The Fuel Pump Finale… (Sort Of)

How To Create The Best Pump on the Market

With our fuel pump design complete (link to fuel pump blogs 1,2,3,4), we now turned our attention to the details. We wanted a coating to protect the piston and decrease friction during operation. After testing dozens of compounds, we settled on a very strong coating that is applied with a proprietary process. This process allows for an exceptional bond with the metal, lower static friction, and increases the surface hardness. Before applying the coating however, we wanted to make sure we had the best part possible underneath it. Imagine having an orange that is covered in titanium. The surface might be incredibly hard, but with no substance to back that up you will eventually lose the shape.

After choosing a very strong alloy for our internals, we then machine their tolerances to an incredible 6 microns! To make sure the tolerances are paired for life, we serialize the parts to prevent any issues and to track the life of the pumps. We then surface treat the pumps to achieve the alloys maximum strength; only after the maximum hardness is achieved do we apply our surface treatments to bring the overall durability to an even higher level.

Many companies would be finished at this point but, at CorkSport, our research has shown us that when a coating is applied it is very difficult to maintain a smooth surface. In fact, we found that the coating has many microscopic hills and valleys. There would be no reason for us to go through all the work of having incredible tolerances if we were just going to ruin them with an uneven coating. In order to correct this, the pistons are then re-machined back to their original single micron tolerance. The CorkSport Fuel Pump Internals are the lightest aftermarket kit on the market for faster response and decreased cam wear. At this point it may seem like we are flying this pump to Mars but we just wanted to make the best part on the market, and it worked.

Pump More Than Any Other Kit Available

All of this adds up to an improved pumping volume that is over 8% higher than all other pumps we tested and 50% larger capacity than the stock pump. When other pumps are losing efficiency because of their design or tolerances, ours is just hitting its stride. That difference in the real world is going to be higher HP numbers, safer air/fuel ratios and the ability to go that much further without worrying about your fuel supply.

Because of the increase in fuel we highly recommend that you get a new tune for your car we have made a combo deal to save some money here.

How to Buy the Best Fuel Pump Internals

Now that the cat is out of the bag we can let you know a few more things.

Our first batch is very limited and we want to give everyone that has been waiting a fair shot at getting one. We will release these parts for Pre-Order on November 1^st. The Pre-Order will be limited to the first 100 paid orders or November 14^th, whichever comes first.

The CorkSport High Pressure Fuel Pump internals include a collectable aluminum box with:

Full color instructions
Stainless Steel Installation Tool (That also doubles as a keychain bottle opener!)
Anodized Aluminum Installation Sleeve
CorkSport USB drive with Installation Video, Promotional Video and Other Bonus Material
CorkSport Precision Fuel Pump Internals (including higher rate spring)
Retaining Hardware

The Pre-Order will go live on November 1^st at 12am Pacific Standard Time and will remain up until the initial 100 orders have been placed. Unfortunately these are the only internals we will offer for 2013 so if you miss the pre-order you will have to wait until next year to get the best fuel pump upgrade on the market.

September 5, 2013January 11, 2020

Just Released: CORKSPORT 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed 6 Transmission Mount Insert

A Brand New Car in Just 1 Hour:

Wheel hop, driveline slack, and excess movement of the engine, what do these all have in common? All of these issues are easily fixed with the new CorkSport Mazdaspeed 6 Transmission Mount Insert. Within minutes your Mazdaspeed 6 will feel tight, fresh and ready for action, after installing the Transmission Mount Insert. Don’t be surprised when it becomes easier to shift and smoother to drive. Enjoy a new feeling car with a simple fix.

Unlike complete replacement motor mounts on the market which can transmit excessive vibration, the CorkSport Motor Mount Inserts fill in the gaps in the factory mount allowing it to retain its vibration isolation while providing a simple and cost effective upgrade to your Mazda for a more enjoyable driving experience.

The CorkSport Advantage:

Constructed from high durometer polyurethane: Designed to fill in the gaps in the factory rubber motor mounts to limit the movement of the engine and transmission
Patterned after the OEM Mazda mounts for accurate fitment
CorkSport Service and Support: Receive a 2 year warranty, full color installation instructions, all of the needed installation hardware and knowledgeable telephone support

The CorkSport 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed 6 Transmission Mount Insert is available on our online catalog here: https://www.corksport.com/corksport-2006-2007-mazdaspeed-6-transmission-mount-insert.html

August 14, 2013August 19, 2013

Raise Your Hood Easily with the CorkSport Hood Strut Lift Kit

Introducing the CorkSport 2010-2013 Mazdaspeed 3 Hood Strut Lift Kit:

Lift your Hood with just the flick of a wrist. Thanks to gas-powered struts the CorkSport Hood Lift Kit will raise your Mazdaspeed 3 hood on its own power once you get it past halfway. Then, just like magic, the hood will stay up for as long as you want. Of course, while the hood is lifted you will have extra room to maneuver thanks to the conveniently located struts. Without the poorly located hood prop-rod blocking your access to the hood, you can now access the entire engine bay as readily as you can find a coffee shop in Seattle.

The CorkSport Hood Strut Lift Kit requires no drilling or modifying to install. With bolt-in compatibility and a short install process, you will be upgraded in no time.

The CorkSport 2010-2013 Mazdaspeed 3 Hood Strut Lift Kit is available online for $109.99. Visit the listing at: https://www.corksport.com/corksport-2010-2013-mazdaspeed-3-hood-strut-lift-kit.html

July 10, 2013February 28, 2018

Fuel Pump Comparison Part 3

Welcome back to the Fuel Pump Comparison, Part 3. If you haven’t been following along with us feel free to read Part 1 and Part 2.

Now that we have a good understanding of the basics for these high pressure fuel pumps we can start to really dig deeper into the specifications. One of the items we were really curious about were the materials used in the construction of these pumps. We decided to have the hardness tested and ascertain the materials used. The factory pump internals do not use any coating, the hardness test showed us that the internals went through a hardening process as the core was significantly softer than the surface. Because of these hardness requirements, many other aftermarket internals use a coating of some sort to decrease friction between the piston and the sleeve. As for what the stock internals are made from, we answered that. Except for the hardening procedure, according to their chemical breakdown, they match a common die steel, so nothing too fancy.

We now understand why it is so common to hear that the factory pumps are machined to such tight tolerances. At high rates of speed and pressure with a hardened material, you could easily have failures if tolerances were not correct.

When testing the fuel pumps on the dyno, we chose a Mazdaspeed 3 (2^nd gen) with bolt-ons and a stock turbo. The factory boost levels we maintained 1700psi all the way to redline with no issues. As soon as we raised the boost slightly, the fuel pump began to drop pressure. With a Cobb AccessPort and a stage 2 reflash, the pressure of the pump would drop under 1000psi by 5000rpms. If you’re going to turn up the boost or run a reflash, an upgraded fuel pump is a must.

Our dyno is able to adjust load, so in our testing we chose a load value typical of 4^th gear on the street and tested all pumps with the same load on the same day, only hours apart from each other. All the pumps tested performed very similar for power but the stock pump actually ran a lower air/fuel ratio. This is because all of the pumps were tested with no tune. When we changed to the Cobb stage 2 map, the power levels increased but we could not complete the test with the stock pump as it just could not keep up with the demand. With the stage 2 tune, we found the air/fuel ratios to be very, very rich and had a very real possibility for causing high load misfires. We actually experienced that several times on colder days. With no tune, this does not happen but the car did still run very rich in boost with all the aftermarket fuel pumps. With a custom tune though, there should be no difference between the pumps and you can raise the boost without worry of running low on pressure.

Now that you have read Part 3, see Part 1 and Part 2.

Stay tuned for part 4 in our fuel pump comparison series, things are about to really heat up!!!

July 8, 2013

Inside the upcoming CorkSport Blow Off Valve

When you look at the blow off valves (BOV) and bypass valves (BPV) on the market today you see many examples of the same thing with little to no innovations. For those of you that aren’t aware, BOV’s and BPV’s are valves that vent pressurized air in the tract between the turbo and the throttle body. This prevents the turbo from suddenly stopping or slowing as those can cause unwanted bearing wear on the turbo. A BOV vents this pressurized air into the atmosphere (into the engine bay). A BPV vents that air back into the intake just after the mass air flow (MAF) sensor. Venting back into the intake allows the ECU to correctly meter that air that it has already accounted for. Many times when venting to atmosphere you can get a momentarily rich condition because the ratios are off.

We were talking about innovation though, the last great innovation in valve technology for turbos was probably years ago with pull type valves like the SSQV from HKS. Many years have passed since then and not much has changed, outside of the few valves that partially vent to atmosphere and route the rest back to the intake tract. Typically now you just see one copy after another of someone else’s idea. SURE, it can be hard to innovate in the blow off valve market but we were convinced there was something exciting we could do.

We speak often about your ideas sparking our innovative minds, this project was started by just one of those customer suggestions. We started with a customer submission of using wave springs that led us to design a new valve design to reduce the size and weight of the moving parts.

Key Features of the upcoming patent pending CorkSport Blow Off Valve:

Reduction of spring height

With the use of a wave spring we are able to reduce the spring height by 50%. The traditional spring sits at 40mm and the CS wave spring sits at a 20mm height. These springs both provide the same force and will move the same distance before experiencing coil-bind.

Reduction of piston size

Because the spring is 50% smaller we are able to reduce the piston and still maintain the same amount of movement. As you can see, just changing to the wave spring we were able to decrease the piston by 33%!!!

What does that all mean?

The reduction in mass is all well and good, but just being smaller isn’t the only benefit (even though that is pretty cool). With the force (F) being the same and the mass (m) decreasing by 33% we can see how the mass relates to acceleration (a) in the formula F=ma. Rearranged, this becomes a=F/m. This means we have accelerated the actual speed of the valve, which means the valve is able to react much faster than a larger valve with a traditional spring (33% faster!) Because the blow off valve is a safety feature to protect the turbo from premature wear, this increase in acceleration can help increase the longevity of the turbo and the system as a whole.

What does all this innovation look like?

With the reduction in the size of these key parts, we can reduce the body size. This can be especially helpful in situations with airboxes, custom turbo and intercooler kits or even in universal situations where space is at a premium. Below you can see a comparison of similar BOV’s, the spring chamber on our design is significantly smaller but the function is not lost; in fact, we improved it!

To maximize flow, we pushed the piston area out to ensure a larger venting area, this reduces the time it takes to vent the air and allows larger turbos to vent more efficiently. As a blow off valve, this certainly pushes the envelope, we think we can find even more applications for this kind of innovation. We are very proud to be able to offer things for the Mazda market we helped create and will continue to engineer parts that push the scene for you.