Tag: MazdaSpeed 3

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“By the People, For the People”

It’s not just an excerpt from the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, but also how we try to produce new products. Let’s face it, if a part is not something that you want, you don’t buy it. So what is the easiest way to produce parts that customers want? Have the customer tell you.

CorkSport has always tried to make sure the customer is our number one priority. We don’t just say that, but we try to show it in how we run the business as well as in our products. We have recently released two products that were part of our customer collaboration efforts. The first of which is our license plate relocation bracket for the 2010 MazdaSpeed 3. We collected ideas from customers, made prototypes, received feedback, revised the part, and repeated the process until we reached a product that was built by CorkSport, but designed and made possible by you the customer.

The next product that we have just released within the past month is eyelids for the 2010 Mazda 3 / MazdaSpeed 3. A customer (Derrick Williams) designed and made a prototype of the eyelids. He then contacted us to see if we wanted to partner with him to get these produced for sale as a CorkSport product, but not to lose sight of who originally designed and made these. After some slight tweaks and a few sample parts later, we released the part for sale. The design and idea was such a success that we immediately sold out of the first batch.

Due to the eyelids being so popular, we came back to you the customer to see if there was anything we could do to improve the product. Several people said that they would like to see the part made in carbon fiber as well. The picture below shows the first prototype set made from carbon fiber and clear coated.

These are just a few examples of how we never forget who makes us who we are: the customer. If you have any ideas for new products, or ways to enhance existing parts, feel free to contact us.

– Jake

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The Elusive MazdaSpeed 3 Cold Air Box Has Arrived!

People have been hitting us up via every contact point possible: phone calls, emailing, Facebook posting, Forum chatting, and contacting us via our webpage to find out when the CorkSport Cold Air Box for the 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 Short Ram Intake will be available. I am proud to say that it is finally here.

Way back all the way to the beginning of February, we had a blog post outlining the details of the depth we go into when designing a Cold Air Box. After finalizing the design and getting a production part installed in our project car, I went out and did some extensive testing. Using a laptop, data-logging software, and lots of thermocouples, I was able to log temperature changes over time.

The delta temperature in the graph below is the temperature difference inside the CAB (right at the filter) versus the temperature directly outside the box (inside the engine bay). The red line shows the difference over time using the box right off the shelf. The blue line shows the CAB with fully taped and insulated connections (the SRI to CAB mating area) attempting to reduce heat soak even further. The green line shows the difference over time with the CAB fully insulated and a direct pipe running from the fog light opening to the CAB (simulating a CAI).

Each reading was taking in the same atmospheric temperature (+/- 2 degrees) driving the same route at the same time each day. The route consisted of highway driving (both at highway speeds, and stop and go traffic) as well as city driving.

As you can see from the graph, all 3 designs yielded roughly the same result of about a 35-40 degree decrease in intake temperature once the vehicle has reached operating temperature.

As a conclusion to this experiment, I can confidently say that our CAB for the 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 paired with our SRI can bring your intake temperatures down to the same temperature as you would see with a cold air intake, without the drop in pressure or any worry about driving in the rain.

As always, if you have any questions about the product, or if you want to know more about how the data was obtained or evaluated, shoot me an email.

– Jake

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CorkSport’s 2010 MS3 Gets Chill

Our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 project car is always a work in progress. It rarely gets put all the way back together, and when it finally does, another project gets set to take it apart again. This time, it was to get some cooler air flowing to the lungs of the MS3.

We recently installed our prototype front mount intercooler kit on our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3. After dealing with a new bumper, hood scoop, and other changes from the 1st gen MS3 to the current body style, we finally have a working kit. As it is currently installed, this is a bolt-on kit with no drilling or cutting required. The factory undertray and bumper also mount back on with room to spare.

We are currently in the testing phase and hope to have a final design set soon. If you have any input on what you would like to see (ie, silicone colors, piping powdercoat colors, etc) send me an email.

 

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Travis Goes Racing

After over-sleeping for the second event I decided to make a run to Packwood, WA for event #3. Chris had out of town plans so I convinced a friend/local Mazda geek to come with me the night before. Thanks Kyle. The drive was relaxing at about 2 hours and I could scarcely have gotten lost if I tried, take I-5 north to Highway 12 East and continue on to Packwood. I forget the name of the place we ate breakfast at (1 of 2 places in town I believe) but the portions where huge nap inducing offerings and the view was magnificent.

Weather was perfect on that Sunday and the course size was significantly larger than PIR events allow for. Indoor parking was a huge plus but the birds coming through caused me some concern. Sure enough a bird marked the top of my car during its wait for what I hoped would not be a laughable assault on innocent cones. Kyle and I walked the course several times but there was no map available so I kept a good eye out trying to keep the course in my head. Also, I got a ride-a-long in an FC with a V8 swap during the morning session to help get a feel for things, fun!

The 3 is equipped with MS coil-overs set on full dampening and rebound in front with full dampening and 2 clicks short of full rebound in the rear. I set tire pressure, marked the side walls, applied numbers and class magnets, loaded my lower boost MAP into the ECU then proceeded to my work assignment. After working first group my farmers tan was complete and it was time to run. I used an instructor, the same guy that set the course, to help me get through the problem areas I was fighting with. Smooth runs, looking ahead and course knowledge paid off……….. after the first three “official” runs, which sucked as I managed a 55 second run to demolish my previous 1 minute plus runs while coming out of 2nd gear twice. The car comes out of 2nd gear in the same areas on every run I made, which is the same thing that happened at PIR during the first event. I am looking at competition style engine mounts for the weekends to see if they will help. Most of the guys out there use R compound or competition tires and wheels, me, I am sticking with the street tires. After comparing my last lap time to others I found the MS3 to be more than capable of competing in this venue despite my lack of traction and experience. At the end of the day I was glad I came out and I am anxiously looking forward to the next Packwood event. I’ll be working on a little more throttle control and left foot braking in the mean time.

Somewhat surprising to me is the number of families that come out to these events, some times as support for a driver yet often enough couples or parents and kids (18+) are driving the car. Two drivers per car is a regular thing.

– Travis

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2010 MS3 – Best Way to Get 40+ HP Without Becoming an Amputee, Divorcee, or Both

I recently received an email asking which CS part combinations would be the best way to achieve a 40+ horsepower gain in the 2010-2013 MazdaSpeed 3 without breaking the bank, or having your significant other make you call and cancel your order.

Your new MS3 breathes just like you do. Maximizing the intake of air and freeing up the expulsion of used gasses (exhaust) will help your vehicle breath better, and go faster.

On the intake side of things, you can get our Short Ram Intake which includes our mandrel bent turbo inlet pipe and custom designed MAF housing and silicone coupler. This will free-up flow into the turbo and allow your MS3 to breath deeper. The average gains seen here are 10-15 hp.

For exhaling, you want to expel all those used gasses as quick as possible. With the CS turbo-back exhaust, you are reducing the back-pressure and allowing your MS3 to utilize the potential of its turbo. The kit comes with Corksport’s full 80mm catback dual exhaust, racepipe, and downpipe. This setup will give the average MS3 owner 28-31 hp at the wheels for just over $1,000 for all 3 parts.

Shown below is our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 with the CorkSport Short Ram Intake & Turbo-back exhaust compared to our car completely stock. The before number is 226 hp and came out to 272 with the SRI and Turbo-back exhaust. That is a 46 hp increase to the wheels with two products.

This is my suggestion on the easiest and cheapest way to gain 40 hp at the wheels. If you have a different/better way to do this using CS products, I would love to hear your comments.

For those of you on more of a budget, may I suggest just the Short Ram Intake  and racepipe , for an increase in wheel hp of upper 20’s to lower 30’s.

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