Tag: MazdaSpeed 3

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Hello 2012!

As we usher in the dawn of a new year, CorkSport looks forward to what’s to come in 2012 and covers some highlights Mazda enthusiasts and CorkSport customers can expect to see in the coming months!

A New Website for CorkSport.com

In the relentless quest to provide our customers with the best online shopping experience possible, CorkSport will be launching a brand new website. Our newly designed website, scheduled to launch late this month, will feature improved navigation making it easier for our customers to find the parts they are looking for, a mobile optimized shopping experience for Android and iPhone users, easier to access content, photos and video clips along with a fresh new look. So be ready CorkSport fans because your shopping experience is about to get even better!

Suspension Packages
CorkSport is gearing up to offer a new line of staged suspension packages that will simplify handling upgrades for many of our customers. Our staged suspension packages will accomodate many levels of suspension upgrade needs starting from street performance through racing. We will be rolling out the the new suspension packages beginning with the Mazda 3 and Mazdaspeed 3 with our top package including a new coilover kit for Mazdaspeed 3 with amazing features for the price

SkyActiv Technology

We have blogged about this several times throughout the last year and now we are happy to say that Mazda has officially started rolling out its new line of SkyActiv technology for the Mazda 3 and will continue this trend into 2012 with the launch of the new CX5 platform to combine their legendary drivability with fuel efficiency.

B-Spec Race Series
For 2012 a number of sanctioning bodies have created a new segment of race cars called B-Spec that target the sub-compact market. The aim of this series is to provide more access to racing with the intention of the sanctioning bodies to maintain a single “spec” for the cars. Mazdaspeed Motorsports will be using the Mazda2 as their respective platform for this growing segment of the automotive industry.

CorkSport will also be continuing to compete in the SCCA ST-F class and we will be providing regular updates on our successes as the season evolves.

This represents just a small segment of what is in store for CorkSport and Mazda this year. We will continue to grow our product line and continue our unparalleled support for the Mazda community.

We are looking forward to a successful and exciting 2012!

Gwynne-

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CorkSport Product Development Update

We here at CorkSport have been busy working on some new parts for Mazda owners and I’m excited to be able to share some of the features and benefits that you can expect from some of the newest additions to our catalog that we have been busy developing for our customers.

First up we have the CorkSport Mazda 3 and Mazdaspeed 3 Adjustable End Links. These end links are made from 5/8″ hex stock 2011 Aluminum which is stronger than regular 6061. The ultimate tensile strength is actually 10,000 PSI stronger. Compared to the stock end links the CorkSport Mazda Adjustable End Links are much bulkier and stronger, which keeps the link from deforming when subjected to extreme loads. The ball joints used are also more durable than the rod ends normally used in adjustable end links and come with a shield to help keep out the road debris and grit than can increase the wear and tear on the links.

Using adjustable end links will provide increased strength which is important when running a stiffer front sway bar. To those who are worried about corner weighting, adjustable end links allow you to remove any preload from your front sway bar after adjusting each corner’s ride height. Not to mention they also look great!

Also just released are the CorkSport Mazdaspeed Shifter Base Bushings. The aluminum bushings replace the factory rubber bushings. These bushings give your shifter a more solid and crisp feel by taking out any slop from the stock rubber base bushings.

Along with our Shifter Base Bushings, we have also just released a Mazdaspeed Adjustable Short Shift Plate which reduces the throw of your shifter by 20-40%.

The shift plate works by reducing the distance between where the shifter cable mounts on the shift arm to the pivot point. By reducing this distance, the shifter cable doesn’t have to move as far to produce the same movement at the transmission. In the car this produces a much shorter throw, which will reduce your shift times, and in turn will help you reduce your quarter mile times.

The short shift plate also includes a smaller shift weight to replace the stock weight. The stock weight weighs about 14oz and the CorkSport weight weighs about 5.7oz. The lighter weight will reduce the fort required when shifting, which again can decrease your shift times. If you still want to keep your stock weight, good news, the CorkSport shift plate will be compatible with the stock shifter weight as well.

Now some of you may be wondering about the other new parts we have in development, and while I can’t release any details yet on most of them, I can say we have some very exciting new parts coming down the line. Be expecting to hear more about our Catted Downpipe for the Mazdaspeed 3 and our Underhood Lighting, which should be out in a matter of weeks!

I also want to point out the importance of the product submissions we receive from customers. Development of the short shift plate was actually started from a submission we received from customer, Cale DeLeers. We approved this submission in August of this year and were able to get started on it pretty quickly. We would like to thank Cale for his product submission and note that it is because of his product submission that we were able to develop the product to meet the needs of our customers that were not being met by other similar products on the market.

To those of you out there with ideas for your Mazda, don’t be shy. Let us know what you want and we will definitely look into it.

Andrew-

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Product Release! CorkSport Mazdaspeed Shifter Bushing Kit and Short Shift Plate

CorkSport is pleased to announce a new product line designed at enhancing shifting and providing positive gear changes on Mazdaspeed vehicles. Our new line-up includes the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Shifter Bushing Kit and the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 and Mazdaspeed 6 Short Shift Plate.

An easy upgrade that will eliminate side to side compliance and remove the slack on your shifter, the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Shifter Bushing Kit replaces the rubber OEM shifter bushings with aluminum black anodized shifter bushings. By replacing the factory rubber bushings, which have a tendency to deteriorate and fall apart, with CorkSport shifter bushings, customers will see a noticeable difference in the way the car drives and improved shift responsiveness that will last for years to come.

The new CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Shifter Bushings are CAD designed and machined for exacting fitment and are made from billet aluminum for a long lasting durable finish. The shifter bushing kit comes with a two year warranty and easy to follow installation instructions for a quick simple upgrade that will dramatically improve you’re vehicles shifting responsiveness.

CorkSport’s Mazdaspeed Adjustable Short Shift Plate will further improve the shifter performance by adding precision and reducing the throw of your shifting while keeping the height of your OEM shifter unchanged.

The CorkSport Mazdaspeed Short Shift Plate is made from ¼” CNC Machined Steel Plate with a powder coated black finish. The adjustable setting allows drivers to customize the throw to their liking by a 20% to 40% reduction. The kit comes with a counterweight included for added responsiveness and self locking bolts for an easy installation that will take a mere 15-20 minutes to complete.

Both parts are priced competitively at $39 for the CorkSport Shifter Bushing Kit and $69 for the CorkSport Mazdaspeed Short Shift Plate and are available for purchase at www.CorkSport.com

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Product Release! CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3/Mazda 3 Front End Links

CorkSport is pleased to announce the addition of the Mazda 3 and Mazdaspeed 3 Adjustable Front End Links to our growing list of suspension upgrades developed to enhance your Mazda’s performance.

Made to fit OEM and aftermarket front sway bars, the CorkSport Mazda 3 Mazdaspeed 3 Front Adjustable End Links allows customers to tune any sway bar and remove the preload commonly associated with the suspension.

“Adjustable end links will allow you to properly balance and tune your suspension to give you the best setup possible” Said CorkSport Engineer, Andrew Gilbert, “Our end links will reduce link flex and fatigue, increase sway bar effectiveness and allow for corner balancing suspension.”

The CorkSport adjustable front end links come in a black anodized finish and include an etched CorkSport logo for a custom and long lasting finish.

The CorkSport Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3 Front End Links can be purchased for the competitive price of $109.00 making this an easy to install and affordable upgrade for your vehicle.

For more information: https://www.corksport.com/corksport-mazdaspeed-3-front-adjustable-swaybar-end-links.html

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CorkSport Customer Collaboration – Camber Plate Development Process

Our customers are our lifeblood. We live by this understanding each and every day and appreciate that you put your trust in CorkSport products and choose CorkSport brand parts for your Mazda performance needs. Proof? Many of you may get a sense of this from the quality of our customer interactions. Hopefully, you find our staff easy to reach, courteous, helpful, and knowledgeable.

From our transparent shipping costs and our dedicated staff and customer service, to our rewards program for our loyal customers, and customer collaboration efforts, we want to demonstrate how grateful we are for your business each and every day.

I’d like to take this post as an opportunity to expand on the customer collaboration concept. We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth revisiting with a fresh example.

We’ve conducted numerous focus groups with our customers. In those groups we’ve discussed how our customers want to be involved in the product development process. Overwhelmingly we’ve been told you want to see the development process. You want to see what’s in the pipeline and have a chance to give feedback on the design. Our best most recent example of our efforts to expand our customer’s role in the product development process is our soon to be released camber plates for Mazdaspeed3.

Our knowledgebase is a repository for all sorts of information. For the camber plate development process, we’ve posted several articles in our knowledgebase. Brief summaries are presented below. The interested reader can view each article for more details.

Article 1:
The idea for camber plates came from two customers, Eric & Todd, who turned in product ideas. Our staff reviewed the merits of their suggestion and decided to pursue it.

Article 2:
Our initial design concept was posted for feedback.

Article 3:
Prototype parts were made from the drawings. Ordinarily we’d make one set for testing. This time, we made several extra sets so that if Todd and Eric wanted to get involved in Beta testing, we were positioned to take advantage of the opportunity. After installation and testing in house, Todd took us up on the offer to test a set of the camber plates.

Both Todd and Eric gave us great feedback and even hit the forums and started a discussion. We learned that many people were apprehensive to cut their strut tower to allow for camber adjustment. From our experience we are comfortable cutting sheet metal on a brand new car, understandably many people are not! We returned to the drawing board with the intention to eliminate that requirement. Success!

Article 4:
The biggest problem we had to resolve at this point was spring interference when using the Mazda Genuine struts. This limits negative camber to around -1.5 degrees. We solved this problem by revising our recently released lowering springs to have a tighter wound coils up front.

In summary, we made these changes to the original design as a result of our collaboration efforts with our customers:
• Recessed design to remove the requirement to enlarge the hole in the strut tower.
• Larger strut bolts to reduce camber variation from removal and reinstallation.
• Longer strut bolts to allow for strut brace installations.
• Custom lowering springs to allow for more than -1.5 degree which is limited by the factory chassis using struts.

We expect to release the camber plates and revised lowering springs in early 2012.

Thank you to everyone for their feedback. Special thanks to Todd and Eric for their participation in the development process.

Rich-