Mazda CX-5 | CorkSport Mazda Performance Blog

September 10, 2020November 2, 2022

Mazda CX-5 Aluminum Skid Plate for 2017+ Model

We are back with another product release for you CX-5 owners! Say hello to the CorkSport Aluminum Skid Plate for 2017+ Mazda CX-5. Using our tried and true 11 gauge aluminum construction and 2-piece design, the CS skid plate adds some much needed protection to the underside of your CX5. Whether you use your CX-5 for camping, extra snow protection, or as a slammed show car, the CorkSport skid tray is a perfect fit for your build along with our axle-back exhaust! Read on for full details!

The OEM splash shield does a good job at its intended purpose: to smooth the air under your car for efficiency and keep your engine bay components dry. Any impact from road debris, rocks, or even a pesky speed bump though can easily crack or tear off your plastic splash shield leaving you without any protection.

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The CS skid tray will offer better protection for your engine

The CorkSport Skid Plate replaces the easily broken OEM unit with a full aluminum skid tray that can take a beating. We’ve used and abused these skid trays at the track (and some off-track excursions…) on our Mazda 3’s over the years and they have proven themselves to be sturdy, even withstanding the stresses of the 25 hours of Thunderhill! The CS skid tray will offer better protection for your engine so you can be less worried about your CX-5 when you take it camping on rocky forest roads, up to the mountain through snow & ice, or slam it and take it to shows.

To offer the best experience possible for you all, we have carefully CAD designed the CX-5 skid plate to mount directly in place of the OEM splash shield. This means no drilling, cutting, trimming, or headaches during the hour or less install. We kept the OEM style 2-piece design for further easy installation plus, the bonus of adjustability for minor variation vehicle to vehicle and cheaper shipping! Finally, there is an oil access cover just like OEM that you can move out of the way to easily change your oil and filter.

Each CorkSport CX-5 skid tray is made from laser-cut and precision formed 5052 aluminum. This ensures a consistent product for each of you that will stand the test of time and the elements. Included with each kit is all the extra hardware needed for installation.

Stainless steel button head bolts that provide great corrosion resistance and won’t snag

This includes stainless steel button head bolts that fasten the skid tray to the vehicle. These provide great corrosion resistance and won’t snag as easily as a traditional hex head bolt. We also include Torx screws for the oil access cover. This style of screw prevents the head from stripping after repeated oil changes which are typical with a traditional Phillips head screw.

If you’re looking to add some protection to the underbody of your 2017+ CX-5, look no further than the CorkSport Aluminum Skid Tray! Be sure to check out the product listing for more images and don’t hesitate to call us with any questions.

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2017+ Mazda CX-5 Turbo Lowering Springs

We are proud to announce the Sport Lowering Springs for 2017+ Mazda CX-5 equipped with the 2.5L turbocharged engine. We took a fresh approach to spring design to offer you the best combination of style, ride quality, and handling in a package that fits just like OEM. The new Mazda CX-5 looks great, but a functional drop gives it just what it needs to look even better.

2017+ Mazda CX-5 Turbo Lowering Springs — Shop all 2017+ CX-5 Parts

Let’s get right to the point…ride height. The CX-5 looks great but it needs a drop and dropped it we did. Being an SUV, the factory ride height is pretty high up so we were able to make a significant drop while still keeping your SUV functional and practical for a daily driver.

These springs offer a drop of about 2.1 inches front & rear. We chose this height as it offers a great new look without sacrificing any of the daily drivability of the Mazda CX-5. This height clears the typical driveway with no issues, and retains plenty of suspension travel, even when fully loaded with 5 adults and weight in the trunk.

The height drop will be noticed when you’re outside the car, but the handling improvements will be apparent when driving. By lowering the center of gravity and stiffening the springs, body roll is reduced in corners, giving you extra confidence when attacking that backroad (Haha we know it’s an SUV). Also, we stiffened the rear springs more than the fronts, reducing understeer. By number, this meant 3.4K front springs (17% stiffer than OEM) and 7.0K rear springs (32% stiffer than OEM).

While this may sound like a big jump, they ride very similar to the OEM springs. We used natural frequency analysis and referenced our spring designs from earlier CX5 models to ensure we achieved comfortable characteristics over bumps. The spring rates we chose fit well with the stock shocks and struts to prevent any bounciness, plus, the drop ensures you are in the normal operating range of the dampers. This means no prematurely worn shocks/struts due to springs that are too low.

Lastly, the CS Sport Lowering Springs are made from high tensile strength spring steel and come with pre-installed spring isolators to eliminate any unwanted noises common with lowering springs. With that, we are introducing our new CorkSport Blue powder coat for long-lasting quality and corrosion resistance. They install just like stock, reusing all your OEM components. The only permanent modification is trimming the bump stops to match OEM suspension travel.

Thanks for checking out the new lowering springs for the facelift 2017+ CX-5. Check out our product listing for more details and images!

Barett @ CS

December 18, 2014December 29, 2014

Corksport Aluminum Crank Pulley for 2.0L & 2.5L SkyActiv Engines

Feeling like your SkyActiv powered Mazda isn’t getting the “shining” attention it deserves? Maybe you’ve already bought every CorkSport item you can, but just want more! I can’t blame you really; it’s a virus that all car fanatics fight. So here’s fuel for the fire! Introducing the aluminum crank pulley for 2.0L & 2.5L SkyActiv engines!

Manufactured from high-grade 6061-T6 aluminum, this precision machined crank pulley is sure to give you that extra level of detail you’ve been searching for. Plus it’s 100% designed and manufactured right here in the Pacific NW, USA.

This crank pulley isn’t just for looks folks, it’s got bite too! With a 68% weight reduction, compared to the OEM component, your engine is going to rev faster due to the lower moment of inertia of the rotating mass. I can’t guarantee your bum will feel the difference, but your 2.0L will.

You may also be wondering: “The OEM component is steel, will the aluminum be strong enough?” Absolutely! We’ve been testing the component on an employee car for 2 months (roughly 2000 miles) without a single issue. The accessory belts put a very small, almost insignificant, amount of force on the pulley. The real concern is the bolt that holds the pulley on, but we got that covered also, see below.

To be confident in the products we produce, we conduct FEA (Finite Element Analysis) on all applicable components. In this case it is the bolt clamping force holding the pulley on the crank. The crank pulley bolt is an M16x1.5 with a torque spec of 67-80 ft-lb. For this analysis I used 79 ft-lb which creates a clamping force of 7557 lbf. Looking at the color graph to the above, you can see that the maximum stress is ~12420 psi which is far below the material yield strength of ~40k psi. So what does this mean to you? You can (but shouldn’t) torque that bolt down to ~250 ft-lb without worrying about your beautiful new pulley being structurally damaged, but you will have to worry about getting that bolt out next time, that’s your own problem.

Add some shine to your engine bay and just a little more pep in your step. Keep an eye out for the product release in the near future! Offered in anodized black. Zoom – Zoom!

Barett – CS Engineering

April 26, 2012October 26, 2023

Mazda 3 SkyActiv Short Ram Performance Air Intake

CorkSport began development of the new SkyActiv intake as soon as the technology was made available in the United States and today is happy to be the first Mazda aftermarket performance company to add a short ram intake for the 2012+ SkyActiv Mazda 3 and 2013+ Mazda CX-5 to its catalog of Mazda performance parts.

Engineered with exacting tolerances, the CorkSport Mazda SkyActiv Intake includes our precision machined MAF housing made from billet aluminum, durable dry flow air filter and custom reinforced silicone connector. In initial testing on the SkyActiv Mazda CX5, the CorkSport SkyActiv Short Ram Intake netted peak gains of +5 HP and +6 lb torque.

Mazda 3 Skyactiv Short Ram Intake Dyno Results

“Sales for Mazda’s new SkyActiv product line-up have shown tremendous potential and we have had several product requests for a SkyActiv short ram intake,“ said Rich Harris, President of CorkSport Mazda Performance, “Our engineering staff really stepped up to the plate to get our new SkyActiv intake to market quickly in order to fully support the Mazda community.”

Skyactive Mazda Engine Bay with CorkSport Short Ram Intake

CorkSport has already confirmed the fitment of the single exit Mazda 3 exhaust for the SkyActiv Mazda 3 and made it available to the public and is happy to be able to add a second performance offering designed for the SkyActiv technologies developed by Mazda to increase fuel efficiency and engine output.

As with all CorkSport Mazda SRIs, the SkyActiv Short Ram Intake comes with a two-year limited warranty, full-color installation instructions, and CorkSport service and support. For added support, this kit also has a complete installation video.

The CX-5 SkyActiv intake can be purchased separately in our newly added CorkSport CX5 catalog and the Mazda 3 SkyActiv Intake can be purchased as an option that has been added to the CorkSport Power Series 2.0 Liter Mazda 3 intake.

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July 15, 2011September 13, 2018

CX-5 Debut and US Release in Summer of 2012?

The Transportation Department published a press release yesterday (July 14, 2011) granting in full the Mazda Motor Corporate petition for an exemption of the CX-5 vehicle line from the Theft Prevention Standard and determined that the “antitheft device to be on the line as standard equipment was likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard…”

Why do we care, you might ask? This is a key indicator that Mazda is readying the Mazda CX-5 for release in the US and based on the pattern we have seen from past models that have made an entrance into the US market, it is likely that we will see the 2013 CX-5 for sale in the US by summer of 2012.

The Mazda CX-5 will be the third model in the CX line-up, next to the CX-7 and CX-9, and will appropriately be the smallest one. Mazda said in a press release about the CX-5 that “(It) will be the first production vehicle to incorporate Mazda’s new design theme, ‘KODO – Soul of Motion’ as debuted on the Mazda SHINARI concept car, as well as the full range of breakthrough SKYACTIV technologies, including engines, transmissions, body and chassis. The CX-5 will join Mazda’s global line-up in 2012”

According to autocar, the CX-5 will be available with diesel and a six-speed manual (though the diesel is not likely to be made available in the US) and are also proposed with a double body variant 3 and 5 doors, all of which should ensure that the compact crossover not only looks good but is also fun to drive and fuel efficient.

Look out for the debut of this car at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show this September.

Gwynne-

Stay Up-to-date with CorkSport

The CS skid tray will offer better protection for your engine

Stainless steel button head bolts that provide great corrosion resistance and won’t snag

Stay up-to-date on the latest news and product updates from CorkSport.

Stay up-to-date on the latest news and product updates from CorkSport.