Tag: MazdaSpeed 3

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Breathing Life Into the 2010 MazdaSpeed3 Downpipe

As many of you may or not be aware of, CorkSport recently re-released our downpipe for the 2010 Mazdaspeed3’s. This downpipe will also fit the prior generation of Speed3’s 2007-2009, however the devil is in the details.

I have been relentlessly pursuing the elusive check engine lights that are associated with removal of the stock downpipe on the 2010 Speed3’s. These models are a bit more elusive and harder to pinpoint the sweet spot for the secondary oxygen sensor to eliminate a check engine light. This sweet spot is becoming harder and harder to find due to stricter emission controls.

This past week I have been driving our company car from home to work and back. As much as my boss loves me racking up miles, to the tune of 67 a day, on a brand new car from Vancouver, WA to Oregon City, OR it’s all done in the name of science. In an effort to understand the cars behavior and make slight corrections, documenting as much information as the data logging software will allow. Checking voltage to 02 sensors, Catalytic temperature and Engine RPM and Run time.

While driving down the local highway I am constantly monitoring the cars behavior, hooked up to the OBD-II port, viewing data on the laptop sitting in the passenger seat. Wires dangling over the steering wheel, chords draped across my legs power inverter plugged into the 12V outlet, in a way I feel like a mad scientist who is monitoring the vitals and trying to resurrect a sick patient.

The code I am battling right now is P0421. This trouble code means that the oxygen sensor downstream of the catalytic converter is detecting that the converter is not working as efficiently as it should be (of course, it is not even there!). As I continue to work on this non-life threatening issue, rest assured that the CorkSport Mazda Medical Center is actively perusing an antidote to rectify these symptoms.

– Troy

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CorkSport License Plate Bracket

Soon to be released will be a kit for the 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 and Mazda 3 which will move your front license plate to the driver’s side of the vehicle. This will allow more air to flow to the engine, radiator, and FMIC, should you have one installed. It does this by using the factory tow hook mount located inside your factory bumper. The kit will include tamper resistant license plate screws as well as the bit to remove them.

We currently have this product installed on our vehicle as you can see in the above picture. We do not have factory license plate holes on our vehicle, but plans are to include bumper plugs in the kit that will fit in your stock holes to cover them up.

The kit will include installation instructions as well as customer support should you have any questions. The projected retail will be right around $89 for the entire kit.

Right now the kit will only be available for the 2010+ MazdaSpeed 3 and Mazda 3 (i & s) hatchback and sedan. If this is something you would be interested in for your Mazda, shoot me an email and I’ll see what I can do.

As always, if there is anything that we don’t make that you think we should, let us know.

– Jake

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CorkSport LED Kit for 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 and Mazda 3

Tired of your yellow looking interior and license plate lights? Tired of searching the internet for each bulb individually? CorkSport now has the answer.

Soon to be released will be a kit which includes the dome light, driver and passenger reading lights, the trunk light, and both rear license plate lights. All of these lights will be a very cool white light with a hint of blue. The photo shows the stock yellow incandescent bulb on the right, with the CorkSport LED light kit installed on the left.

I personally have these in my vehicle and would never switch back from LED. The main advantages to the LED kit will be less power draw, a cool white light, and a bulb life that will outlast the vehicle.

The kit will include installation instructions as well as customer support should you have any questions. The projected retail will be right around $35 for the entire kit.

If this kit is as popular as I am hoping, I plan on expanding the kit to offer turn signal, brake, and backup lights for an additional cost. I am still working on getting the bulbs to include resistors so the blinkers flash normally without the need for a new relay or inline resistor.

If you want a kit for a different Mazda vehicle, just shoot me an email and I will work on getting a kit setup and released for your vehicle.

– Jake

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Finally! The 2010 MazdaSpeed3 Downpipe Released!

It’s released! The downpipe for the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 is on our shelves and ready to ship out. First off lets cover the obvious questions, why install a downpipe? When installing an aftermarket down pipe several things happen. First the turbo charger requires less effort to quickly spin up due to the removal of the catalyst, so boost will happen at a lower RPM. Secondly, with less restriction and back pressure the turbo will be able to quickly expel more exhaust gases, thus raising the boost and increasing power across the vehicles entire power band.

Check out our technical write up about performance exhaust downpipes here.

The CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Power Series Downpipe gives you faster turbo spool up which results in a larger power band. Gains in power have been up to 21 wheel horse power when installed on an otherwise stock Mazdaspeed 3.

The downpipes on the 1st Gen MS3 have historically been a bit of a puzzle to work around however our designs are able to avoid throwing a check engine light on first generation DISI equipped vehicles. Other manufacturers of downpipes are hit and miss depending on the manufacturer, with some throwing the occasional random CEL for slow response time and others being more pervasive.

The 2010 models are a bit more elusive and harder to pinpoint the ideal sweet spot for the secondary oxygen sensor that will not throw a check engine light. We are however actively working on resolving the CEL and if successful we hope to offer a retro fit kit for previously purchased downpipes.

If you have any questions about the 2010 MS3 downpipe feel free to shoot us an email or give us a call. We’ve got several more things coming down the pipe so stay tuned.

– Troy

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CorkSport Goes Autocrossing

Today’s blog entry is written by a guest blogger: Travis! If you’ve ever ordered anything from us then odds are Travis assembled it, packed it, double checked it, triple checked it, sealed it, and shipped it to you!

I checked the online flyer for my local region to find out the weekend schedule for March 27 and 28. You can get on SCCA.com and then search by selecting “Find your region”. The season began with practice on Saturday and Race #1 on Sunday. Our class, DSP, would race in the afternoon both days. There are morning and afternoon sessions, each with 2 run groups (1 group works the track while the other runs and vice versa). We found out that Saturday is open practice, anyone can run morning or afternoon session and everyone gets 6 runs each session. The weather was great Saturday and we learned a lot, since both of us come from Drag Racing backgrounds. Sunday was rainy off and on but tons of fun and the previous days coaching and practice had us off to a good start.

Now before I go on with the weekend recap, I’d like to explain what got Chris and Me to this point. Both of us have raced, mainly drag, and are at least familiar with spirited driving and some technique. A big problem for many people who take up auto racing is that a learning curve can easily resemble a rising cost curve when exploring the possibilities various venues offer. “Pay to Play”, is not an unfamiliar adage, but fun is not always overshadowed by unexpected costs, damage or mental suffering. As some people know Corksport has in the past run a ’99 Protégé at Woodburn and PIR but getting bugs sorted out has been generally been time consuming and occasionally expensive. It was decided that Autocross/Solo was more novice and budget friendly. When things go wrong in Drag Racing it tends to make things explode in a huge, expensive way. I would provide the car, my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 GT, and CorkSport would contribute some parts, a pair of drivers and entry fees. A perfect match. I’ll give racing costs and car details in a later post.

I signed Chris and I up for SCCA and used the online rule book to find a class the car would fit in. I had read some forum posts in the past and had a pretty good idea what class we would end up in. No surprise, the car would be in DSP (D Street Prepared), not terribly desirable for a couple of novices but oh well, we would not go blindly into this new endeavor. I contacted a friend who has been racing for many years and got him to agree to some personal coaching for the practice day on Saturday. A few extra hours after work to prep the car and Chris and I are ready for the season to begin.

I’ll post details on fees and expenses along with the cars setup and, of course, the results of our first weekend next time.

– Travis