MazdaSpeed 3 | CorkSport Mazda Performance Blog

March 21, 2011February 7, 2019

PRESS RELEASE: CorkSport License Plate Relocation Kit (1st Gen MS3/MZ3)

CorkSport’s license plate relocation bracket offers 2004-09 Mazda 3 and 2007-09 MazdaSpeed 3 owners the option of mounting their front license plate offset towards the passenger’s side of the vehicle.

The license plate relocation bracket uses the stock tow hook threads on the front bumper and creates a mounting bracket for your front license plate. There is no drilling or cutting required.

Features:
The license plate relocation bracket comes with a smoked lexan plate frame with our new CS logo milled into the front. The lexan plate offers the strength and impact resistance of our previous generation aluminum plate, with the flexibility of plastic. It also comes with all necessary mounting hardware including 4 tamper resistant cap screws with locking bit to resist theft of your plate and relocation bracket. Also, relocating the front license plate to the side allows for better airflow to your engine, radiator and front mount intercooler (if applicable). The new location does not block the fog lights and requires no drilling or cutting. The kit is also compatible with our CorkSport license plate frame when you inevitably want to install one.

Testing:
As with all of our products at CorkSport, we’d prefer to invest our time into testing and validation of design rather than requiring our customers to do so. Our License plate relocation kit has been installed and thoroughly tested on several of our personal vehicles to ensure correct fitment and functionality.

March 14, 2011March 18, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: CorkSport Front Strut Bar for the 2010-2011 MazdaSpeed 3

CorkSport’s Front Strut Tower Bar for the 2010+ MazdaSpeed 3 is a direct bolt-on Aluminum brace that stiffens up the front-end of your vehicle. The bar is made from polished aircraft grade 6061 aluminum and utilizes stock mounting locations. The brace is optimized using an extruded and CNC bent cross member with laser cut mounting plates for a precise fit.

The bar installs in under one half hour and only requires the removal and reinstallation of six (6) 14mm hex head bolts.

Features:
The CorkSport Front Strut Tower Bar utilizes the factory strut mounting locations to maximize the effectivness of the bar. The bar features a polished aluminum design with our CorkSport Logo located on the top side of the bar (can be removed if desired). The one-piece design maximizes the stiffness of the bar and ensures easy installation. Custom anodization or powdercoating can also be done upon request to match other parts in your engine bay.

Our one-piece strut tower bar design has been proven effective to reduce slalom times when tested at a local autocross event. (https://www.corksport.com/PDFs/Shock_Tower_Brace.pdf ).

Testing:
The CorkSport Front Stut Tower Bar has gone through several iterations of design and has been tested on our own vehicle to ensure fit, form, and function. The bar increases stiffness and reduces chassis flex in the front end of the vehicle by tying load points together (strut towers).

March 8, 2011December 18, 2017

Flo-Rida!

The SFLA Mazda Crew hosted their second Epic Florida Meet at Lou Bachrodt Mazda on Feb 21st and CorkSport was invited to attend. Agreeing to attend and getting to the event which was 3230 miles away made for some tough choices for us. We decided to forego bringing a booth and parts show up with a backpack full of t-shirts, can koozies, and the new CorkSport license plate frames to hand out.

Lou Bachrodt Mazda is located in Coconut Creek which is about 45 minutes north of Miami Florida. The weather for the event was beautiful, 80 degrees with a light breeze all day. Compared to Vancouver, WA which was 45 degrees and cloudy, it was a huge difference for winter weather.

RX-7s

160 Mazdas showed up to the event and they ranged from a beautiful 1971 RX-2 to a 3 Rotor 1000+ Hp RX-8. The RX-8 was a beast with a turbo the size of my head.

RX-2

RX-8

There was a portable dyno on hand for the day but it suffered a failure which kept anyone from getting pulls completed. The failure occurred when the first car was on the first power run.

There was a great turnout of Mazdaspeed 3s, both 1st and 2nd gens. There were several standouts I saw at the show for both generations.

A visit from the Red Bull girls kept everyone going all day long. The aftermath at one of the garbage cans shows the carnage of drinks consumed.

I would like to give a big thanks to the SFLA Mazda Crew for organizing the Epic Meet and Lou Bachrodt Mazda for hosting the event. For more pictures of the event check out our CorkSport Facebook Page.

Hosting a Mazda enthusiast event this year? Contact us and we might just show up.

– Derrick

February 17, 2011September 13, 2018

CorkSport at the Portland Auto Show

Oh how I love an auto show, a whole building filled with new cars and the and new car smell. Multiple manufacturers gathered in one building to show me the best of their new line up. Concept cars, eco cars, Italian cars, it’s the best. This years Portland Auto show was even better than years past. Mazda’s booth is built for fun, and to make it memorable they incorporated an alternative gaming station, STAR Mazda racecars, a spec Miata, and us, CorkSport.

Mazda North America first contacted us several weeks before the show about joining them at the Portland Auto Show with our Mazda 2. A few days later the MazdaSpeed 3 was added to the lineup. Then the fun began: prep-work.

Anyone who has ever entered their car in a show of any kind will totally understand that the prep-work is really hours of cleaning and scrubbing followed by tons of polishing and buffing. It’s standing outside in the cold January weather washing cars, scrubbing tires and trying to dry the car while you still have a little feeling left in your fingers. It’s cursing whoever drove the car last and didn’t clean-up right, but in the end its just so worth it because the cars end up looking beautiful.

All the cleaning and prep aside, there is always a little disaster that drops in at the last minute. We like to refer to these disasters as “team builders”, because it takes the team to fix the disaster before it turns into a gulf spill that spews for months on end with no resolution. Our little disaster was the hood on the 2. About a month before the show the 2 took a direct hit from a piece of tire that was kicked-up by an SUV in front of us on our way to a MazdasNW meet. No one was injured but the 2’s window and hood were done. Fast forward to the auto show, window was fixed weeks ago, but we weren’t able to get a hood that wasn’t damaged in transit until just before the show. After much debate and several vinyl peel-offs we finally struck gold with simplicity. We cleaned the hood, polished it up and dropped a CorkSport logo across the top of the hood at an angle. It turned out great and the disaster was capped.

After all was said and done, the cars got dropped off on time and look great in the Mazda booth. Thanks again to Mazda North America for the invite, we really enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of the show.

– Kelly

February 15, 2011February 18, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: CorkSport Lightweight Crank Pulley 07-11 MazdaSpeed 3

CorkSport’s blue anodized Aluminum Crank Pulley features an etched CS CorkSport logo with a fully anodized Aluminum pulley and steel trigger wheel. The best way to free up existing power is to lighten your vehicles rotating mass. The Lightweight Crank Pulley shaves two pounds off of the stock pulley’s 4.40 pounds of rotating mass. This is a weight savings of nearly 50%.

The kit includes the cam alignment tool and TDC timing pin required for timing the engine after installation (these tools retail for more than we are selling the entire kit for).

Features:
The CorkSport Lightweight Crank Pulley’s fully anodized aluminum body has very similar dampening characteristics to the stock cast steel/rubber pulley, while eliminating all of the unneeded extra mass. The precision machined trigger wheel is an exact replica of the stock trigger wheel, so you can rest assured that you will not have any issues with this pulley once installed. The kit includes a CorkSport cam alignment tool and Top Dead Center (TDC) timing pin that is required for timing the engine whenever the crank pulley is removed (the pulley is not keyed). The OEM versions of these two (2) tools could cost you over $200 alone.

Testing:
The CorkSport Lightweight Crank Pulley has been tested on our own vehicles to ensure fit, form and function. The pulley does not add power, but simply frees up existing horsespower and torque by allowing the engine to spin quicker and more efficiently.*

Available Now:
As with all our CorkSport Brand Mazda Products, the Lightweight Crank Pulley ships with all the hardware you need for installation. Full color step by step installation instructions and telephone technical support are also included with your purchase.

Note: The Wrench Rating is a 4/5 which means that this installation is recommended by an experienced mechanic or someone very comfortable using tools on their vehicle.