Mazda 6 Wagon Redesign Sneak Peek

Mazda already confirmed the redesigned Mazda 6 sedan will be making its debut at the 2012 Paris Auto Show this fall, but has said little about the new wagon model.

Last week however, the company provided us with a first look at the new Mazda 6 wagon that has been kept well under wraps by the Japanese automaker and is now expected to debut at the Moscow Motor Show at the end of August.

Photos, courtesy of Car Advice, show a design inspired by the Takeri concept that has little in common with the current model. It includes a new bigger grille and swept back headlights that give it a more aggressive feel.

The tighter window line adds to the sportiness of the vehicle and the previously mostly clear tail lights have been upgraded with slimmer, dark red fixtures.

The interior center console looks similar to the CX-5 touring package or upgraded sport package that includes the large color touch screen monitor with built in navigation and blue tooth enabled audio package.

The Mazda 6 will be equipped with the new SkyActiv technology and will also include the new i-ELOOP regenerative braking system, which Mazda says will improve fuel economy by 10%.

There have not been any sightings of the sedan as of yet, but Mazda did provide a little glimpse in a video they posted to YouTube on July 10th. The 21 second video definitely leaves you wanting to see more.

One thing is quite evident from this short clip though; this model is shaping up to be something spectacular!

Gwynne-

Product Release! CorkSport Oil Catch Can Development and Release Notes

Sometimes projects take a lot longer than expected to get to release. After several design changes, lots of simulations, and plenty of mounting revisions, we are happy to announce the release the CorkSport Oil Catch Can for Mazda and Mazdaspeed vehicles.

Oil catch cans are designed to separate the water, oil and other contaminants from your PCV system. The PCV system feeds directly in the intake manifold causing all these contaminants to be pushed to the back of the valves then into the engine cylinders. As cars wear, we see more and more contaminants in the PCV system and then into the engine.

Many of you have followed the development as we moved through our design revisions beginning with our first concept, a titanium oil catch can that used stainless steel wool to separate out the oil and several versions in-between before we came to the design that we are happy to be releasing today.

Unlike other catch cans on the market that simply expect the contaminates to fall out of the PCV vapors, our newly released oil catch can has a unique cyclonic vacuum design that forces contaminants to the walls of the can before the air can move back into the intake system. This Solidworks simulation shows how the system was designed. You can see that the air swirls around the outside of the can trapping the contaminants at the wall. This allows them to fall through a disk that is welded between two chambers used to separate the PCV vapors and the contaminants. Once the contaminants are separated you can view them with a sight tube located on the side of the catch can.

We were particularly surprised to see how much water vapor builds up in the crank case of these cars. After a few miles of driving with the catch can on our shop Mazdaspeed 3, we could really see what separates our catch can from the competition. After only 500 miles we had separated out a great deal of contaminants from the PCV system. Most of which was water vapor that had been trapped in the PCV lines and engine block. This alone should ensure that oil doesn’t break down quickly on our DISI MZR engine.

After 3000 miles we performed our first oil change. The results were exactly what we expected, a much smaller concentration of water but a noticeable amount of oil. MZR engines are notorious for slight amounts of blow by getting back into the engine. As you can see from the picture this is something you don’t want getting back into your engine. We took this sample and sent it out for particulate analysis. The results really prove that you don’t want this in your engine. Along with a large amount of oil, which can be seen, there was metal and water present in the oil. All of which we don’t want to be reburned in our engine or stuck to the back of our valves.

Even though it took a little longer than we expected to release this, I’m sure everyone will agree that there are certain things you want done right and somethings are worth the wait. When it comes down to it there are just some contaminants that you never want entering your motor. Most of them are listed on the sheet to the right.

The CorkSport Oil Catch Can will enhance the reliability of your engine and improve performance and fuel economy. It is made from high-grade aluminum with a pressed annodized top cap and includes a chemical resistant sight tube. It comes with a complete mounting kit and can be purchased from CorkSport here.

For more information about this product or to purchase one today, please visit our product page on our online catalog at https://corksport.com

Cast Your Votes for April’s Featured Car of the Month!

Over the last eight months we have highlighted some of our favorite customer cars in our popular blog segment “Featured Car of the Month”, including CJ Ramos’ Gen1 Mazdaspeed 3, Robbie Stiff’s Gen 2 Mazdaspeed 3, Domenique’s Mazda 2, Will Buck’s Mazdspeed 3, Josh Mackey’s Mazda 3, Matt Kellogg’s Mazdaspeed 3, Jordan’s RX-8 and Tony’s 2011 Mazdaspeed 3.

Until now, the customer car of the month has been selected by CorkSport, but this month we wanted to try something a little different and get our customers involved in the selection process.

We have two randomly selected customers that have submitted their cars for consideration and we want to know which one you think should be featured as this month’s CorkSport customer car!

This month we have two solid contenders for the feature:

Derek Katayama’s 2004 Mazda 6

“I went for a full JDM look to the car; including the aero body kit from Kenstyle of Tokyo. Derrick helped me bring in ALL the parts I needed to convert the front and rear of the USDM Mazda 6 to accept the JDM body kit.”

Samuel Martinek’s 2010 Mazdaspeed 3

“So far I have spent about $4k on my speed three and there are still plans for more!”

To cast your vote on which customer car you want to hear more about, simply comment on this blog post, our Facebook thread, or our Twitter Feed. The one with the most votes will be featured later this month in our April newsletter and blog.

Interested in submitting your car for our feature? email a photo and current mods to gwynne@corksport.com

Gwynne-

The Journey from Concept Car to Production

the recently released Mazda CX5 has been met with rave reviews for both its styling, ride quality and fuel efficiency and initial sales of the vehicle reflect that. In Japan Mazda has sold 8000 units in the first month with an expectation of only selling 1000.

When the first rumors came out about the CX5 years ago there was picture of a vehicle released which you can see below.

The picture was essentially Mazda 3 with Mazda 2 headlights and some changes made to the body of the vehicle to give the general idea of what Mazda was shooting in a small cross over SUV.

The actual concept compact SUV was since designed fresh from the ground up with no hand-me-down components so when the vehicle concept debuted, the Minagi, it reflected Mazda’s transition to the KODO style.

There are several styling effects on the car which you can tell would not make it to production, for example the mirrors and the bar across the headlights, but it really showed what the CX5 was going to be.

The released CX5 below is the final production vehicle which has been on sale now for a month.

Almost all of the body styling from the Minagi concept stayed on the production vehicle. The headlights were changed to meet government regulations and the showy mirrors were replaced with something more practical that would survive a hit from another car, wall, or inanimate object.

For the replacement of the current Mazda 6 we have been teased with pictures and concept vehicles but looking at them you can really see what we are going to get for a new Mazda 6. Mazda showed off the Shinari concept car back in 2010 seen below.

This was a great concept vehicle with really accentuated Kodo styling shown off in a very aggressive way. This is also a pretty big jump from the current Mazda 6 styling that makes the current Mazda 6 it look really dated.

The Takeri concept which was introduced last fall at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Show was confirmed to be the redesigned 2014 Mazda 6 by Mazda executives at the 2012 New York Auto Show.

In this concept vehicle, the roof line grew from the chopped top look for the original concept as well as some cleaned up styling areas around the front bumper and the grille area.

Looking at the jump between the Minagi and the CX5 you can get a good idea of what the new Mazda 6 will look like when it is released. The headlights will be changed a little bit, the mirrors will get changed to a different style and DOT crash bumpers would round out the changes.

Based on the release of the Cx5 and the what we can see of the Takeri concept, the new Mazda 6 will be a good-looking car. The production version of the new Mazda 6 will be unveiled this fall at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, and the car will go on sale in spring 2013..

-Derrick

The Future

Bye Bye Ford. Mazda has confirmed that the Mazda independently designed Cx5 chassis and engine technology will be the new platform for the next generation of the Mazda 3 and the upcoming Mazda 6 replacements.

So what does this mean for Mazda? This shows that the haters in the automotive press, which in 2009 said that Mazda doesn’t have the engineering capabilities to develop a new platform, once again have no idea what they are talking about. Take the quote from Aaron Bragman, Auto Analyst for IHS Global Insight, posted in a TruthAboutCars article in December 2009, “The reality is Mazda is too small to do it on their own…Ford may have other options. They’ve got a European organization that is very good at developing small cars.” In other words, Mazda might want to start looking around for another partner.

Fast forward to today and Mazda has launched a whole new platform that incorporates stronger, lighter, ultra-high tensile steel in its construction, brand new SKYACTIV technology that employs a range of green technologies to increase fuel efficiency, and a clearly defined goal of where they want to be in the next 10-15 years in the automotive landscape.

With news of the soon to be released Cx5, the concept car Mazda 6 replacement the Takeri being shown, and the drawings of the Mx5 popping up the future looks really good for Mazda.


(Picture Above Courtesy of Top Speed)

I am really looking forward to the news that Mazda is looking to offer a 2 door Mazda 6 in the future. It has been too long since the Mx6 left the Market back in 1997 and the only 2 door North America has seen since is the Mx5.

Takeri Mazda 6

This just goes to show that Mazda is not a company to be underestimated.

-Derrick