MazdaSpeed 3 | CorkSport Mazda Performance Blog

July 8, 2011July 11, 2011

Featured Car of the Month – July 2011

CJ Ramos: 2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3

Seattle based, CJ Ramos, was dreaming of speed from the moment he test drove his 2008 Mazdaspeed 3. He was immediately attracted to the car because of its competitive price point and the positive praises it was receiving from the media, but it was way that the car handled and performed during the test drive that sold him on making the purchase.

Since then CJ has invested time and money into his Mazdaspeed and it has paid-off. He has won numerous awards for his ride, the most recent being the 2011 NOS Forum Fest – 1st Place Best Mazda 5Door – and aside from being sponsored by CorkSport and Speedware Motorsports, he was also the 2009 Hypertech SEMA booth car and has been voted car of the month and car of the year on the Mazda3forum, where you will regularly catch him doling out great advice and discussing the latest in Mazda performance with other like minded enthusiasts.

The mods on his Mazdaspeed are numerous. The engine and drivetrain feature a CorkSport turbo-back exhaust, , which includes the CorkSport downpipe, racepipe, and cat-back exhaust. He also added a CorkSport FMIC and stainless brake lines, a CPE motor mount, Devil’s Own Meth Injection Kit, PTP fuel pump internals, Cobb Access Port, Forge bypass valve and TWM short shifter. The mods on the suspension and wheels help to control this powerful car with COBB Front and Rear Sway Bars, KW V2 Coilovers, SPC Rear Camber Kit, GTSpec Bracing, Enkai NT03+m 18×9.5 and Goodyear Eagle GT All-season tires.

Not only is this car fast and powerful, but it looks and sounds amazing thanks, in part, to some extensive interior and exterior mods and full sound system that include an Autoexe JDM Front Bumper, Carbon Fiber OEM style hood, angel eye kit, CorkSport skid plate, Sparco R700 Alcantera Seata, Alpine PDX1000.1 1000w Subwoofer Amplifier, Alpine PDX100.4 100wx4 Multichannel Amplifier, and six 6.5” Elemental Designs e3.6 subwoofers.

As a new father of baby boy, Avery, CJ joked “I was telling people that if and when I become a father, I wouldn’t have to trade in my car. The trunk can hold all of the stroller and baby gear and the 4 door format can make taking the baby in and out easier than a 2 door coupe.” He said, “But now that I have a kid, the car is filled with show car goodies like my Speedware harness bar and a subwoofer trunk setup.” Fortunately, CJ’s fiancée and best friend, Lanie is caring and totally supportive of his car modding addiction.

You can catch CJ and his Mazdaspeed at Import Faceoff and Battle of the Imports this summer or can catch him online on any one of the five forums he frequents, nw-built.com, mazdasnw.com, mazda3forums.com, bcmasdas3.com, or mazdaspeedforums.com.

Interested in submitting your car for our new featured car of the month? E-mail Me!

Gwynne –

Full List of Modifications:

Engine & Drivetrain
– Corksport Turbo-Back Exhaust- Both Cats deleted
– Downpipe
– Racepipe
– Cat-back exhaust
– Corksport Front Mount Intercooler Kit
– relocated intake to the OEM TMIC location
– turbo inlet
– front mount intercooler
– Corksport Stainless Steel Brake Lines
– CPE Motor Mount
– Devil’s Own Meth Injection Kit
– PTP Fuel Pump Internals
– Cobb Access Port – Stage 2 OTS map
– Forge Bypass Valve
– TWM Short Shifter

Suspension & Wheels
– Cobb Front & Rear Sway Bars
– KW V2 Coilovers
– SPC Rear Camber Kit
– GTSpec Bracing
– mid chasis brace
– ladder brace
– rear v-brace
– Enkei NT03+m 18×9.5
– Goodyear Eagle GT All-season 225/40-18

Exterior
– Autoexe JDM Front Bumper
– Carbon Fiber OEM Style Hood
– 3M Di Noc Vinyl wrapped roof
– Nextmod generic rear spoler extension
– 35%/20% window tint
– 6000k HID Headlights and Foglights
– Angel Eye Kit
– Clear Corners
– Rally Armor mud flaps
– rear wiper delete
– Corksport skid plate

Interior
– Sparco Steering Wheel
– Sparco R700 Alcantera Seats
– NRG hub and flip up system
– Blox 490g Neo Chromeshiftknob
– Redline Goods shift boot
– Speedware Harness Bar

I.C.E.
– Pioneer AVH-P4000dvd InDash DVD player
– Alpine PDX1000.1 1000w Subwoofer Amplifier
– Alpine PDX100.4 100wx4 Multichannel Amplifier
– DLS up6i Component front door Speakers
– Image Dynamics 5×7 rear door speakers
– Six 6.5inch Elemental Designs e3.6 subwoofers

Other Mods
– Hella Supertones
– MSD Dashhawk
– Valentine 1 Radar Detector

Awards/Achievements
– 2009 SEMA Booth Car – Hypertech
– Currently Sponsored by Corksport Mazda Performance Parts and Speedware
– Motorsports
– 2010 NOS Forum Fest – Best Mazda
– 2011 NOS Forum Fest – 1st place Best Mazda 5door
– 2010 GaragePlus Import Car Show – Best Mazda
– 2010 Battle of the Imports – 2nd Place Mazda
– mazda3forums.com November 2010Car of the Month
– mazda3forums.com 2010Car of the Year

July 7, 2011July 8, 2011

CorkSport Announces Release of New CorkSport Stub Antenna

CorkSport would like to announce the release of the newest addition to the CorkSport line of accessory parts, the CorkSport Mazda and Mazdaspeed Stub Antenna made for 2007+ Mazdaspeed & Mazda 3, 2007+ CX-7, 2011+ Mazda 2 , 2003-2008 Mazda 6, and 2006+ Mazda 5.

An easy upgrade to boost the look of your Mazda, CorkSport’s new shorter antenna is 2.75″ in length and will replace the oversized factory antenna. Tested to ensure they perform similarly to the OEM antenna, CorkSport antennas are anodized and made out of billet aluminum which has a long lasting, durable, black finish. CorkSport antennas come with two different size fitting studs for straightforward installation of the product that will easily attach to the Mazda Genuine antenna base.

“This product represents the beginning of what will be a string of products designed to address the glaring need for additional options in the Mazda performance accessory market,” said Rich Harris, President of CorkSport Performance. “Our ability to listen and respond to the needs of our customer base combined with our efficient manufacturing expertise has resulted in the rapid development of these products to meet the demands of our customers.”

The newest addition to the CorkSport line of accessory parts will be priced at $32, making it an easy and inexpensive way to boost the look of your Mazda. Installation for this part takes mere minutes. Simply twist off the existing pieces and install the new ones to add a custom look to your Mazda.

For more information or to purchase the CorkSport Stub Antenna, Please click here to be redirected to our catalog.

May 30, 2011September 13, 2018

CorkSport Officially Adds the MazdaSpeed Top Mount Intercooler to the Product Line-up

CorkSport is pleased to announce the latest addition to our product line-up, the premium-quality CorkSport Mazdaspeed Top Mount Intercooler (TMIC). The newly engineered TMIC is made from CorkSport’s own custom cast end tanks which are TIG welded to a 3” thick bar and plate core, providing added performance by removing the bottleneck restriction of the stock intercooler and increasing resistance to heat soak by using thicker materials. The cold pipe connection is CNC milled and drilled for a leak proof connection and all bolt holes have been capped off.

CorkSport’s innovative design allows for the reuse of the Mazda OEM plastic shroud leaving your engine bay looking completely stock; however an optional aluminum ring has been made available and can be customized to compliment the finish of any engine bay.

The CorkSport TMIC has been vigorously tested to ensure optimal characteristics. Testing completed on a SuperFlow test bench proved a 46% increase in airflow over the Mazda OEM intercooler. During the testing, the CorkSport TMIC showed an average decrease in pressure across the core by 53% and an increase in overall efficiency of 25% over the stock intercooler.

“After many months of design, testing, and data collection, we are proud to release our highly anticipated CorkSport Top Mount Intercooler”, said Rich Harris, President of CorkSport, “Our TMIC provides solid power gains and is a great value add to the Mazdaspeed 3, MazdaSpeed6 and CX-7 turbo. Pre-sales of the product have shown a strong demand in the marketplace for the newest addition to the CorkSport line”.

The CorkSport Top Mount Intercooler is available now for purchase at www.corksport.com or by phone at (360) 260-CORK. The CorkSport Top Mount Intercooler features full color installation instructions and comes with all the required installation hardware.

May 6, 2011March 11, 2021

Mazdas Racing Around the World

Around this time last year I reported on people racing Mazdas around the planet, and wanted revisit the topic and give everyone an update on some of the cool things Mazdas are doing.

This year from April 5th to April 10th 2011 was the Targa Tasmania rally. If you are not familiar with the event, different classes of cars race on public roads which are closed on the island of Tasmania to see who is fastest. The event spans 5 days of competition so it is an endurance race as well as a test of drivers and navigators. Mazda has been a competitor in the Targa Tasmania for many years, gunning for the top positions. This year Mazda entered several Mazda 3 MPS (Mazdaspeed 3 for North America) in the showroom class and RX-8 SPs in the modern class.

One of the Mazda MPS 3s, driven by Reeves and Smyth finished first in showroom classification and 4th overall. This is an impressive feat considering that there were many cars with more power in the modern classification group (the fastest cars). There were 5 Subaru WRX STIs, several Nissan GTRs of various generations, a Lamborghini Gallardo, Corvette Z06s, and more behind the MPS 3 at the end of the event.
The highest placing RX-8 finished 5th overall in the modern class. They experienced some technical problems and other challenges which kept them from being higher in the standings.

Our good friends at Knightsport in Japan competed in the Macao Grand Prix in the road sport challenge. Knightsport’s team worked hard on the RX-8 to get more power and improve the car in other areas to really be competitive.

In last year’s event their driver Tanigawa placed 2nd in the race. Unfortunately this year an errant Nissan GTR made contact with the Knighsports RX-8 causing enough damage to take the car out of the race. Yes there is an Rx8 in the middle of the GTR and EVO sandwich in the picture below.

Yau (the GTR driver) said Tanigawa should apologize for the incident and the contact between the two cars. Yau was fined by the racing sanctioning body despite his protests about the fault of the collision. The Nissan driver retired 5 cars with his skillful driving.

Want to see the RX-8 in action? Check out the in car footage shot from the Knightsport RX-8 during qualifying here.

The last team I wanted to show is the Van Herck Mazda 3. Van Herck had been racing a Mazda RX-7 for years and decided to build a new car to compete with in the Belgium Touring Car Championship. They started with a Mazda 3, converted it to rear wheel drive, and powered it with a 450whp 20B and a sequential 6 speed gearbox.

In the first event the Mazda 3 was in position to win when the car stopped on the track for no apparent reason. Back in the pits the problem was chased down to a fuel cooling problem which the team is working to resolve for the next round of racing. After the event all of the other competitors stopped by the pits of Van Herck to check out the car. Most were really surprised at the speed of the Mazda 3.

You can see video of the Mazda 3 during some practice sessions here.

I will be re-visiting the progress of the Van Herck Mazda 3 when the season finishes along with some more Mazda racing action again later this year.

– Derrick

May 2, 2011April 29, 2011

PRESS RELEASE MADNESS: FOUR PRODUCTS; ONE POST!

CorkSport Banjo Bolt 1986-1995 RX-7 & 2004-2011 RX-8

The basis behind this part is rather simple. A rotary engine relies on the external oil coolers to keep engine temperatures down. The CorkSport Banjo Bolt is made with an 1/8″ NPT fitting on the end to enable you to install a sensor for either an oil pressure or oil temperature gauge. The idea for this part originated from a customer who didn’t like the look for function of current oil filter adapter plates. Many aftermarket oil gauge adapter plates cause interference with intercooler piping and are an unattractive mess.

Features:
We start with a solid steel 23mm hex bar stock. The ends are turned, tapped, and threaded using a CNC lathe, and the middle is finished with offset oil passages to improve oil flow. Finally, the banjo bolt is run through a deburring process, cleaned in an acid bath, and yellow zinc coated for years of hassle-free use. From us, the end is fitted with an 1/8″ NPT fitting (with plug in case you ever need to remove the gauge sender, or are waiting to buy one) that utilizes a straight-through design to ensure accurate oil readings. The banjo bolt also comes with two (2) copper crush washers to ensure a leakproof seal.

Testing:
The CorkSport Banjo Bolt was designed specifically for the Mazda Rotary engine. We have tested this part to work perfectly with the OEM oil cooler lines as well as our CorkSport brand Stainless Steel Braided Oil Cooler Lines. The bolt installs in minutes with simple hand tools (23mm wrench, socket, & torque wrench) in minutes.

Available Now:
The CorkSport Banjo Bolt is available today at a price that pales in comparison to the level of quality and time invested in the design and precision manufacturing of the product. As with all our CorkSport brand products the Banjo Bolt ships with all the hardware you need for installation, and also includes full color instructions and telephone technical support.

CorkSport Power Series Air Box for the 2010+ Mazda 3 with the CorkSport SRI

After the release of our popular Mazdaspeed 3 Air Box, there has been an increased demand for a 2010+ Mazda 3 Cold Air Box. As a result, Corksport is proud to announce the release of our thermally isolating air box for use with the CorkSport Short Ram Intake. The air box mounts to factory locations and limits the ingress of hot underhood air into the intake system of your Mazda 3.

Features:
The CorkSport Power Series Air Box is made from high temperature resistant fiber reinforced plastic (FRP)
that has a full gelcoat on the outside as well as an automotive grade finish on the inside. It is ready for paint
to compliment your engine compartment and styling of your vehicle (or may be left unfinished). The air box features a fully sealed lid with 4 socket head cap screws attaching the lid to the box. The box features a small slit for the MAF sensor wiring to keep it hidden from view. It also includes a mounting hole with bolt to keep your vacuum line up and out of the way for a nice, clean look.

Testing:
Our 2010+ Mazda 3 air box has gone through several design iterations to ensure that it will be an effective and cost efficient way to help decrease intake temperatures and also give your engine bay a stock look. We have observed that our CAB design will decrease temps roughly 30 degrees during highway driving and up to 60 degrees in stop-and-go traffic (decreases heat soak).

Power Series Exhaust for the 2011+ Mazda 2

This system was specifically designed for the North American version of the 2 (or Demio). The exhaust will improve vehicle throttle response as well as give your 2 a slightly louder, and deeper tone.

The exhaust installs in about an hour and includes all the necessary hardware to complete the installation. It fits with all existing and future CorkSport brand parts and offers a design and sound that will set your 2 apart from the crowd.

Features:
Our CorkSport Power Series Exhaust is made from 58mm diameter fully TIG welded T304 Stainless Steel, that gives a quality and look that will outlast coated or plated mild steel systems. The kit includes a midpipe with resonator and a muffler which features a 90mm double wall tip. The system also includes a racepipe (cat delete, which is for off-road use only), which can be installed or left off the vehicle. The midpipe slip fit design utilizes a two bolt clamp that allows you to switch between the racepipe and factory catalyst pipe (does require one cut in the factory midpipe).

Testing:
Being the first purchased Mazda 2 in the US, our 2 has been through several design changes and versions of our prototype exhaust. The final product is a result of many months of testing, which delivers a non-overbearing low tone. The 58mm exhaust has been paired with one small resonator up front and a larger muffler in the rear to give it it’s unique sound.

CorkSport Front Swaybar for the 2010-2011+ MazdaSpeed3

Due to the popularity of our adjustable rear sway bar, CorkSport is proud to announce the release of our Front Sway Bar for the 2010-2011+ MazdaSpeed 3. This part was specifically designed and tested for the Mazdaspeed 3. The Corksport front sway bar improves handling by stiffening the link between the front wheels. This allows the vehicle to maintain ride height and comfort, while minimizing body roll during cornering.

Features:
To start with, we engineered our bar using a 3 peice design, which allows for greater torsional strength, and smoother travel over one peice designs. The 3 peice design also allows a hollow 1 & 1/8” bar design, which helps maximize stiffness, while minimizing weight. The bar ships fully powdercoated to protect it from the elements, enabling it to maintain it’s torsional rigidity. It also includes Energy Suspension brand polyurethane bushings and zinc plated brackets with grease fittings so there is no need to remove the bar for re-greasing like the stock bar.

Testing:
The bar was designed with the CorkSport rear sway bar in mind. The front sway bar is not position adjustable by design. The increased bar diameter has been engineered to match the middle setting on our rear sway bar. If you prefer more under or over-steer, simply set the rear bar firmer or softer to match your driving style. The front sway bar is 45% stiffer than stock and does not require you to modify your end-links.