Guys, we know you know how to take care of your Mazda.
If you’re mechanical enough to mod your baby out, you’ve probably been changing oil filters since you were yea high *hovers hand about two inches off the ground*
That said, we also know there are a lot of noobs just getting into Mazda maintenance, and that even the best drivers among us don’t always know how much it pays off to take care of your Mazda yourself.
So, to illustrate the point (and a helluva lot of statistics), we created this handy Mazda maintenance infographic. In the small chance you’re not already doing these Mazda fixes yourself, you should be; and in the big chance that you are a DIY Mazda guy, here’s a nice graphic to share with all your new Mazda driver friends.
So, behold, the DIY Mazda maintenance you better be doing if you consider yourself a car guy:
Cheers,
CorkSport
A DIY Mazda Maintenance Infographic for You October 21st, 2015CorkSport
I have always enjoyed cars. I had a large Matchbox collection growing up, but I never really considered myself a car enthusiast prior to meeting the group of Nator locals that I have the pleasure of knowing now.
Honestly, I wasn’t aware Speed3s (or Mazdaspeeds of any type) even existed prior to helping a friend car shop and talking them into getting a 2012 Speed3 we had looked at. From that endeavor, I was brought along to my first Nator meet. At first I was kind of boggled at the concept. I’m sorry, you wanna go to some random person’s house that you met on a forum and let them put parts on your brand new car, in exchange for some beer? That was almost 3 years ago. Now I own my own Speed3, which I learned to drive manual for (a feat I thought would always be lost on me), and have made friendships near and far. I have traveled to parts of the country I wouldn’t have seen unless I had a Nator meet calling me there. I’ve learned so much from this community in the 3 years I’ve been involved, none of which would ever have crossed my mind.
As you can imagine, although I appreciated cars and lusted after the ones I dreamed of owning, I was not handy with a wrench in the slightest. All of the mods on my car are explicitly possible because of my friends in Nator. I helped with the installation of many of them, but would’ve been lost without a mentor looking over my shoulder, telling me exactly what to do and having the patience to work with me. For that, I will always be thankful and hold a lot of respect for them, and most importantly, cherish the type of brotherly love that comes from bonding over a mutual interest.
The Speed is a badass car. Every day I drive it, I smile. I think of where I am now, where my car is now and what trials and tribulations that have brought Cosmo (yeah I named my car, step-off!) and I this far. However, THE COMMUNITY is what really sealed the deal. I wasn’t looking for a car when I bought my Speed — I wanted to bond with this amazing and knowledgeable community of people from all different walks of life, and geek out over these cars!
It’s not about the free/damn near free parts from my Nator Bros (this is a blanket term for EVERYONE within the community male and female alike), it’s not about labor at the price of some beer and food, it’s not about being noticed, it’s not about being the best whatever, it’s about realizing there is knowledge, BOAT LOADS OF IT. It’s about respecting that and helping with whatever you can. Whether you’re a parts runner or looking at a car for someone not in the area, or loaning/giving parts and services to others in need, you know you’re helping the community. You’re paying it forward in the ways you are able to and doing your best to grow yourself. THAT is what being a Car Girl means to me.
I have seen intense days and nights of labor on jobs, that would take most people weeks to complete, be completed within hours or days simply because a brother was in need. MULTIPLE times. I can include myself in this count, my car needed an emergency clutch job unexpectedly. Between the community scrambling to get me a list of parts I needed and lending the ones they had already laying around, to working late into the night to get the job done, I had my car back within a day of it going down.
It’s the real deal. Respect it and you’ll have a family to laugh, cry and share stories with for years to come and all you need to do is just be cool. Be one of them. Nothing special. The community is already special as a whole.
Cheers,
Fae Lunsford
Fae is a Systems Integrity Rep (Inside Sales/Administrative) and owns a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3.
Modifications: COBB V3 Accessport, Corksport Intake and TIP, Fidanza Flywheel, Autotech Internals, Damond Motorsports RMM, Ultimate Racing Test Pipe, Bilstein B8 Shocks/Struts, COBB Lowering Springs, Forge V1 BPV, Rally Armor Mud Flaps, Maisonvi Custom Shift Knob & Phate Tuned.
Car Girl is More than Just a Title, It’s a Way of Life October 6th, 2015CorkSport
We’ve written before about how most Americans prefer sedans to a hatch, a phenomenon we don’t entirely understand. Part of us feels like to each his own. You fill your garage with sedans; I’ll enjoy my Mazdaspeed 3 — and also my Mazdaspeed 6, because we get it: sedans can be great too. Live and let live. On the other hand, the fact that people overwhelmingly prefer sedans is part of the reason we haven’t seen the new Mazda 2 in this country. We can sit and stew about this, or we can tell you the benefits of driving a hatchback. If you’re already on board, tell us in the comments what perks we missed.
1. More storage room
Want to drive your mountain bike up to the cabin you just rented for the weekend? No problem! If you drive a hatchback, that is. You can compare just about any two models of the same car, and the hatchback beats the sedan for storage space every time. Without that extra room taken up by the barrier between the back seat and the trunk, you can fill your hatch with boxes, a dog crate, or any piece of recreational equipment you want. If you need more space, add a luggage rack — but 99.9% of the time, if you drive a hatchback, you won’t need more.
2. More headroom
A lot of sedans are made with average heights in mind. That’s fine if you’re 5’10” on the dot or anything below, but if you’re even slightly taller, you’re gonna feel cramped. The solution: A hatchback. Hatches tend to have a lot more clearance, so no more bumping your head when you step in and out of the driver’s seat. It’s downright roomy in there.
3. Better resale value
This can change from car to car, but as topyaps pointed out, “Hatchbacks have the highest resale value and significantly much better than that of a sedan.” Of course, few of us can see ourselves parting with our dear Mazdaspeed 3s anytime soon, but we all know that one day we’ll have to trade our baby in — if only because the new 2017 Mazdaspeed 3 is finally released. If you want to get the most bang for your buck and recuperate some of the initial cost, buy a hatchback, not a sedan.
4. Same mileage
What’s that, you say? All of these benefits without a higher cost at the gas pump? It’s true, usually. Hatchbacks tend to have around the same gas mileage as their sedan counterparts, so you don’t have to fork over more money as the years pass. They’re great cars; they’re practical; and they’re as efficient as any sedan. Are you sold yet? If not, take a ride in your buddy’s MS3. If the other benefits of driving a hatchback don’t sway you, that will.
Cheers,
CorkSport
The Benefits of Driving a Hatchback December 18th, 2017CorkSport
We asked the CorkSport community for their ultimate Mazda performance questions for our new series, Ask the Expert. From the good to the bad to the weird, here are the top four questions straight from CS fans and our engineer’s answers.
Q: What is the maximum horsepower you can get from a MazdaSpeed 3 with just bolt-on’s?
A: With the typical bolt-on performance modifications from air filter to exhaust tip, you should be in the 320-330wHp and 340-360wTq range. You may be able to up those numbers a small amount with an E85 mixture, but for some locations that is not readily available. This is not including an exhaust manifold, intake manifold, or larger turbocharger. Now, if you were to add the exhaust manifold, intake manifold, and larger turbo (this being the largest power gain) then you will quickly find the limit of the fuel system at the 380-390whp range depending on the fuel grade/type.
Q: Will a supercharger/turbocharger kit become available for the SkyActiv platform?
A: This question has been stirring around since the release of the SkyActiv platform. With the release of the MX-5 with the 2.0L in the U.S. and the 1.5L in foreign markets I would not be surprised to see a supercharger and/or turbocharger kits being released in the next 1-2 years.
Q: What’s the boost threshold on the CorkSport Performance Drop-In Turbocharger?
A: We don’t have a compressor map to quote from, but I believe I can answer this fairly accurately from my knowledge and experience. The CorkSport turbo will be the most efficient in the 1.75 – 2.25 pressure ratio range. This equates to approximately 11 – 18psi, but this doesn’t mean the CS turbo will fall on its face in the higher boost levels. Due to the more efficient design of the forged billet compressor wheel, the CS turbo should stay above 75% efficiency until around pressure ratio 3 (30psi), and then begin to fall off a bit. At around pressure ratio 3.5 (36-37psi) you will be very close to the maximum shaft RPM for safe operation, so I wouldn’t push it past that. Either way, if you are running the CS turbo above 30psi, then bravo sir. I’m sure you have a very fun car.
Q: Here’s a hard one. If I have a manifold, which calipers should I buy to get a better exhaust sound?
A: Well the issue is you weren’t clear enough with your collection of parts. First off, what kind of manifold are we talking? Is it the manifold forged from Unobtanium with the blood, sweat, and tears of Santa’s Elves or is it the one and only manifold hand fabricated of carbon nano-tubes in the R&D lab at Koenigsegg designed by the alien race called…The Stig? And then you have the caliper… Do you mean the kind that grip locks the ferrous circular structure utilizing kinetic friction to cause conductive and convective heat transfer ultimately converting mechanical energy into thermal energy until it comes to a squealing stop or the kind that measures to the 0.001” and was used to design aforementioned caliper? See how I’m a little confused? Now we have four combinations to pick from and I could explain each and every one of them in great detail, but I don’t want to bore you. So the one I would pick goes as follows: Your cold start announces your presence like the trumpet of the Greek God Zeus riding his chariot into battle followed by your WOT pull roaring like a thousand lions chasing down a heard of Zebras.
As we eagerly await more news about the 2017 Mazdaspeed 3, it’s easy to become distracted by a wish list of features, making us forget about the Gen 1 and 2 marvels sitting in our garages.
We’ve hoped there would be a new Mazdaspeed 3 sooner than now, but the compensation of waiting is owning and driving Gen 2 (or Genjuan) Mazdaspeeds every day. Sure, we’re a little biased, but there’s a reason our lives are centered around Mazda performance enhancement. Maybe we’re just feeling nostalgic because it’s #ThrowbackThursday, but whatever the case, the Limited Slip Blog’s 2013 review of the last Mazdaspeed 3 reminds us: Even a few years old, these cars remain incredible.
We stumbled across this blog entry after finding that killer shot above, taken by cofounder Christopher Little. If it wasn’t clear from the entries that cover just about every car under the sun, it’s obvious just glancing at their photography that these guys have a passion for vehicles, something any self-respecting Mazdahead shares.
Chris had some issues with the interior—but noted the Gen 2 Mazdaspeed 3 had the best visibility of any hot hatch he’d driven. His description of the first time he actually drove the car probably sounds like what a lot of us experienced when we first got behind the wheel of a ‘speed. The word “intoxicating” stands out, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who understands Mazda power. The Mazdaspeed 3 makes it just about impossible to drive without experiencing some raw joy, which Chris did. We get it; that’s why we devote our lives to Mazda performance, to bring even more power out of these beauties.
The Mazdaspeed 3 has always been a stunning and, yeah, intoxicating ride. It’s been great for almost a decade, and with the new generation coming out soon, we don’t expect that legacy to change.
