If you are a car enthusiast, own a new Mazda utilizing the awesome SkyActiv-G Turbo Engine, and have been searching the internet for performance parts then you probably know that CorkSport has been deep in development for this new Mazda platform. Specifically, CorkSport has been working on the last piece of the intake system puzzle, the Turbo Inlet Pipe.
This is the black plastic “tube/pipe” that connects the Short Ram Intake System to the turbocharger inlet. While the SRI System adds some great turbo noises and power gains to the Sky-Activ Turbo, there is still more opportunity for additional performance and sound improvements. This is where the new CorkSport Turbo Inlet Pipe steps in.
Enjoying your 4th GEN Mazda 3 but wanting to change up the look? Introducing the CorkSport Performance Spoiler for 2019+ Mazda 3 Hatchback. We went for an OEM+ design that incorporates the great fitment and lines of the OEM aero kit spoiler but in a much more aggressive package. Taller, longer, and with an upturned rear edge, the CS spoiler add some much needed sportiness to the look of your 3. Available in multiple finishes to suit your budget and build, the CS spoiler is a great next mod for your build! Read on for more details and check out the product listing here to purchase.
We like the OEM spoiler but were disappointed at how insignificant it looks when installed, especially when paired with the fairly aggressive OEM front lip & rest of the aero kit. The CorkSport Spoiler takes design cues from the OEM aero kit spoiler however, the design is unique to CorkSport. We started from scratch and polled the community for design opinions before settling on a final design that is both higher off of the rear hatch than OEM and extends further rearward than OEM. The design is finished off with an upturned rear edge for a great “duckbill” style look which is aggressive without being too much. You’ll be turning heads, especially when paired with CorkSport Lowering Springs and a nice set of wheels!
Fitment was equally important as aesthetics when we designed the CS spoiler. We 3D scanned an OEM aero kit wing to get the exact mounting surfaces and edge profiles so that the CS version fits just as good as OEM. We use the same mounting locations as OEM as well. This means no drilling if you’re switching from OEM aero kit to CorkSport spoiler. If you do not have the OEM spoiler you do have to do some drilling, however, Mazda pre-marks the holes for a relatively easy install! By using the same mounting locations and more adhesive mounting tape than OEM, you can be sure your CorkSport spoiler won’t be going anywhere!
The CorkSport Mazda 3 spoiler is offered in three finishes so you can choose what is best for your build. Each option uses a fiberglass base with different top layers. Regular woven carbon fiber, forged carbon fiber, and basic black fiberglass are each available. The carbon fiber options feature a UV resistant epoxy top coat for great protection from the elements and a mirror like finish. The full fiberglass option comes in a satin black coat with some light scratches and will require some finishing. We recommend some finish sanding and a final layer of paint or wrap. The shape is the same for each unit however the purchase price varies so you can really choose the best option for your build & budget.
Finally, each CorkSport spoiler comes with all the hardware and accessories needed for installation. This includes mounting bolts, washers, mounting tape, and rubber washers for waterproofing. We even include new replacement OEM Mazda clips that almost always break with removing the upper trim panel on the hatch! All of this comes with full color install instructions and great customer service & support!
So if you’re ready to take your GEN4 build to the next level, check out the CorkSport Performance Spoiler for 2019+ Mazda3. We think it’s what the OEM spoiler should’ve been and you will not be disappointed! Don’t be shy to contact us with any questions!
The time has FINALLY come…years in the making! Thousands of hours have gone into the development of the only turnkey turbocharger kit for the Mazda 3. From air filter to downpipe and everything in between, the Turbo Kit for the 3rd generation Mazda 3 has finally come full circle and IT IS AWESOME!
Are you ready for an extra 115-125whp and 80-90wtq?
Many have asked “Why So Long?” and the truth is because we, the Team at CorkSport, would not allow ourselves to put out a kit that was not complete, was not turnkey, and was not proven to be daily and track ready. We have put thousands of miles on out test vehicles; both on the track…
Boosted Mazda 3 TC America Race Car
And on the street…
Boosted Mazda 3 Street Test Mule with Turbo Kit
So what is involved in developing a turnkey turbo kit for the originally naturally aspirated vehicle? Well, basically everything., Let’s get more into the details.
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The turbo is a big one, spec’ing the size, style, & location is a significant aspect of the kit. In fact, we tested multiple sizes before deciding on the turbo for the kit. Finding the right balance of spool/response, boost operating pressure, and even sound was a consideration (hey we all like turbo noises right?) With that we are using an MHI based turbo that utilizes journal bearings and liquid cooled CHRA. Our current CST4 and CST5 turbochargers for the Mazdaspeed use the same MHI CHRA and have proven very reliable and robust.
The turbo in the Mazda 3 Kit is also uniquely a twin-scroll internally wastegated design. This helped with spool and response while using a larger wheel spec and the internal wastegate keeps overall costs down and quiet.
On each end of the turbo is the next major design challenge, the exhaust manifold and downpipe. Now, in most kits you would expect to see a fabricated manifold and downpipe. While that is not necessarily bad, there are more robust methods of manufacturing that can perform equal if not better. This method is casting, which is what we have done. The exhaust manifold is a cast stainless steel 304 twin-scroll design. This one-piece design means there are no welds, seams or connections that could fail and the wall thickness is thicker (5mm vs 3mm) when compared to standard fabricated manifolds.
The downpipe utilizes a cast bellmouth which is then welded to a 3-inch pipe and flex section. This downpipe then aligns with the OEM location exhaust so you can run a stock exhaust (don’t be silly though), a 60mm or 80mm exhaust with your turbo kit.
Since we are talking about the cat-back exhaust let us just say that for peak performance you will want the 80mm exhaust system on your Mazda 3. Moving down to the 60mm you will lose a tad bit of power. Note: In the instructions there are specific boost controller settings for each exhaust setup.
Now we have all the plumbing to get that boost from the turbo to the engine. When we approached this we wanted a kit that was stupidly simple and clean in the engine bay. The result was ONLY two pieces of charge piping and four pieces of charge piping silicone. This keeps the possible boost leaks to a minimum and the install process simple. With that being said, the “hotside” charge piping runs alongside the passenger side of the engine and the “coldside” runs right up from the intercooler and to the throttle body.
To complete the charge air system we have the intercooler. The intercooler is no off-the-shelf generic unit either, we custom designed the cast aluminum endtanks to fit with the Mazda 3 chassis WITHOUT cutting and maximized the intercooler size to perform great with the power goals of the Turbo Kit, again without cutting your Mazda 3. Good to 400 horsepower, the intercooler will easily cover the current power and future growth in power of the kit for quite some time.
Because of the custom fit and lack of cutting, the intercooler nearly disappears in the OEM bumper for a stealth look. The black finish performs and looks great through the seasons. If you want to a customized stand out look, you could paint the core a nice bright silver finish without issue.
So we’ve covered the obvious parts of a “turbo kit” but what makes the kit turnkey? It’s the little things, like clamps, hardware, and connection like the turbo cooling, and the oil feed and oil drain. For the oil feed and drain we have provided perfect length stainless steel braided lines and all the needed fittings. The oil drain is extra special because on a non-factory turbo there is NO spot for the oil drain in the engine. So install of requiring you to drill a hole in your oil pan and risk causing a leak, we do the work for you with a new OEM oil pan. We complete the drilling, the drain fitting install and sealing. All you have to do is remove your oil pan and install the new oil pan with the drain fitting installed.
Lastly, to make all the big parts fit in the engine bay and look good, we had to create some clearance for the intake by using a smaller AGM battery vs the huge lead acid battery. To do that we designed a SS battery mount and ECU relocation bracket along with a new 550ca/450cca AGM motorsport battery which is included for ground shipping customers. If you are international and the kit has to air ship to you then you will need to source the battery locally.
Now to really round off the “turnkey” aspect of the kit we have the boost control system which includes a TurboSmart E-Boost controller which allows us to dictate and control the boost curve for optimal power delivery and reliability. No manual boost controller here that does whatever it wants. To monitor boost we provide a CorkSport boost gauge that you can mount anywhere inside the cabin for easy readout. Also, with a boosted setup and high compression ratio a set of 1-step colder spark plugs are required for safe operation, these are also included and future replacements can be purchased at CorkSport.
Most important is the tuning, and this is where we have spent hundreds of hours alone getting the car to perform consistently and reliably for you. The turbo kit had to feel fun, fast, and repeatable all while being safe to drive every day on a stock engine. With the CorkSport Turbo Kit, you will get a calibration license to your vehicle and Mazdaedit license designed to operate on premium grade gasoline (91-93octane).
Now to the numbers you want to know about! POWER like you’ve never seen from a 3rd Gen Mazda 3 with the Turbo Kit. Many said the high compression Sky-Activ couldn’t handle boost…many said they are “glass” engines”…we are here to tell you they are wrong.
How about 9.5psi of boost and gains of 115-125whp/80-90wtq? All on the stock fuel system and simple premium pump gas?
In this dynograph you can see four dyno runs. The two lower runs are from our 2018 Mazda 3 2.5L MT. This is a 100% stock car with no tuning changes. The much nicer two runs are the final result of 9.5psi for the CorkSport Turbo Kit.
Power is not just about a peak number, power (and a resulting fast/fun car) is about the power under the curve. Our goal was to develop a kit that made a fast and fun car throughout the rpm range of the 2.5L SkyActiv. With a huge increase in torque across the rpm range, you have a car that will be fun from 3500rpm to 6000rpm before power starts to fall off. This is the 3rd Generation Mazdaspeed that Mazda never gave us.
How does the powertrain handle this? We have only used OEM stock engines, clutches, and manual transmissions in our in-house testing. This goes for our street can and track-only racecar.
However, our in-house testing has been successful with OEM components, our beta tester did have an OEM clutch slippage early on in their testing. Our review of the clutch and the history of the clutch showed us that we are at the limit of the clutch. If the clutch has lots of wear and tear it may not last long with the added torque from the turbo kit. Therefore we cannot guarantee the successful ability to use the OEM clutch equipped in your Mazda.
With that being said there are options on the market for performance clutches that are either available now or are in development. We are personally working with X-Clutch to develop a performance clutch for the community.
Let’s wrap this up…the most complete and ready-to-run turbo kit available for your 2.5L MT Mazda 3. You can make power with easily accessible pump gas up in the 280+whp range and enjoy the daily drive and track. There will not be any surprise runs to the hardware store, as long as you have some wiring supplies, and you could get this done over a long weekend with a buddy that knows how to wrench.
Speaking of the install, the kit can be completed in a long weekend. If you work diligently we’d say 2-3 days to get it done. Follow the color step-by-step online PDF instructions and review the youtube video install before you get started to have the best success.
We also have a specific video for the TurboSmart E-Boost controller setup so you know you get it setup just right. While this project can seem daunting at first, we promise it all comes together if you follow the detailed instructions.
What’s this going to cost you? Less than you expect to be honest. Look at the ND Miata Turbocharger/Supercharger Kits and you would have a good idea of what it should cost, but really we want the community to get this kit and enjoy it so we’ve worked hard to provide the most value for the price on the Turbo Kit.
Thank you for taking the time to read about our Turbo Kit for the 3rd Gen Mazda 3 & Mazda 6. We are SOOOO excited to finally bring this to the community and for everyone to have the opportunity to take their Mazda 3 2.5L to the next level.
Cold air intake systems, are they necessary? Are they worth the extra cost? Does it matter if the engine is turbocharged or not? Will the engine or its performance be hurt without one? We have repeatedly seen these questions on forums and social media groups regarding Mazda’s 3rd and 4th Generation Mazda 3 & 6. To help the Mazda community grow and learn about their cars and what to do with them, we have written a blog that we hope will help shed some light on these questions and others.
Most importantly, you will NOT hurt your engine if you use an SRI only on Turbo or Non-Turbo applications.
What are the typical intake systems available for your Mazda? At CorkSport, we have two primary intake system setups: Short Ram Intake (SRI) System and Cold Air Intake (CAI) System. It is essential to distinguish between the two because you (the Mazda enthusiasts) will ultimately decide which system to use.
Short Ram Intake (SRI) System:
This CorkSport system consists of a filter, billet MAF housing, silicone coupler, a few clamps, and may or may not have a mounting bracket (depending on the application). This system is efficient and straightforward (an unrestricted airflow path increases power). This system removes the factory airbox and snorkel. The cost is very effective for the results and provides excellent induction sounds.
Cold Air Intake (CAI) System:
CorkSport’s system consists of the SRI (as mentioned above) plus a heat shield or airbox designed to keep the engine bay heat away from the intake system’s inlet and help direct cold air induction. This system removes the factory airbox and may or may not reuse the factory snorkel. The cost will be higher than a short ram intake due to the additional components involved and may muffle some of the induction noises but provide better heat control.
OK, is a Cold Air Intake System worth the extra cost and complexity? Does it do anything? Well, in our opinion, yes and no. We have tested this, and we have proven that a heatshield does improve (read reduce) “heat soak” of the intake system, BUT not in the ways most people expect. Below is some data from our 2018 Mazda 6 Turbo SRI and then also with our SRI + Heat Shield:
This first graph shows the vehicle idling for a period of time, much like sitting at a stoplight or in traffic. The red graph shows the short ram intake only, and the blue chart shows the SRI+Heat Shield. It’s pretty apparent the heat shield is helping reduce the amount of engine bay heat being ingested by the intake while the vehicle is sitting. The maximum temperature delta is approximately 15-20deg F. That’s a respectable improvement, and this lower amount of heat soak should, in theory, improve the vehicle’s acceleration from a complete stop. Now let’s look at a graph that combines idling and acceleration up to 50mph
The second graph indicates similar data for the stationary idling period, but more importantly, is what the data tells us once the vehicle starts moving. You see a small spike for both systems (this is due to the engine suddenly ingesting more air), then you see the air temp drop rapidly as the vehicle increases in speed. The vehicle’s forward motion/speed is important because that is how fresh cool ambient air enters the engine bay.
You’ll notice that both the red and blue graphs meet at the same point after the rapid cooling then have a small amount of fluctuation. In a nutshell, both the SRI and SRI+Heat Shield perform about the same once the vehicle is moving. Again, they perform almost identically once the car is rolling.
Next question, does it matter if the vehicle is turbocharged or not? Before we answer that, let’s go over the differences between turbocharged and non-turbocharged systems.
Turbocharged:
The engine is equipped with a turbocharger and an intercooler system to cool the boosted air temperatures before entering the engine. The intercooler system is required to negate the by-product of turbocharging an engine (and thus boost), which is heat. The airflow path is intake -> turbo -> intercooler -> engine.
In a turbocharged engine, the need for and use of a Cold Air Intake System is typically not deemed necessary or very useful. The turbocharger superheats the cooler air it receives from the intake before passing it to the intercooler. The boosted air exiting the turbo is substantially hotter than the ambient air temperatures in your engine bay before it enters the intake – especially true while the vehicle is moving.
More focus is placed on performance improvements of the intercooler system because that is the primary method to cool the incoming boosted (read “hot”) airflow before it enters the engine. The use of a cold air intake system has little effect on the resulting boost air temps, so the cost-effectiveness is not great. This is precisely why the Mazdaspeed platform focuses on increasing the intake size (ingesting more air = more power), adding a larger turbo (more boost), and increasing the size of the intercooler (additional surface area for cooling) coupled with a professional tune to maximize power.
Non-Turbocharged:
The engine is not equipped with a turbocharger and, therefore, does not require an intercooler system. The airflow path is more direct and does not have a cooling system built-in; intake -> engine.
Since there is no intercooler to cool the incoming air (it’s not needed), the best way to improve air density and performance is with cooler air entering the engine directly. So, a cold air intake on a non-turbo engine can be helpful – especially in warmer climates.
Let’s Recap:
In either turbo or non-turbo applications, a heat shield or CAI system will provide varying degrees of benefit in some driving situations. For a turbo application specifically, the usefulness of the CAI system is marginal due to the turbo heating the air it receives from the intake. Instead, investing in a short ram intake and performance intercooler system is a much better plan.
For the non-turbo applications, a cold air intake system is a worthwhile investment because the airflow path is so much more direct, and it’s the only way to help reduce intake air temps and thus increase air density which equals power.
We hope this has been a helpful and educational blog and lends support as you decide the right path for you and your Mazda! Thanks for tuning in!
Sometimes Form is more important than Function…and sometimes we find features in a vehicle that are not that useful to us. One of those features happens to be the rear wiper assembly. We felt this way and many in the community have informed us of this as well.
With that, we now have Rear Wiper Delete Kits for the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th Generation Mazda 3 hatchbacks.
If you happen to live in one of the fortunate states that don’t get a lot of rain or find yourself not using your rear wiper very often, this is the kit for you. The CorkSport Rear Wiper Delete Kit completely removes the wiper arm and the motor assembly. This shaves weight (about 2 pounds) from your car and gets rid of the unsightly rear wiper arm.
The delete “plug” in the kit is manufactured from 6061-T6 aluminum and finished with a black anodized coating then laser engraved with a sleek CS logo. While this is a subtle mod for your Mazda, we are always shocked at how much better the rear end looks afterwards.
2nd Gen 2010-2013 Mazdaspeed 3/Mazda 3 check out your kit here: Click me!
3rd Gen 2014-2018 Mazda 3 Hatchback check out your kit here: Click me!
4th Gen 2019+ Mazda 3 Hatchback check out your kit here: Click me!
Thanks for checking out the CorkSport Rear Wiper Deletes! For all the Gen1 Guys and Gals, we are working on a kit currently, we will have a kit ready mid summer!
