mazda 3
Now you’re probably wondering if these can be broken down and purchased separately. Yes, they can. There is no issue with purchasing the shocks/struts first as they will complement the swaybars and work fine with the OE springs. For example, the CorkSport Adjustable Shocks/Struts are designed with this in mind. The softest rebound setting basically matches OE damping, but you also have the adjustment range of up to 70% stiffer rebound to accommodate fine-tuning and stiffer performance springs. Now doing the springs first may result in some compromise.
Due to the stiffer spring rate, you will have a bit bouncier ride quality since the OE damping was not designed for the higher spring rate, but you will survive, I promise. So if you need to break it into chunks then I would start with the shocks/struts first. Do note that it’s recommended that you get rear camber arms and front camber plates with lowering springs so you can get the camber back to OE specs or to have the ability to set the camber.
CorkSport Camber Arms for Mazda 3
Wheels, Tires, And Brakes
Lastly and arguably the most important handling modification is a set of tires! If you have never indulged in a set of high-performance tires then wow, you don’t know what you are missing. Tire technology has improved leaps and bounds over the last decade and because of that there are many performance all –season tires available, but a jack of all trades is a master of none. I highly suggest this tire and wheel combination.
Get yourself a set of performance wheels (I know there are at least a few brands that can be had for less than ~200/wheel and weight less than 20 lbs each) and throw some high performance or ultra high-performance tires on them for the summer. These tires are usually in the 200-300 treadwear rating and cost 2-3 hundred each depending on size. Do this NOW! I’m serious! And keep you OE wheels for some dedicated winter tires which again will blow you away with how much better they are than all-seasons.
CorkSport Big Brake Kit for Mazda 3
Let’s wrap this up with one last suggestion if everything above isn’t enough for you. Brakes… The best way to go fast is with better brakes. There are a few options you can take here. A set of performance rotors and pads would be a great budget-friendly setup with great benefits. If you want to step it up even further than I suggest a Big Brake Kit like the one above.
Performance breaks are a great addition to any vehicle for both performance and safety. Performance wise you can dive into corners later and harder without worry. Safety wise I think it’s pretty obvious. Have you ever rear-end another vehicle and thought “if only I could have stopped five feet sooner”, well there you have it.
Alright, one last thing before we wrap this up. Now that we have a really well setup Mazda 3, go to a track day! Yes, take your daily commuter to the track one day so you can find you and your car’s limits. I can’t express this enough. First off its so much FUN! Really it’s a blast and it’s safe. Most track days like High-Performance Driving Education (HPDE) events even provide you with an instructor. This also gives you a chance to safely push the car to the limits and even past them. This provides much more confidence on the public roads and avoiding accidents.
#BecauseRaceCar
Alright, I’m done. I hope you enjoyed this and look forward to the next blog! I’m going for a drive!
-Barett @ CS
Mazda 3 Suspension and Handling Guide September 28th, 2020CorkSport
One great thing about racing is that you always keep tweaking the car to see how you can make it better. Each track presents a different challenge and setup requirements to keep you on your toes.
We’ve been developing our SCCA Touring 4 (T4) class 2015 Mazda 3 into a viable competitor, and we recently got the final piece we needed to make it a strong candidate in Indianapolis this year for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. That final piece was a limited slip differential.
A limited differential helps with traction, but it changes the handling characteristics of the car when you install it. We entered the SCCA Majors event at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, to see how the car would do with the new differential. The biggest change was the handling; it was tight which means the car wanted to understeer. The car’s existing setup for ride height, toe, and camber would need to be adjusted to help remove the imbalance we had created.
The first thing we changed in the car was the ride height. Some concerns were brought up during discussions with Kenton Koch, our driving coach for the weekend (and a championship driver in several series). He pointed out this was one of the easiest changes to make on the fly. One thing to note: When you change anything, you need to make sure your change did not move something else. Once we had raised the car up half an inch, we took a look at the toe and camber settings. In this case, the car was right where we wanted it, so we headed out to try the new settings along with a 5psi bump in rear tire pressure.
The changes yielded a big boost in performance. We went from 2:02 around the track to 1:58, and moved up during the race from sixth to third. The car was fairly neutral around the track, but we still were not getting any oversteer. We opted to raise the rear of the car another full turn on the springs to see if we could get the change we were looking for. Another check of the rear toe settings after the change showed the new setup was good.
That last turn did the trick in regards to oversteer. There was a hairpin corner where the car would oversteer too much, and it required lots of counter steering to stay pointed in the right direction without looping the car. Creating rake in the car was counter to advice we had gotten from the manufacturer of the suspension we are running. Sometimes going against the grain of what everyone else is doing can lead to some good discoveries and lessons learned.
We are already working on a new list of things to try for the next event and the opportunity to make our Mazda 3 a championship-winning car for Indy.
Derrick
How We Tweaked Our Mazda Suspension September 13th, 2018CorkSport
